First Build - PC newbie.. HELP NEEDED PLEASE!

[JaybonePatrone]

Hey Guys,

Been contemplating on buying a console... but after a fair bit of Google smashing i've come to the conclusion that I will opt for a PC.

I haven't really got a clue where to start, Intel / AMD.

Games I am looking to get into are; Arma 3 / Dayz, Rust, 7 days to Die and the usual CS and stuff.

I've been researching on CPUs, GPUs but to the Lehman like myself haven't got a clue what to get.

probably got around 10k to start juggling around with. this excludes monitor, keyboard, gaming mouse, and other peripherals.

If anyone can guide me on where to even start, and what to look for i'd be forever in your debt.

Cheers guys and Girls.

 

[PsychoFish]

Hey Guys,

Been contemplating on buying a console... but after a fair bit of Google smashing i've come to the conclusion that I will opt for a PC.

I haven't really got a clue where to start, Intel / AMD.

Games I am looking to get into are; Arma 3 / Dayz, Rust, 7 days to Die and the usual CS and stuff.

I've been researching on CPUs, GPUs but to the Lehman like myself haven't got a clue what to get.

probably got around 10k to start juggling around with. this excludes monitor, keyboard, gaming mouse, and other peripherals.

If anyone can guide me on where to even start, and what to look for i'd be forever in your debt.

Cheers guys and Girls.

With that budget it slaps you straight into the mid range.

My suggestion would be (this is based off average prices so mileage may vary) :

CPU : Intel Core i5 6500 Processor - Socket 1151 +/- R4000
Motherboard : ASRock Intel H110M DGS/D3 Motherboard - Socket 1151 or similar +/- R 1000
RAM : 2 x 4GB DDR3 modules, again +/- R400 each
Case : Something cheap R +/- R 450
PSU : 450 W for +/- R 600

GPU : GTX 960 R +/- R 3500

This will put you around the R10k mark if not just over

 

[The Joker]

Cpu:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/lga1151/...6500-320ghz-with-turbo-core-360ghz-lga11.html

Motherboard:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/lga1151/...1-2x-dual-channel-ddr4-2133-4x-sata6g-on.html

Memory:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/2400-300...r-8gb-2x-4gb-kit-ddr4-3000-pc4-24000-cl1.html

HDD:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/35-hdds/...che-2017mm-opticache-acutrac-.html?ipa=0&ins=

Gpu:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/r9-serie...ro-edition-2gb-256bit-gddr5-core-memory-.html

Case:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/midi-tow...hite-softouch-surface-treatment-no-psu-b.html

Psu:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/300w-450...ex-1x-8pin-6-2-pci-express-co.html?ipa=0&ins=

R11 561

Decent little rig, should perform well with a mixture of high settings up to 1080P.
I would have liked to add a SSD but that would push it well over R12 000.

Bare in mind you mention wanting to play ARMA 3. The game is a mess and a complete cpu hog. You should be good with the above mentioned system, just don't expect running the game at high settings. (I've got a R60 000 pc and Arma 3 gives my rig a run for it's money).

I would suggest looking at your budget and setting an absolute max budget. Maybe try saving a little more if possible so you can add that SSD. Also take note that every part I included comes with fantastic 3 year local warranty except for the HDD which comes with 2 years.

 

[Avatar]

Cpu:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/lga1151/...6500-320ghz-with-turbo-core-360ghz-lga11.html

Motherboard:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/lga1151/...1-2x-dual-channel-ddr4-2133-4x-sata6g-on.html

Memory:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/2400-300...r-8gb-2x-4gb-kit-ddr4-3000-pc4-24000-cl1.html

HDD:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/35-hdds/...che-2017mm-opticache-acutrac-.html?ipa=0&ins=

Gpu:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/r9-serie...ro-edition-2gb-256bit-gddr5-core-memory-.html

Case:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/midi-tow...hite-softouch-surface-treatment-no-psu-b.html

Psu:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/300w-450...ex-1x-8pin-6-2-pci-express-co.html?ipa=0&ins=

R11 561

Decent little rig, should perform well with a mixture of high settings up to 1080P.
I would have liked to add a SSD but that would push it well over R12 000.

