Building A New PC- For Beginners

I would like several key pieces of advice to focus on in my quest to build a PC.

Budget 500.00 (tower+everything inside ) keyboard/monitor/mouse/speakers I have)

Heres what I've been told.

Buy at least an i5 processor. Asus motherboard are the best. New egg.com is your friend. Windows 7 is the best OS.

Now a question. What component/components speed up the editing of a video the most?

I appreciate you guys looking over my thread and making suggestions. This pc will be used for gaming/video editing.

Pounds? Dollars? Euros? Canadian Dollars? I think that should be clarified before people can help you.

Think we had this thread not to long ago - on a budget like that you might be best off with something like the AMD fx6800 iirc

i have OCd i5 and my son has OCd fx6800 his rig is nice (you could go as low as a fx6300 perhaps)

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-3570K-vs-AMD-A10-6800K

The components that speed up video editing the most really depend on what program you're using and what you're editing, but most of them all have a few things in common. You'll need lots of RAM to be able to do video editing to begin with, so get at least 8 GB. RAM is really cheap nowadays, so that should only cost like 50 dollars. The "quality" and clock of your RAM usually makes almost no difference, to be perfectly honest, so just get yourself a set of G.Skills -- nice and inexpensive, but doesn't compromise on quality. No need to do anything else with it but install it correctly.

Hard Disk speed is a must if you're going to be using FRAPS or a similar program to capture video from your computer, because if your HD is too slow, you'll lag while recording footage. I'd get at least a 7200 RPM SATA 2.0 platter drive for recording. You don't need SSD for recording videos, even if that was in your budget -- in fact, SSDs might even be bad for recording, since they have great load times, but longer write times than platter drives. Still, high-RPM drives are more expensive, so you might have to compromise on this if your budget is only 500 dollars. I also recommend that the hard drive you record your videos on be a different HD than the one your windows installation is on, since Windows uses the C: drive for a lot of its own background ***. I'd buy the smallest, cheapest drive you can get your hands on for windows itself, then just put everything else on a much larger, faster second drive.

Of course, if you're not recording from your PC, that's all irrelevant.

If you're using an editing program that has Hardware Rendering support, which you should, a strong video card can exponentially speed up the process of rendering the final video, on top of making anything you record on your computer look nice and pretty. How much VRAM your card needs to have entirely depends on the resolution of your monitor. If you're doing 1280x720 or 1600x900, you won't need that much, but if you're doing 1920x1080 or higher, you'll need lots. Note what type of GDDR VRAM your video card uses, too. Expensive cards usually have faster VRAM, and unlike with ordinary RAM, VRAM speed makes a big difference. On a budget, you'll probably want a ~$150 card and no higher. Find what's on sale, find out what the name of its Core (GPU) is, and find reviews for that GPU on Tomshardware. Tom's Hardware is a fantastic resource, and you should consult its reviews for advice during any build. Too often, I've made the mistake of consulting Tom's Hardware AFTER I finished the build, trying to reaffirm my decisions, only to discover I had overpaid for components, and that a cheaper competitor was actually stronger than what I bought.

You mentioned you are recycling your old monitor. Smart. Monitors are expensive, but they last generations. The only thing monitors affect are the maximum resolution you can record and edit. If you're happy with the resolution your current monitor gets, there's absolutely no reason to upgrade. It matters, but budgets almost always can't be picky about this.

One last final note: if you want to upgrade your CPU at a later date, do not buy a motherboard whose socket architecture is on its way out the door. Research those. The first build I ever did included a Socket 939 AMD mobo, the very year that Socket 939 was being phased out, which left me with a dead end CPU and DDR1 RAM that could never be upgraded, unless I wanted to buy a new motherboard. New motherboard might as well be a new computer entirely, because you have to upgrade the CPU and RAM too. If nothing else, buy a motherboard that you know is going to last a while. Doesn't have to be cutting edge, but do not buy an old one even if it's on clearance sale. You'll save money now, sure, but once the mobo gets phased out, you'll be at the mercy of Ebay to upgrade, and the prices of good components compatible with your mobo will NEVER go down, while the resell value of your budget components will drop like a stone.

