Sora
Renowned Budgeting Master
- Messages
- 4,153
- Location
- Uniontown, PA
Why hello there everyone most of the people on here know me as Sora and know what I specialize in. For those of you who are like the heck is this guy my specialty is maximizing performance and the best computer related parts for your money, better known as "Bang for Your Buck". This tutorial is here to help educate newbie builders and even experienced computer Guru's on how to cut cost very efficiently when building a system while getting the best price : performance ratio. This guide is a bit long but bare with me and you may learn a thing or two and or save yourself some cash, so lets start shall we.
Part I : Figure out what your system is going to be used for the most
When anyone builds a computer they obviously have a certain type of computing they are geared towards using their system for. The most common uses are Gaming, Media Centers, Internet & General Use, Servers, and Benchmarking. Depending on what your computer is being built for your parts will be much different.
For example a person building a gaming computer usually wants to place the priority of parts in an order such as Video card, CPU, (PSU), Motherboard, RAM. I put the PSU in parenthesis because if it is not around 3rd then it should only be HIGHER because PSU's are always a top priority. Media centers are usually Sound Card, Speakers, and Video card in no particular order along with a high quality PSU. Internet & General use usually goes CPU, Motherboard, (PSU), RAM. Servers and benchmarking are much different and it all depends really. Gaming PC's usually use 2GB of ram as a standard while General use and Media PC's can do just fine on 1GB.
Along with the type of computer you choose, there are other factors which you should take into consideration before building. These usually include size of HDD needed, aftermarket cooling, as well as here is where you should decide on overclocking or not. I will get into the pros and con's of overclocking later but I will tell you right now if you want to maximize your system performance overclocking is easy and very safe.
Part II : Start with the Basics
When I say start with the basics, I mean when you are buying a new build and you don't have the largest budget, don't try to go overboard on things you want rather than what you NEED. Build your build around high unreadability so you can progressively make a better computer as you go along as well. When I say don't go overboard I mean with your main build don't buy something such as a fan controller, keyboard, mouse, mouse pad or even a sound card usually. A lot of times not even buying a new monitor if you have an "ok" old one right off the start of a new build is a much better choice down the line. Remember patience really is virtue in computers.
For example lets say two people have budget of 800 bucks and they both want to build a gaming computer. They both previously owned a Dell and have left over a 17inch CRT, standard dell keyboard and mouse. The person hates his CRT that much and the fact that it plays at only 1024x768 resolution as well their "noob" keyboard and mouse. If the person tries to even put in a cheap 17inch LCD and cheap mouse/keyboard then your taking a good 180 bucks if not more out of your budget. The person will have to downgrade his video card, CPU, and other things to low performance and or quality. On an 800 budget build with lets say 180 is taken out to buy those. You are now left with a budget of 620 or so which is still workable but a huge chunk of performance has been slain. If i were to buy a computer right now for 800 bucks I could build a monster overclocker with an E4440 2GB of DDR2-800 ram, great cooling, stable PSU, along with the monstrous 8800GTS 320. With my old CRT running at 1024x768 resolution there would be no game stopping this card really for a while until you got the money to upgrade your monitor to a nice 19inch or large LCD down the road and still have great FPS. Now on the OTHER side of the decisions. If I chose to buy just an "ok" 17inch Hanns G 8ms response time and maybe 30 bucks on a keyboard and mouse that instantly cuts my budget down to a pretty good 8600GTS instead of the beastly 8800GTS unless if I were to downgrade other system components. Just for sake of example lets say there was a card that was exactly in between the performance of these two cards for 210 bucks since thats the medium of the cards. To afford even this imaginary card you could be forced to downgrade your excellent highly recommended overclocking ram to cheap value ram at possibly a lower speed, a case that probably does not have nearly the cooling and sturdiness of a Centurion 532 I built my build with and then an E4300 to fit everything in.
NOW who wins this gaming benchmark? Person one who choose to tough it out with an old but still decent monitor or the guy who had to have the cool 17inch LCD. lets compare
Build #1 E4500, Quality 500w PSU, High performance overclocking ram,older 17inch Dell CRT, a high airflow sturdy case, and the beastly 8800GTS playing on 1024x768.
Build #2 E4300, Quality 400w PSU, Value ram, a cheap flimsy poor airflow case, 17inch LCD monitor, and a mediocre 8600GTS playing at 1280x1024
This is a no brainer...while Builld #2 may have a nice LCD Build#1 will get over DOUBLE the FPS and allow him to play the newest games at max details while #2 is struggling to keep decent framerates on the same games at medium settings. Let's address one last point as well, which person when they get another 200 bucks will have a better system since thats about what it took to get a 17inch LCD with 8ms response time and mouse/keyboard.
Build #1 Can find a good 19inch widescreen monitor 5ms response rate, a good gaming mouse, and cheap keyboard for not much over 200 at all and he is now playing at 1440x900 with his 8800GTS 320 and quality parts and still getting awesome FPS. HOWEVER Build #2 has 200 bucks but what can he upgrade really to get better frames. He could always sell his 8600GTS and use another 150 to get the same 8800GTS that build #1 got but what can he buy with 50 bucks more? To upgrade any of his parts really he must sell each one for a hit in money since he won't get full price. In the end even if he goes through all the trouble of selling each part he will still wind up with slightly lower quality parts and a 17inch monitor with 8ms while the other guy has better stuff and a 19inch widescreen 5ms LCD. Once again patience is a virtue in computers and you can always purchase those cheap extra things you want later once you get some more cash.
