Building a gaming PC

[gtxman]

I'm kind of an audio person and never used on board sound. The heresy!

But I agree it's better now and acceptable for most people. You can always get a sound card later on, specially if you're on a budget.

Good thing is audio doesn't age like video does, and a good sound card will last until it disintegrates.

I heard the new realtek alc1150 onboard card is pretty good actually,will it sound good with Microlab solo 6c?

 

[PrincessCiri]

Marketing snobs. Apparently names like that make the owners E-penis bigger.

Wow. Does this mean I get my very own e-penis? So exciting.

Looks like this case allows setting the power supply air cycle to be independent - which is good for reducing the heat inside the case. It's good to avoid cases which mix air cycles for the PSU and other components.

Yay! I'm glad to hear this lmao I just picked it bc it didn't conflict with anything else I have

 

[Luxorek]

@Princess_Ciri Some other UK based PC sites for your consideration.

• http://www.novatech.co.uk/
• http://www.scan.co.uk/
• http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
• http://www.aria.co.uk

Check them out, just to compare prices. If you don't know how to build an actual PC, then don't worry. Majority of those kind of sites offer assembling your PC for a small price [sometimes for free].

Also, with your budget don't try to save money at the expense of your PC case. Trust me - a good one can serve you for long years. I personally strongly recommend Fractal Design Define R4 - it's basically soundproof and if you are the kind of person that values silence it might be the best choice.

 

[PrincessCiri]

@Princess_Ciri Some other UK based PC sites for your consideration.

• http://www.novatech.co.uk/
• http://www.scan.co.uk/
• http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
• http://www.aria.co.uk

Check them out, just to compare prices. If you don't know how to build an actual PC, then don't worry. Majority of those kind of sites offer assembling your PC for a small price [sometimes for free].

Also, with your budget don't try to save money at the expense of your PC case. Trust me - a good one can serve you for long years. I personally strongly recommend Fractal Design Define R4 - it's basically soundproof and if you are the kind of person that values silence it might be the best choice.

Thank you! I will take a look at them. If they are cheaper, the other site I was using said they will match the price, so we'll see....
I will also consider that case too, thank you for your help

 

[gtxman]

-Why get 4gb x2 ram? Just get 1 stick of 8GB and get another in the future,the dual channel performance boost is so small you will never notice it .
-Fractal Design Define R4 is good for noise reduction .An alternative is fractal design arc midi r2 if you want better air flow .
-Also never get Stock Nvidia cards they have poor Cooling .My take is MSI GTX 970 GAMING /WINDFORCE 3X from Gygabyte these cards have awesome coolers and come with a Slight OC.
just my 2 cents

 

[PrincessCiri]

-Why get 4gb x2 ram? Just get 1 stick of 8GB and get another in the future,the dual channel performance boost is so small you will never notice it .
-Fractal Design Define R4 is good for noise reduction .An alternative is fractal design arc midi r2 if you want better air flow .
-Also never get Stock Nvidia cards they have poor Cooling .My take is MSI GTX 970 GAMING /WINDFORCE 3X from Gygabyte these cards have awesome coolers and come with a Slight OC.
just my 2 cents

I've decided to get a 2 x 8gb so it's fine.
What is a stock Nvidia card? Is that something I've chosen?

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

For assembling, here is a useful video:

[video=youtube;d_56kyib-Ls]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls[/video]

 

[octavian123]

A stock Nvidia card is one manufactured by them. Think of it as an unmodded car. Aftermarket cards from MSI, ASUS or Gigabyte feature better coolers and a small factory overclock.

I have a GTX 970 DirectCU II STRiX. The double cooler only activates when the temperatures go above 70 degrees and even then it is very quiet. It is so good that I've rarely seen it go above 73 degrees. If you want to overclock in the future, you'll need an aftermarket card. Even if you do not want to, they are very silent and efficient.

EDIT: The video Gilrond posted is useful but for a small fee you can avoid the hassle of assembling it yourself by asking the company to do it for you, It's not the most complicated thing in the world but it's not hard to see why it would be intimidating to a newcomer.

 

[GuyNwah]

-Why get 4gb x2 ram? Just get 1 stick of 8GB and get another in the future,the dual channel performance boost is so small you will never notice it .
-Fractal Design Define R4 is good for noise reduction .An alternative is fractal design arc midi r2 if you want better air flow .
-Also never get Stock Nvidia cards they have poor Cooling .My take is MSI GTX 970 GAMING /WINDFORCE 3X from Gygabyte these cards have awesome coolers and come with a Slight OC.
just my 2 cents

Those are excellent cards, good recommendation.

nVidia doesn't actually manufacture anything. They design, then contract out the manufacturing. (That's one reason "Maxwell" has been so slow to market.) What they do is, they put out a "reference design". Manufacturers can use that design or change it as they find suitable.