I am an AMD fanboi, but if you're not going to Overclock, which is likely if this is your first build, the i5 is probably better. I will say, however, that AMD is usually far cheaper either way, so AMD might be the way to go if an i5 ends up being too expensive.

My Intel cost $2k the AMD rig cost $800 if that - ofc the Intel rigs better >> just saying the AMD is totally acceptable and great value when you are on a budget

This thread has been great so far, Thank you Jmac for the awesome response. In reply to him I have a question regarding two hard drives. Not sure how that works exactly. Do certain motherboard have the capacity to hold two hard drives? Is this something I should look for in a motherboard? Or should I just get a external HD. Not quite sure where the second HD goes / does it need a separate operating system for it?

Also which OS is the best/ most cost effective.. Seems like they all cost about 100.00?

US dollars.

Only your main hard drive will need the OS. The computer can recognize your other drives as "slave" drives. Even a basic board will take 2 or 3 hard drives,and even a basic case will have spaces to sit 2 or 3 drives. Higher end boards/cases can hold 6+ (my board for example can hold 10,while my case can also do up to 12) Windows 7 premium is likely your best OS option if you're going to pay for an OS.

500 is a tough budget to meet, particularily if you need to also purchase an OS license. I'd probably start with something along these lines (using linux or a previous windows license), and upgrade with a discrete graphics card as soon as feasible.

The third one will probably perform well enough for what you wish as-built, but all three could definitely use upgrades of one sort or another to significantly improve performance. When you read "no discrete video", you should substitute "runs games poorly".



Assumes cannibalizing OS/optical drive (508USD), no discrete video
With OS/Optical drive (512USD), no discrete video
OS/Optical Drive/Discrete card (<500 USD if you send in rebate cards)

no discrete video- so I should stay away from video cards with this in the description.

Also I read that you want to be careful not to purchase a motherboard that is going to soon be obsolete. How do you determine that exactly?

I see that AMD is the best price option. I suppose I would go that route. My friends just rave about i5... though I am seeing that Intel i5 requires a specific motherboard which runs more $$

Also I see no cooling units. Is it ok to just rely on the motherboards built in cooling unit and the 3d cards. I'm not going high end so they don't get as hot as the faster ones? Is that it?

I built a pc 8 years ago. You guys are right, it was like advanced legos.. Piece of cake^^ Which software to choose from has always been my toughest ordeal.

Thanks for the awesome builds and advice thus far.

This isn't something you really need to worry about these days but they are referring to MB's that are generally lower end closeout deals. Something that will soon not have any available CPU sockets, memory, or GPU's made to support it. As long as you stick with DDR3, PCIe 2 or 3, and a newer CPU socket you should be fine. They won't be going anywhere for at least a few years.


i5's are much better than most AMD CPU's. There are better AMD CPU's on the newer end though but you start approaching costs of i7's then. You have AMD fanbase who will argue about it just like you have a Apple fanbase who argues Apple products are worth the 2-3X mark-up for other equal items.


Stock cooling is generally fine if you don't overclock, or you live in a cooler environment (i.e. you don't live in 100 degrees temp outside without air conditioning). I use the stock CPU cooler on my wife's PC which came with the i5.


I made my wife a PC a few months ago for under $500 and it included everything but a GPU. I have it running onboard video and it runs FFXI just fine at max registry edit settings. I ran the FFXIV test on it and it scored decently but obviously not the best. If you want to play FFXIV on higher settings you will need a GPU instead of on board video but you can get something made last year or two that's probably under $100 now, if you are on a budget.

Here's a direct copy/paste from my newegg order history for her system, with i5, 8GB DDR3, MB, Case, powersupply, dvd drive, etc. You can cut off keyboard and mouse since you have it. I did not have to buy Windows for her though because I have a technet subscription, and I have a 3 PC license for my firewall/AV. I reused her hard drive also since it was a newer 1TB seagate that she'll be fine with.

