The PC Build Thread

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Mach III said:
Hey duff man.

I want to build a computer mostly for gaming. My budget is around R8000:

I like your i5 rig.

Is there a way I could customize that buiid:

i5 :
CPU : i5 3540 @R1825
Motherboard : MSI Z77A - G43 @R1215
GPU : EVGA GTX 550Ti @R1380
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 2TB @R1200
Power Supply : Corsair CX500 @R580
RAM : Kingston Hyper X 8GB - 1600MHz @R455
Case : Cooler Master HAF 922 @R1200
Optical Drive : Asus DVD-RW 24X @R150

Total = R8005


To save money on the motherboard, case, and 1TB harddrive to buy an HD 7850 instead?

After doing some reading, to me, it looks like AMD's trinity APU is better for gaming than anything else. Should I hold out until that arrives?
I want the PC to last for about 3 years

Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

Hey Mach III

Sure there are many ways to customize that build. Take note that AMD's Trinity APU's are probably the best option for gamers on a tight budget, however since you have a better budget you could build a far more powerful rig. I'll give you two builds one including a 7850 and one including a 6850. To fit your budget with a 7850 the first build is imbalanced with a lot of sacrifices having been made to fit the budget most notably the motherboard and HDD, however the second build although not having a 7850 is far more balanced and would offer a wider variety of features. I would recommend going with the second build as you can always in the future add in another 6850 and crossfire them for better performance or save up and get a 7850, but the choice is up to you

Here are my quotes

Build 1

CPU : i5 3540 @R1825
Motherboard : Gigabyte B75M-D3H @R855
GPU : Gigabyte Radeon 7850 @R2885
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 320GB @R480
Power Supply : Corsair CX500 @R580
RAM : Kingston HyperX Blue 1600MHz - 4GB Kit @R245
Case : Aerocool X Warrior @R480 Image

Total = R7350

______________________________________________________________________

Build 2

CPU : i5 3540 @R1825
Motherboard : ASRock Z77 Extreme4 @R1745
GPU : Gigabyte Radeon 6850 @R1675
HDD : WD Caviar Blue - 500GB @R710
Power Supply : Corsair CX500 @R580
RAM : Kingston HyperX Blue 1600MHz - 4GB Kit @R245
Case : Aerocool X Warrior @R480 Image

Total = R7260

That's the best I could do, remember the choice is up to you ;)
 
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NAG - Wesley said:
I won't steal Duff's thunder from his recommendations, but Trinity isn't going to cut it for a performance gaming rig. Up to a point Llano chips reach a bottleneck, specifically with the HD7950/GTX670 and anything stronger requires an Intel quad-core chip. Llano is good for low-cost computing that needs above-average graphics compared to Intel GMA HD, Trinity isn't going to give you that much more performance. Maybe it'll improve things with high-end discrete cards, but using the built-in graphics is where its at.

And its all much of a muchness because the desktop processors aren't even out yet and current Trinity chips are only built for the thermal constraints of a laptop. Once the desktop models hit, then we'll know how things fare.
Click to expand...

Currently I'm recommending Llano APU's and in the near future I will be recommending Trinity APU's to gamers that need a gaming rig on a tight budget, say around R5000. People with budgets higher than that I would recommend i5's along with a better discrete GPU. So basically Trinity won't cut it for the top-of-the-line gaming rigs but is probably the best option for gamers on a tight budget :)
 
Hiro ZA said:
damn, this thread is EXACTLY what I have been looking for :-) Duff-Man you LEGEND! I have only read the first couple pages and then scooted over to this final page. Looking for a basic rig where I can play Diablo 3 and SC2 and Civ 3. In other words, I'm mainly looking to play RTS games, as my primary platform for other games will still be my XBOX. Having said that, I want the RIG to be easily upgradable, in the event that I gravitate towards PC gaming again.

Budget is R5000, with no particular preference to brand. You advice ? I noted the previous posts where you advise that ppl wait for the AMD Trinity ? if i get this chip, then obviously it contains the GPU on board. but what happens if i decide to play more intense games and need to stick in a new GPU ? Would the chip and mobo still be fine or would those also need upgrade ?

aLso, is there any significant and noticable difference between 4,6 and 8 cores ?
Click to expand...

