Hey hey everyone. Well, here I am, think I'm finally ready to start getting pieces to build a new desktop together.
As for gaming wise, what I am looking for is something that would work with XIV. I totally understand it's a horrible game, everyone hates it, etc etc, but since it's free I would like to try it out. lol Doesn't have to be high-end, or super special but long as I could run XIV comfortably that works.
I do figure if I can run XIV, I can run just about any other game I'd like to play, which is Aion at the moment. Something I played before, and thinking about getting back too since it was a fun game.
Now for what I'm looking for spec wise~
I'd like to limit myself to about $1000.. though I would like to spend less if possible.
What I'm asking for is pretty simple;
As for as Mobo/CPU/Graphics card I'm sure ya'll can do really well with that. AMD/Intel is ya'lls decision, I've never personally been dissapointed by either. and I have Windows 7 Home edition to install.
Only things I'm interested in is
600~1TB HDD
6-8GB Ram (but I've heard that in a lot of cases 8GB becomes semi useless)
Will need a wireless card, and at least 2 USB slots, and I guess a DVD R/W Drive so I can install Windows and Aion.. otherwise I most likely won't use it.. lol
and my biggest thing is, I want a spiffy case that glows and does weird things with lights.. lol
Examples of cases: #1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147145&cm_re=gaming_case-_-11-147-145-_-Product
#2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208034&cm_re=gaming_case-_-11-208-034-_-Product
Doesn't have to be those specifically, but I don't want to really pay over $100 for just a case. I do think I like the red LED lights more.. but either way.
Really hope to find what I'm looking for here. Thanks to all responses. I really do hope to start working on this soon.
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Do you already have a monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, etc? If not, they'll have to be included in the budget, too.
Scholar
35 posts
Yes, and no.. lol
Actually I was limiting my budget just for building the PC, for the monitor not so much as most computers you can just hook into your TV nowadays and mine has an the right output's to do that. So I can play on my 32" until I can get a normal monitor for later use.
And I do have a keyboard/mouse/controller/speakers in order to play things with.
Edited, May 4th 2011 12:35am by Treillerti
Actually I was limiting my budget just for building the PC, for the monitor not so much as most computers you can just hook into your TV nowadays and mine has an the right output's to do that. So I can play on my 32" until I can get a normal monitor for later use.
And I do have a keyboard/mouse/controller/speakers in order to play things with.
Edited, May 4th 2011 12:35am by Treillerti
Here's my personal picks:
Motherboard ($140) - ASUS ATX AM3 with two USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, and up to 16 GB RAM.
CPU ($200) - this AMD hexacore or, for $60 less and a performance decrease you probably won't notice, this AMD quadcore. You could save another $60 by dropping down to a dualcore, but personally I think you're best off going at least quad.
GPU ($140) - Radeon HD5850. This is more a matter of me being partial to AMD over Nvidia. I'd normally recommend getting a card from the 6000 series, but I don't know anything about them. Odds are they're a fairly substantial upgrade. Either way, I guarantee this card will run FFXIV.
Hard drive ($75) - Western Digital 1 TB. It's good bang for the buck, and I doubt you'll need more space any time soon - presumably by the time you're in danger of filling this up, SSDs will have dropped to a reasonable price. 7200 RPM is pretty much standard unless you want to spring for a 10k RPM Velociraptor.
RAM ($85) - G.SKILL Ripjaws 2x4GB. 8GB might seem excessive, but in a few years (probably less, actually) it'll be standard, just like 4GB is now. By going for two 4GB sticks, you're leaving room in your motherboard for two more, to get up to 16GB.
PSU ($100) - Rosewill 850W. $100 seems like a lot for a power supply, but it's not as expensive as replacing the motherboard and CPU when a bad power supply ruins them. It also guarantees good throughput so your components don't get throttled by lack of power.
Case ($80) - RAIDMAX SMILODON. This is a more or less subjective pick. I like the look of it, plus the fact that it has a foldout motherboard tray to help with installation. I also prefer a top-mounted PSU, which several others I looked at didn't have. However, it's a bit larger than your motherboard actually needs, and the fans are small, so they'll be louder than some alternatives. Whatever case you go with, make sure it's roomy enough for your components while maintaining good airflow. If front-mounted USB ports are a necessity, look for those, two - the motherboard I picked supports up to 8.
Wireless cards, you have your pick. Just make sure that if it's PCIe, your motherboard has a spare PCIe port, etc. I've only bought a USB wireless receiver (which works great), so I'm not too sure on cards.
All told, this tallies up to $820, I think. You can make some savings in the CPU if you're happy with a little less power, and in the motherboard as well, most likely. The rest of it is a pretty good value.