Keep in mind this CPU cooler I ordered here too was to replace my i7's stock cooler so subtract like $30.

Here's a good way to compare CPU's and GPU's also:

CPU's: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

GPU's: http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

I would advise waiting until you have a larger budget. Building on only 500 dollars is too restrictive, and you may end up having to make sacrifices that reduce upgradability later on.

OS: 100-150$ (Win 7 OEM)
MoBo: 100-200$
Case: 25-50$
CPU: 150-200$
HDD: 50-100$ (more if you want a SSD or multiple drives)
Memory: 50-100$
Power Supply: 50-100$
Video Card: 100-300$

That puts you at 625$ minimum for a decent low-end PC. You'll probably want to spend a bit more though (Video/SSD) if you want it to be a solid gaming/editing PC.

do people really still pay for OSes

Yes, unfortunately. And, quite a lot too.

With Windows 8, the new OEM activation cannot be cracked and several [won't mention it here] annoying methods are needed to fake and maintain an activation. That and you cannot simply take a Windows 8 installation disc from your Dell or Toshiba and hope it'll install on a custom-built PC you built with your own two hands. With Windows 8, you will have to actually buy a license and download it from Microsoft, or buy the actual disc. The cheapest Windows 8 (non-Pro) disc is OEM and is $99 from Newegg.com. Win 8 Pro will set you back $140 (rounding up a penny).

The cheapest Windows 7 operating system is Home Premium OEM is again $99. You can feasibly take an OEM disc from a computer built by Dell or another major company and install it in a custom built PC for free if your Dell/Toshiba/HP/other computer came with one. If there are installation and activation issues, it may require [methods I won't mention here] to get it activated.

Windows XP is no longer sold and can be found on places like eBay. You don't have to pay for it if you have one from your older computer still lying around. It will activate and install fine in a custom built PC. (I know since I've used one from my old HP computer to install in my custom built desktop PC years ago before Windows Vista came out.)

The only free OS I would have to say is any Linux-based distribution. I highly recommend Linux Mint which I have installed on another hard drive. You can run Final Fantasy XI under Wine without ever installing Windows on your computer. However, you lose the ability to have Windower for very obvious reasons.

The last and final option isn't free and that option is OSX. FFXI runs pretty good under VMware Fusion. Install Windows XP on it ("free" if you have an old install disc lying around) and FFXI, and it should run somewhat decently.

Here is a great 3 part video series from Newegg that covers the very basics about building. From theory to loading the OS. It's great information for a first time builder. They build two units covering both AMD and Intel, discrete video cards and other components.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lPIXAtNGGCw&list=PL291F84A80CA32304#at=21

Bekisa that is a great recommendation on the motherboard. It received amazing reviews and I am thinking that initially to get this pc running I may just use the onboard video card.

Also can someone please explain the reason for 2 hard drives? is it to backup files/ videos.. Not sure what the top reasons are for having a second / third HD.


Also guys I have a dell PC XPS- you know the one from like 2007? Could I just recycle this case to save some $$ or do newer motherboards require the newer cases? disadvantages / advantages?

Thanks !

To give you an idea why have multiple hard drives, I have five hard drives in my computer:

1. SSD - Operating system

2. HDD1 - Games (Currently at 500GB-ish-- Steam, FFXI, TERA, a few others)

3. HDD2 - My Documents (Documents, pictures, etc.)

4. HDD3 - My Music/Videos (Videos and music)

5. HDD4 - Server files (Minecraft, Apache web server, PHP, Perl, MySQL)

It's more of convenience and organization. And, I have 2 external hard drives for backups.


Yes and no.

Depending on the year and model of the PC from Dell, the case may have used a non-standard form factor for the motherboard called BTX. ATX form factor was no longer backwards compatible in the later and last versions of BTX.

However, if it was sometime post-2006ish, the case may be compatible with ATX and microATX form factor. That would make it compatible with all the boards and power supplies later on.

