Another Newbie Trying to Build a Gaming PC

[ADD1CTED GAM3R]

Hey, everyone!

As the title of this thread suggests, I'm a relatively new PC Gamer looking to build a decent Gaming PC, but the problem is that I'm getting lost in the sea of options. I'm not new to computers in general; I've been using them for years now, and I know my way around their hardware, software and applications in most general scenarios, but when it comes to these advanced levels, I get a little confused.

Before I continue on, I'll state that my intent isn't to play FPS games on the rig that I end up with; those I play on my consoles. The games that I'd like to play on the PC are more in the realm of RPG, such as Oblivion and Skyrim (especially Skyrim). I can play them on the PC that I currently have, and play them on the highest settings, but when I start applying Graphics Mods, the system just can't handle it, and the frame-rate drops to intolerable levels, causing unbelievable lag. I want a system that can allow me to run Skyrim on Ultra and add a lot of mods (graphics, gameplay, immersion, etc) without running into frame-rate issues again.

Here are the specs of my current system.

Tower: HP Pavillion A6620F
PSU: Thermaltake TR2 600W
Graphics Card: XFX Radeon HD 6750
Monitor: HP W1907 19" LCD

Other than the new power supply and graphics card, I haven't added anything else to the system. I thought about upgrading the RAM to 8GB (the max for this system), and adding a new processor, but because of the socket type (LGA 775), there aren't a lot of new processors available that would be much of an upgrade. Then I thought about completely swapping the motherboard out and adding a better graphics card, but I don't know if it's worth it. Maybe building a new machine is the better way to go?

I know the basics of building a PC:

- Case
- Motherboard
- Processor
- RAM
- Graphics Card
- Power Supply
- HDD
- Disc Drive (I already have one to use)
- Fans (if upgrading or adding more than what comes with the case)
- Operating System

For a monitor, I was thinking of using my TV; a 42" Samsung Plasma. Is that a bad idea? Do I need to compensate with higher-end parts?

The problem that I have is actually choosing the parts themselves; there are so many brands and varieties to choose from. I'm hoping that I can get some guidance. My budget isn't low, but it isn't outrageously high either; say... $1,000, maybe more?

I've been going through Newegg and picking out parts that seem to be "up to snuff."

So far, this is what I've got.

1) Rosewill Challenger ATX Mid-Tower Case
2) ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard
3) Crucial Ballistix Sport RAM (2x 4GB sticks) <<< Free w/ ASRock Motherboard
4) Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor
5) Cooler Master Hyper-212 EVO CPU Fan
6) Cooler Master 120mm Fan 4-Pack
7) NZXT Sentry-2 5-Fan Controller

I have yet to pick a Graphics Card. I've been looking at them, but there are so many brands and variations to choose from. I've read that when you want to use a lot of mods in Skyrim, you should choose a card that has more memory, preferably 3GB, or 2GB at the very least, but I don't know if that's true. I'm also unsure if it's more important to have a higher core-clock speed, or more CUDA cores... Ugh. This is confusing.

As far as an HDD is concerned, that's not too big of a deal; a reputable brand with a decent capacity will be fine. My current PC has 275GB free out of 500, and I've got a ton of music, movies and designs (I'm a Graphics Designer) on it, as well as downloaded programs and applications, so I'd be fine with another 500GB, but I might opt for a 1TB, seeing as they aren't really that expensive.

How's this looking so far? Overkill? Not powerful enough? I need help, especially choosing a Graphics Card!

If there are any questions or more information that is needed, let me know.

Thanks!

 

[Sleepingforest]

You're going to want to consult the "Midrange Build Guide" thread by mfenn. It's a comprehensive list of physical parts, and are typically the best deals available on Newegg. You'll have to drop down to the 7950 he recommends to afford an operating system though.

 

[denis280]

You're going to want to consult the "Midrange Build Guide" thread by mfenn. It's a comprehensive list of physical parts, and are typically the best deals available on Newegg. You'll have to drop down to the 7950 he recommends to afford an operating system though.

I was just about to give him the same link:thumbsup:

 

[ADD1CTED GAM3R]

You're going to want to consult the "Midrange Build Guide" thread by mfenn. It's a comprehensive list of physical parts, and are typically the best deals available on Newegg. You'll have to drop down to the 7950 he recommends to afford an operating system though.

Thanks for the link!

