How not to overbuild a gaming PC

[flipflp]

https://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Year-End-Intel-Z390-i7-Special

Just screwing around on there while it's slow, plan on getting the magazines later, but where it starts getting into Hard drives, separates them by Primary and Data

Oh gotcha, Primary or boot hard drives are generally faster but smaller/lower capacity where you have Windows and most of your programs installed, and a data drive would be a standard spinning drive where you'd store media and larger files. Things you don't access all the time or things you don't need to access quickly.

Edit: Whoops had those backwards

 

[Rogues Gambit]

Not sure what that's in reference to, more info?

Found this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2426151/primary-data-hard-drive.html

So basically, Primary hard drive = SSD, Data hard drive = HDD, Large storage and fast OS

 

[Rogues Gambit]

So new item on the bucket list of new years resolutions: Learning to build a PC

 

[flipflp]

Found this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2426151/primary-data-hard-drive.html

So basically, Primary hard drive = SSD, Data hard drive = HDD, Large storage and fast OS

I had that backwards, but I edited my post. Unless you buy a massive fast SSD it always makes sense to have a big HD to store big files/media on.

 

[Rogues Gambit]

I had that backwards, but I edited my post. Unless you buy a massive fast SSD it always makes sense to have a big HD to store big files/media on.

And you've seen the stuff I posted on IG, got tons more stuff that ain't posted, hence the need for big data

Definitely among my goals next year, along with helping my gf get her R and getting a Gladiator

 

[DiscusInferno]

If you go on youtube, Cary Holzman has videos on how to build a PC. He painfully goes into detail, so that there shouldn't be any questions on how to build a PC.

There is one subject that is always controversial: How to apply thermal paste to the CPU. There are some methods such as "grain of rice" or spread it thin over the CPU with a flathead screwdriver. Both works, it just preference. But people can argue all night long which is better.

You'll have to decide which route: AMD or Intel, watercooled or aircooled (how much overclocking you intend to do?)

With watercooled, do you piece everything together for full customization or buy a premade kit?

If you want to do SSD's, consider the M.2 chips.

SSD's have gone down considerably in price, since they were introduced years ago.

Seagate has the FireCuda "Hybrid" such uses SSD for cache and optical for space, that is another option to consider if you're on a budget.

 

[-Dutch-]

I'm not convinced there's a need for a separate primary drive at this point. Back when there was big performance differences to be found with traditional drives, yes. Especially when SSD's came on the scene and were expensive.

These days Terabyte SSD's are $150 or less.

 

[flipflp]

I'm not convinced there's a need for a separate primary drive at this point. Back when there was big performance differences to be found with traditional drives, yes. Especially when SSD's came on the scene and were expensive.

These days Terabyte SSD's are $150 or less.

Fair point, there also used to be more of an issue with SSDs slowing down because of a lack of "cleaning" previously used space, and that was a BIG reason you didn't want to use SSDs like a storage drive. I'm not 100% sure if that's still an issue because I know the drivers have improved massively, but personally I'd rather spend more on a smaller SSD that is faster for the performance and have my cheap 1TB WD black or whatever I had laying around for big files.

 

[Chad13762]

I'm late to the discussion, but here's a resource I use to help spec a new build. It aligns components so you don't overspend on one part, while the PC is bottlenecked somewhere else. It's a good start for estimating build cost too.

http://www.logicalincrements.com/

Also, consider a NAS with a pair of redundant hard drives (RAID 1) for storage. Keep all your files on that, and use the PC's internal SSD just for the O/S and programs. It will save you a lot of heartache down the road if you need to re-do your O/S or have a hard drive crash. They're the way to go if you have multiple PCs too. They're cheap and pretty easy to set up.

 

[Rogues Gambit]

I'm late to the discussion, but here's a resource I use to help spec a new build. It aligns components so you don't overspend on one part, while the PC is bottlenecked somewhere else. It's a good start for estimating build cost too.

http://www.logicalincrements.com/

Also, consider a NAS with a pair of redundant hard drives (RAID 1) for storage. Keep all your files on that, and use the PC's internal SSD just for the O/S and programs. It will save you a lot of heartache down the road if you need to re-do your O/S or have a hard drive crash. They're the way to go if you have multiple PCs too. They're cheap and pretty easy to set up.

Hey, thanks! Gonna take a look at it later

 

[MeltedSolid]

Oh damn, I stopped paying attention to this thread too early. CPU is kind of like the engine, the bigger the more responsive and easier it takes to higher power levels. GPU is kind of like the turbo, it's purpose is moar powah. SSD is kind of like coilovers/tires/etc., it makes it more responsive and an overall better experience compared to stock suspension/HDD. PSU is like fueling, get enough to do the job. RAM is like aero, you need a bare minimum to make it functional (make sure you didn't accidentally leave an actual parachute on the outside of your car), but generally extra (i.e. more than 16gb) is pointless and mostly for show unless you're using your car/computer for professional things that specifically require a lot of it. Sorry, FlipFlp, but I strongly disagree with your analogy, more RAM WILL NOT make your computer more responsive unless you are using all of it. If anything, watercooling is kind of like drag slicks, you only ever need it if you're trying to push the limit, but if you are it's essential.