The other issue is size and space. Most Dell cases have proprietary components inside like hard drive cages, fan ducts for the CPU fan/heatsink, video card ducts, etc. Also, depending on your Dell XPS model, the case may be what are called "half-height" and "full height". Take a standard expansion card (PCI, PCI Express, AGP, etc.) and cut it in half lengthwise and that's half-height. Majority of video cards are full-height.

Another issue is limited expansion. Dell cases will usually only have maybe one or two externally accessible drive bays for optical drives and anywhere from one to three internally accessible drive bays for hard drives.

In all honesty, to save yourself a headache, get yourself a new case. I'm more privy to CoolerMaster cases, they're solidly built but can be heavy for the more expensive models. Other very good to excellent computer cases come from NZXT, Corsair, and Lian-Li (but can be pricy). Other decent to semi-decent cases can be from Antec, Rosewill, and Thermaltake but their quality and price vary wildly. "Your mileage may vary" (YMMV).

The Rosewill CHALLENGER is a good case if you want something that is between good quality and affordability at $49.99.

This one is my case, the CoolerMaster RC-692 (and similar older models). It's solidly built and I haven't had any issues with it, but you get what you pay for-- $89.99. If you want something stupidly solid but heavy, there are the HAF series. I'd recommend the HAF-922 since it's a mid-tower built of solid steel and aluminum, but if you're a small, petite Asian [like me] that can't carry heavy objects, avoid it. Lol.

If want something with style, have the money, and don't mind that it's a large full-tower case, there's something like the NZXT Phantom series but they cost quite a lot.

Then, if money is no object and want something very solid, there is the Corsair Obsidian series. But, they are expensive. The microATX case starts at $89.99 and can go up to $350 for the Super Tower 900D.

If still need an OS, this is on sale right now:
Windows 7 Professional OEM (64-bit) - $99.99

For a limited time, you can get it for $79.99 with this code:
EMCXNXL97

thanks!

sold out :-(

Buying 1-3 items per month now

Just ordered the case.. prob going to get the MB next



Rosewill CHALLENGER case - 49~
ASRock H77M LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard


Oh yes ! Question~

Is there anything Specific I'll need to play my ps3/ xbox on the pc monitor for streaming on Twitch?

I would'nt buy the pc piece-by-piece like that if I were you.
The case is ok to buy before everything else, but I'd rather save up the money.
If you gotta wait a month or two, there might come out way better pieces for the same price as there currently is before you can afford to buy everything.
So if you buy stuff one by one like this, you might end up with an inferior system compared to buying everything at once in a month or two.

Don't think anyone mentioned but a great site for computer info is the forums on Tom's hardware, also every quarter of the year they do a $600 gaming pc build with the best about at the moment for money. if you browse site will give u a idea on what u can get & where u can cut back on, problem u have is the windows license though because those not cheap, latest build they did was June this year here link:-

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/budget-mini-itx-gaming-pc,3513.html

Just a addition if you doing pc for Gaming, u really don't wanna skimp on the Graphics Card probably 40% of budget should be on that at least, also your psu(power unit) need a decent make cus some of the cheaper ones on gaming machine burn out fast.
Although I agree i-5 good systems but on your budget of $500ish it's out of you market really but i-3 pretty decent. personally I went with a AMD AthlonII quad core(AMD x4 640), can get some very good prices on them at the moment and they are pretty powerful for your price range.

SO MUCH this. Case is fine, of course, OS is definitely fine, maybe even Power Supply Unit, but you should NEVER buy CPU, RAM, Mobo, or GPU piece by piece, save up and get them all in one go. While Moore's Law is slowing down nowadays, new hardware is still coming out all the time, which means the pieces you're looking at will go on sale and stay on sale. Heck, if you start saving up now, once you do get the money, it will allow you to afford a much better overall PC for the same price.

Speaking of Power Supply, buy a PSU that is around ~400w and at least 80 plus certified. You might find a PSU that proclaims it gets 800W and only costs 30 dollars, and then you install it and realize it USES 800w to do the job of a 200w unit, and crashes your computer all the time from random power dips, because it's a made in China piece of ***. Not only won't it work right, it'll obese-ify your electric bill. 80 plus certification shows that its random fluctuations won't let it dip below 80% of its stated power output. There's higher levels of certification, but those get very expensive, and there's really no need for it on a budget build.