Thanks man :)

I'll give you the same quote I gave to Goliath, as it can run StarCraft 2, and Diablo 3 at 1920x1080 comfortably. I'd also recommend waiting for the new Trinity APU's to launch in the coming months and grab one of those along with a new FM2 socket motherboard.

CPU : A8-3850 @R1180
Motherboard : MSI A75A-G55 @R880
GPU : MSI Radeon 6850 @R1635
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 320GB @R480
RAM : Kingston HyperX Blue 4GB Kit @R245
Power Supply : Corsair VS450 @R400
Case : Aerocool X Warrior @R480


Total = R5300

There really isn't a massive difference between the number of cores when you're comparing AMD processors to AMD processors, but there is a very big difference when comparing the number of cores on an AMD processor to an Intel one for example if you look at the Workstation Performance Graph on the first page (which is the CPU's synthetic benchmark) you'll see that a quad core AMD processor is only matching up to a dual core Intel processor and an octal core AMD processor can barely match up to a quad core i5. The main reason for this is due to the fact that Intel's technology is far ahead of AMD's. AMD's flagship CPU the FX-8150 was meant to compete with Nahalem i7 CPU's which release roughly 2 and a half years ago, but instead production was delayed by 2 years which meant it had to compete with the far more advanced Sandy-Bridge i7's, and AMD's FX-8150 stood no chance.

However the performance of your CPU matter's far less when gaming, what really matters is the performance of your GPU. For example if I took an i5 and put in into a rig and compared it to a similar rig with an i7 3960X (6 Core Intel CPU, worth around R10 000) the difference in gaming performance would be unnoticeable, the same goes for AMD, if I took an A8-3850 APU and put in into a rig and compared it to a similar rig with a FX-8150 the gaming performance would be similar, the only issues could be the bottle necking of a higher end GPU by your CPU.

Hope this helps, if you have any questions just ask ;)
 
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Phish1 said:
Hi,

I'm busy planning my 1st ever build for around July and have the following components in mind (have been on a Pentium 4 Mecer laptop the past 8 years):

Intel i5 3450
ASUS P8Z77V-LX
Sapphire HD6850
Corsair Vengeance 2x2GB
Antec HCG 520 (non modular)
Antec 1 (One) chassis
WD Caviar Blue 750GB (WD7500AALX)

Will also need to buy keyboard (Logitech), speakers (Creative), optical drive (Asus), monitor (Samsung), front intake fan and OS (Win7)

Main use will be gaming (not necessarily latest), multi-purpose (accounting, spreadsheet), general entertainment (music & movies) i.e a good all round performer.

Budget is R 10,000 and is currently at R 9,800 from Rebeltech excluding OS.

Any comments will be appreciated...

PS Am considering getting a SSD drive later on...
Click to expand...

Hi Phish1

Congrats on deciding to build a new PC. The only comment I have to make is that if you want to save money on RAM you could also opt for G.Skill or Kingston's HyperX series, other than that a great looking build :)
 
Duff-Man said:
Hey Mach III

Sure there are many ways to customize that build. Take note that AMD's Trinity APU's are probably the best option for gamers on a tight budget, however since you have a better budget you could build a far more powerful rig. I'll give you two builds one including a 7850 and one including a 6850. To fit your budget with a 7850 the first build is imbalanced with a lot of sacrifices having been made to fit the budget most notably the motherboard and HDD, however the second build although not having a 7850 is far more balanced and would offer a wider variety of features. I would recommend going with the second build as you can always in the future add in another 6850 and crossfire them for better performance or save up and get a 7850, but the choice is up to you

Here are my quotes

Build 1

CPU : i5 3540 @R1825
Motherboard : Gigabyte B75M-D3H @R855
GPU : Gigabyte Radeon 7850 @R2885
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 320GB @R480
Power Supply : Corsair CX500 @R580
RAM : Kingston HyperX Blue 1600MHz - 4GB Kit @R245
Case : Aerocool X Warrior @R480 Image

Total = R7350

______________________________________________________________________

Build 2

CPU : i5 3540 @R1825
Motherboard : ASRock Z77 Extreme4 @R1745
GPU : Gigabyte Radeon 6850 @R1675
HDD : WD Caviar Blue - 500GB @R710
Power Supply : Corsair CX500 @R580
RAM : Kingston HyperX Blue 1600MHz - 4GB Kit @R245
Case : Aerocool X Warrior @R480 Image

Total = R7260

That's the best I could do, remember the choice is up to you ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help Duffman. I'm confused now though. It all depends on if I value a motherboard more over a graphics card, and I don't know what effect having a better motherboard will have. :/
 
Mach III said:
Thanks for your help Duffman. I'm confused now though. It all depends on if I value a motherboard more over a graphics card, and I don't know what effect having a better motherboard will have. :/
Click to expand...

