The PC Build Thread

[FlatspinZA]

Hi FlatspinZA

You can view the new PC Builder's Guide here : http://comogam.net/pc-builders-guide/

As suggested by NomNom, I've taken a new approach to the PC Builder's Guide, where instead of sourcing components at the cheapest price available from a wide host of online retailers, I've opted to rather use one store (for peace of mind), that being Rebel Tech.

The choice was due to a variety of reasons, but most importantly, many members from MyBroadband (including myself) have bought from Rebel Tech and their customer service is excellent, this I can personally vouch for. Rebel Tech will generally go out of their way to please a customer, an example of this is that if you buy your components from their store Rebel Tech will personally put together your PC free of charge. Secondly their prices are well below most of their competition, I've found that the only stores that could possibly match Rebel Tech, in terms of pricing, were Prophecy, PC International and Ikonic IT.

Let me guess, you have a buddy there?

I decide a few years back that bargain hunting across online stores to put a computer together is a waste of time. It's a logistical nightmare when you have to remember where you bought what.

The best bet is just to go with a reputable place and try negotiate a discount, if you can.

 

[Duff-Man]

Let me guess, you have a buddy there?

I decide a few years back that bargain hunting across online stores to put a computer together is a waste of time. It's a logistical nightmare when you have to remember where you bought what.

The best bet is just to go with a reputable place and try negotiate a discount, if you can.

No seriously I don't have any buddeis or contacts up in Rebel Tech , but actually now that I think of it, I would rather put it up to a vote for the community to answer.

 

[Papa_g0a]

looking for a to buy a decent a gaming desktop, would like to play current games on medium to high settings and for it to last a good few years
safe to buy desktops on bid or buy?
i found this:
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/8676..._LIC_WIN7_PRO_NVIDIA_GRAPHICS_DESKTOP_PC.html
also this:
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/88679514/Intel_i7_PC_2TB_Drive_8GB_Ram_New_PC_for_R4499_Only.html which i need to buy a gfx card for and buy the lcd kb and mouse for an extra R950
thoughts?
open to suggestions...

 

[|3ash3r]

looking for a to buy a decent a gaming desktop, would like to play current games on medium to high settings and for it to last a good few years
safe to buy desktops on bid or buy?
i found this:
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/8676..._LIC_WIN7_PRO_NVIDIA_GRAPHICS_DESKTOP_PC.html
thoughts?
open to suggestions...

Depends which current games you want to play. For example, I don't think you would be able to play on medium to high graphics on that GPU in Battlefield 3, Hitman Absolution or Assassin's Creed III as it is a very old, entry level card. It might be adequate enough to get away with low settings (medium would be a stretch).

In terms of buying from bid or buy, I would not buy any 2nd computer (or parts) from anyone before thoroughly testing them in person. Obviously this is not feasible for every seller but if they cannot make the time for me to test it, I cannot make the payment (R4k is a lot of money to buy a picture of a 2nd hand product - at least with new parts and computers, there is a warranty attached to the product).

 

[ponder]

open to suggestions...

What's your budget?
Do you need a monitor, keyboard, mouse etc or just the "box"?
Where are you located?

Maybe we can come up with something better.

 

[Papa_g0a]

Depends which current games you want to play. For example, I don't think you would be able to play on medium to high graphics on that GPU in Battlefield 3, Hitman Absolution or Assassin's Creed III as it is a very old, entry level card. It might be adequate enough to get away with low settings (medium would be a stretch).

In terms of buying from bid or buy, I would not buy any 2nd computer (or parts) from anyone before thoroughly testing them in person. Obviously this is not feasible for every seller but if they cannot make the time for me to test it, I cannot make the payment (R4k is a lot of money to buy a picture of a 2nd hand product - at least with new parts and computers, there is a warranty attached to the product).

Thanks for the advice, I totally didnt' see that the link i posted was for a 2nd hand item!
I would definately want to play the games you've mentioned on atleast medium settings I also found this: http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/88679514/Intel_i7_PC_2TB_Drive_8GB_Ram_New_PC_for_R4499_Only.html
which says that it is brand new and the seller has an excellent rating too.
for the above I'd need to buy a gfx card and buy the lcd kb and mouse offered for an extra R950

whats a good website where i could check the performance of gfx cards and other important components?
I did check the pc build page which definately did help although a few of the components were sold out.
Is there a huge a difference between certain i7's? are certain models they bring out notorious for being faulty ect?

thanks again for the help

 

[Papa_g0a]

What's your budget?
Do you need a monitor, keyboard, mouse etc or just the "box"?
Where are you located?

Maybe we can come up with something better.

I'm in JHB and i'd like to keep it around 6k-7k
I've been using a laptop for quite a while so i'll need the whole package besides mouse :/
whats most important to me is a system that will be able to run games for the next 5 years or so (is this possible) so i don't have to shop around every 2 years for a new desktop.

