It's that time - let's build a PC, help!

Simon

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It's finally come time to build a PC. My laptop just isn't cutting it anymore when I try to play Planetside 2... on low graphics.

So here's a few guidelines for this one:

Price: $1100

Preferred source of parts: http://www.canadacomputers.com/ It is a local shop and has good prices for the most part.

I would prefer Intel for the processor. I am also hoping there is a motherboard with WiFi on it... my desktop won't be located too close to a router.

Graphics card can be anything. Also need a monitor in there!
 
It's finally come time to build a PC. My laptop just isn't cutting it anymore when I try to play Planetside 2... on low graphics.

So here's a few guidelines for this one:

Price: $1100

Preferred source of parts: http://www.canadacomputers.com/ It is a local shop and has good prices for the most part.

I would prefer Intel for the processor. I am also hoping there is a motherboard with WiFi on it... my desktop won't be located too close to a router.

Graphics card can be anything. Also need a monitor in there!
you're asking for a quality build including a screen for 1100? thats quite a bit. Specify what mobo size you want. Mini-ITX, Atx, etc. that along with the processor, gpu, psu, and screen is probs the majority of the cash. This doesnt include the case, peripherals and the other things you may want.
 
you're asking for a quality build including a screen for 1100? thats quite a bit. Specify what mobo size you want. Mini-ITX, Atx, etc. that along with the processor, gpu, psu, and screen is probs the majority of the cash. This doesnt include the case, peripherals and the other things you may want.

He really isnt asking alot.

You will need to specify what size CASE you want and what games you might be playing? Do you care to play Battlefield 3 on max settings and even the more recent games on max? Or are you just looking for something that can run Planetside 2 on decent settings? I can give you the largest case I could find and fit the parts for that case but I have no clue what your looking for in a case. Find out what size you want then come back to us. :P
 
He really isnt asking alot.

You will need to specify what size CASE you want and what games you might be playing? Do you care to play Battlefield 3 on max settings and even the more recent games on max? Or are you just looking for something that can run Planetside 2 on decent settings? I can give you the largest case I could find and fit the parts for that case but I have no clue what your looking for in a case. Find out what size you want then come back to us. :P

i think mobo form factor is a bit more important than the case. and he did specify planetside 2
 
i think mobo form factor is a bit more important than the case. and he did specify planetside 2

All he said is he couldnt play planetside 2 on low settings. He never said anything else about any other games. So no. He didnt specify.

I can buy the smallest motherboard and put it directly into the largest case. The case matters alot more then you think. If he needs something small then I will choose a smaller motherboard then a full size motherboard in a small case. The case determines what we can put inside the computer itself.
 
All he said is he couldnt play planetside 2 on low settings. He never said anything else about any other games. So no. He didnt specify.

I can buy the smallest motherboard and put it directly into the largest case. The case matters alot more then you think. If he needs something small then I will choose a smaller motherboard then a full size motherboard in a small case. The case determines what we can put inside the computer itself.

if you know the mobo size, then you have a baseline for the case size, so you know you're not overdoing it unless you plan on upgrading it to something larger in the future, which we actually dont know. plus since he did say planetside 2, we should go as far as to use it as his baseline performance on medium settings
 
if you know the mobo size, then you have a baseline for the case size, so you know you're not overdoing it unless you plan on upgrading it to something larger in the future, which we actually dont know. plus since he did say planetside 2, we should go as far as to use it as his baseline performance on medium settings

Erm. No we shouldnt use it as his baseline. Planetside 2 isnt a very demanding game to begin with. He could be playing multiple newer games like bioshock infinite and what not.

You are saying if we pick his motherboard we can chose his case. Fair enough. Say we pick a micro ATX motherboard. I can fit a micro ATX mobo in a full tower case with no problems. Does he need a full tower case? No. Does he want a full tower case? Probably not. Does he want something that looks good and is compact for a desk where he can keep it nice and neat? Probably. You do not want to over do it. His case preference is a big factor unless he plans to not use a case at all. Maybe he has a case? That means we have to pick the motherboards that would fit into that case. You leave out many different scenarios and just keep giving me the same "Motherboard determines everything" shpeal.

(Im sorry if I sounded rude.)



Back on topic.

Since I dont know what you want for a case. I will give you a very nice build for your money.

t2r2eun.png


Keyboards and mice are your personal preference.


EDIT:

I forgot to mention that the case comes in 4 different colors. You can get red, orange or silver instead of the black. Personal preference is also determined on the case. (I like the red one but I went for the black just as a normal genre.)
 
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Erm. No we shouldnt use it as his baseline. Planetside 2 isnt a very demanding game to begin with. He could be playing multiple newer games like bioshock infinite and what not.

You are saying if we pick his motherboard we can chose his case. Fair enough. Say we pick a micro ATX motherboard. I can fit a micro ATX mobo in a full tower case with no problems. Does he need a full tower case? No. Does he want a full tower case? Probably not. Does he want something that looks good and is compact for a desk where he can keep it nice and neat? Probably. You do not want to over do it. His case preference is a big factor unless he plans to not use a case at all. Maybe he has a case? That means we have to pick the motherboards that would fit into that case. You leave out many different scenarios and just keep giving me the same "Motherboard determines everything" shpeal.

