Project Reality Forums

http://www.msy.com.au/ currently has the cheapest parts available in Australia, so I'm buying my new PC from them.

This is what I have so far, all I want is a PC that can play BF3/Skyrim. Already got DVD drive and cables etc, just want to make sure that everything in this build will work together and if there is any breathing room available.



Budget is maximum $800 and all parts have to be from that site, any advice/criticism is welcome.
http://www.msy.com.au/

why AMD processor? otherwise cool

How about an OS ?

dtacs wrote:http://www.msy.com.au/ currently has the cheapest parts available in Australia, so I'm buying my new PC from them.

This is what I have so far, all I want is a PC that can play BF3/Skyrim. Already got DVD drive and cables etc, just want to make sure that everything in this build will work together and if there is any breathing room available.



Budget is maximum $800 and all parts have to be from that site, any advice/criticism is welcome.

Is there a reason you chose the Gigabyte mobo over Asus? Personally, I've had bad experiences with Gigabyte mobos. They usually run ok for several months, and then **** out hard. Each time I had to get an RMA their tech support tried screwing me over, and their customer service was pathetic. They are usually cheaper, but I'd rather pay a little more for something that I honestly trust (like Asus). If that Gigabyte board suits your needs and will support future upgrades that you'll want, and you aren't afraid of their brand, then go for it. The specs aren't too bad, it's just the name that bothers me.

As for the video card, what's up with the manufacturer selection? It looks mainly like Gigabyte, Asus, MSI, MIS, or Powercolor, none of them really being the "big brands" that I'd want to order a vid card from. I guess you have to choose from their selection though, so choose which ever you feel has the features you need. Another option is to consider two "smaller" cards (like 5570s) and bridge them together, which would probably give much better overall performance than a single 6850 card and still be about $20 cheaper.

The price for the HDD isn't bad, but do you have another one? I always try to use 2 drives, one for my O/S and primary programs, and a second slave for data storage like movies, photos, docs, music, etc. Not only does that provide extra safety in case your primary fails, but you can play music or download files while gaming/etc and not experience system stutter from having to access the same drive for multiple functions. Which ever drive you have now, if you can't afford a spare, you can format it and use that as a slave once your new drive has been installed and any critical files transferred.

The rest of it looks ok for the price, just remember though that you'll be running 64-bit O/S and if you don't already have a copy, they can be quite expensive. I've been trying to buy a copy of Win 7 Ultimate off ebay for a week now, keep getting outbid over my limit.


Good luck with the build. I am actually going to be putting together 2 complete systems tomorrow night. Assembling them actually doesn't take more than maybe 30 minutes each, but the install/update of the O/S can take several hours.

[R-DEV]Ninja2dan wrote:Is there a reason you chose the Gigabyte mobo over Asus? Personally, I've had bad experiences with Gigabyte mobos. They usually run ok for several months, and then **** out hard. Each time I had to get an RMA their tech support tried screwing me over, and their customer service was pathetic. They are usually cheaper, but I'd rather pay a little more for something that I honestly trust (like Asus). If that Gigabyte board suits your needs and will support future upgrades that you'll want, and you aren't afraid of their brand, then go for it. The specs aren't too bad, it's just the name that bothers me.

I chose it because it seemed to have the best value there, but I currently have an ASUS mobo and its fairly decent so good idea could be worth getting one instead.

As for the video card, what's up with the manufacturer selection? It looks mainly like Gigabyte, Asus, MSI, MIS, or Powercolor, none of them really being the "big brands" that I'd want to order a vid card from. I guess you have to choose from their selection though, so choose which ever you feel has the features you need. Another option is to consider two "smaller" cards (like 5570s) and bridge them together, which would probably give much better overall performance than a single 6850 card and still be about $20 cheaper.

Yeah its limited but its very cheap for Australian prices.

The price for the HDD isn't bad, but do you have another one? I always try to use 2 drives, one for my O/S and primary programs, and a second slave for data storage like movies, photos, docs, music, etc. Not only does that provide extra safety in case your primary fails, but you can play music or download files while gaming/etc and not experience system stutter from having to access the same drive for multiple functions. Which ever drive you have now, if you can't afford a spare, you can format it and use that as a slave once your new drive has been installed and any critical files transferred.

I currently run two HDD's in RAID 0 (I think? PC thinks its one drive) which equal 268gb, and I haven't filled it. Rather have the one big 1TB which will never fill up, its only $20 extra than the WD/Seagate 500gb ones.

