I built my first PC just about a year ago, and I went into it without knowing anyone who'd done the same. What I did was buy a copy of PC Gamer's 2011 PC Building Guide (something to that effect). They showed how to choose components, compatibility issues to be aware of, recommendations, and how to build it. I've just checked online, and I can't find a digital copy of it up, but if you really want it just PM me.

Also, I watched this video to see how to install the mobo, since the guide wasn't as thorough on that as I'd have liked.

As for the shipping cost, my PC is a full-size tower, big gfx card, 1 HDD and 2 optical drives, and feels like it's close to 50lbs. I don't have a scale, so I can't give you a sure weight, but I hope that helps.

One last thing, be SUPER careful you don't drop anything in the PSU. I dropped a screw in there, and ended up not being able to get it out. That was a $200 mistake.

 

Thanks for the info.

If I buy the Case here, by how much do you think will the weight reduce?

I have added the video on my to-watch list. And thanks for the tip about PSU.

 

The consensus seems to be that the GTX 670 is the best value right now in high end video cards. It's on par or better than the 7970 and it is a little cheaper. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-670-review,3200-15.html

 

Oh and just letting you know, building a PC is super easy. I did it not two months ago, with no prior experience and no research. The parts just showed up and I read the manuals. The PC is working great and runs pretty much anything. Good Luck man.

 

Thanks. I will look into the post in more detail but for now, the case problem might be solved. I looked up the price of $100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case in India and it is 93$ (after conversion from INR to USD). So, I am in luck, I can get the Case here. Unfortunately 3rd Gen isn't even available, neither is GTX 670 and everything else costs on average 50% more, even other cases, I really wanted to get obsidian 650D but it costs around 400$ here. So I will get everything from Amazon except the case.

For keyboard I am not going with wireless for now and I will be looking for a gaming mouse. But that will come later.

Yes, I plan to go with GTX 670, thanks for the heads up.

I hope it goes as easy for me. It looks easy enough.

I will post a complete rig here soon and you guys can see if it is ok.

Thanks a lot for all the help!

 

Castiel, the i7 920 you currently have has ram in a trichannel configuration (ie: 3 x 2GB sticks), so you having 6GB is completely correct and intended.

There isn't a significant performance gain in going from a i7 920 to a Sandy or Ivy bridge based processor - especially since you aren't overclocking.

You'd be better off keeping the motherboard, CPU and ram you currently have and putting the money into a 256GB ssd for general quality of life, a nice big high res (2560*1440++) monitor to take advantage of the top of the line graphics card or a better laptop of some sort.

 

It'll probably go away with a new Windows install/graphics card/psu

In any case I highly doubt it's a problem with the cpu ram or motherboard, simply because if it was any of those 3 there would be issues with more than just 3d games.

 

First of all, it is not just with minecraft. ANY game, once or twice it has happened while using something very resource intensive. It happens about 80% of the time. And it only happens if I start the PC after it has been off some time. But when I shut down and start again the problem goes away, always. It is weird but I have no idea why it happens. I think it is because of the hard drive, but that is just because of this.

I don't know which PSU I have, I will open and see later but it is 650W if I remember correctly.

Problem with upgrading is that I would want to change my case anyway. It sucks. I don't see the model name anywhere but it is from cooler master. Quite small compared to the ones I have seen so far. And doesn't have good air-flow either.

So upgrading would result in me getting rid of a case, a GPU and probably my hard drive because I had been planning on getting a better one (WD CB) before I decided to buy a new PC instead. And no place to put them, which is kind of a waste.

Also, my Dad can use my current PC since I will take his Laptop. And if a few months down the lane I require the use of an additional system (I don't know, for a home server or something) I can use it, or maybe sell it if I get a good enough deal.

Another main reason is, I want to build a PC from scratch.

One more question, if I get my friend to go to a Microcenter. Can I assume he will find everything there? Or is there any way to check what will be there and what won't?

 

Non-SSD hard drives are limited to a maximum of 5.9 in the windows score - that doesn't say anything except that your hard drive isn't an ssd

If your current pc is still needed then yeah, you do want everything new =p

Make sure to buy a crucial m4 SSD with either 128GB or 256GB capacity as your primary windows drive.