 

[|3ash3r]

I'm in JHB and i'd like to keep it around 6k-7k
I've been using a laptop for quite a while so i'll need the whole package besides mouse :/
whats most important to me is a system that will be able to run games for the next 5 years or so (is this possible) so i don't have to shop around every 2 years for a new desktop.

The main concern here is that the seller doesn't mention which chipset the motherboard and CPU have (I am assuming 1155 because of the price). There are different types of sockets, typically 1155 and 2011 (which are the majority of boards - there is also the 1366 socket which is not recommended mainly because of it's price compared to the 1155). LGA 2011 is the new socket type which is extremely pricey and your budget would be spent on just the CPU and MoBo. :wtf:

In terms of the saving you get (25%), it is a good deal because you are pretty much getting the RAM, the hdd and optical drive free. In addition, you would get the add-on of R950 for KB, mouse, monitor and speakers. They have 2GB GPUs for R900 which surprises me since entry level 2GB GPUs start close to R2k (EDIT: I hope I'm wrong ). You will need to find out the makes and names of each one and try searching in Google for something like "Card A vs Card B".

The total cost would easily be between 6k-7k if you decide to go with them but keep in mind that to play current games relies more heavily on the GPU you have and not so much the processor/RAM you have. I have just upgraded from a lesser i3 CPU to the latest i5 and find little to no difference in the "increased" speed, however, after pulling out the 1GB 9800GT and sticking in a 2GB 660 Twin Frozr Nvidia card, all current games run on full graphics with a min FPS of 40 and average of around 50 fps (I couldn't even play Company of Heroes on full graphics before and now I can).

Thanks for the advice, I totally didnt' see that the link i posted was for a 2nd hand item!
I would definately want to play the games you've mentioned on atleast medium settings I also found this: http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/88679514/Intel_i7_PC_2TB_Drive_8GB_Ram_New_PC_for_R4499_Only.html
which says that it is brand new and the seller has an excellent rating too.
for the above I'd need to buy a gfx card and buy the lcd kb and mouse offered for an extra R950

whats a good website where i could check the performance of gfx cards and other important components?
I did check the pc build page which definately did help although a few of the components were sold out.
Is there a huge a difference between certain i7's? are certain models they bring out notorious for being faulty ect?

thanks again for the help

Good sites (some are OK, some are great, so the average is good )
http://www.hwcompare.com/
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/
http://www.nvidia.com/content/HelpMeChoose/fx2/HelpMeChoose.asp?lang=en-us
http://wiki.altium.com/display/ADOH/Performance+comparison+of+graphics+cards

and then also have a look at (these might be a bit out of the budget though):
http://www.techspot.com/review/550-best-gaming-graphics-cards/page6.html

EDIT: Actually, some of those cards are well within your budget (didn't see the latter GPUs).

Hopefully this helps. Maybe wait a while to get more feedback from the MyBB community. Other guys on here may have other suggestions and offer better solutions

EDIT: As for the different i7s, I cannot comment in that regard because I find i7s to be extremely pricey and an i5 could potentially match the capabilities of the i7 but I find no need to do that anyway. For example, I had the option of going for the 2600K i7 3.4GHz or the i5 3570K and I chose the R800 cheaper i5 which suits me fine (it's perfect for my needs and both have four cores, so I don't see any benefit in the more expensive i7).

 

[ponder]

...so i'll need the whole package besides mouse :/

whats most important to me is a system that will be able to run games for the next 5 years or so (is this possible) so i don't have to shop around every 2 years for a new desktop.

I don't think that's gonna happen on your budget, if it excluded a monitor then you could get a R5k PC + R2k GPU and that should be OK.

 

[ponder]

You can view the new PC Builder's Guide here : http://comogam.net/pc-builders-guide/

That link is dead?

 

[|3ash3r]

That link is dead?

I've accessed it now and it works.

@Papa_g0a, the Workhorse is just above budget but may be good enough for a few years.

 

[Papa_g0a]

|3ash3r thanks again, that puts things in some perspective maybe i'll for and now i can compare ect.

I don't think that's gonna happen on your budget, if it excluded a monitor then you could get a R5k PC + R2k GPU and that should be OK.

what do you think of this:
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/88679514/Intel_i7_PC_2TB_Drive_8GB_Ram_New_PC_for_R4499_Only.html
then with the screen ect. it'll cost R5500 I don't mind spending 2k for a GPU and going 500 over budget

 

[Papa_g0a]

I've accessed it now and it works.

@Papa_g0a, the Workhorse is just above budget but may be good enough for a few years.

checked the links of the workhorse but quite a few of the componenets are already sold out

 

[ponder]

I've accessed it now and it works.

