Advice on building and customizing a desktop «123...Next Go

dafadolly

Okay so to start this off, I have 0 experience in putting together a desktop and don't know very much about computers. My laptop has been giving me some major trouble recently with overheating and burning through chargers. So I decided that I was done with laptops and wanted to get myself a really good gaming desktop. I thought of building it myself to save money (it saves money, right??) and set some very high standards for what it should be capable of. I don't just play sims, and I want it to run other games really well and smooth at max setting. I want it to be able to be capable of running things well in 4k and DO NOT want to have to deal with it overheating... I have my amazon cart filled with all the pieces I would need to build this kind of desktop (at least I think?) and it totals out to $2800 including the monitor and a few duplicates with slight variations, which is expensive, but if that's what it'll take I'm willing to pay. But I wanted to get feedback from somewhere else to see if it's even necessary to spend that much, or what if I'm making a mistake and some of the parts I plan on getting won't work together?? I really don't know what I might be doing wrong. I found a page that was called like $2500 build or something, and I think most of what I plan on getting matches it, which makes me think it'll all work out together. I know a lot of you guys here are really tech savvy and actually know what you're talking about, whereas I'm totally clueless about a lot of this stuff. I felt like this was the best place to go for answers!

Random question... I heard that 4k graphics won't strain your eyes like lower graphics will. Am I a fool for believing this or is it true??

Here's my list of pieces:

Intel Core i7 6700k

EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 [Is this necessary? Would it be better if I just got the 1060 or 1070 one? Or do I need 2 graphics cards to run 4k well?]

Samsung 950 PRO Series - 512GB [Should I get the 256 one instead to save money? Is this something I can get more of later if I find that I need it?]

MasterCase Pro 5 Mid-Tower Case [I heard this one has really good airflow, which I like because again, I hate overheating]

Corsair Vengeance 32GB (2x16GB) [I actually don't know what part this is or what it does It's in my list though]

EVGA SuperNOVA 850 P2 [This is the battery, right? With a fan on it to keep it cool?]

Corsair Hydro Series H100i v2 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler [Please tell me these aren't super complicated to install yourself...]

Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel Z170 2-Way SLI ATX DDR4 Motherboards GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 [And this is what I attach the graphics card and stuff to, right?]


Hopefully I didn't miss anything important. I have a few other things in my cart, like a cd player and windows 10 and stuff, but I only listed the parts that I thought were important and essential. I also have a monitor picked out... Hoping it's suitable

Dell 4K S2817Q 28" Screen LCD Monitor [It says this one doesn't have G-Sync, which I've heard makes the gameplay more smooth or something. Should I put down more money for one with G-Sync?]

Thanks in advance to anyone who responds. I wanna make sure I'm not getting myself in way over my head

tl;dr - I wanna build a desktop capable of 4k gaming that doesnt overheat, but I've never built one before and need some advice before I decide to go through with it.

phoebebebe13

@chesterbigbird build help Thanks

@dafadolly There is no single card on the market that can run 4k. The sims games and many others will not run with two video cards. You would have to disable one

Goldmoldar

I would recommend 8 to 16 Gb ram, 32 gb is overkill and you can take the funds you save and divert it to an another area. Chester is good at putting systems together.

Colton147147

Not a bad build.

Since you are looking at playing in 4K resolution, there isn't really any single GPU, as of right now, that is capable of running 4K without any issue. Currently, the GTX 1080 is the fastest graphics card on the market and is still a good choice for those looking to play at higher resolutions.

Regarding the power supply you have chosen, EVGA's Supernova PSUs is a great choice. The P2 is tier one - if you want to save some money, you can go with the G2 (another great power supply; still tier one).

In regards to RAM/Memory, Corsair does make good RAM - I have no complaints with mine. If you aren't looking to heavily multi-task or anything, you'll be fine with only 16GB.

I recommend having both an SSD and HDD; the 512GB Samsung SSD is fine. For HDDs, look at either Western Digital Black, Seagate, or Toshiba.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQEjGKYXjw8

If you aren't looking to heavily overclock or overclock at all, you'll be fine with just air cooling and with the non-K version (if you aren't planning to overclock; if you are planning to overclock, stick with the K version).