While I did mention Tom's Hardware, please do note that the link you're giving him is for a Mini-ITX form factor, which opens up a whole new can of worms. Mini-ITX is harder to find parts for, because you need a special case for it, and the small size will severely limit your options and increase heat. Many powerful video cards are simply too large for mini-ITX, so I advise against it on a first-time build. Yes, they do tell him what parts to use, but given that there doesn't seem to be a cost advantage to doing it, I have to at least chime in with my own personal opinion.

In general, I always say stick with ATX form factor for a first build. It's industry standard, which means hardware engineers design their parts around it, so it's a great way for a beginner to get used to building a PC. Mini-ITX is cheaper and smaller, but limited, which goes back to what I said earlier about getting a good motherboard. If you want to upgrade later, the form factor of the mobo will lead to roadblocks, and worse, if you want to upgrade to an ATX motherboard later because you're tired of those limits, you'll have to get a new case. Blech.

Yes I did see that it was a mini tower- looks cool but during the build they mention how tight everything was. I would imagine things get heated up a bit quicker.

If you are buying a standalone video card, that is a discrete video card; using onboard/on CPU would be the "no discrete video" option.
Typically by looking at the CPU socket type (what the CPU is installed in), and the RAM type (DDR2, DDR3).
Other features can affect how flexible your upgrade path is (2 RAM slots vs 4, etc.)
For $500, you are pretty much looking to cut as many corners as feasible. And frankly, your performance in the price range is likely to be bottlenecked by the graphics card that you have.
As a general rule, yes. On your budget (and for your purposes), there is absolutely no reason to go anything other than stock.

This would be the "no discrete video" option.
Capacity, redundancy, performance vs. cost. It is increasingly popular to get a small SSD (relatively high performance) for your OS and applications, and one ore more large HDDs for data storage (see Aselin). For your budget, aim for a single HDD; but you will see a pretty impressive reduction in boot time if you use a SSD for your OS (upgrade path).
Honestly, if you have more than just the case, you may want to consider doing some small upgrades to that rather than building a new system.

Depending on what you had in 2007, you may not *really* need to do a full upgrade. Possibly upgrading RAM and adding a graphics card/better graphics card may be sufficient for what you want to do.

If not, cannibalize the system for the hard drive if nothing else, and use that for your new PC.

As others have stated before, don't buy any more piecemeal items. The case isn't likely to fluctuate much, as it isn't really a technology driven item. But the longer you can put off buying (unless you are using it for business/income), the better you are probably going to be.

Heat is a pretty manageable problem, as long as you aren't trying to overclock or push your components beyond the specified ratings. Unless you live in a hot and non-airconditioned area, you probably won't run into many (if any) overtemperature issues that can't be solved with some cleaning.

Just to make a short-form of everything important mentioned in this topic:

1. Consider the computers primary function. If it is to play newer games, you will want to spend more on a good discreet graphics card at the expense of the other components but if you are only planning to play older games and run applications like web, e-mail, graphics and video editing, onboard video will do the job and you would be better off spending the extra money on a better CPU and more RAM.

2. Cannibalize an existing computer for any hardware you can use so you can save that money. Commonly reusable things are the case (if its ATX) the power supply if it has the required connectors for the motherboard, the hard drives and disk drives and even the operating system if it's WinXP or newer.

3. Save up a bit more. The difference in what you can get for between $500 and $600 is quite large. You are looking at a 20% cost increase but you can expect up to 30% performance increase. The point I'm trying to make is that you will be better served aiming for a superior price/performance ratio rather than just a budget build. The system will last longer and you will be happier with it overall.

4. On a serious budget build consider something from AMD because both the CPU and the motherboards are cheaper but that said, Intel will perform better than AMD at the same price point and especially for video editing applications so if that's something you are serious about, it's something to consider.

5. Power Supply - A lot of people take it for granted but it's very important. Jmac has the right idea so please follow his advice.