GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

How not to overbuild a gaming PC

Rogues Gambit

Ready to race!
Location
Eatontown, NJ
https://www.ibuypower.com/

How are you guys?

Ever have a situation where someone offers to get you something, but you decline and then in hindsight you should of went with it?

Birthday/Xmas I was offered a gaming PC and just the other day, my little alienware is at it's memory limits, plus the graphic card's outdated

Problem is, when I build it, I have a "More is better" mentality and build what comes out to being a $8-10k gaming PC (64GB Ram, supercooling, etc.) and I'm not saying I'm not crazy enough to do it, but again, I'm looking at it like an 18yo looks at HP when it comes to building cars

So I don't provide too little info, here's what I do mostly:

*WoW, some steam games (NV+mods), emulators and Roms
*Itunes (gonna use my current pc for that in the future)
*Work on story ideas and download the artwork I receive
*Surf the web

Currently at 16ram, don't want to do less than 32gb and essentially want enough power and memory to last me for a few years (So SSD+HD if anything)

As far as extras, not sure what mm Processor Cooling Support would be sufficient, but while my rooms usually around 70 degrees cool, prefer something that can handle anything thrown at it and don't plan on streaming or getting any accessories other than getting the case engraved with custom artwork.

So if that's enough, what would you build or link here that should be more than enough without essentially being bank busting.

Thanks in advance,

Rogue
 

MeltedSolid

Autocross Newbie
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'15 Golf, e36 328i
You'll save a lot of money by building the computer yourself, and it's really a lot easier than a lot of people think.

Whenever I'm building a computer I find out the budget first, then I build the computer to that budget. Usually I'll get the bare essentials down, case, SSD, decent motherboard, processor, 16GB ram, then I spend as much as possible on the graphics card and whatever power supply will be enough for it.
 

Rogues Gambit

Ready to race!
Location
Eatontown, NJ
You'll save a lot of money by building the computer yourself, and it's really a lot easier than a lot of people think.

Whenever I'm building a computer I find out the budget first, then I build the computer to that budget. Usually I'll get the bare essentials down, case, SSD, decent motherboard, processor, 16GB ram, then I spend as much as possible on the graphics card and whatever power supply will be enough for it.

Never built one before, any good links or videos you'd recommend to study?

How much did yours cost now?
 

flipflp

Autocross Newbie
Location
PNW
Car(s)
'16 Golf R DSG
You'll save a lot of money by building the computer yourself, and it's really a lot easier than a lot of people think.

Whenever I'm building a computer I find out the budget first, then I build the computer to that budget. Usually I'll get the bare essentials down, case, SSD, decent motherboard, processor, 16GB ram, then I spend as much as possible on the graphics card and whatever power supply will be enough for it.

This is good advice, especially pushing your budget into the video card and power supply. I know "future proofing" is pretty much non-existent with computers, but don't get 2-3 year old motherboard tech/sockets.

By biggest suggestion when shopping is Toms Hardware reviews, forums or PC magazine builds, etc. and get the best of any component until the price massively hikes. For example, if CPUs go from $150, $210, $270, $450, get that $270 processor. If motherboards go from $75-150 and the next step up is $250, get the $150 model. It's always worked for me, because sometimes the next step is for much more hardcore power users but you'll get 95% of the features/performance of the next step.

About 2 years ago now I did an upgrade for Fallout 4, ended up spending about $1k to upgrade my motherboard, processor, SSD and RAM from my last build.

Gigabyte GA-Z170MX Motherboard
Intel i5-6600K CPU
Gigabyte GTX1060 G1 6GB Video Card
Intel 600p 256GB M.2 NVMe SSD (a regular SSD is more than fine, but the board had an M.2 slot so why not!?)
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB PC4-24000 RAM
All of that inside of a Fractal Node 605 HTPC case, Corsair 750 watt PS and a 1TB HD for storage

If you buy a good power supply, it should work for a while and unless you're running 2-3 video cards or they change plugs in the future it's a good investment. BUY MODULAR on the power supply to save yourself from hiding a ton of power cables you don't need.
 

Rogues Gambit

Ready to race!
Location
Eatontown, NJ
This is good advice, especially pushing your budget into the video card and power supply. I know "future proofing" is pretty much non-existent with computers, but don't get 2-3 year old motherboard tech/sockets.

By biggest suggestion when shopping is Toms Hardware reviews, forums or PC magazine builds, etc. and get the best of any component until the price massively hikes. For example, if CPUs go from $150, $210, $270, $450, get that $270 processor. If motherboards go from $75-150 and the next step up is $250, get the $150 model. It's always worked for me, because sometimes the next step is for much more hardcore power users but you'll get 95% of the features/performance of the next step.