Bare in mind you mention wanting to play ARMA 3. The game is a mess and a complete cpu hog. You should be good with the above mentioned system, just don't expect running the game at high settings. (I've got a R60 000 pc and Arma 3 gives my rig a run for it's money).

I would suggest looking at your budget and setting an absolute max budget. Maybe try saving a little more if possible so you can add that SSD. Also take note that every part I included comes with fantastic 3 year local warranty except for the HDD which comes with 2 years.

This is an excellent build, and great recommendations. How much will OP save if he swapped out the lanie Corsair RAM for something more generic? Also, I've got a beef with ASRock (since an old mobo refused to boot up in Linux without minor black magic and virginal blood sacrifices), so is there something similar in an MSI or Gigabyte flavour? Finally, if we take ARMA 3 out of the equation, would getting a cheaper CPU make sense, or will we just be bottling up the bottleneck some more?

 

[The Joker]

This is an excellent build, and great recommendations. How much will OP save if he swapped out the lanie Corsair RAM for something more generic? Also, I've got a beef with ASRock (since an old mobo refused to boot up in Linux without minor black magic and virginal blood sacrifices), so is there something similar in an MSI or Gigabyte flavour? Finally, if we take ARMA 3 out of the equation, would getting a cheaper CPU make sense, or will we just be bottling up the bottleneck some more?

Would probably save around R150 if the ram is changed.
No beating around the bush, it's a bare minimum board. It does it job and that's it. I couldn't find any other board in that price range.
I wouldn't recommend getting anything lower spec than an i5, there are already games coming with a quad core as a minimum system requirement.

 

[Avatar]

Would probably save around R150 if the ram is changed.
No beating around the bush, it's a bare minimum board. It does it job and that's it. I couldn't find any other board in that price range.
I wouldn't recommend getting anything lower spec than an i5, there are already games coming with a quad core as a minimum system requirement.

Well, that's R150 towards an SSD...
I'm asking you these because I like the no beating around the bush answers, thanks for that! I'm a little out of touch with CPU models and performance, so I was really just wondering if there is a lower spec i5 that won't mess up the build too badly.

Thanks for the answers, man.

 

[The Joker]

Well, that's R150 towards an SSD...
I'm asking you these because I like the no beating around the bush answers, thanks for that! I'm a little out of touch with CPU models and performance, so I was really just wondering if there is a lower spec i5 that won't mess up the build too badly.

Thanks for the answers, man.

Always a pleasure bud.

 

[AstroTurf]

I would buy a entry level bottom of the range psu/case combo (around R250@esquire) and put the "savings" into a better board.
Buy a better psu at a later stage.
Also, get a single 8gb RAM, in a couple months get another.
Also, see if you can't get an old hdd off someone or for cheaper. Get ssd somewhere in future.

Basically, anything you are going to inevitably upgrade anyway go cheap. (psu/case/gpu/hdd etc).
Anything you want to really last the distance, go expensive. (CPU/Motherboard/etc).

 

[B1nary]

Just a thought since the hardware has been covered,you mentioned the price is without screen, if you are going to use this essentially only for gaming you don't need to buy a screen if you already have a TV buy a xbox controller for it and use steams big picture mode and you have yourself a SteamBox.

 

[The Joker]

I would buy a entry level bottom of the range psu/case combo (around R250@esquire) and put the "savings" into a better board.
Buy a better psu at a later stage.
Also, get a single 8gb RAM, in a couple months get another.
Also, see if you can't get an old hdd off someone or for cheaper. Get ssd somewhere in future.

Basically, anything you are going to inevitably upgrade anyway go cheap. (psu/case/gpu/hdd etc).
Anything you want to really last the distance, go expensive. (CPU/Motherboard/etc).

Yeah and then 2 months down the line when it all goes up in smoke you'll forever regret that choice.

People always think it's a good idea to skimp on a psu...

 

[Flex]

Yeah and then 2 months down the line when it all goes up in smoke you'll forever regret that choice.

People always think it's a good idea to skimp on a psu...