A lot of this stuff is somewhat subjective, and the stuff that isn't can be hard to understand. I won't pretend to know the finer details of exactly how much power a hexacore offers over a quadcore, for example, or whether a 9-9-9-24 CAS latency on your RAM is good enough. But this equipment I've chosen here will run XIV just fine, and should be reasonably future-proof. Make sure before you buy anything to double-check that every piece is compatible with everything else. Try and get an idea of how the GPU will fit into the motherboard, and how that fits into your case. You don't want to find out that your card just barely won't fit. Leave yourself a good margin.
Motherboard ($140) - ASUS ATX AM3 with two USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, and up to 16 GB RAM.
CPU ($200) - this AMD hexacore or, for $60 less and a performance decrease you probably won't notice, this AMD quadcore. You could save another $60 by dropping down to a dualcore, but personally I think you're best off going at least quad.
GPU ($140) - Radeon HD5850. This is more a matter of me being partial to AMD over Nvidia. I'd normally recommend getting a card from the 6000 series, but I don't know anything about them. Odds are they're a fairly substantial upgrade. Either way, I guarantee this card will run FFXIV.
Hard drive ($75) - Western Digital 1 TB. It's good bang for the buck, and I doubt you'll need more space any time soon - presumably by the time you're in danger of filling this up, SSDs will have dropped to a reasonable price. 7200 RPM is pretty much standard unless you want to spring for a 10k RPM Velociraptor.
RAM ($85) - G.SKILL Ripjaws 2x4GB. 8GB might seem excessive, but in a few years (probably less, actually) it'll be standard, just like 4GB is now. By going for two 4GB sticks, you're leaving room in your motherboard for two more, to get up to 16GB.
PSU ($100) - Rosewill 850W. $100 seems like a lot for a power supply, but it's not as expensive as replacing the motherboard and CPU when a bad power supply ruins them. It also guarantees good throughput so your components don't get throttled by lack of power.
Case ($80) - RAIDMAX SMILODON. This is a more or less subjective pick. I like the look of it, plus the fact that it has a foldout motherboard tray to help with installation. I also prefer a top-mounted PSU, which several others I looked at didn't have. However, it's a bit larger than your motherboard actually needs, and the fans are small, so they'll be louder than some alternatives. Whatever case you go with, make sure it's roomy enough for your components while maintaining good airflow. If front-mounted USB ports are a necessity, look for those, two - the motherboard I picked supports up to 8.
Wireless cards, you have your pick. Just make sure that if it's PCIe, your motherboard has a spare PCIe port, etc. I've only bought a USB wireless receiver (which works great), so I'm not too sure on cards.
All told, this tallies up to $820, I think. You can make some savings in the CPU if you're happy with a little less power, and in the motherboard as well, most likely. The rest of it is a pretty good value.
A lot of this stuff is somewhat subjective, and the stuff that isn't can be hard to understand. I won't pretend to know the finer details of exactly how much power a hexacore offers over a quadcore, for example, or whether a 9-9-9-24 CAS latency on your RAM is good enough. But this equipment I've chosen here will run XIV just fine, and should be reasonably future-proof. Make sure before you buy anything to double-check that every piece is compatible with everything else. Try and get an idea of how the GPU will fit into the motherboard, and how that fits into your case. You don't want to find out that your card just barely won't fit. Leave yourself a good margin.
Also, I forgot to mention, don't commit to anything until Kao comes through and comments, because he's much more knowledgeable than me on this. (Even if he does aim towards the enthusiast market a little too much 
)
)Scholar
35 posts
Wow, awesome, that was pretty quick. o_o too bad the light is green in the case.. lol that's like my only issue. XD I really did like the red/blue's better. It is an interesting case set up though, I do like the foldy door thing.
I kinda expected it to cost me about $1400 to get a desktop together that can run XIV since it's so high-intensive, glad I could actually save with it. Long as this all works together, it's great. All I need to do is get a DVD drive to install Windows/XIV/XI/Aion/Rift onto it.. lol course not all at the same time. >.>
Really thanks for all your help, pretty sweet. I won't start ordering things till like next week when I get paid, get a couple things in at a time every pay check.. lol So, I will definitely get to see what Kao has to say. =D
I kinda expected it to cost me about $1400 to get a desktop together that can run XIV since it's so high-intensive, glad I could actually save with it. Long as this all works together, it's great. All I need to do is get a DVD drive to install Windows/XIV/XI/Aion/Rift onto it.. lol course not all at the same time. >.>
Really thanks for all your help, pretty sweet. I won't start ordering things till like next week when I get paid, get a couple things in at a time every pay check.. lol So, I will definitely get to see what Kao has to say. =D
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