(Im sorry if I sounded rude.)



Back on topic.

Since I dont know what you want for a case. I will give you a very nice build for your money.

t2r2eun.png


Keyboards and mice are your personal preference.


EDIT:

I forgot to mention that the case comes in 4 different colors. You can get red, orange or silver instead of the black. Personal preference is also determined on the case. (I like the red one but I went for the black just as a normal genre.)
no offense taken, everyone has their philosophies. personally, the white prodigy looks a lot more clean. btw, i dont know how, but that is actually the case I was thinking for this too. although, a mid tower would give him more room for improvement later on down the line.
btw, you forgot the psu, the prodigy doesnt come with one
 
no offense taken, everyone has their philosophies. personally, the white prodigy looks a lot more clean. btw, i dont know how, but that is actually the case I was thinking for this too. although, a mid tower would give him more room for improvement later on down the line.
btw, you forgot the psu, the prodigy doesnt come with one

Well it would have been nice if he gave me some info if he wanted a modular PSU or not. Thats why I didnt pick one. If he gets a good 600W PSU he will be fine.
 
I think you are getting into the weeds a bit and into semantics. Just ask how much room he has to put it, small/large desk, ideal monitor size, does he even care if it is compact or is that not important? Does he want or care to upgrade via SLI etc? If he just wants a comp that can play PS2 for 2-3 years and is not interested or able to buy multiple other games that would tell you all you need to know. Also is this $1100 US or CDN? That would make a bit of a difference from a common frame of reference standpoint. If he doesn't care about SLI a Mini-ITX case/motherboard with a compact and cool GTX 660 would work fine. If he wants to be future proof a bit more. I would go with a M-ATX case Mobo with a 670. If he is interested in a more incremental upgrade path a mid-tower with a 670 or 7870 and SLI or CFX option for future upgrade would work better.
 
Intel Core i7-3820 - $305.00
Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 - $205.00
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB - $114.00
Cooler Master HAF 922 Mid Tower ATX Case - $58.88
Corsair HX Series CMPSU-620HX 620W - $69.99
WD Black (WD1002FAEX) 1000GB (1TB) - $89.99
ASUS VE228H, 21.5" LED Widescreen Monitor - 1920x1080 - $129.99
Gigabyte (GV-R777OC-1GD) AMD Radeon HD 7770 1GB - $119.88 - As he said, it can be pretty much any graphics card. I think this is decent enough. He can easily upgrade later on if needed.

Total: $1092.73

You don't really need a DVD drive and as for the wireless card, you'll have to add an additional ~30 dollars:

D-Link DWA-525, Wireless N150 Desktop PCI Adapter

Pretty good but personally I would save some money by going with a i5 instead of an i7 and with 8GB of RAM instead of 16 and go with a bit better vidcard with at least 2GB of GDDR5. Just imo.
 
So far i like spidEY's build the best. I am looking for a mid-full size ATX build.

I can definitely drop to an i5-3570 perhaps, and shave off a few dollars there since I don't necessary need the features of an i7.
 
So far i like spidEY's build the best. I am looking for a mid-full size ATX build.

I can definitely drop to an i5-3570 perhaps, and shave off a few dollars there since I don't necessary need the features of an i7.

This helps a ton. If you wanted something big and bulky then I could definitely build you a different computer.
 
This helps a ton. If you wanted something big and bulky then I could definitely build you a different computer.

Definitely! Sorry, should have added that... this is for gaming, video editing.... not just for storage haha
 
So far i like spidEY's build the best. I am looking for a mid-full size ATX build.

I can definitely drop to an i5-3570 perhaps, and shave off a few dollars there since I don't necessary need the features of an i7.

I updated my post. Check out the awesome rig!
 
spidEY's rig seems perfect and fits my needs really well... Thanks a ton spidEY!!
 
spidEY to the rescue ~flies in, explains technical shizzlewizzle~ My work here is done ~cape whoosh~ spidEY AWAYYYYY
 
Definitely! Sorry, should have added that... this is for gaming, video editing.... not just for storage haha

I didnt pick the one I made just for storage. The GPU he picked is a downgrade from my GPU. Processor is the same... All he really did was add an extra stick of RAM and got a bigger mobo/case. Mine is just more compact but from looking at it mine has a bit more power.

The 660 I chose can run BF3 on ultra settings with ease. Your planetside 2 troubles would be long gone if you picked either of our builds. :P

As for him saying that a DVD/CD drive isnt needed is stupid to say the least. (Sorry spidey. Didnt mean it in an offensive way.)

He wont be able to mount his OS onto a flash drive unless he plans on downloading a pirated version or using a different computer to transfer everything to the USB and mount it there. He needs a CD drive. He will need it since a lot of games still use CD's. He will be highly disappointed to know the next time he buys a game from a store he wont be able to play it because he cant install it properly.

Oh and forgot to mention -

Pick this PSU - http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_443&item_id=057135

Everyone says they are the best PSU makers. Seasonic is, that is. I personally choose Cooler master PSU's but thats my personal opinion.
 
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