@chesterbigbird can help you further.

dafadolly

@phoebebebe13 @Goldmoldar @Colton147147 Thank you guys for responding!!

I am a big multitasker and I always have a ton of tabs open in chrome with sims and photoshop running at the same time. Sometimes I've got itunes running too on the side. Will that change anything? What would I have to change to accommodate that?

I'm a little confused about what you mean @phoebebebe13. I thought that these cards did run 4k? I checked to see which ones were compatible with it and everything. I've also seen a lot builds advertised as "4k and VR ready" while looking into what kinda desktop I want. Can you please explain I'm guessing you mean that 1 card alone cant support 4k and that I'd need two, but most games are incompatible with 2 so that means it'd be impossible to run games in 4k?

Also, what does overclock mean? I've seen a lot of people say that when talking about desktops but I have no idea what it means...

phoebebebe13

@dafadolly Yes there is no single card on the market that can fully support 4k. chesterbigbird has a 1080 and games in 2k. She can explain. She is our expert builder in the forum. Chester can do a configuration for you on a custom web where the custom web will actually build the computer for you with chester's specifications. You really don't want to build an expensive rig like that if you don't know what your doing. A mistake can be very costly. What other games do you intend on playing?

Multi tasking, you dont need more than 16 gb of ram. 32 is overkill

chesterbigbird

A 1080 can game in 4K however you will suffer low fps and lag in games at higher settings. 4k is ahead of its time for gaming. Anything lower then a 1080 is not a good idea, you need dual 1080s and some games do not support sli so its not worth it. 1440p is the go to resolution for the 1080 single card. Cant configure something for you until next week.. I'm away at the moment.

dafadolly

@phoebebebe13 I like to play MMO's and plan on getting back into playing other single player games too once I've got a good pc for gaming. I was going to buy Black Desert Online last week but my laptop died on me before I could do it. I was actually creating my character for Riders of Icarus (I think that's what it's called) cause it's free and my little sisters wanted to play a game together online, so we all downloaded it and started it up. Halfway through creating my character was when my laptop shut down and wouldn't turn back on. My littlest sister was running it on a $200 pc and she didn't have any problems (LOL) I was the only one who couldn't play. Even though my laptop is built for gaming

@chesterbigbird Thank you for responding! I do a lot of photo editing and want to get into video editing, so do you think I can do those things fine in 4k? I heard that video editing is more taxing on computers but I don't know if I'll really enjoy it anyway, so I might not be doing it very much or at all if I find out I don't like it. But I photoshop a lot and often so that's something I'll definitely want to be able to do in 4k.

DarkAmaranth1966

Video editing is more taxing I do it and just this week can handle it in 4K but, I'm running dual 1080's which means for the game I have that don't support SLI, I have to disable one card and go to 1440 to play. Multitasking between 4K tasks and 1440 games becomes impossible. More like choose a day for one and another day for the other

Honestly, I'd forget about 4K for another year and go with the 1080 and 1440, it's perfect for games and editing. Get you feet wet in video editing for a year, then some good 4K cards should be out there and, if you love it as much as I do, go 4K then. Save yourself the early adopter headaches those of us that have adopted 4k are dealing with.

As for TS4, it hates SLI so, 1440 and one good GPU are perfect for it, it's gorgeous on a single 1080.

chesterbigbird

Agree with the above.

SimplyJen

I love that case. I've been eyeing it too. When I bought my monitor, I decided 2k was enough and later on down the road tech will be more suited for 4k. Even for games able to run in 4k res.. you still have to deal with a tiny UI.

If you're willing to take the risk and build then you can use a site like pcpartpicker.com to look up the best prices for things. It also has a tool to make a build list checking for compatibly, completed builds by others, and a helpful forum. Sites like newegg.com sell part bundles to help save money. I would defiantly get a second drive (1TB or 2TB HDD) besides that single SSD as Colton pointed out. Since you will be putting your OS and some games on the main drive, that SSD size is fine. Keep in mind if you want to use disk then you need to pick up a optical drive.