Would it be a problem if some aspects were changed from what he has listed? For example, the motherboard that is associated with that package isn't available, and the processor seems worse than the one I was looking at (3.4GHz with 3.9GHz Turbo vs 3.4GHz only on the one he picked).

For a monitor, I was thinking of using my TV; a 42" Samsung Plasma. Is that a bad idea? Do I need to compensate with higher-end parts?

 

[Bateluer]

Hey, everyone!

So far, this is what I've got.

1) Rosewill Challenger ATX Mid-Tower Case
2) ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard
3) Crucial Ballistix Sport RAM (2x 4GB sticks) <<< Free w/ ASRock Motherboard
4) Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor
5) Cooler Master Hyper-212 EVO CPU Fan
6) Cooler Master 120mm Fan 4-Pack
7) NZXT Sentry-2 5-Fan Controller

I have yet to pick a Graphics Card. I've been looking at them, but there are so many brands and variations to choose from. I've read that when you want to use a lot of mods in Skyrim, you should choose a card that has more memory, preferably 3GB, or 2GB at the very least, but I don't know if that's true. I'm also unsure if it's more important to have a higher core-clock speed, or more CUDA cores... Ugh. This is confusing.

As far as an HDD is concerned, that's not too big of a deal; a reputable brand with a decent capacity will be fine. My current PC has 275GB free out of 500, and I've got a ton of music, movies and designs (I'm a Graphics Designer) on it, as well as downloaded programs and applications, so I'd be fine with another 500GB, but I might opt for a 1TB, seeing as they aren't really that expensive.

How's this looking so far? Overkill? Not powerful enough? I need help, especially choosing a Graphics Card!

If there are any questions or more information that is needed, let me know.

Thanks!

Thanks for the link!

Would it be a problem if some aspects were changed from what he has listed? For example, the motherboard that is associated with that package isn't available, and the processor seems worse than the one I was looking at (3.4GHz with 3.9GHz Turbo vs 3.4GHz only on the one he picked).

For a monitor, I was thinking of using my TV; a 42" Samsung Plasma. Is that a bad idea? Do I need to compensate with higher-end parts?

Your 42in Samsung Plasma would be less than idea as a computer monitor, but odds are, its only 1080p and any modern graphics card can handle it with ease.

Given what you linked above, I think you can skip the 4pk of 120mm fans and the fan controller. These are frills and extras that really don't add much. A good case should come with adequate ventilation, intake and exhaust.

Do you intent to over clock? If not, you can also step down the CPU to a non-K model and use only the stock Intel cooler, saving some money on that addon card. Use the money saved to get a better video card. Just my 2 cents on that.

 

[ADD1CTED GAM3R]

Your 42in Samsung Plasma would be less than idea as a computer monitor, but odds are, its only 1080p and any modern graphics card can handle it with ease.

Given what you linked above, I think you can skip the 4pk of 120mm fans and the fan controller. These are frills and extras that really don't add much. A good case should come with adequate ventilation, intake and exhaust.

Do you intent to over clock? If not, you can also step down the CPU to a non-K model and use only the stock Intel cooler, saving some money on that addon card. Use the money saved to get a better video card. Just my 2 cents on that.

If you look at the specs of my TV, it's actually only 720p, but it can handle 1080p, because that's what I have the display of both my PS3 and my Xbox 360 set to, and you can see the difference between the 720p and the 1080p.

Anyways. Would there be performance drops while using my TV as a monitor in comparison to an actual monitor of a relatively normal size? I ask because my 19" monitor is fine for applications like typing this message, but I find it to be too small to play games on, having come from playing consoles on bigger screens for years on end. However, if it would cause significant performance drops, I suppose I could get used to using a monitor. What's a good size? 23"

As far as the fans are concerned, I'm actually looking at a different case that comes with a couple of 200mm fans, and allows the addition of more. I'd rather spend a bit of extra money to get better ventilation than skimp on it, because an old friend of mine did that very thing, and had problems with overheating. I appreciate the effort to cut the cost a bit though.

Honestly, I have no idea what overclocking is... so, probably not, lol. In that case, a non-K model of processor would be completely sufficient?

Another thing I have yet to understand is whether or not I should run both an SSD and an HDD. If I do, what content gets installed on what drive? How do I use them in conjunction with each other?

 

[oynaz]

Your plasma TV is fine for gaming.

