Building a computer? Need advice/suggestions? Come here!

[Amit]

So what do you guys think of the Haswell line up? I'm thinking about building another PC before the year is out. Maybe something a bit smaller in a mATX case, but with more performance than my current machine. I'm not sure about it yet, though. I'm still skeptical about going back to Intel when it comes to future upgrades considering there's a new socket for this generation of Core processors.

[Tnnaas]

So, I made a deal with my step-dad. He purchased his last PC for about $500 with the intent of using it for video games. Sadly, he bought it prebuilt from a store, and it lacks any sort of official capacity to play games. The bet was that I could build him a decent gaming PC, capable of playing much more modern and demanding games, for under $500. The rule is, with the budget of $500, whatever isn't used to pay for the PC he will give to me.

He believes it's not possible. He's not really well informed.

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI H61M-P31/W8 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($45.88 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Athena Power CA-GSB01DA (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($27.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Logisys 575W ATX12V Power Supply ($21.98 @ Outlet PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $337.78 Shipping, taxes, and discounts included.

I think I'm going to pocket a little over $150.

EDIT: And I am so completely in love with PCPartPicker. <3

[Warsaw]

So what do you guys think of the Haswell line up? I'm thinking about building another PC before the year is out. Maybe something a bit smaller in a mATX case, but with more performance than my current machine. I'm not sure about it yet, though. I'm still skeptical about going back to Intel when it comes to future upgrades considering there's a new socket for this generation of Core processors.

If you have Sandy or Ivy, there is no point to Haswell.

[ejburke]

So, a guy I know is wanting to get a new computer to play CoH 2, because his old one is 5-1/2 years old and he has been playing everything at lowest settings for the past year plus. Do you guys think it's worth it to go full i7 4770 (8 threads/8MB L3/$320) or be more frugal with an i5 4670 (4 threads/6MB L3 cache/$230)? From what I can tell, the difference in performance is 5-10% in most applications and about 10-20% in tasks that rely heavily on multi-threading. Does that justify a 40% increase in price?

And I'm not talking about the K models. He's not going to overclock. The only wrinkle is that the 4770K has a slightly higher base clock than the locked version, so I can't tell from these reviews how much of the extra performance over the 4670 is coming from the extra threads/cache and how much is due to the higher frequency. If we go with the i7, it will be the 3.4 GHz 4770 and not the 3.5 GHz 4770K.

[Btcc22]

I think I'm going to pocket a little over $150.

You're either going to pocket less than $1 or you've probably not stretched the $500 far enough. That or you're a cheat.

[Tnnaas]

You're either going to pocket less than $1 or you've probably not stretched the $500 far enough. That or you're a cheat.

$500 - $337.78 = $162.22

I pocket the difference from between the budget and the price of the components. I'm not expecting that I'm going to receive exactly the amount I just checked, but I know I'm going to land around there. That's what the whole thing is about. And I'm cheating anyways because all my step-dad needs is a graphics card, some RAM, and maybe a new processor. But building a computer from the ground up is fun, so I went and selected everything I would need.

[Btcc22]

$500 - $337.78 = $162.22

My point was that you could easily utilise that spare money to build an even better machine, so why wouldn't you? Ah, right.

[ThePlague]

So, I made a deal with my step-dad. He purchased his last PC for about $500 with the intent of using it for video games. Sadly, he bought it prebuilt from a store, and it lacks any sort of official capacity to play games. The bet was that I could build him a decent gaming PC, capable of playing much more modern and demanding games, for under $500. The rule is, with the budget of $500, whatever isn't used to pay for the PC he will give to me.

He believes it's not possible. He's not really well informed.

CPU: Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI H61M-P31/W8 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($45.88 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Athena Power CA-GSB01DA (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($27.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Logisys 575W ATX12V Power Supply ($21.98 @ Outlet PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $337.78 Shipping, taxes, and discounts included.

I think I'm going to pocket a little over $150.

EDIT: And I am so completely in love with PCPartPicker. <3

Why are you going with intel? And i'd at least get a 7790 for him, they've been going on sale on and off lately.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=-1&IsNodeId=1&Description=7790&bop=And&Order=RATING &PageSize=20

And you can check here time to time to get cheaper deals.
http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/

[ThePlague]

AMD released more APU's, codenamed Richland:
http://sites.amd.com/us/promo/produc...nvincible.aspx

[Amit]

$500 - $337.78 = $162.22

I pocket the difference from between the budget and the price of the components. I'm not expecting that I'm going to receive exactly the amount I just checked, but I know I'm going to land around there. That's what the whole thing is about. And I'm cheating anyways because all my step-dad needs is a graphics card, some RAM, and maybe a new processor. But building a computer from the ground up is fun, so I went and selected everything I would need.

Be a good kid and put the rest of the money into a better CPU/GPU for Father's Day.