Zero to none at the low end.
Better motherboards will generally have the following:
More SATA ports
More USB ports
Better overclocking potential and tools

So just get the better GPU, you will get real world performance out of spending more money on that
 
Hi I'm thinking of buying a new gaming PC and to sell my current one.

Currently I have the following:

Asus Vento 7700,
Intel Q6600,
CM Hyper 212+,
Asus P5K Deluxe,
Asus HD5850,
Asus 550watt,
8gig Kingston 800mhz,
2TB HDD space,
Samsung 2232GW + 2333SW,
Windows 7 64bit

Currently I can still play all the games I like i.e. Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Eve Online but I had this rig for just over 4 years now and I'm itching for a new one ;-)

By budget is R20,000 max (this should include everything, 2 new screen, gaming mouse + keyboard everything) and I want to buy it at the end of June.

So my questions are:
1) What can I sell my current PC for (should be a quicksell bargain, maybe to a friend)
2) What can I get as a new one (Need help here as I'll just pick random items which will not work together ;-))

The new PC should however be a future build which I can just upgrade after 2 years again without buying a whole new PC.

Thank you ;-)
 
Archer said:
Zero to none at the low end.
Better motherboards will generally have the following:
More SATA ports
More USB ports
Better overclocking potential and tools

So just get the better GPU, you will get real world performance out of spending more money on that
Click to expand...

Okay awesome!
 
whats the opinion regarding SLI ? would it be better to buy a single card for around R2,500 or 2 x 550Ti cards for around that price ?
 
Hiro ZA said:
whats the opinion regarding SLI ? would it be better to buy a single card for around R2,500 or 2 x 550Ti cards for around that price ?
Click to expand...

I'd say your best bet for the long run would be to save up another R400 and get a 7850 and then in the future, for more performance, add in another 7850 and Crossfire them.
 
Ok I am not much of a techno buff, so confused between an i5 or i7

Looking for a relatively fast package, with sufficient memory, will be using it mainly for:

Ms office orientated work
Running either Lightroom or Photoshop or both
Corel

What would u guys suggest?
 
Skywalker786 said:
Ok I am not much of a techno buff, so confused between an i5 or i7

Looking for a relatively fast package, with sufficient memory, will be using it mainly for:

Ms office orientated work
Running either Lightroom or Photoshop or both
Corel

What would u guys suggest?
Click to expand...

Since you are doing Photo & Video Editing the i7 would be better for you as those programs would make use of the i7's Hyper-Threading, thus giving you better performance.
 
Computex will reveal some interesting surprises, trust me. Its a real card and Powercolour's already got one in the final launch stage. Two HD7970s, 6GB of RAM and it requires three 8-pin PCI-E power connectors.
 
I'm looking to buy a new PC and would like to know if the components I chose are decent. My budget is around R8k. I have an old PSU 600w PSU at home that I hope still works, so I left PSU out. Also have a good case already. Here are the parts and their prices, buying all from RebelTech

Graphics card: GIGABYTE GV-R785OC-2GD, HD7850, 2GB ------------ R2,755
CPU: Intel i5 3570K, 3.4GHz, LGA1155, Quad Core -------------------R2383
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4, all-in-one LGA1155 -------------R1556
RAM: Kingston Hyper-X Blu 4Gb , ddr3-1600------------------------ R297
HDD: Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001, 2TB 7200rpm, 64mb--------- R1183

Total: R8,174.

Any suggestions or cheaper prices that you can recommend?
 
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Why not look at the Gigabyte HD7850 OC edition instead of the Club 3D card... if you can stretch it a bit (~R150-)?
 
SharkBait said:
Can only find the CPU a little bit cheaper, but that is at www.wootware.co.za and then shipping will move the cost up again.
Click to expand...

Indeed, shipping is R85, so I might as well just buy it all from 1 place.. But thanks, I checked there :)

srothman said:
Why not look at the Gigabyte HD7850 OC edition instead of the Club 3D card... if you can stretch it a bit (~R150-)?
Click to expand...

Thanks, updated!
 
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