help me build a pc

[DrStrangeLuv]

Im trying to venture into the realm of building my own pc, whether I do it myself or buy it custom. Its main purpose would be gaming, with a strong focus on running wow on ultra settings on a 40inch 1080 screen. Now, I've heard conflicting stories about i5 versus i7 for running wow, what constitutes excessive amount of RAM, or even if should just go the AMD/Radeon route. using this website http://www.avadirect.com/compact-gam...asp?PRID=19655 you can use the drop down menus to customize a computer and link it back. It already has a system on it, but you can change everything about it so it doesn't matter. I'm looking for something that uses a Micro-ATX case as well, mini-itx if it can be done, but it has to be cubic in shape, no mini towers. HDMI output and a wireless card are required. Thanks. Looking to stay around $1000

[Vinho]

I5-3570k is the go to processor for gaming and all around everything you'll need. If you're not doing heavy video rendering, or it isn't tied directly to your income as I've heard some say, then there's absolutely no reason to go for the I7 processor. Hyperthreading doesn't help in gaming in any way shape or form.

Will you be needing a new monitor / keyboard / mouse as well?

General rule of thumb, unless you're on an incredibly tight budget, DON'T GO AMD.

Tweaking the PC ever so slightly (for a better GPU, 2500k to start) the price shoots over $1040, and you don't even have an SSD.

[DrStrangeLuv]

no need for mouse/ keyboard or moniter, just the pc.

thanks for the direct answer on the processor. from what i understand since wow doesn't use all the cores on the i7, and since the individual cores are clocked slower than the i5, this causes the loss of performance? Do you think the Elder scrolls MMO will use the full potential of the i7? How about skyrim or flight sim X?

Im guessing AMD is for budget gaming then? I've also been told not to mix intel/radeon or amd/nvidia

[Xl House lX]

Im trying to venture into the realm of building my own pc, whether I do it myself or buy it custom. Its main purpose would be gaming, with a strong focus on running wow on ultra settings on a 40inch 1080 screen. Now, I've heard conflicting stories about i5 versus i7 for running wow, what constitutes excessive amount of RAM, or even if should just go the AMD/Radeon route. using this website http://www.avadirect.com/compact-gam...asp?PRID=19655 you can use the drop down menus to customize a computer and link it back. It already has a system on it, but you can change everything about it so it doesn't matter. I'm looking for something that uses a Micro-ATX case as well, mini-itx if it can be done, but it has to be cubic in shape, no mini towers. HDMI output and a wireless card are required. Thanks. Looking to stay around $1000

I don't think there really is such a thing as excessive amount of RAM. For your current devices and hardware, yeah you could get too much, but getting more for future proofing wouldn't be a bad idea. Right now 16gb of ram will be good for a long time.

[DrStrangeLuv]

okay so i5-3570k and 16gb of ram, sounds good, DDR3 would be optimal, correct? what about things like cooling fans and a psu? I have no idea where to start with those 2 items...

[Lemmiwink]

Actually, the statement about i7 being clocked slower than the i5 is not entirely correct. They are both of equal architecture but the i7 has hyperthreading giving 8 logical cores. This causes the i7's cores to have only 98% of the efficiency of the i5's cores thus the i7 is clocked higher (3,5GHZvs3,4GHZ), an i7 will perform marginally better in just about anything due to higher clock speed but at the point where they both have the same clock speed, like OC'ed, the i5 can accidentally perform slightly better than the i7. That said, the i7 is not worth it for you by any means.

You wanted mini-ITX? Just built a so-called SteamBox or TV gaming rig or whatever you would like to call it, here is the specs I chose. I chose these parts due to being able to overclock and cooling matters:

Fractal Design Node 304
XFX 550W PSU
Asus P8Z77 I-Deluxe
i5 3570K
EVGA GTX660 SC (you need a reference cooler in mini-ITX cases if you want to keep the system cool, don't listen to nonsense about high end aftermarket coolers. They will pump your case so full of hot air that it will affect your system long-term.)
Corsair Vengeance 8GB low profile 1600mhz
Samsung 840 128GB + WD digital black 1TB
Corsair Hydro H60 (You would want a water cooler as it reduces system temperatures and pushes air out of the case. Also makes cable management easier in a small build like this.)

[DrStrangeLuv]

You wanted mini-ITX? Just built a so-called SteamBox or TV gaming rig or whatever you would like to call it, here is the specs I chose. I chose these parts due to being able to overclock and cooling matters:

Fractal Design Node 304
XFX 550W PSU
Asus P8Z77 I-Deluxe
i5 3570K
EVGA GTX660 SC (you need a reference cooler in mini-ITX cases if you want to keep the system cool, don't listen to nonsense about high end aftermarket coolers. They will pump your case so full of hot air that it will affect your system long-term.)
Corsair Vengeance 8GB low profile 1600mhz
Samsung 840 128GB + WD digital black 1TB
Corsair Hydro H60 (You would want a water cooler as it reduces system temperatures and pushes air out of the case. Also makes cable management easier in a small build like this.)

Very nice, what kind of gaming do you do on it? I plan on leaving my sysem on 24/7, think it'll do alright if I follow your model? A word on the RAM, would 1600mhz be more than enough for high end gaming? I see you went with 8gb, would 16gb be overkill?

[Vinho]

The standard is 1600 mhz, and higher won't give you any more performance for multi-tasking, which is what RAM/s primary function is. 8 gb for most users is more than enough, with 8 GB you could run 4 WoW Clients, Skyrim, Skype, Vent, some Audio players, and not even hit 4 of the 8gb of RAM, 16 gb is possible and overkill as well but is doable because RAM is so cheap now, that going from 8-16 won't break your bank.

And to confirm, no games whatsoever will utilize more than 4 cores (so hyperthreading / i7s are out for gaming) WoW only uses 2 cores.

There is nothing wrong with interchanging Brand of CPU & GPU, Even though AMD produces CPUs and GPUs, they would be foolish to limit themselves to their own processors which are already subpar. They would go out of business if they didn't provide proper support or performance for Intel CPUs

[Lemmiwink]

Very nice, what kind of gaming do you do on it? I plan on leaving my sysem on 24/7, think it'll do alright if I follow your model? A word on the RAM, would 1600mhz be more than enough for high end gaming? I see you went with 8gb, would 16gb be overkill?

Mostly Skyrim, Sleeping Dogs etc. I play with an Xbox-controller infront of the TV. It runs every game out there with ease. If you want more juice, buy a beefier gpu. 8GB RAM will do just fine for gaming and 1600Mhz is the sweet-spot for price/performance as you see very little benefit with regular use when having higher clocked RAM.