You 'should' be able to find everything at Microcentre, yes. For things like Motherboard, ram, case and PSU have a few 'backups' as well, incase your first choice is sold out or not stocked at that specific microcentre. CPU and graphics card (the type, if not specific brand) should be available no matter what.

 

So, here is what I am looking at:

PROCESSOR
Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K - $349.99

RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL9D-8GBXM - $69.99
OR
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMP8GX3M2A1600C9 - $69.99

HDD
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $119.99
AND
Crucial 128 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT128M4SSD2 - $124.99

Case
Corsair Obsidian Series 650D (CC650DW-1) Black Steel structure with black brushed aluminum faceplate ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $179.99

GFX
GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - $399.99

DVD BURNER
LITE-ON DVD Burner - $17.99

PSU
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - $109.99

COOLING
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 - $29.99

I might tone the processor down a bit. Also notice that I have not chosen a motherboard, because I can not decide on one yet. Still, it is for $125 on average. So putting that in, I get a total of $1549 (same build you suggested Chedar xD)

Now, this is in no way a FINAL build. This is the direction in which I am heading. I might stop sooner. And I will be buying 25 days later. It might be a little cheaper then or have better offers. If I have my friend get it from Microcenter it might be even more cheap.

For now, suggest me a motherboard, and help me chose between the RAMs. I prefer ASUS for Motherboards BTW but if you think there is something better by another manufacturer let me know. One that servers will with my processor and chosen RAM.

So, hopefully I will be able to tone this down to 1400$ by the time I have to buy. The remaining 400$ should be ample for a good monitor and keyboard/mouse.

So, what's the verdict?

 

that psu isn't modular. modular is so so much better if you're building your own pc because all the unneeded cables don't get in the way.

buy a corsair HX650 or a seasonic m12ii 620w

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012

for ram, honestly - just buy the cheapest set at the capacity you want. you won't be able to tell the difference.

processor - definitely drop back a lot - buying a K series processor is only if you want to overclock. this would be fine

You can probably drop your gfx card down a notch too if your monitor is only going to be a 1920*1080/1200, since a 670GTX is incredibly overkill for that res.

buy this motherboard - asrock makes good stuff http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

everything else seems fine

 

Good point. Done. Thanks.

The cheapest is $54 I think, and I have no problem spending 15$ more on the off-chance that I might get better performance.

I won't overclock because I don't know how or have no reason. Who knows if it might change in the future? I am buying this rig to set me up for quite some time. And sooner or later I will try to overclock.

That said, yes, I will probably not get this and step down a little but like I said, I have plenty of time to decide that.

Which one would you suggest?

Looks good. Thanks!

 

If you want to overclock maybe in future, I'd recommend buying a sandy bridge based cpu instead of a ivy bridge. Sandy bridge runs cooler, overclocks just as well and is significantly cheaper! edit: also performance is basically the same (ivy bridge is less than 10% better depending on the application)

cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

graphics card eh. a gtx 670 is fine if just want to be assured that whatever game you wanna play will run perfect. Maybe if you need more room in your budget you can drop this down.

 

Is there a possibility that anywhere from now to 4 years down the line having an Ivy Bridge instead of Sandy will be useful?

I only want Ivy because I am building this PC to last me four years at most with hopefully no upgrades required. If a new technology is out I should get it right?

If some cheaper Sandy Bridge is equivalent to an expensive Ivy Bridge what is the point besides it being new technology? And if it new technology there should be some measurable differences, right?

 

The difference in Sandy Bridge vs Ivy Bridge is one of die size - more specifically, the manufacturing process. Ivy Bridge uses 22nm architecture, Sandy Bridge uses 32nm. There are a few other minor improvements (mainly to the integrated graphics), but performance-wise, there's barely any difference. This article explains it pretty well: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ivy-bridge-benchmark-core-i7-3770k,3181.html

The major improvement comes in the mobile sector, not desktop/enthusiast.

 

Yeah, seems that way, I did a lot of research and seems all the hype is about the integrated graphics, but that is rendered moot since I will be getting the GTX 670.

I will check some more in the morning, its 1 AM.