Building a computer: Advice plz

[gumOnShoe]

What I'd like it to do:
- Gaming: I don't play extreme games, but I'd like to be able to run TF2, portal, etc. Things basically that are pretty main stream. I'm not going to some convention to show off my pcs insides, but I don't want to burn out my parts when I pop a game in either.

- Designing 2D/3D games: This means, coding, compiling & testing. I'm probably going to want memory. Even if I don't go this route I want to have capability to do it. My current pc is 6 years old and hasn't been able to run the latest photoshop since maybe 3 years ago. I'd like to be able to run that, Mia, and be able to play with directX and OpenGL.

- Process a crap ton of data: I work with databases all the time. My computer NEEDS to be able to do multithreaded work like a pro. It also needs to be able to deal with large files and keep them in main memory to increase speed. I deal with 700MB plain text files all of the time and my boss has been known to ask me to deal with a terrabyte of data by the end of the week. I need a PC that can handle these demands.

Where am I? I think I know what processor I want. the I7-2600. I'm not worried about overclocking. I'm not interested in burning up product or wasting money replacing parts I fucked up. Now I need to pick a board & graphics card, a brand of ram, hard drive, CD/DVD burner, fans, and whatever I haven't mentioned. I want the graphics card so that I can possibly use it to run algorithms on the side has a hugely multi-threaded processor incase my I7 lets me down. Again, this should support games now, and for hopefully the next 4 years.

What's my price range? Not looking to go over 1500, so talk me down if I need talked down on anything.

This will be the first time I build my own computer, any resources you have would be appreciated.

Thanks,

gum

[Occupy]

A great resource to have is someone who can actually put a computer together very well, cause if you fuck up, you're fucked.

Unless you send it back saying it was already damaged :D

[Sequenced]

You can easily get that type of computer under $1500.

[gumOnShoe]

At 12/12/11 09:04 PM, Sequenced wrote: You can easily get that type of computer under $1500.

Yeah, but I want to build.

[Suprememessage]

Yes, get some knowledge of computers, you're going to need a good graphics card, a pretty large hard drive and about 8 Gb of ram would be good.

[gumOnShoe]

At 12/12/11 09:20 PM, Suprememessage wrote: Yes, get some knowledge of computers, you're going to need a good graphics card, a pretty large hard drive and about 8 Gb of ram would be good.

Recommendations?

I've been looking on Newegg and all of the motherboards seem to have a 20% dissatisfaction rating. Some of them seem to fail right out of the box and others supposedly catch on fire. Obviously, I'm feeling a little nervous about buying dead parts, which is why I'm trying to see if anyone here has experience.

Although this is newgrounds, feel free to make jocks about getting a vagina drive.

[Suprememessage]

At 12/12/11 09:24 PM, gumOnShoe wrote:

At 12/12/11 09:20 PM, Suprememessage wrote: Yes, get some knowledge of computers, you're going to need a good graphics card, a pretty large hard drive and about 8 Gb of ram would be good.

Recommendations?

I've been looking on Newegg and all of the motherboards seem to have a 20% dissatisfaction rating. Some of them seem to fail right out of the box and others supposedly catch on fire. Obviously, I'm feeling a little nervous about buying dead parts, which is why I'm trying to see if anyone here has experience.

Although this is newgrounds, feel free to make jocks about getting a vagina drive.

Well, for mother boards I don't have many recommendations in mind, but I do believe a dual processor would be good. For Hard drives I'd recommen 250-300 GB. As you probably want functional for the work but not too expensive parts. For a graphics card, that's really up to you.

[BumFodder]

Get a Quad core, 4GB of RAM and a 1TB-2TB hard drive.

There are plent of decent budget quad core processor models around so that should be fine. 4GB of RAM is just right, anymore and youre just wasting your money unless youre doing some serious shit on your pc. Youll realise over time why you will need the TB hard drive, especially if you have Steam installed as it sounds, otherwise youll be filling an average sized hard drive in no time.

[Kevin]

Hello there GoS, this guide will help you in buckets.

[igott]

At 12/12/11 09:16 PM, gumOnShoe wrote:

At 12/12/11 09:04 PM, Sequenced wrote: You can easily get that type of computer under $1500.

Yeah, but I want to build.

PROTIP: Building your own is rather cheaper than getting something comparable and prebuilt.

[amplefied]

At 12/12/11 10:38 PM, igott wrote: PROTIP: Building your own is rather cheaper than getting something comparable and prebuilt.

Cheaper if your time is worthless that is

[Kevin]

At 12/12/11 11:06 PM, amplefied wrote:

At 12/12/11 10:38 PM, igott wrote: PROTIP: Building your own is rather cheaper than getting something comparable and prebuilt.

Cheaper if your time is worthless that is

Since taking the 1 - 2 hours assembling parts is never worth saving hundreds of dollars and getting better performance.

[igott]

At 12/12/11 11:06 PM, amplefied wrote:

At 12/12/11 10:38 PM, igott wrote: PROTIP: Building your own is rather cheaper than getting something comparable and prebuilt.

Cheaper if your time is worthless that is

Yeah, but a little experience in electronics doesn't hurt and speeds up the process.

I helped my dad fix a lot of things as a kid.

[amplefied]

forgot to mention that you could check out 4chan's /g/ they know some stuff about picking parts.

At 12/12/11 11:08 PM, Kevin wrote: Since taking the 1 - 2 hours assembling parts is never worth saving hundreds of dollars and getting better performance.

forgetting the part where you search for parts and wait for that stuff to arrive? Not to mention troubleshooting problems if they arise. There are downsides to building your own stuff that seems to be never getting mentioned by proponents of DIY.

[igott]

At 12/12/11 11:15 PM, amplefied wrote: forgot to mention that you could check out 4chan's /g/ they know some stuff about picking parts.

I have so many guides from /g/, it's not funny.

personal favorite

[amplefied]

At 12/12/11 11:17 PM, igott wrote: personal favorite

I'm pretty sure that's from /ck/

[KillerSkull]

Don't fuck up.

[igott]

At 12/12/11 11:19 PM, amplefied wrote:

At 12/12/11 11:17 PM, igott wrote: personal favorite

I'm pretty sure that's from /ck/

I know it is, but in general, it's my favorite guide.
Shame Newgrounds hates PNGs.

[amplefied]

At 12/12/11 11:25 PM, igott wrote: I know it is, but in general, it's my favorite guide.
Shame Newgrounds hates PNGs.

yeah it seems to hate big images as well :/

[igott]

At 12/12/11 11:27 PM, amplefied wrote:

At 12/12/11 11:25 PM, igott wrote: I know it is, but in general, it's my favorite guide.
Shame Newgrounds hates PNGs.

yeah it seems to hate big images as well :/

There goes half my pictures folder.