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+--- Thread: Tutorial How to select the right hardware for you! (/Thread-Tutorial-How-to-select-the-right-hardware-for-you)
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How to select the right hardware for you! - Fury - 07-29-2014
Fury's Hardware
What's right for you?
What's right for you?
Before we enter into any specifics, I'd like to explain this thread a bit. I'd like to avoid using exact amounts of datatype, and storage space for the obvious reasons. To those who it is not obvious to; Hardware literally changes daily and myself, I try to read a number of articles from my top professional hardware informers at least weekly. I do not work in the industry as my profession, but I have been modding, building, and tinkering with hardware in general for ten years now. I do not consider myself a professional but I do think I can provide some basic pointers, considering I wish I had somewhere to start when I was first introduced to hardware. All information is based on my experience. You all may have your opinions, this is simply me taking the time of day to share my knowledge.
THIS WILL NOT BE AN INTEL VS. AMD THREAD! (intel wins)
Step 1). Decide how you will use your computer.
As they say, the first step is the most important. I'd like to make this a little simplified and break it down into a few brackets, or categories.
- The Daily User
This is a person who really just wants a functional computer to surf the web, stream some music/movies, social media and perhaps some light gaming
- The Light Gamer
If you are looking to run lightweight games such as minecraft, runescape, League of Legends and any other non-intensive games, as well as browser based java games.
- The Heavy Gamer
This is the guy who wants to run the best of the best. Crysis, GTA IV, Latest Shooters (COD, BF), Far Cry, and most MMORPGs, or any other game on max settings.
- The Streaming Gamer
This is basically going to require the same hardware as above, perhaps some additional RAM, as well as graphic memory.
- The Video Renderer
This is where we enter SLI, heavy graphic and random access memory (RAM)
- The Overkill
Over and above, ridiculous hardware, money to blow, water cooling.
Step 2). Set a budget!
I'd like to keep this thread as updated as possible but as with hardware, the prices on hardware changes quite frequently. All prices are in USD. Prices are for hardware exclussively. Monitor, keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals will need to be factored in. Here are some basic prices to consider.
- Monitor
20"-24" $100.00 - $200.00
- Keyboard
+/- $20.00
- Gaming Keyboard
$80.00-$180.00
- Mouse
+/- $15.00
- Gaming Mouse
$40.00-$100.00
Overall hardware Budgets. Prices are estimated and it's hard to put a price on what a specific user is looking for.
- The Daily User
You can spend as little as $500 if you really try. Anywhere up to $800.
- The Light Gamer
$800-$1,200
- The Heavy Gamer
$1,200-$1,500
- The Streaming Gamer
$1,500-$2,000
- The Video Renderer
$2,000-$3,000
- The Overkill
$3,000 +
Step 3). Choose a vendor!
I have used alway used newegg since day one. You may be able to part-out pieces from several sites if you are on a tight budget but I prefer everything on one bill and in one package. I have always had great service and never had to return a piece of hardware that I have received from them.
PCPartPicker
Easiest, searches all major vendors online to get you the best price. Takes you step-by-step to select all of your hardware.
Newegg
Fast, easy, reliable, cheap,
Amazon
Another alternative.
Tiger Direct
Last resort.
I also suggest looking for local specialty stores in your area. I have two stores in my area that I have used quite often if I needed a replacement part quickly and could not, or did not, rather, want to wait for shipping!
Step 4). Selecting Parts.
So this will be a long section. Selecting parts is never easy considering there are literally thousands of manufacturers. I cannot possibly do every bit of research for you and I assume if you are building a computer you have, atleast, a little bit of ambition. I can name some major brands that I have used and found reliable, but beyond that, if you are on a budget, ALWAYS pay attention to reviews and just do a little bit of googling, a computer can be a major purchase and you do not want to blow that kind of money because of your own negligence.
Major brands I recommend
- Asus (motherboards, graphics cards)
- EVGA (graphics cards)
- Western Digital "WD" (hard drives)
- Corsair (RAM, cases, power supplies)
- Cooler Master "CM" (cases, CPU coolers, power supplies)
- Antec (Cases, power supplies)
- G.Skills (RAM)
- MSI (mother boards, graphics card)
Below is a breakdown of each piece of hardware that can help you in your selection process. The order of the list is my recommended order of choosing parts.
- CPU
CPU is listed first because the rest of the hardware relies on the compatibility of the motherboard. The AMD APU's are a great solution for daily users as it has basic on-board graphics capabilities, which is greater than Intel's on-board graphics. This is a great way to cut back on budget. I would not suggest going any lower than the AMD A6 series.