Agree 100%.
I have always felt that providing your pc with good, steady and reliable power is like giving your car better and cleaner fuel.
Sure you can buy cheaper fuel, and you won't notice a difference in a few months. But 2 years or so down the line your engine will start to feel the effect. Might be exaggerating a little bit. But it is the same principle. And Electronics are even more fragile then Mechanical Parts

 

[mottamort]

Just a thought since the hardware has been covered,you mentioned the price is without screen, if you are going to use this essentially only for gaming you don't need to buy a screen if you already have a TV buy a xbox controller for it and use steams big picture mode and you have yourself a SteamBox.

The fact that he's going to play fps games makes that a BIG mistake. Gaming on a tv SUCKS for that sort of thing, and I'm not even going to go into the controller vs kb/mouse "debate"

Screen will always trump tv with regards to that.

 

[Flex]

The fact that he's going to play fps games makes that a BIG mistake. Gaming on a tv SUCKS for that sort of thing, and I'm not even going to go into the controller vs kb/mouse "debate"

Screen will always trump tv with regards to that.

Yes, you can't use a TV screen to play CS. You are going to have a very bad time! =D

 

[PsychoFish]

I've got a beef with ASRock (since an old mobo refused to boot up in Linux without minor black magic and virginal blood sacrifices)

I have that beef with Biostar, it's got very little to do with the build quality and performance and more to do with their rubbish BIOS

 

[PsychoFish]

Yeah and then 2 months down the line when it all goes up in smoke you'll forever regret that choice.

People always think it's a good idea to skimp on a psu...

Amen to that...PSU is the most skimped on component in most people's builds and it ends up costing them in the long run.

 

[Avatar]

I have that beef with Biostar, it's got very little to do with the build quality and performance and more to do with their rubbish BIOS

^ This guy knows!

The issue I had was getting the machine to boot up with a dedicated GPU. This was in 2007, mind, so Ubuntu has come a long way, but I've got a feeling that it'd still sukkel the same way. See, the ASRock guys had a clever way of disabling the onboard GPU when a dedicated one is plugged in; just allocate it no memory. That way, nothing can display, so the user can't accidentally use it and wonder why CS looks shit.

This worked well enough for Windows, but I wanted to try out Ubuntu, as the machine was mostly used for university projects, 90% of which could be done on Ubuntu friendly FOSS. Ubuntu looked for a graphics device, found device number 0, the onboard GPU, and latched on. But it had no memory.. So to fix it, you had to boot in without the discrete GPU, blacklist the onboard device, switch off, put in the GPU, boot up, boot into the CLI, perform some incantation to make Ubuntu forget the blacklisted device completely, reboot, and hopefully boot up using the discrete card.

When I couldn't get the machine to boot up, I went back to Windows for that machine, and swore never to use ASRock again. Unfortunately, I had an FX5200, so CS still looked shit.

 

[PsychoFish]

^ This guy knows!

Yeah, my issue with with their UEFI cleverness and GRUB2. I could see the HDDs, I can tell the OS to install on the HDDs. I could boot from a live linux CD and a portable linux installation from a USB drive. But the installed Linux OS would basically just go "Sorry, no bootable drives found" then you take the HDD, shove it into another PC with a different mobo and it would boot no issues.

Issue was more OS related that anything, as it would only format MBR and not GPT for the guided partitioning and the motherboard would never really witch UEFI off completely so it was just an issue from day one.

 

[B1nary]

Yes, you can't use a TV screen to play CS. You are going to have a very bad time! =D

True, though you could use a wireless kb and mouse, though its going to suck without a desk. lack of thought on my part. Too little sleep and too little coffee

 

[Flex]

True, though you could use a wireless kb and mouse, though its going to suck without a desk. lack of thought on my part. Too little sleep and too little coffee

It's not just about how far you will have to sit from the screen. but also the specs of a TV screen. A TV screen usually run at very low hertz. So for fps games especially that is exactly what you don't want

 

[AstroTurf]

Yeah and then 2 months down the line when it all goes up in smoke you'll forever regret that choice.

People always think it's a good idea to skimp on a psu...

In the close to 10000 pc's I have built in my life, never happened.



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