Part I : Figure out what your system is going to be used for the most
When anyone builds a computer they obviously have a certain type of computing they are geared towards using their system for. The most common uses are Gaming, Media Centers, Internet & General Use, Servers, and Benchmarking. Depending on what your computer is being built for your parts will be much different.
For example a person building a gaming computer usually wants to place the priority of parts in an order such as Video card, CPU, (PSU), Motherboard, RAM. I put the PSU in parenthesis because if it is not around 3rd then it should only be HIGHER because PSU's are always a top priority. Media centers are usually Sound Card, Speakers, and Video card in no particular order along with a high quality PSU. Internet & General use usually goes CPU, Motherboard, (PSU), RAM. Servers and benchmarking are much different and it all depends really. Gaming PC's usually use 2GB of ram as a standard while General use and Media PC's can do just fine on 1GB.
Along with the type of computer you choose, there are other factors which you should take into consideration before building. These usually include size of HDD needed, aftermarket cooling, as well as here is where you should decide on overclocking or not. I will get into the pros and con's of overclocking later but I will tell you right now if you want to maximize your system performance overclocking is easy and very safe.
Part II : Start with the Basics
When I say start with the basics, I mean when you are buying a new build and you don't have the largest budget, don't try to go overboard on things you want rather than what you NEED. Build your build around high unreadability so you can progressively make a better computer as you go along as well. When I say don't go overboard I mean with your main build don't buy something such as a fan controller, keyboard, mouse, mouse pad or even a sound card usually. A lot of times not even buying a new monitor if you have an "ok" old one right off the start of a new build is a much better choice down the line. Remember patience really is virtue in computers.
For example lets say two people have budget of 800 bucks and they both want to build a gaming computer. They both previously owned a Dell and have left over a 17inch CRT, standard dell keyboard and mouse. The person hates his CRT that much and the fact that it plays at only 1024x768 resolution as well their "noob" keyboard and mouse. If the person tries to even put in a cheap 17inch LCD and cheap mouse/keyboard then your taking a good 180 bucks if not more out of your budget. The person will have to downgrade his video card, CPU, and other things to low performance and or quality. On an 800 budget build with lets say 180 is taken out to buy those. You are now left with a budget of 620 or so which is still workable but a huge chunk of performance has been slain. If i were to buy a computer right now for 800 bucks I could build a monster overclocker with an E4440 2GB of DDR2-800 ram, great cooling, stable PSU, along with the monstrous 8800GTS 320. With my old CRT running at 1024x768 resolution there would be no game stopping this card really for a while until you got the money to upgrade your monitor to a nice 19inch or large LCD down the road and still have great FPS. Now on the OTHER side of the decisions. If I chose to buy just an "ok" 17inch Hanns G 8ms response time and maybe 30 bucks on a keyboard and mouse that instantly cuts my budget down to a pretty good 8600GTS instead of the beastly 8800GTS unless if I were to downgrade other system components. Just for sake of example lets say there was a card that was exactly in between the performance of these two cards for 210 bucks since thats the medium of the cards. To afford even this imaginary card you could be forced to downgrade your excellent highly recommended overclocking ram to cheap value ram at possibly a lower speed, a case that probably does not have nearly the cooling and sturdiness of a Centurion 532 I built my build with and then an E4300 to fit everything in.
NOW who wins this gaming benchmark? Person one who choose to tough it out with an old but still decent monitor or the guy who had to have the cool 17inch LCD. lets compare
Build #1 E4500, Quality 500w PSU, High performance overclocking ram,older 17inch Dell CRT, a high airflow sturdy case, and the beastly 8800GTS playing on 1024x768.
Build #2 E4300, Quality 400w PSU, Value ram, a cheap flimsy poor airflow case, 17inch LCD monitor, and a mediocre 8600GTS playing at 1280x1024
This is a no brainer...while Builld #2 may have a nice LCD Build#1 will get over DOUBLE the FPS and allow him to play the newest games at max details while #2 is struggling to keep decent framerates on the same games at medium settings. Let's address one last point as well, which person when they get another 200 bucks will have a better system since thats about what it took to get a 17inch LCD with 8ms response time and mouse/keyboard.
Build #1 Can find a good 19inch widescreen monitor 5ms response rate, a good gaming mouse, and cheap keyboard for not much over 200 at all and he is now playing at 1440x900 with his 8800GTS 320 and quality parts and still getting awesome FPS. HOWEVER Build #2 has 200 bucks but what can he upgrade really to get better frames. He could always sell his 8600GTS and use another 150 to get the same 8800GTS that build #1 got but what can he buy with 50 bucks more? To upgrade any of his parts really he must sell each one for a hit in money since he won't get full price. In the end even if he goes through all the trouble of selling each part he will still wind up with slightly lower quality parts and a 17inch monitor with 8ms while the other guy has better stuff and a 19inch widescreen 5ms LCD. Once again patience is a virtue in computers and you can always purchase those cheap extra things you want later once you get some more cash.