About 2 years ago now I did an upgrade for Fallout 4, ended up spending about $1k to upgrade my motherboard, processor, SSD and RAM from my last build.

Gigabyte GA-Z170MX Motherboard
Intel i5-6600K CPU
Gigabyte GTX1060 G1 6GB Video Card
Intel 600p 256GB M.2 NVMe SSD (a regular SSD is more than fine, but the board had an M.2 slot so why not!?)
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB PC4-24000 RAM
All of that inside of a Fractal Node 605 HTPC case, Corsair 750 watt PS and a 1TB HD for storage

If you buy a good power supply, it should work for a while and unless you're running 2-3 video cards or they change plugs in the future it's a good investment. BUY MODULAR on the power supply to save yourself from hiding a ton of power cables you don't need.

Appreciate that, gonna look into all that soon
 

MeltedSolid

Autocross Newbie
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'15 Golf, e36 328i
I haven't watched any computer building guides for at least 5 years now, but I know there are tons out there. The only part that actually requires any sort of carefulness or skill is applying the thermal paste, and aside from that it's basically just slotting everything in (unless you do custom loop watercooling like me :p).

For piecing together a computer I usually use https://pcpartpicker.com/. My own computer is somewhere around $2.5k I think, but I've sort of lost track over all these years of upgrading.

These are my current specs:

Motherboard: EVGA Z98 SLI
CPU: Intel i7-4790k @4.8 GHz
GPU: EVGA GTX 1080 TI @2.075 GHz
Storage: Samsung 860 EVO 1 TB SSD, also a bunch of hard drives
RAM: 16GB Team somethingorother @1866 MHz
PSU: XFX 850W semimodular
Case: Thermaltake P3 w/ tempered glass
Cooling: EKWB Fluid Gaming aluminum system w/ 1x240mm 1x360mm radiators and cooled GPU
 

Rogues Gambit

Ready to race!
Location
Eatontown, NJ
See like me, you guys are running 16gb ram (I got a 500gb SSD, why I'm probably running out of space)

Humor me a second, layman's terms (Car analogies or however you wanna explain it), what would 32 and 64GB be like?
 

flipflp

Autocross Newbie
Location
PNW
Car(s)
'16 Golf R DSG
See like me, you guys are running 16gb ram (I got a 500gb SSD, why I'm probably running out of space)

Humor me a second, layman's terms (Car analogies or however you wanna explain it), what would 32 and 64GB be like?

Car analogy...ummm, more RAM means more stuff can be buffered and delivered quicker soooo more RAM is like a big clutch and drag slicks, so you can launch really hard. Without that, you can still be fast but the reaction won't be as quick so there could be delays opening programs or in loading screens. 16GB is pretty good for most things, but there isn't anything wrong with more RAM, just don't waste money on TOO MUCH. 32GB is a good upgrade, if I used the computer more I might add 2 more sticks, my 16GB was 2x8GB sticks.
 

Rogues Gambit

Ready to race!
Location
Eatontown, NJ
Car analogy...ummm, more RAM means more stuff can be buffered and delivered quicker soooo more RAM is like a big clutch and drag slicks, so you can launch really hard. Without that, you can still be fast but the reaction won't be as quick so there could be delays opening programs or in loading screens. 16GB is pretty good for most things, but there isn't anything wrong with more RAM, just don't waste money on TOO MUCH. 32GB is a good upgrade, if I used the computer more I might add 2 more sticks, my 16GB was 2x8GB sticks.

Gotcha

How about cooling processors?

240 Good enough or 360 ideal?
 

flipflp

Autocross Newbie
Location
PNW
Car(s)
'16 Golf R DSG
Gotcha

How about cooling processors?

240 Good enough or 360 ideal?

I've never dabbled into water cooling, but honestly get as big of a cooler that your case can fit IMO. There is no such thing as too much cooling really, you can overkill sure, but it's not going to hurt anything.

My setup now is just running a low pro air cooler because of limited case space.
 

Rogues Gambit

Ready to race!
Location
Eatontown, NJ
I've never dabbled into water cooling, but honestly get as big of a cooler that your case can fit IMO. There is no such thing as too much cooling really, you can overkill sure, but it's not going to hurt anything.

My setup now is just running a low pro air cooler because of limited case space.

Good to know

Think my cousins built one, maybe he can assist me if I decide to DIY
 

Rogues Gambit

Ready to race!
Location
Eatontown, NJ
Top