Hey guys, I've never built a PC before and have extremely limited experience dealing with hardware (aka non-existent), but seeing as it's a lot cheaper than buying those bloated pre-configured pieces of crap on retail, I thought I'd try and give it a shot!

I'm a college student, so budget is important, but I'm hoping to at least play CS:S on a resolution higher than 720x576 (hahaha..) and some higher-end games like Skyrim on (hopefully) high. That being said, I'm shooting for $500-$600 (is that possible!?).

If anyone could suggest parts, resources, what I should know when building, etc. I'd love you long time

tomshardware.com often has nice system builder articles for various budgets. In your case, have a look at this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gami...,3216.html
This is probably the best you can get with 500 bucks and has some good graphical muscles with that GeForce GTX 560 Ti to handle the likes of Skyrim.
I recommend going a 100 bucks over budget and getting a more decent CPU too, like the Core i3 2120 which is compatible with the same mainboard used in the 500 dollar system from the above link:
http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=59192&vpn=B...ture=Intel

Of course this is just the chassis and its internals! you gotta spend around 200 on a monitor and around 50 on peripherals.

Building a gaming PC in that price range is more than doable, and the system evil smile recommend would handle Skyrim in high settings without a glitch.
Two questions:
1. Do you already have any parts you can work with? Like an older computer with a useable case, HDD, PSU, keyboard, mouse, screen, etc.?
2. Besides Skyrim and CSS, what else might you use this computer for?

What do you already have? Like, monitor, PSU, GPU, etc..? or is it a laptop?

Anyway, as I showed THIS to _RemiX, I'll show it to you as well. Take a look at those and I'll come up with mine when you answer my questions above.

Double post

I'm kind boring so I made a quick search to help you out, since there was no time to answer my questions yet, I'll show you some things before I get my answer. Let's begin...


DVD/CD BURNER http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6827135204
CASE http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811156261
GPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814125353
PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6817171060
MEMORY http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820231493
PROCESSOR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6819116504
MOM BOARD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813157297

WITHOUT HDD or SDD. Total = $648.93*

* Without the shipping and taxes, and I didn't take the rebate and didn't use coupons. So it can be around that amount when you get the rebate and use coupons.

IF you already have a HDD, use that. The same goes to the CASE and POWER SUPPLIES or not even having a CD/DVD BURNER. BUT be careful with the power supplies, for the build I've made, it's gotta be 450w. Also, the memory can be replaced for these cheap ones HERE. Again, there's not much I can do about it without the answers I need from you. So yeah... I'll be waiting .

[Assassin]

Awpchoo is the man

you gotta spend around 200 on a monitor and around 50 on peripherals.

Thanks for the input! I won't be buying a new monitor and peripherals. I have a widescreen LCD I got for free, a razer Tron mouse which I like and I don't really care about the type of keyboard I use haha. I would be willing to go up another $100 for a significant boost in power!

Building a gaming PC in that price range is more than doable, and the system evil smile recommend would handle Skyrim in high settings without a glitch.
Two questions:
1. Do you already have any parts you can work with? Like an older computer with a useable case, HDD, PSU, keyboard, mouse, screen, etc.?
2. Besides Skyrim and CSS, what else might you use this computer for?

1. Same as above! I won't be ripping any older parts because my current computer is a laptop: 13" Dell Studio XPS 13
2. High definition porn? Hahaha kidding. I'll probably be using it for internet surfing, schoolwork (not heavy rendering stuff); my main concern is that I want to be building something that won't get completely outdated with the next wave of PC games. I'll also want to play it on CS GO, but if it handles Skyrim, I'm sure it'll handle GO.

What do you already have? Like, monitor, PSU, GPU, etc..? or is it a laptop?

WITHOUT HDD or SDD. Total = $648.93*

Same as above! I won't have any internal parts I can rip off, but I have peripherals. Which would be better for gaming? An SSD or HDD?

There are so many processors / gfx cards out there, is there some sort of easy to see ranking chart of current models out there?

Thanks for the input so far guys! Sorry if I have a lot of stupid questions, I'm trying to learn about building too through this process and want to make sure I understand why I'm choosing each part

[Cas Beep Beep Im A Jeep]

Best way, go to newegg, close your eyes, shake your mouse, open your eyes, buy the item your mouse was on.

Which would be better for gaming? An SSD or HDD?

There are so many processors / gfx cards out there, is there some sort of easy to see ranking chart of current models out there?

Thanks for the input so far guys! Sorry if I have a lot of stupid questions, I'm trying to learn about building too through this process and want to make sure I understand why I'm choosing each part

SSD for games and OS (Windows) . HDD for storage.

[video=youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=ursoUUbM1aM[/video]

[video=youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=j84eEjP-RL4[/video]

My takes about 8-10 secs to be loaded up, but totally is 11-13 secs till I get the password in:p .. After that, I'm good to go

Also, about GPUs (VideoCards):


1. VideoCard Benchmark
2. Comparison between GPUs
3. Forum to ask other people (tips, questions, get to know more, Etc.. useful)

Also, dont be sorry for asking. If you dont ask, you wont ever learn it..

Mobo: 109.99$ (normally 130$) http://ncix.com/products/?sku=61850&vpn=...omoid=1034
CPU: 150$ (normally 200$) http://www.amazon.com/AMD-FX-8120-8-Core...ds=fx+8150
PSU: 65$ (normally 100$) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...CatId=5439
GPU: 145$ (normal 175$) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...CatId=7005
RAM: 55$ (normal 80$) http://ncix.com/products/?sku=62704&vpn=...omoid=1034
SSD: 180$ (240gb, normally 220$) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...CatId=5300

Then you can pick your Case.

So Red, what is the MAX you can go to? I'm asking this again because we dont know when you decide to upgrade the budget, if you did so, please let us know. If you didn't, just re-post it again please. Thanks!