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Comic of the Five ([personal profile] comic) wrote2017-12-19 11:32 pm
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gratuitously stolen pc guide

EXAMPLE BUILDS AND QUICK-PICK PARTS
Updated May 1, 2019

NOTE: THIS LIST IS NOT EXHAUSTIVE!!!
These are parts within the ken of the Goon Hivemind, geared for gaming systems. There are good parts to be had that aren’t on this list, both that we know about and that we don’t, both for gaming and for non-gaming purposes.

SUGGESTED AND EXAMPLE BUILDS

SA Performance Gamer - A high-end gaming machine targeting 1080p, 60 FPS at High details on current titles

SA Value Gamer - A compromise on the Performance Gamer targeting 1080p, 40+ FPS at Medium-ish details on current titles (or better performance at lower resolution)
  • AMD Ryzen 5 2400G
  • X370 motherboard
  • 8 GB DDR4-3200 RAM
  • 250 GB S-ATA SSD

SA Penny-Pincher - PC gaming on a console budget, and console-like expectations of performance
  • Dell Outlet Inspiron 3000-series with a 6th generation Intel Core i3 or i5 CPU, 8 GB of RAM, 1 TB hard drive
  • GeForce GTX 1030

Luxury Overclocker - A high-end tweaker's build with high-end parts targeting 4K, 50-60 FPS on Ultra details
  • Intel Core i7-8700K
  • Asus Maximus IX Hero
  • A large quiet CPU cooler
  • 16 GB of DDR4-3200+ RAM
  • GeForce GTX 2080 (Ti)
  • 1 TB Samsung 970 EVO SSD

Goonbox One - Console-sized gaming but a ton more power
  • Silverstone Raven RVZ02B case
  • Intel Core i3-6100
  • ASRock H110M-ITX/ac
  • 8 GB DDR4-2133 RAM
  • GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

SA Drivebox NAS - For putting tons of storage on your home network
  • Bitfenix Prodigy case
  • ASRock Q1900-ITX with Intel Celeron J1900 (quad-core Atom)
  • 4 GB or more DDR3L-1333 (1.35V), or 8 GB for ZFS
  • (optional) Syba SY-PEX40039 PCIe SATA controller (ASMedia, two port)
  • (optional) StarTech USBMBADAPT2 USB header-to-ports adapter (for internal USB stick boot drive)
  • Up to four (six optional) SATA drives (can all be 3.5”, using optical bay)
  • SeaSonic SSR-360GP 360W power supply

SA Drivebox XL NAS - Did we call 4-6 drives "tons?" We can do better.
  • Silverstone DS380 case
  • ASRock C2750D4I with Intel Avoton C2750 (octo-core Atom)
  • 8 GB DDR3L-1600 ECC UDIMM (or more if doing more than just storage)
  • (optional) StarTech USBMBADAPT2 USB header-to-ports adapter (for internal USB stick boot drive)
  • Up to twelve SATA drives (8 3.5” plus 4 2.5”)
  • Silverstone ST45SF-G power supply

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QUICK PICKS PARTS LIST:

All QP links go to the PC Part Picker website, which shows pricing from various retailers (though it can miss some).

Intel CPU

AMD CPU

Intel Motherboards
    There are as of January 2018 no non-overclocking motherboards in the 370 series.
    Overclocking
  • Gigabyte Z370 Aorus (ATX, slot between cards for extra airflow, three M.2 slots)
  • Asus Z370-G Gaming (integrated WiFi)
  • ASRock Z370M-ITX/ac (mini-ITX, integrated WiFi, two network connectors)

AMD Motherboards

Memory
If you need 16 GB of RAM, prefer 2x8 GB to 4x4 GB. If you do get four sticks, get a four-stick kit rather than two sets of two sticks – it might avoid a rare incompatibility problem.

Graphics
As things currently are, Nvidia has the more solid lineup all across the board, only at the very lowest end if you're trying to buy a new graphics card for $120.
Only AMD has cards below that price point and sells RX 560s for about $150.