- Motherboard
Your motherboard MUST have a compatible CPU slot with the CPU that you selected. This is a part of hardware that changes frequently. Another important factor about choosing your motherboard is predetermining how much RAM you'd like to use, how much storage, and how many graphics cards you'd like to use, as every board has different features based on compatibility with said specs.
- Memory(RAM)
While a lot of people will tell you that you need 16 gigs of RAM to run high-end games, this is not always the case. RAM can often be used as a scape goat, or a quick-fix. Computer slow? Throw some more RAM in there, when usually it is actually you CPU slowing down. I will go into more detail about how much RAM you need later on.
- Storage
This option is completely up to you. While high-end PC users will want more SSD's (Solid State Drives), which are capable of reading and writing at 600+MB/s, most daily users and low end games need nothing more than a mechanical hard drive. If you are looking for quick bootings, use a 64-128GB SSD as your primary hard drive and load your operating system onto it. If you need quick reading and/or writing for video/image editing, you may want more SSD space, as well as normal Hard Drive space. Remember; Basic hard drives are cheap, so don't skip on storage!
- Graphics
If you are a daily user who selected an AMD A-series CPU, guess what?! You can skip right over this option! For the rest of us, this may very well be the priciest piece of hardware we buy for our build.
- Power Supply
This can be simple, or tricky. It all depends on how easy you make it. Calculating your used wattages can be looked at as a complicated task when really, it is quite simple. On specs for major hardware, the wattages will be listed, usually idle and load. Always use the load numbers, as you do not want to run out of power everytime you are playing a game. You should also add a little bit extra. about 10% give or take, just to be safe. If you cannot find the wattages, check THIS link out for common wattages.
- Drives
CD Drives, Blueray drives. This is all preference.
- Case
My favorite part is choosing a case that will fit me. To choose a case we will not only need to select a "cool style" but more importantly choose a case that will fit all of your new hardware. We need to go back to the motherboard and find out the size. ATX, Full ATX, Micro ATX, it will be listed usually as one of these. We also need to look at the deminsions of the graphics card you selected (if any). Make sure everything will fit, with plenty of breatheabilty. Also never forget airflow! Antec makes great cases, for the daily user, all the way to the overkill!
If you would like up to date, and specific help on amounts of memory, data, or storage space, drop a reply! I am usually happy to give guidance! This is my hobby and I love doing it. If you find any information that may be incorrect or that you do not agree with, please, feel free to let me know and I will do my best to make the necessary corrections. If this helped you, also drop a reply and let me know how you came to your decisions! Thanks for reading through!
RE: How to select the right hardware for you! - Dismas - 07-29-2014
The red, it hurts my eyes!
RE: How to select the right hardware for you! - MiS - 07-29-2014
(07-29-2014, 04:22 AM)Oni Wrote: The red, it hurts my eyes!
This was the last thing I'd expect coming from you ; w ;
RE: How to select the right hardware for you! - Fury - 07-29-2014
(07-29-2014, 04:22 AM)Oni Wrote: The red, it hurts my eyes!
Ended my color tag but the color kept coming. I figured it was a sign of some sort..
(07-29-2014, 04:24 AM)MiS Wrote: This was the last thing I'd expect coming from you ; w ;
This^^^
RE: How to select the right hardware for you! - MiS - 07-29-2014
Just wondering, are you planning on submitting this thread to the sitewide contest?
RE: How to select the right hardware for you! - Fury - 07-29-2014
(07-29-2014, 04:25 AM)MiS Wrote: Just wondering, are you planning on submitting this thread to the sitewide contest?
I plan on getting feedback, possibly making some storage and memory specific statements. We shall see!
RE: How to select the right hardware for you! - Jolly - 07-29-2014
To be honest you can make a decent gaming computer somewhere at 500$.
RE: How to select the right hardware for you! - Fury - 07-29-2014
On a serious budget with strictly hardware, no case. It is possible. My thread is aimed towards average builds. Your $500 pc will not even run the latest games for half a generation.
RE: How to select the right hardware for you! - ImmNinjaxD - 07-29-2014
(07-29-2014, 08:40 PM)Fury Wrote: On a serious budget with strictly hardware, no case. It is possible. My thread is aimed towards average builds. Your $500 pc will not even run the latest games for half a generation.
I have a $600 PC from tigerdirect (refurbished) and it can run Saint's Row the Fourth at max settings fine. (Chose saint's row because it's one of the only pc intensive games I play)
RE: How to select the right hardware for you! - Fury - 07-29-2014
Refurbished is a whole new story. My thread is considering that you will part the pieces out and build yourself.