EVGA has long been nVidia's flagship manufacturer. They always produce a line of reference-design cards, as well as others with aftermarket coolers. EVGA-made reference-design nVidia cards are fine. But anybody else's take on the reference design, not so sure.

 

[octavian123]

Those are excellent cards, good recommendation.

EVGA-made reference-design nVidia cards are fine. Anybody else's, not so sure.

AMD reference cards are covered in what I like to call a "plastic casket". That, coupled with the insane power consumption of AMD cards make the cards very hot. It was normal for my 6950 to be at around 95 degrees.

 

[PrincessCiri]

A stock Nvidia card is one manufactured by them. Think of it as an unmodded car. Aftermarket cards from MSI, ASUS or Gigabyte feature better coolers and a small factory overclock.

I have a GTX 970 DirectCU II STRiX. The double cooler only activates when the temperatures go above 70 degrees and even then it is very quiet. It is so good that I've rarely seen it go above 73 degrees. If you want to overclock in the future, you'll need an aftermarket card. Even if you do not want to, they are very silent and efficient.

So does that include my 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970?? I'm not really sure how to tell what kind it is

 

[gtxman]

So does that include my 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970?? I'm not really sure how to tell what kind it is

Can you post a link to the card you wish to buy?

 

[PrincessCiri]

Can you post a link to the card you wish to buy?

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-970/performance I think this is it.

 

[Engagerade]

Buy a 3rd party model with a cooler like Gigabyte Windforce 3x,Asus DirectCU II or MSI Twin Frozr V it will make your card run a lot cooler and gives more leeway for overlocking etc they also tend to have a better circuit board.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-GTX-970-Graphics-Express/dp/B00NOP536Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414782636&sr=8-1&keywords=gtx+970
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-NVIDIA-Gaming-Graphics-Express/dp/B00NQ862GY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1414782636&sr=8-5&keywords=gtx+970
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nvidia-GeForce-Strix-Graphics-Express/dp/B00NFFAW50/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414782704&sr=8-1&keywords=gtx+970
Buy the one you fancy from wherever you want. Asus seems to be the most solid or atleast they were so could someone help me out as i dont know much about this Generation of Cards
I dont recommend Dual GPU.
16GB RAM is not needed for gaming 8 will do.

 

[PrincessCiri]

Buy a 3rd party model with a cooler like Gigabyte Windforce 3x,Asus DirectCU II or MSI Twin Frozr V it will make your card run a lot cooler and gives more leeway for overlocking etc they also tend to have a better circuit board.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-GTX-970-Graphics-Express/dp/B00NOP536Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414782636&sr=8-1&keywords=gtx+970
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-NVIDIA-Gaming-Graphics-Express/dp/B00NQ862GY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1414782636&sr=8-5&keywords=gtx+970
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nvidia-GeForce-Strix-Graphics-Express/dp/B00NFFAW50/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414782704&sr=8-1&keywords=gtx+970
Buy the one you fancy from wherever you want. Asus seems to be the most solid or atleast they were so could someone help me out as i dont know much about this Generation of Cards
I dont recommend Dual GPU.
16GB RAM is not needed for gaming 8 will do.

The thing is as I am buying it from this site https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-haswell-pc/ I can only use the parts they are offering and I don't think they are offering that stuff. Not to mention those graphics cards are too expensive for me.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

By the way, if you can wait until next year, you can get 14nm Broadwell CPU instead of Haswell. It might even become available in stores this year still.

 

[Engagerade]

It's no big deal.i wonder though do you have or plan on getting an SSD?

 

[GuyNwah]

The thing is as I am buying it from this site https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-haswell-pc/ I can only use the parts they are offering and I don't think they are offering that stuff. Not to mention those graphics cards are too expensive for me.

That's the catch with buying from some integrators: they don't tell you who manufactured the GPU. For cards that are actual nVidia brand, the manufacturer is rumored to be Flextronics. Flextronics is a huge contract manufacturer based in Singapore; only the notorious Foxconn is bigger. They also make high-end (AX) power supplies for Corsair.

EVGA is spendy; it's unlikely to be EVGA. EVGA also has the best warranty and support in the GPU market.

If you make sure you get a 97-series motherboard (H97, Z97), you will be able to update to Broadwell when Intel releases desktop Broadwell chips. But Broadwell will be more a power reduction than a performance increase.

 

[Engagerade]

By the way, if you can wait until next year, you can get 14nm Broadwell CPU instead of Haswell. It might even become available in stores this year still.

It's a bit unnecessary for gaming though.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

It's a bit unnecessary for gaming though.

Why not? It consumes less power and produces less heat so it's more effective for any type of usage and better for the build overall.