 

[Cerb]

As far as the fans are concerned, I'm actually looking at a different case that comes with a couple of 200mm fans, and allows the addition of more. I'd rather spend a bit of extra money to get better ventilation than skimp on it, because an old friend of mine did that very thing, and had problems with overheating. I appreciate the effort to cut the cost a bit though.

All that's going to do is force you clean out dust more often. There are many ways to create overheating problems, most of which involve recycling warm air (FI, a fairly common thing I used to see a lot was no exhaust fan, with a top-mounted PSU...when the PSU got loaded up, and increased its fan speed, it just sucked its own warm air back in, leading to an overheating PSU and/or CPU).

If not overclocking, there are many good cases, and while some good cases do happen to have big 200mm fans, that's a detail for those cases. 2x120mm is more than enough for a non-overclocked gaming rig, today, in a standard ATX sized case. Lots of fans don't necessarily mean better ventilation.

For not much money, a Corsair 200R would be great, right now, with the included fans. Some more expensive cases can be a good bit quieter, but cooling differences will generally be pretty small.

Honestly, I have no idea what overclocking is... so, probably not, lol. In that case, a non-K model of processor would be completely sufficient?

Yes. Often, the K will be cheaper, due to combo deals, but if you're leaving it all stock, neither a K CPU nor Z chipset are necessary.

Another thing I have yet to understand is whether or not I should run both an SSD and an HDD. If I do, what content gets installed on what drive? How do I use them in conjunction with each other?

There are a few options: with an H or Z-series chipset, you can use SRT (Intel Smart Response Technology), which makes the SSD a high-speed cache for the HDD, but only get the HDD's space. In that case, you install to the HDD, get Intel's RST (Rapid Storage Technology) software, and then set up SRT. The result is in between the HDD and SSD speeds, and you don't get the added space from the SSD.

Or, with any chipset, you can use the SSD as the OS drive (C, and the HDD as a data drive (D, putting things you want to load quickly on the SSD, and things where that's not important on the HDD.

 

[DominionSeraph]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1352788
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1347591

Your Pavillion was released recently enough that the speed of its hard drive should be fine. This gets you $15 off a 1TB one with the case, though:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1326446
But since you don't look to really need the space you could save yourself the $55 and skip it. Just get the case alone.

cooler:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103099

SSD
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NHAEXE/?tag=pcpapi-20
(should be $163, but Amazon's prices can change by the minute. If it's gone much higher check NCIX, Adorama, and Newegg. (NCIX has it for $165. OOS at Newegg ATM.)

 

[ADD1CTED GAM3R]

Your plasma TV is fine for gaming.

There won't be any issues with performance, such as drops in frame-rate, graphics that appear to be of lower quality than they are, etc?

All that's going to do is force you clean out dust more often. There are many ways to create overheating problems, most of which involve recycling warm air (FI, a fairly common thing I used to see a lot was no exhaust fan, with a top-mounted PSU...when the PSU got loaded up, and increased its fan speed, it just sucked its own warm air back in, leading to an overheating PSU and/or CPU).

If not overclocking, there are many good cases, and while some good cases do happen to have big 200mm fans, that's a detail for those cases. 2x120mm is more than enough for a non-overclocked gaming rig, today, in a standard ATX sized case. Lots of fans don't necessarily mean better ventilation.

For not much money, a Corsair 200R would be great, right now, with the included fans. Some more expensive cases can be a good bit quieter, but cooling differences will generally be pretty small.

Initially I planned on going with a Mid ATX case, but then I found a Cooler Master Full ATX that has a couple of large fans, all of which are equipped with blue LED's, which is enough of a "cool factor" for me to spend a bit extra on it. Call it lame, but I like the color blue.

There are a few options: with an H or Z-series chipset, you can use SRT (Intel Smart Response Technology), which makes the SSD a high-speed cache for the HDD, but only get the HDD's space. In that case, you install to the HDD, get Intel's RST (Rapid Storage Technology) software, and then set up SRT. The result is in between the HDD and SSD speeds, and you don't get the added space from the SSD.

Or, with any chipset, you can use the SSD as the OS drive (C, and the HDD as a data drive (D, putting things you want to load quickly on the SSD, and things where that's not important on the HDD.

That.. all sounds.. very... confusing. Is there any real benefit to this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1352788
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1347591

Your Pavillion was released recently enough that the speed of its hard drive should be fine. This gets you $15 off a 1TB one with the case, though:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1326446
But since you don't look to really need the space you could save yourself the $55 and skip it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103099

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NHAEXE/?tag=pcpapi-20
(should be $163, but Amazon's prices can change by the minute. If it's gone much higher check NCIX, Adorama, and Newegg. (NCIX has it for $165. OOS at Newegg ATM.)

