Bought a computer, time to RAMp up performance.

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Northstar

Northstar

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I know I made a thread all the way back in 2010 saying I was going to do it but than my computer died so I just got a cheap Gateway. Fast forward to today and I'm looking to get into PC gaming as I've taken a liking to simulation games (Farming Sim, Cities: Skyline, possibly the new Jurassic World game) and PC is seemingly more suited than consoles for that genre.

So before I start shopping around, will $700-800 be enough to do a fairly decent build?
 
Northstar
I know I made a thread all the way back in 2010 saying I was going to do it but than my computer died so I just got a cheap Gateway. Fast forward to today and I'm looking to get into PC gaming as I've taken a liking to simulation games (Farming Sim, Cities: Skyline, possibly the new Jurassic World game) and PC is seemingly more suited than consoles for that genre.

So before I start shopping around, will $700-800 be enough to do a fairly decent build?
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It depends on what you want for a graphics card and processor. The processor is always a good chunk and graphics cards have been going up because apparently they're good for cryptocurrency mining. I don't know how/why but the crazy people buy them in skids basically. It depends what you want to do too, my PC is probably the same value as you're looking to spend and I'm seeing if it can hold a full 25 square City. Granted I got it at a college asset sale and swapped out what I could. If that's an option for you maybe look into that too.
 
Thermal Paste or Termal Interface Material goes between the CPU/GPU and the heatsink.

You can get from the cheap and nasty which offers little in terms of performance and you can go all the way to liquid metal based thermal pastes.
Thermal paste heat conductivity is measured in W/mK and the higher the number the better.

The stuff that comes with CPUs is at the "That Will Do" point, there are better options but since you're not getting a high performance CPU or overclocking you will fit into that That Will Do category

Another thing you will need is a bottle of 100% Isopropyl Alcohol(IPA).
This stuff is a must have to clean any electronic device but do not use on rubber as it will destroy it.
But apply some IPA to a tissue and rub the top of the mating surfaces of the CPU and heatsinkand this is if you're using your own paste and not what comes with the CPU, but you can still clean the CPU) before you apply thermal paste to ensure no contaminates but wait for the IPA to evaporate first, also wear gloves when using IPA.

Not that good if you let it get on your skin for extended periods as it starts to make your skin go white as it dries out the skin and the gloves are also to prevent skin oils from contaminating contacts as well.
 
Short answer from me - logicalincrements. Look through the "very good" tier which equates to your $7-800 budget.

One other place to keep in mind, as they occasionally have REALLY good deals, is Micro Center but their best deals are in store only. Perfect for you, not so much for me. :P
 
Also I would recommend you get a small (120GB) ssd for your windows boot drive, if you wanted to save money on windows you could get an oem key from ebay for under $10
 
I've been looking around a little more and I stumbled upon this. It's the same price as my build wound up being and seems like it may be a tiny bit better (not that I would really know).

Should I stick with building one or go with that?
 
Northstar
I've been looking around a little more and I stumbled upon this. It's the same price as my build wound up being and seems like it may be a tiny bit better (not that I would really know).

Should I stick with building one or go with that?
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I'd normally recommend against buying a prebuilt, but this is more powerful than your current PCPartPicker list.

Keep in mind that the pre-built probably has a cheap power supply and motherboard (and slow RAM, but RAM is expensive nowadays), but everything else looks fine to me.
 
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Northstar
I went with the MSI. I plan on getting a hard drive and hopefully a better keyboard/mouse combo later this month.

I was also surprised how busy Micro Center was.
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Dont get combos, very few are good for gaming.

I use the logitech G502 mouse and the G810 keyboard
 
The one that @Saidur_Ali suggests is one killer combo. It does include an SSD it seems, but it's an M.2, (which is one of those small sticks plugged directly into the motherboard). It has 256MB's which more than enough. And I'm sure it has space for more 'regular' Hard drives.

As for Keyboard and mouse, May I suggest the G710 keyboard and the G602 mouse from Logitech. The mouse is not super-high end, but it feels great and it has lot's of custom options. The G710 is probably the best value for a Mechanical Keyboard.
 
One thing I have been thinking about was building my own PC. Three major problems for me- money, skill, and patience. Good luck to you in your PC build!
 

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