first build, 0 experience

[bmf4069]

I'm wanting to try my hand at building a computer from scratch. My HP pavilion i bought new for $500 in 2010 isn't cutting it anymore. Minecraft runs at about 20 FPS for the kids and I have to play Company of Heroes(the first one) at the lowest settings and it still lags down to 1 FPS during cut screens.

So what I'm after is mainly for internet and Mincraft for the kids. The newest game i would play is Company of heroes 2. I also want to play older games from the late 90's early 00's. I don't play any of the WoW or any of those so top speed isn't what I'm after.

I've only seen the inside of a computer once so I did a little research and thought these might match up:

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=25315125

i didn't know if i'd need a video card so i left it off. budget isn't too big of a worry; I'm gonna buy a part every week or two. I would like to keep single pieces around $200 to ease the burden if possible.

side note: I got the bug to try building my own after I had to set up a host ip to view a 32 camera/DVR CCTV I hooked up for a customer and having to do step by step HDD and RAM upgrades for Payless Shoes.

 

[bob4933]

Pass on the intel. Get an a10 7850 apu. You can probly skimp on motherboards, but I'd recommend you get something decent for reliability sake. I'm a huge fan of 990fx killer mobo.

Being an apu, I would splurge a bit and get some good, fast ram. 8gb should still be plenty.

I'll post you an idea when I get home.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I would build this in your position.

Small, powerful, cheap.
Case includes a PSU.

Consider going to a 23" monitor, the extra real estate is nice.

Pass on the intel. Get an a10 7850 apu. You can probly skimp on motherboards, but I'd recommend you get something decent for reliability sake. I'm a huge fan of 990fx killer mobo.

Being an apu, I would splurge a bit and get some good, fast ram. 8gb should still be plenty.

I'll post you an idea when I get home.

Bob, you're mixing sockets. That APU won't work in that motherboard.

 

[bmf4069]

I might have to step up the HDD a little. i have 235G on mine now. Do i need any cooling fans or anything? What about cables? I guess the DVD drive and floppy are OK?

Thanks for the quick replies; I wasn't expecting anything that fast!

 

[ATMINSIDE]

No extra fans, and the CPU will come with a heatsink.

For the HDD, you can grab a 1TB HDD to run in tandem with the SSD.
Load the OS/programs/games onto the SSD, and keep your music/movies/etc on the HDD.

Cables, just one for the monitor if you need one longer than what comes with the monitor (usually 6ft)

Also, if you need a disk drive and won't use it much just grab an external one. (I do all my installs from USB sticks now)
If you'll use it a fair amount, that case takes a slot-load style. Let me know and I'll show you one.

 

[Mag10]

I would build this in your position.

Small, powerful, cheap.
Case includes a PSU.

Consider going to a 23" monitor, the extra real estate is nice.

Thats a nice little build. More than enough for what is required. As for HDD you may want to check this out

 

[bmf4069]

I'll be using the disk drives a lot. Also, i have a wired connection for my internet. Will that card still be OK?

And what makes the SSD better than a HDD? Is it that much better for the price? Would a 500G SSD be good or do a 250 with a 500 HDD?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Thats a nice little build. More than enough for what is required. As for HDD you may want to check this out

Yep, should do what bmf needs for years to come!

I'll be using the disk drives a lot. Also, i have a wired connection for my internet. Will that card still be OK?

And what makes the SSD better than a HDD? Is it that much better for the price? Would a 500G SSD be good or do a 250 with a 500 HDD?

Added a 1TB HDD and slot-load DVD drive on this one.
You could do either the combo or 500GB SSD. It starts around $260 for the same model in the larger size.

 

[bob4933]

Bob, you're mixing sockets. That APU won't work in that motherboard.

Derp, good backup, thanks! Damn thing doesn't even have a video out anyway






On a serious note, you think he's better off with dedicated graphics? Kaveri chip sounds very much up his alley.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Derp, good backup, thanks! Damn thing doesn't even have a video out anyway

Spoiler

On a serious note, you think he's better off with dedicated graphics? Kaveri chip sounds very much up his alley.

I do think he's better off with dedicated graphics.
Honestly, its only ~$40 more for the 760K with 750Ti over the 7850K, but the performance is MUCH higher on the 750Ti.
Still going to barely sip any power, and it'll keep up with changing demands better

 

[bmf4069]

Well I think that'll get me started for now. I read the "how to build a computer" sticky twice now. Can I run windows 7 on this? And should I get an external HD to transfer everything?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

You can run Windows 7, but I would buy Windows 8.1 as it is the newest.

If you don't have one already it would be a good idea to have just for backing up your essential pictures/documents

 

[caddi daddi]

for a back up drive i just use a cheap toshiba cavino, comes with backup software, everything you need.
you only really need a 250 gig ssd at the most, but 500 is nice.
win 7/win 8 no issue with either, but if your building new, 8.1 is the future, win 7 is the past.

 

[caddi daddi]

oh, and go search you tube for build videos, and ask lots of question here, these guys are lots of help.

 

[Theocnoob]

I would build this in your position.

Small, powerful, cheap.
Case includes a PSU.

Consider going to a 23" monitor, the extra real estate is nice.



Bob, you're mixing sockets. That APU won't work in that motherboard.

Excellent suggestion ATM, that's a good build for this person. He wanted an optical drive, so let's add a slimline BD/DVDRW drive to that Hadron build.

BTW OP, floppy drives are obsolete, unless you have a bunch of stuff archived on floppy that you want to use. Smarter to get a card reader.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Excellent suggestion ATM, that's a good build for this person. He wanted an optical drive, so let's add a slimline BD/DVDRW drive to that Hadron build.

BTW OP, floppy drives are obsolete, unless you have a bunch of stuff archived on floppy that you want to use. Smarter to get a card reader.

See my later link

 

[Theocnoob]

Now that I think about it, I remember reading that the Pentium Anniversary Edition (the unlocked Haswell Refresh part) when overclocked, smokes these quad core athlon parts for gaming.

You could get the pentium with EVGA's little ITX cooler designed for the Hadron case. Overclock it to 4.7Ghz or so and you'll get very compelling gaming performance with the 750Ti, despite the part being dual core.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Now that I think about it, I remember reading that the Pentium Anniversary Edition (the unlocked Haswell Refresh part) when overclocked, smokes these quad core athlon parts for gaming.

You could get the pentium with EVGA's little ITX cooler designed for the Hadron case. Overclock it to 4.7Ghz or so and you'll get very compelling gaming performance with the 750Ti, despite the part being dual core.

Or you can grab the cooler, overclock the Athlon, and still have four cores.

 

[Theocnoob]

My studies suggest that an overclocked to the wall Pentium AA will defeat the Athlon in framerates. To each their own though. I'm sure either way will prove effective in this case.

 

[bmf4069]

I still have a couple games from the 90's that use floppy. I changed from an internal drive to a USB. As far as over clocking and framerates go I'm not to concerned. I've got a 360 and Xbox one for gaming and I don't play online games. I play CoH and my kids play minecraft.