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with this parts list. It's incomplete. Are these suggestions on particular parts for a new PC build, or to upgrade my current PC? Because if they're for the latter of the two, it won't work, because that processor won't work on my motherboard, and it doesn't seem worth it to upgrade the one that I have, because with everything I'd be replacing, I'd be sticking all new parts inside the case that I have now, which I really can't do, because it's technically not my computer (it belongs to my Mom).

 

[DominionSeraph]

There are many ways to create overheating problems, most of which involve recycling warm air (FI, a fairly common thing I used to see a lot was no exhaust fan, with a top-mounted PSU...when the PSU got loaded up, and increased its fan speed, it just sucked its own warm air back in, leading to an overheating PSU and/or CPU).

Err, what? Unless you have the back of the case jammed up against a wall there shouldn't be a problem. My BiL's old rig was running such negative pressure that he was sucking air in through the GPU grille. I turned his rear fan into an intake (right under the PSU exhaust) and his temps improved dramatically.

Sounds more of a problem of a design with insufficient airflow. Yes, having a portion of the intake warmer than ambient is going to exacerbate the problem, but it shouldn't be enough to cause a problem on its own without a major external contributing factor. (like being shut in a cupboard.)

 

[DominionSeraph]

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with this parts list. It's incomplete.

All it's missing is the PSU which I left out because I assumed you were using that Thermaltake.

Here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703035
Promo code PSJUNE13

OS:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004Q0PT3I/?tag=pcpapi-20

 

[Cerb]

Err, what? Unless you have the back of the case jammed up against a wall there shouldn't be a problem. My BiL's old rig was running such negative pressure that he was sucking air in through the GPU grille. I turned his rear fan into an intake (right under the PSU exhaust) and his temps improved dramatically.

I don't know the specifics of your BIL's PC. This was something I saw quite a bit of until just a couple years ago, from individual's builds and boxes built by local shops, w/ a front and/or side intake fan, and PSU as the only dedicated exhaust.

That.. all sounds.. very... confusing. Is there any real benefit to this?

Faster storage performance. SSDs are very fast, but expensive, so you generally don't get a big enough SSD to be able to store everything on it.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...t-response-technology-ssd-caching,2938-7.html
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/42..._w_gigabyte_z68xp_ud3_issd_review/index6.html

Most here just use the SSD as an OS drive, and HDD as a data drive, instead of using SRT caching.

Corsair 200R case: $60, $10 MIR
Corsair CX500M PSU: $70, $15 promo code, $20 MIR
ASRock H87 Pro4: $88
i5-4670 (non-K): $309 w/ OS (link to Win 7 combo)
2x4GB 1.5V CAS 9 RAM: $60
Sapphire 7950: $280, $20 MIR, comes with Steam game coupons for Crysis 3, Bioshock inf., Far Cry 3, and the Tomb Raider reboot.
Samsung 840 120GB: $100
WD 1TB WD10EZEX: $70
Asus DVD burner: $20, $3 promo code
Windows 7 or 8 Home OEM 64-bit included w/ CPU combo
S&H: $13.32 (not choosing free!)
Total: $1071.22, with $18 of promo codes to apply, and $50 of MIRs (so, a net of around $1005).

Overall, if the MSI Z87 board were in stock, it would be about as good of a buy, w/ the K CPU promo.

There's a little room to move up and down, there.

 

[ADD1CTED GAM3R]

Faster storage performance. SSDs are very fast, but expensive, so you generally don't get a big enough SSD to be able to store everything on it.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...t-response-technology-ssd-caching,2938-7.html
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/42..._w_gigabyte_z68xp_ud3_issd_review/index6.html

Most here just use the SSD as an OS drive, and HDD as a data drive, instead of using SRT caching.

So, essentially, you place files that you want to load faster on the SSD, and use the HDD for everything else, like non-essential applications, data files, etc? What does that have to do with gaming, though? Wouldn't the SSD fill up quickly with all of the game data on it?

Corsair 200R case: $60, $10 MIR

For the same price (minus the $10 MIR), I could get this, which seems like a better choice, because of the increased ventilation.