SimplyJen

Black Desert btw is a beast of a game and so beautiful! With the specs you have in mind (besides 4k), it will run beautifully.

chesterbigbird

Will add a couple if things about your build.. you dont need a 850 power supply if your only running the one card.. get a 650 or 750.
I would highly recommend getting aftermarket fans for the cpu cooler as the ones included get VERY loud.
You dont need 32GB of ram either. If you do not understand each component and what goes where then i HIGHLY recommend having someone else build it for you. A mistake can be very costly especially with a higher end build.

Tarruvi

@chesterbigbird
From what I'm hearing, you know quite a lot about Computer Building. And, I would like a few pointers on a Gaming Laptop I'm interested in.

It's an:

Alienware 17

17.3 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS-Panel Anti-Glare 300-nits Display

Processor: Intel Core i7-6700HQ (Quad-Core, 6MB Cache, up to 3.5GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
(My Note: What is Turbo Boost?)

Windows 10 64bit

RAM: 16GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2133MHz

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M with 3GB GDDR5

128GB M.2 SATA 6Gb/s SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)

Wireless: 1535 802.11ac 2x2 WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1

8-cell Lithium Ion (92 Wh) Battery

---

Is this a good gaming computer for the higher graphics settings in The Sims 4. And possibly other games out there? I want to make sure I am making a good investment here. My current computer is below the minimum requirements to play The Sims 4.

chesterbigbird

Tarruvi wrote: »

@chesterbigbird
From what I'm hearing, you know quite a lot about Computer Building. And, I would like a few pointers on a Gaming Laptop I'm interested in.

It's an:

Alienware 17

17.3 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS-Panel Anti-Glare 300-nits Display

Processor: Intel Core i7-6700HQ (Quad-Core, 6MB Cache, up to 3.5GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
(My Note: What is Turbo Boost?)

Windows 10 64bit

RAM: 16GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2133MHz

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M with 3GB GDDR5

128GB M.2 SATA 6Gb/s SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)

Wireless: 1535 802.11ac 2x2 WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1

8-cell Lithium Ion (92 Wh) Battery

---

Is this a good gaming computer for the higher graphics settings in The Sims 4. And possibly other games out there? I want to make sure I am making a good investment here. My current computer is below the minimum requirements to play The Sims 4.

It will play the game on high settings however i strongly suggest looking out for the laptops with the new nvidia cards as they are allot better then the 9th gen. Those cards would be GTX 1060 GTX 1070 and GTX 1080.. 1060 being the lower of the 3.
Also i would look for a 250GB ssd as the minimum.. 128GB will fill up way to fast and you will want to be installing the sims on there to reduce loading times.

Tarruvi

chesterbigbird wrote: »

Tarruvi wrote: »

@chesterbigbird
From what I'm hearing, you know quite a lot about Computer Building. And, I would like a few pointers on a Gaming Laptop I'm interested in.

It's an:

Alienware 17

17.3 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS-Panel Anti-Glare 300-nits Display

Processor: Intel Core i7-6700HQ (Quad-Core, 6MB Cache, up to 3.5GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
(My Note: What is Turbo Boost?)

Windows 10 64bit

RAM: 16GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2133MHz

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M with 3GB GDDR5

128GB M.2 SATA 6Gb/s SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)

Wireless: 1535 802.11ac 2x2 WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1

8-cell Lithium Ion (92 Wh) Battery

---

Is this a good gaming computer for the higher graphics settings in The Sims 4. And possibly other games out there? I want to make sure I am making a good investment here. My current computer is below the minimum requirements to play The Sims 4.

It will play the game on high settings however i strongly suggest looking out for the laptops with the new nvidia cards as they are allot better then the 9th gen. Those cards would be GTX 1060 GTX 1070 and GTX 1080.. 1060 being the lower of the 3.
Also i would look for a 250GB ssd as the minimum.. 128GB will fill up way to fast and you will want to be installing the sims on there to reduce loading times.

Thanks! I will be sure to keep that in mind!

phoebebebe13

@Tarruvi agree with Chester on the laptop. Also Alienwear is an overpriced dell. For what they charge you can probably get a better laptop that is custom. We may be able to find you a better laptop. What is your country and price range?