I still cannot open it.

ERROR

The requested URL could not be retrieved

While trying to retrieve the URL: http://comogam.net/pc-builders-guide/

The following error was encountered:

Connection to comogam.net Failed
The system returned:

(111) Connection refused
The remote host or network may be down. Please try the request again.

 

[ponder]

|3ash3r thanks again, that puts things in some perspective maybe i'll for and now i can compare ect.


what do you think of this:
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/88679514/Intel_i7_PC_2TB_Drive_8GB_Ram_New_PC_for_R4499_Only.html
then with the screen ect. it'll cost R5500 I don't mind spending 2k for a GPU and going 500 over budget

That does not say what components they use inside the box so it's hard to say. Example the PSU might be a 350W unit for all we know.

 

[|3ash3r]

I still cannot open it.

That is weird... :erm:

 

[|3ash3r]

|3ash3r thanks again, that puts things in some perspective maybe i'll for and now i can compare ect.


what do you think of this:
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/88679514/Intel_i7_PC_2TB_Drive_8GB_Ram_New_PC_for_R4499_Only.html
then with the screen ect. it'll cost R5500 I don't mind spending 2k for a GPU and going 500 over budget

I agree with ponder. There are details lacking regarding the make of hard drive (whether Seagate or some other cheaper version - I usually stick to Seagate for HDD), the type of RAM (1333MHz, 1600MHz, whether it's G. Skill, Patriot, etc. or some cheaper version) and absolutely no mention of the PSU. The DVD optical drive has no brand name on it (mine at least has LiteON written on the front which is not a very good make btw but I got it for free from my boet).

Furthermore, a 1 year warranty is generally very low for brand new components (usually 2 or 3 years for a decent warranty), so it looks like a great deal in terms of the saving of 25% but you do need to check with the seller to get the makes on each component including the screen and speakers (including the KB and mouse). Once you have that, you can make your decision (if the components have unfamiliar names, post them here so that we may help )

 

[|3ash3r]

I still cannot open it.

Try doing a tracert in cmd to comogan.net? As you can see, I have iBurst which is by far the worst connection I have ever experienced .

C:\>tracert comogam.net

Tracing route to comogam.net [181.224.128.50]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 62 ms 48 ms 42 ms iburst-41-56-80-1.iburst.co.za [41.56.80.1]
2 71 ms 42 ms 48 ms iburst-41-213-1-2.iburst.co.za [41.213.1.2]
3 113 ms 54 ms 158 ms 192.168.0.113
4 126 ms 64 ms 58 ms pgw02-int-ge03.jhb.wbs.co.za [41.213.126.21]
5 291 ms 368 ms 308 ms ldn-b4-link.telia.net [213.248.95.177]
6 271 ms 294 ms 302 ms abovenet-ic-151536-ldn-b5.c.telia.net [213.248.76.86]
7 248 ms 276 ms 254 ms xe-4-2-0.mpr2.lhr3.uk.above.net [64.125.27.162]
8 315 ms 268 ms 242 ms ge-5-1-0.mpr1.lhr3.uk.above.net [64.125.28.94]
9 419 ms 322 ms 502 ms ge-3-3-0.mpr1.la5.us.above.net [64.125.26.37]
10 359 ms 418 ms 324 ms xe-4-1-0.cr1.ord2.us.above.net [64.125.31.237]
11 338 ms 388 ms 404 ms xe-5-1-0.mpr1.ord6.us.above.net [64.125.24.233]
12 350 ms 634 ms 452 ms 64.124.146.114.allocated.above.net [64.124.146.114]
13 514 ms 424 ms 486 ms 181.224.128.50

Trace complete.

Anyway, it should at some point start saying "* * * Request timed out" (example below - ironically, I can't even ping www.iburst.co.za, little own trace the route :wtf. I fail to remember how to retrieve the offending IP blocking your connection to a website.

C:\>tracert iburst.co.za

Tracing route to iburst.co.za [196.2.125.95]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 46 ms 42 ms 44 ms iburst-41-56-80-1.iburst.co.za [41.56.80.1]
2 62 ms 52 ms 54 ms iburst-41-213-1-2.iburst.co.za [41.213.1.2]
3 * * * Request timed out.
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 * * * Request timed out.

 

[Papa_g0a]

cool, I'll ask the seller for more specific details and if i need help post em back here

 

[Duff-Man]

I still cannot open it.

That link is dead?

Hi ponder

I was upgrading Comogam to a better hosting solution, which would've caused some downtime. The upgrade was fully completed this morning, so everything should be working perfectly now. If you can't access the PC Builder's Guide or any part of the site please inform me, as your IP Address might've been blocked by CloudFlare, which is the CDN Comogam is using.