Corsair CX500M PSU: $70, $15 promo code, $20 MIR

ASRock H87 Pro4: $88

No reviews? At the risk of sounding picky, I like products with a lot of good reviews.

i5-4670 (non-K): $309 w/ OS (link to Win 7 combo)

Isn't that processor a little worse than this one? 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) vs 3.4GHz. I like that it comes with an OS though...

2x4GB 1.5V CAS 9 RAM: $60

Sapphire 7950: $280, $20 MIR, comes with Steam game coupons for Crysis 3, Bioshock inf., Far Cry 3, and the Tomb Raider reboot.

I could be wrong, because I'm still relatively new to all of this, but isn't that card a bit slow? 850MHz at $280, when for a little bit more, I you can get a card that has around 1100MHz. Also, isn't NVIDIA better than AMD?

Samsung 840 120GB: $100

I'm still not 100% sure if this is a necessity or not. How much does it factor into gaming? Won't 120GB fill up quickly?

WD 1TB WD10EZEX: $70

I've read that the Black Model is better than the Blue. Is that true?

Asus DVD burner: $20, $3 promo code

I already have a Sony Optiarc drive to put into my rig.

 

[ADD1CTED GAM3R]

I typed a reply, but it's not here...?

EDIT: Nevermind; it's there now. WTF? Lol.

 

[DSF]

I would also go the route of installing the OS and apps on the SSD, along with any games that show marked benefit from shorter loading times, if they fit on it. Everything else can go on the large drive, including most of your games.

As far as using a 42" display, it's definitely doable, although I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for much besides the gaming itself. Text is notoriously hard to read on big displays like that, so if I were you I would hook your current computer up to it and try it out. Spend a half hour or so surfing the web or word processing (or whatever non-gaming stuff you'd use your computer for) and see how your eyes feel.

The web's often not a huge issue since browsers can easily increase the font size for you, but not all programs scale their interfaces well, so it depends on what you plan to do.

In terms of performance it'll be fine. The computer doesn't care how physically large the display is, just how many pixels it has to draw, and your 42" TV doesn't have any more pixels than the average 23-24" computer monitor.

Which case are you looking at? "Full tower" isn't an official standard, but some are obscenely bulky. That's not necessarily a problem if it's going to be sitting next to a large TV, but it will be a lot of wasted space, and potentially wasted money depending on the price. You can get blue LED fans pretty cheaply and install them in any case you buy.

 

[ADD1CTED GAM3R]

I would also go the route of installing the OS and apps on the SSD, along with any games that show marked benefit from shorter loading times, if they fit on it. Everything else can go on the large drive, including most of your games.

Would Skyrim benefit from being on the SSD?

As far as using a 42" display, it's definitely doable, although I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for much besides the gaming itself. Text is notoriously hard to read on big displays like that, so if I were you I would hook your current computer up to it and try it out. Spend a half hour or so surfing the web or word processing (or whatever non-gaming stuff you'd use your computer for) and see how your eyes feel.

The web's often not a huge issue since browsers can easily increase the font size for you, but not all programs scale their interfaces well, so it depends on what you plan to do.

In terms of performance it'll be fine. The computer doesn't care how physically large the display is, just how many pixels it has to draw, and your 42" TV doesn't have any more pixels than the average 23-24" computer monitor.

I actually just tested out some general browsing, and in order to be able to read the text without straining my eyes, I had to change the screen resolution to match the "maximum resolution" of my TV, which is marked on the official product page from Samsung as being 1028x764. It didn't look too bad, but I don't imagine the same would be said for any games that I played at that resolution, so I'd likely have to switch between resolutions depending on whether I was playing a game, or doing anything else on the PC.

It seems like more trouble than it's worth, so I think I should look into a monitor. Even if I get a monitor similar to the one that I have on this PC, and use it for everything other than gaming, and switch to my TV when I load a game. That could work, I suppose. Although, if I get a decent monitor (23-24"), I might find it fine enough for gaming as well.

Which case are you looking at? "Full tower" isn't an official standard, but some are obscenely bulky. That's not necessarily a problem if it's going to be sitting next to a large TV, but it will be a lot of wasted space, and potentially wasted money depending on the price. You can get blue LED fans pretty cheaply and install them in any case you buy.