    Ultrabudget
    As low as we’d recommend for gaming.
  • Radeon RX-560
  • GeForce GTX 1050
    Or you might want to check Ebay for good second hand graphics cards from 2-3 years ago, such as the GTX 970. Avoid second hand AMD graphics cards because those might be coming out of bitcoin mines.

    Medium quality 1920x1080 gaming, or lower resolutions
  • GeForce GTX 1650 (this is the best video card that does not need PCIe power, making it suitable for prebuilts.)
  • GeForce RTX 2060 6GB (  Do not buy a 3GB card )

    Ultra quality 1080p, ultrawide screen, to mid quality 4K gaming
  • GeForce RTX 2070

    Absolutely maxing out 1080p including VR, high quality 4K
  • GeForce RTX 2080

    High/ultra quality gaming at 4K, 3-screen 2560x1440, generally crazypants
  • GeForce RTX 2080 SLI (extremely expensive for a bit more performance, but this category stretches the limits of the possible)

Hard Drive
There is some evidence that some Seagate drives are more failure-prone than WD drives, and that HGST drives are more reliable than average.

Solid State Drives

Optical

Cases - All of these cases have their strengths and weaknesses. Even the weaker cases work just fine for non-overclocking builds, so the presumption will be that you did your homework and picked the case for price or aesthetic reasons unless you specifically state that you are trying to maximize noise or cooling performance.


Power Supplies
Since the GPU is usually the biggest power consumer in a system, these units are grouped by the number of PCIe power plugs the GPU needs. A power supply can be high-end and low-wattage or low-end and high-wattage. Buy based on price, quality, and efficiency. Modular power supplies let you connect only the cables you need, which is especially useful with mini-ITX builds.

Quickest Picks: Don't want to think? Get one of these.

If you are overclocking and/or getting a higher-end video card (e.g. an R9-390 instead of a GeForce 960), favor more wattage rather than less. Most of the units below are available in different wattage capacities. If you like something from one list but need it larger or smaller, look around.

If you’re interested in who the OEM is behind a power supply, Tom’s Hardware maintains a list. It’s hard to go wrong with a SeaSonic-built unit.

Integrated graphics and graphics cards with no PCIe power connector: 150W to 350W
Graphics cards with a single PCIe power connector: 400W to 550W
Graphics cards with two PCIe power connectors: 450W to 650W

For more exact sizing, see FAQ #17 above. Other than slight efficiency losses and unit cost, there's no harm in going bigger than necessary.

Wireless Network Adapter
  • Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I A bundle consisting out of an Intel 7260 card with a PCI-E adapter
  • For boards with a mini-PCIe slot for add-your-own WiFi (e.g. Maximus VII Gene), you can buy the above adapter and take it apart for the adapter card, antennas, and antenna leads.

Aftermarket Cooling
Closed-loop liquid cooling is an option, but generally heatpipe tower air coolers should be your first choice. If you’re looking to put a CLC into a smaller case, look at the Corsair Hydro series and NZXT Kraken series. The no-holds-barred CLC is probably the Cooler Master Glacer 240L.

Phanteks and Noctua trade blows with similarly-positioned coolers. In general, Phanteks cools a bit better and is usually a bit cheaper, and Noctua is a bit quieter.


Operating System

Gamepads
  • Xbox 360 Wired and Wireless with PC Adapter
  • Logitech F310 and F710
  • DS4Windows to use a DualShock4

Sound cards and headphone amps

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Recommended Vendor List
U.S.:
NewEgg
Amazon
NCIX
Micro Center – In-store-only deals often beat everyone else on CPU prices, especially with a motherboard combo
Mini-Box.com – Specialty shop for small-form-factor parts

Canada:
NCIX
Newegg
Canada Computers
DirectCanada

Europe: (kinda UK-heavy)
Amazon UK
SCAN Computers
Aria
Overclockers
Ebuyer
QuietPC

Australia:
ITS Direct
PC Case Gear
Computer Alliance
Umart

Japan:
Tsukumo
Twotop
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mitbix: Okami, Amaterasu (Default)

[personal profile] mitbix 2017-12-20 06:27 am (UTC)(link)
I rather like my Logitech F710 controller but apparently the XBox ones work best with PC.

This looks exciting!
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