Tarruvi

@phoebebebe13 @chesterbigbird
I live in America, and my price range is $1k to $2k. I could go a little higher on the price if necessary.

phoebebebe13

@Tarruvi This is custom

Cyberpower charges no tax outside Cali

$1556 . This is a 15" laptop . Has a 512 gb ssd plus another 1tb hard drive. 16 gb ram , The new Nvidia GTX 1060 video card http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1J6VXB

$2271 . This is a 17" laptop Has a 512 gb ssd plus another 1 tb hard drive . 32 gb ram. The new nvidia GTX 1070 video card http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1J6VY3

You dont need more than 16 gb ram but the second is being offered with 32 which could be changed to 16 gb for $50 less.

Tarruvi

@phoebebebe13
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll keep them in mind!

phoebebebe13

@Tarruvi your very welcome .

dafadolly

Simasaurus09 wrote: »

I love that case. I've been eyeing it too. When I bought my monitor, I decided 2k was enough and later on down the road tech will be more suited for 4k. Even for games able to run in 4k res.. you still have to deal with a tiny UI.

If you're willing to take the risk and build then you can use a site like pcpartpicker.com to look up the best prices for things. It also has a tool to make a build list checking for compatibly, completed builds by others, and a helpful forum. Sites like newegg.com sell part bundles to help save money. I would defiantly get a second drive (1TB or 2TB HDD) besides that single SSD as Colton pointed out. Since you will be putting your OS and some games on the main drive, that SSD size is fine. Keep in mind if you want to use disk then you need to pick up a optical drive.

I think I would be happy with trying to get 2k instead. I was reaching for 4k cause I thought that since it was the highest quality it would last me a long time and I wouldn't have to bother upgrading for a while to keep up with everyone else. But if I did shoot for 4k I would have to do more frequent updating to keep up though, right?

Can anybody suggest what I should change to make it suitable for 2k gaming instead of 4k? Would I have to change anything? Maybe the monitor?

So far I'm adding an hdd and getting a lower power supply I think (thank you guys again for all the help). I'll look into those today and post which ones I decide on to see if they're good picks. Also, how would I go about finding someone else to build it for me? I was kinda looking forward to the building process because I wanted to learn and be able to upgrade it myself in the future. If it's too risky though then I'll forget about it. A little bummed though

phoebebebe13

@dafadolly What country are you in? There are plenty of custom computer builders on line. Chester has done a lot of custom configuration desktops for people in this forum . Myself included. I have two cyberpower custom desktops in my home. It is risky to build or upgrade yourself if you don't know what your doing. As we stated before, a mistake could be very costly. Hardware for gaming computers is a lot more expensive than your average browsing the web computer. You can learn by watching videos on youtube. If you have an old computer lying around, pratice with that

dafadolly

@phoebebebe13 I'm in the US! California to be specific. How difficult would you say it is for someone with no experience to learn by watching youtube videos and reading instructions/tutorials and stuff? And what kind of things can go wrong?

phoebebebe13

@dafadolly Cyberpower custom charges no tax outside Cali. Got another address you can mail to outside Cali?

I will do custom laptop configurations for people but not desktop. There is too much hardware choices for desktop. This is where @chesterbigbird comes in because she is an expert at building desktops.

In general we have seen a lot of people mess up in this forum upgrading or building. Putting hardware in wrong, backwards. Broke things while trying to install things. You need to understand the hardware. What each piece of hardware does. Where it needs to be placed. Cable management etc. If you have never built a computer before , I suggest having it built and slowly learn the hardware, how to upgrade.

Ravager619

dafadolly wrote: »

@phoebebebe13 I'm in the US! California to be specific. How difficult would you say it is for someone with no experience to learn by watching youtube videos and reading instructions/tutorials and stuff? And what kind of things can go wrong?

I'm with @phoebebebe13 on this one. I built my own gaming rig last December, but I had experience upgrading (or was it overhauling?) a Dell PC to make it last eight years. I also built my own PC two decades ago. I would only recommend watching videos if you have a general idea what to do already, but need help with minor things like making all the right connections from the case to the motherboard.