Initially, I was looking at the Rosewill Challenger U3, but then I found the Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Blue Edition and it's pretty great. It's got a ton of ventilation, and the fans all have blue LED's on them. I know you can buy fans with LED's on them in just about any size, but this case has the advantage of having larger fans, which I've read are generally quieter than smaller fans, as they spin slower and still have the same, if not higher CFM rating as smaller sizes.

This is everything I have in my list right now:

1) Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Blue Edition Case
2) ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard <<< Comes with 2x4GB of Crucial Ballistix Sport RAM
3) Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Processor
4) Western Digital "Black" 1TB 7200 RPM HDD
5) EVGA GeForce GTX 670 FTW GPU
6) Corsair 650W PSU

 

[Cerb]

No reviews? At the risk of sounding picky, I like products with a lot of good reviews.

Very few have many, yet, and half of them are facepalm-worthy (example--that should be a bad review for that SSD, not the board). Haswell is still new.

Isn't that processor a little worse than this one? 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) vs 3.4GHz. I like that it comes with an OS though...

$25 cheaper, counting OS (and that you can almost always find $5 to take off from the OS), and the Turbo is 3.8GHz, which is slower, yes...by 2.5%.

I could be wrong, because I'm still relatively new to all of this, but isn't that card a bit slow? 850MHz at $280, when for a little bit more, I you can get a card that has around 1100MHz.

1100MHz means nothing, without much more information. You can generally compare nVidia 600 cards by core count and speed (not just speed!), and same with AMD 7800 and up. That's not a useful comparison across families from the same vendor, much less across vendors.

I'm still not 100% sure if this is a necessity or not. How much does it factor into gaming? Won't 120GB fill up quickly?

It's not a necessity. It's nice to have. Yes, it will fill up quickly, hence there being larger ones, or the use of SRT to split the difference.

I've read that the Black Model is better than the Blue. Is that true?

It gives you a longer warranty. Right now, that's it.

 

[ADD1CTED GAM3R]

Very few have many, yet, and half of them are facepalm-worthy (example--that should be a bad review for that SSD, not the board). Haswell is still new.

That's a good point, I suppose. I'm just so used to reading reviews before buying a product, especially when it comes to electronics. Rarely do I choose to buy a product that I don't know is a good choice. Is there much of a difference between the two boards?

$25 cheaper, counting OS (and that you can almost always find $5 to take off from the OS), and the Turbo is 3.8GHz, which is slower, yes...by 2.5%.

So, having the 3.8GHz Turbo isn't really going to show that much of a difference in performance?

1100MHz means nothing, without much more information. You can generally compare nVidia 600 cards by core count and speed (not just speed!), and same with AMD 7800 and up. That's not a useful comparison across families from the same vendor, much less across vendors.

Then, how do you tell which cards are "good," and which aren't? Like I said, I'm still new to all of this, so I don't want buy a card that turns out to not be fast enough to handle what I want to do in Skyrim without dropping my frame-rate to unbearable levels.

It gives you a longer warranty. Right now, that's it.

Oh. I read that it was faster, that's why I was looking at that one instead of the "blue" model.

So, I'm guessing the parts list that I have posted about you isn't good? :/

 

[Hubb1e]

I gotta say, this idea of using a low end 768p Plasma TV for your PC isn't a good idea. You should understand that size doesn't matter with displays, it's the size vs sitting distance that matters. I have a 24" monitor, and an 80" TV at home. I sit only a foot and a half from the 24" monitor, and 15 feet from the 80" TV and the 24" monitor takes up way more of my field of view than the 80" TV does. The 24" monitor is huge by comparison and is much preferred for reading text and playing games.

Also, there are much more complicated issues related to your 42" TV than you realize. First of all, your TV's native resolution is likely 1366x768 but it sounds like the TV will only accept 1024x768. It's possible that your TV has rectangular pixels and really is 1024x768, but newish Plasmas are 1366x768. So, any text you send to your TV will need to be stretched and it will look terrible. Also, TVs have overscan and you will need to accommodate for that. All this you can probably get around, but it will require intimate knowledge of how this all works to set up properly. And then there's the fact that your TV is only 768p which quite honestly sucks as a resolution.

Also, PC gaming is quite different than console gaming. Your PC will render all the resolution you tell it to, so sending a 768p TV 1080p and then letting the TV scale it down to 768p might look slightly better on your TV, but it's wasting processing power that you could have saved money on, or used for more framerate. A console will render the game at 720p typically and then will scale up to 1080p so you're really just making your console scale to 1080p and then making your TV scale to 768p. This might look better to you, but it's not the ideal way of doing things. Scaling typically loses detail, or introduces artifacts and the more scaling steps you do, the more the image will degrade from it's original image. Anyways, that's not that important. What's important is that if you're using your TV to game on a PC, set the resolution for closest to the TV native which is 1024x768p in your case and this will lower the requirements of your PC graphics card and won't over scale your image.

