Official PC Build/ Gaming Build/ Troubleshooting Help Thread.

Toaster

Pandamobile (if he isn't sleeping when you need him the most...lol)

FordGTGuy

Letros

Satanas (when he hops on...)

Dchal(Nihilism, WhiteNoise?..I dunno WTH to call you...lol)

Newtype

Flip-it

...are the people ( that I know of for now, I'll add as the thread progresses) on here with the most knowledge, so if you need help, ask away and someone will help you.



For now, till I am advised otherwise, probably best thing to do is state what you want.

Low, medium, or high end gaming PC and your budget you have. Best to let these guys know what your budget is so they can work with it.

Any problems? Just state what they are and they will help you troubleshoot as best they can.




Also, don't forget to check out this fine NewsBoiler site folks,
TechSpy

:)

Enough is enough!!  >:(

UNBAN RAGE AND TENSTEPS!!!  

I thought there already was one

All work and no play.. makes odion go something something

SmokeyMcBear


I thought there already was one

Yeah? If so, it isn't being used. If there is one that I don't know of/ can't find, lock this then, and maybe sticky that one, or something.

Enough is enough!!  >:(

UNBAN RAGE AND TENSTEPS!!!  

TMAN


Perhaps we need one of these...?

that would be so helpful to me, you could make 3 catergories. budget,medium budget, top of the range. you should start it with toaster TMAN

I guess this is a good start.. instead of having a bunch of threads about the same thing. If anyone needs help just post in this thread I guess and myself and other tech people will help you. 

I foresee Intel vs AMD battles in this thread. 

That_Whore


I foresee Intel vs AMD battles in this thread. 

Less than $200 Quad core, AMD

More than $200 CPU, Intel     See what I did there?

toaster


I guess this is a good start.. instead of having a bunch of threads about the same thing. If anyone needs help just post in this thread I guess and myself and other tech people will help you. 

hi again toaster, what do you think about this pc i custom chose through the website i think it's ok apart from the case and ram but i could upgrade them after anyway, im guessing everythings compatible, if it isnt then that's a poor website lol.
http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/custom/athlon/step6.html

What's your budget birdy966?

Yep everything is compatible, but that build is not fit for gaming - yet. Right now it's on integrated graphics which suck for gaming and should NOT be used. Upgrading this current build is easy shmeasy, 

1) You need to get rid of the 1GB of RAM and get 2GB or even better, 4GB (2x2GB) of DDR2 800. That motherboard will support up to 4GB. DDR2 is cheap cheap cheap so it won't cost you any more than $50 MAX for top of the line high end DDR2 :3

~$40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134635

2) Get a GTX 460. 

~$180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130597&cm_re=evga_gtx_460-_-14-130-597-_-Product

3) Corsair 500W PSU

~$60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139018&Tpk=corsair%20500w 

4) 80GB of HDD space is not enough for games.. a game could be 10GB. 8 games? Nah. Try this. 500GB Caviar Blue, Western Digital is my preferred brand. 

~$50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

And there you have a VERY capable gaming machine. Those Athlons are nothing to laugh at, most games will be GPU bottlenecked anyways and a dual core is already good. There are also higher end CPUs for Socket AM2+ if you want to upgrade that but it's not necessary. 

Letros


What's your budget birdy966?

 
Don't have one at the minute but i have alot of things to sell at the moment that i don't need and i will be getting monthly money soon of about £100. so..... about 2 months possibly £250-300 at a stretch. 

Man that sucks you have to pay VAT on internet purchases, purchases are tax free in the US if you don't purchase from a company in your state, well I believe we are supposed to claim them...but yea no

toaster


Yep everything is compatible, but that build is not fit for gaming - yet. Right now it's on integrated graphics which suck for gaming and should NOT be used. Upgrading this current build is easy shmeasy, 

1) You need to get rid of the 1GB of RAM and get 2GB or even better, 4GB (2x2GB) of DDR2 800. That motherboard will support up to 4GB. DDR2 is cheap cheap cheap so it won't cost you any more than $50 MAX for top of the line high end DDR2 :3

~$40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134635

2) Get a GTX 460. 

~$180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130597&cm_re=evga_gtx_460-_-14-130-597-_-Product

3) Corsair 500W PSU

~$60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139018&Tpk=corsair%20500w 

4) 80GB of HDD space is not enough for games.. a game could be 10GB. 8 games? Nah. Try this. 500GB Caviar Blue, Western Digital is my preferred brand. 

~$50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

And there you have a VERY capable gaming machine. Those Athlons are nothing to laugh at, most games will be GPU bottlenecked anyways and a dual core is already good. There are also higher end CPUs for Socket AM2+ if you want to upgrade that but it's not necessary.  

kk the hdd isn't important anyway because i can get a better one for free anyway (dad owns computer business). 
the ram isn't needed straight away as i won't be wanting to play top end games straight away just the classics first.ill upgrade when needed.and the graphics card i thought was ok and as im the uk the newegg links are pointless but thanks anyway


ill choose some other things on the site and post the link 

oh just seen i forgot to choose the graphics card, could of sworn i chose an ati card anyway heres the link with the graphics card

http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/members/quotes/view_152405.html

Ahh, yeah sorry about that. The links are to give you an idea of what components you need. Hope it helps! Free HDD is great, shaves off a bit of cash. 

Yeah keep digging, it usually takes a few tries to get all the configuration you want.


[EDIT]

Can't see the link. 

"Quote - 152405

This quote does not belong to this user"

oh sorry i know why, anyway it's the same but with a ATI Radeon HD 4650 - 1 GB - 2xDVI/VGA (XFX) which was about £35 i think 

Low end GPU, still decent. You'll be able to play older games fine with it but for newer games at higher resolutions (> 1280x720) and AA you'll need a beefier card. 

Can I suggest nVidia? An 8800GT is better than a 4650 but around the same price range. 

They haven't got it on the site how about a better ati there cheaper and im on a budget.
http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/custom/athlon/step1.html 
what would you choose without making the total go too far over 300

SCRATCH THAT. Posting new build in 3..2..

toaster


Damn VAT.. This build would be 283, but it's 340 with VAT. 

http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/custom/athlon/step6.html

Computer Case Black ATX Tower Case   CPU AMD Athlon II X2 240 2MB (2 x 2.8 GHZ)   CPU Heatsink AMD Heatsink & Fan - Low Noise   Memory 2GB PC-6400 800 MHZ (1 x 2 GB) (DDR2)   Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 - 1 GB - (Palit)   Motherboard Asus M2N68-AM 2000MT/s (NVIDIA 7025)   Sound Card Motherboard Integrated 5.1 Sound   Networking Motherboard Integrated Ethernet Lan (Broadband Ready)   USB Ports 4 x USB 2.0 Ports   Power Supply Corsair 430W PSU - Low Noise   Case Wiring Professional Standard   Hard Drive #1 250 GB SATA-II 8MB (FREE UPGRADE TO 500GB BEFORE 11:59 PM ON 09-01-11)   Optical Drive #1 Samsung (SH-D162D) 16x DVD-ROM Black (SATA)   Backup Software Windows Backup   Free Gift FREE - WebCam - Headphones & Microphone

yeah i know went up 2% today here aswell :( 
thanks i'll save for this then i guess what do you think the best game it could run smooth?