Moral of the story, spend $150 of your budget on a new 1080p display. As big as you can get for the price you are willing to spend and forget about the TV for gaming. It's a bad experience unless you're on the console playing with your friends with gamepads.

And then mfenns build is a fantastic build that really doesn't require much change. Ask questions about why he chose each one, but honestly I wouldn't change much at all about his build. Even if you don't overclock yet and even if you think you want to do something different now, as you learn more about this hobby mfenn's build will be a better starting point than just about anything else.

 

[Cerb]

Then, how do you tell which cards are "good," and which aren't? Like I said, I'm still new to all of this, so I don't want buy a card that turns out to not be fast enough to handle what I want to do in Skyrim without dropping my frame-rate to unbearable levels.

Reviews and pricing. AT's bench feature can give a rough comparison:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2

As far as Skyrim goes, most 2-3GB VRAM cards should be fine, modded up. With that game, you probably wouldn't notice a difference past a HD 7870 or GTX 660, TBH (the 660 series being slower if you use anti-aliasing, though).

Oh. I read that it was faster, that's why I was looking at that one instead of the "blue" model.

They have been, but right now, not so much. Given gaps in models, right now, I wouldn't be surprised if they are only just keeping up with the demand for the 1TB/platter models. Basically, though, the Black nets you nothing but warranty, and may even result in a slower drive, depending on model. The flood in 2011 really messed up WD and Seagate's production. Prices and availability have only, in the last 6 months or so, finally recovered to what they were before the flood.

So, I'm guessing the parts list that I have posted about you isn't good? :/

The older CPU and mobo will be a touch slower, and not really save much, since the free RAM is at the cost of a fairly expensive board; the GTX 670 is fine, just a bit more expensive; the 750W PSU is more than needed, if not overclocking.

With the MS Z87-G45 out of stock (with the promo savings combined with the i5-4670K, it's a good value even if you don't care about overclocking), the Silicon Power RAM in mfenn's $1100 build (with OS) now lacking a promo code, and the Capstone 650W PSU being $77 after the promo, mfenn's build is only 2 days old and already needs a refresh!

Also, definitely get a monitor.

 

[DominionSeraph]

I don't know the specifics of your BIL's PC. This was something I saw quite a bit of until just a couple years ago, from individual's builds and boxes built by local shops, w/ a front and/or side intake fan, and PSU as the only dedicated exhaust.

That's exactly how you want to set it up with only one case fan. And as the case fan will almost certainly be more powerful than the PSU fan, you'll have positive pressure and the PSU will not be drawing air in through the back.

 

[ADD1CTED GAM3R]

I gotta say, this idea of using a low end 768p Plasma TV for your PC isn't a good idea. You should understand that size doesn't matter with displays, it's the size vs sitting distance that matters. I have a 24" monitor, and an 80" TV at home. I sit only a foot and a half from the 24" monitor, and 15 feet from the 80" TV and the 24" monitor takes up way more of my field of view than the 80" TV does. The 24" monitor is huge by comparison and is much preferred for reading text and playing games.

Also, there are much more complicated issues related to your 42" TV than you realize. First of all, your TV's native resolution is likely 1366x768 but it sounds like the TV will only accept 1024x768. It's possible that your TV has rectangular pixels and really is 1024x768, but newish Plasmas are 1366x768. So, any text you send to your TV will need to be stretched and it will look terrible. Also, TVs have overscan and you will need to accommodate for that. All this you can probably get around, but it will require intimate knowledge of how this all works to set up properly. And then there's the fact that your TV is only 768p which quite honestly sucks as a resolution.

Also, PC gaming is quite different than console gaming. Your PC will render all the resolution you tell it to, so sending a 768p TV 1080p and then letting the TV scale it down to 768p might look slightly better on your TV, but it's wasting processing power that you could have saved money on, or used for more framerate. A console will render the game at 720p typically and then will scale up to 1080p so you're really just making your console scale to 1080p and then making your TV scale to 768p. This might look better to you, but it's not the ideal way of doing things. Scaling typically loses detail, or introduces artifacts and the more scaling steps you do, the more the image will degrade from it's original image. Anyways, that's not that important. What's important is that if you're using your TV to game on a PC, set the resolution for closest to the TV native which is 1024x768p in your case and this will lower the requirements of your PC graphics card and won't over scale your image.

Moral of the story, spend $150 of your budget on a new 1080p display. As big as you can get for the price you are willing to spend and forget about the TV for gaming. It's a bad experience unless you're on the console playing with your friends with gamepads.

Thanks for the information! I've actually been looking into displays already. I'm thinking about a 24" monitor; they seem to be the "standard."

And then mfenns build is a fantastic build that really doesn't require much change. Ask questions about why he chose each one, but honestly I wouldn't change much at all about his build. Even if you don't overclock yet and even if you think you want to do something different now, as you learn more about this hobby mfenn's build will be a better starting point than just about anything else.

The problem is that some of the parts in his build are out of stock, and there's no telling when they'll be available again.

Reviews and pricing. AT's bench feature can give a rough comparison:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2

As far as Skyrim goes, most 2-3GB VRAM cards should be fine, modded up. With that game, you probably wouldn't notice a difference past a HD 7870 or GTX 660, TBH (the 660 series being slower if you use anti-aliasing, though).

Well, Skyrim isn't the only game that I'll be playing on this system. It's what I'll play a lot of the time, and I do mean a lot, as the game has endless possibilities for playthroughs, but I'll play other games too... Far Cry 3, probably Watch Dogs when it comes out in November, etc. So, I'll want to have a system that can run them too. They of course, won't have any mods though, or at least, not that I can imagine.

The older CPU and mobo will be a touch slower, and not really save much, since the free RAM is at the cost of a fairly expensive board; the GTX 670 is fine, just a bit more expensive; the 750W PSU is more than needed, if not overclocking.

Oh, so the lower the CPU number, the older the model (2500 vs 3500 for example)? That makes sense... I'm retarded.

Yeah, the power supply is overkill, but it's got good reviews, and runs for almost the same price as some of the supplies that are of a lower, more suitable wattage, lol. It's strange.

With the MS Z87-G45 out of stock (with the promo savings combined with the i5-4670K, it's a good value even if you don't care about overclocking), the Silicon Power RAM in mfenn's $1100 build (with OS) now lacking a promo code, and the Capstone 650W PSU being $77 after the promo, mfenn's build is only 2 days old and already needs a refresh!

That's why I was trying to swap some things out of his build; it's outdated, or parts are out of stock. The problem is I suck at picking out parts!

Also, definitely get a monitor.

After much consideration, I plan to. I'm thinking a 24" will work.

 

[Cerb]

That's exactly how you want to set it up with only one case fan. And as the case fan will almost certainly be more powerful than the PSU fan, you'll have positive pressure and the PSU will not be drawing air in through the back.

If there is such positive pressure, yes. Typically what would happen is there would be when idle, but not when loaded, as the PSU fan would move much more air pulling from the bottom than the case fan would be pushing in, and/or a reference Geforce cooler would negate the intake when under load. With a good case today, you have to go out of your way to screw things up like that, though, and cases from reputable makers generally come stock in sufficient config.

Oh, so the lower the CPU number, the older the model (2500 vs 3500 for example)? That makes sense... I'm retarded.

It's intentional. Model numbers abstract performance, so you can't just compare by speeds. On one hand, speed isn't everything. On the other hand, it does require some effort to keep up with what's what.

 

[ADD1CTED GAM3R]

It's intentional. Model numbers abstract performance, so you can't just compare by speeds. On one hand, speed isn't everything. On the other hand, it does require some effort to keep up with what's what.

Alright.

You really seem to know what you're talking about, and I know you've already done this, but could you put together a list of what you think would be ideal for me? For the time being, I'll mainly be playing Skyrim, but eventually I'll venture out into Far Cry 3, Watch Dogs when that comes out, and who knows what other games, so I'll need a rig that can handle all of that.

I don't need DVD drive, as I already have one, and I can pick out a monitor as well, but the rest, I'm lost. As far as a case is concerned, I think it's pretty obvious by now that I proper and plentiful ventilation. Blue LED's are a nice touch, and although it would be convenient to have, USB 3.0 isn't a necessity for the case, as the rear of the MOBO will undoubtedly have it.

My apologies for being a royal pain in the ass, mate.