The rest of it looks ok for the price, just remember though that you'll be running 64-bit O/S and if you don't already have a copy, they can be quite expensive. I've been trying to buy a copy of Win 7 Ultimate off ebay for a week now, keep getting outbid over my limit.

I have a Windows 7 x64 disk so its no problem.

Good luck with the build. I am actually going to be putting together 2 complete systems tomorrow night. Assembling them actually doesn't take more than maybe 30 minutes each, but the install/update of the O/S can take several hours.

I know lol, mine took a whole bloody day after it failed a few times

Thanks for the feedback.

When ordering those parts, don't forget the "little things". I order from Tigerdirect, and the majority of my parts are OEM. I'm not sure about where you are ordering from, but usually OEM = cheaper. If your parts are OEM (meaning they are not the full retail boxed version), you'll need to make sure you order anything you don't already have such as hardware screws, cables, etc. Also make sure you buy a CPU fan and some thermo paste (in case your CPU doesn't come with any or you need extra for future maintenance). A friend of mine ordered a bunch of parts for me to build him a PC, and he forgot the CPU fan. That meant he had to wait yet another week for the item to arrive, and ended up spending an extra $4 on shipping as well. It's always a good idea to double-check your order before you submit it and make sure every little component is there, vitally more important if ordering OEM.

And when you do buy a CPU fan, look at its shape/size and then compare that to the mobo and images of the case internals. Some CPU fans have overly-large fan systems or oddly-shaped heatsink blocks that won't fit properly on some boards, or will interfere with locking them down due to the variety of CPU locking brackets on different mobos. I personally try to stay away from the really tall or round ones myself, just to make sure.

The AMD one comes with the default fan, I assume thats quite small similar to the Intel one.

They will be assembling it, so if there are any problems when I collect it and pay for it I could probably just sort them out right there and then.

Ah, didn't know they were that kind of dealer. I assumed they were just an online retailer where you purchased the parts and then assembled it yourself. In that case, the overall price isn't too bad because they'll do all of the hard work for you, and they'll be the ones to sit for hours waiting on updates and restarts. That also means they'll be responsible for ensuring all screws, cables, etc are in place.

You'll most likely want to upgrade the CPU fan. When ever a CPU comes with a fan, it is rarely one capable of actually supporting the system beyond very basic use (checking your email). If you plan to play games, that little fan isn't going to hold up at all. You can usually get a really good CPU fan for $15 USD, well worth the investment if you don't plan on using liquid cooling. You might also want to ask them about case fans, see if they are installing 120s or if they are going to charge you an "upgrade fee" for that. In many cases you'll get just one or two 120s or maybe the smaller 90s instead. They're enough to start the system up and perform the install, maybe keep it on display as a demo model, but they won't hold up to gaming use. Just remember that if you burn out your components it's usually not covered in the warranty.

Originally Posted by [R-DEV]Ninja2dan
I always try to use 2 drives, one for my O/S and primary programs, and a second slave for data storage like movies, photos, docs, music, etc.

Would that work if it was an external hard drive?

I believe so.

haha can i hold you to that?

[quote=""'[R-DEV"]Ninja2dan;1557804']I always try to use 2 drives, one for my O/S and primary programs, and a second slave for data storage like movies, photos, docs, music, etc. [/quote]

[quote="drunkenpreacher""]Would that work if it was an external hard drive?[/quote]

Yes it would work for an external hard drive, however it would be slower at accessing the data from the external. SATA is much faster than USB etc...

There is no reason why you could not have all the important stuff for the PC on one HDD inside the system, and keep all your music on a separate external, you may have to tell media player etc where to look, and ensure you plug it in the same hole (so it appears as the same letter drive, e.g T: or E

Just partition the 1 TB HDD into 4 partitions
one for OS,
one for docs/pics/music etc,
one for backups of docs/pics settings
and the last for a ghost image.

and maybe an external drive for the heck of it. ..?

SnipeHunt wrote:Just partition the 1 TB HDD into 4 partitions
one for OS,
one for docs/pics/music etc,
one for backups of docs/pics settings
and the last for a ghost image.

and maybe an external drive for the heck of it. ..?

That wouldn't solve the problem of it getting loaded with junk =] or going slow, but would make it easier to separate everything and give the extra security

Making partitions on the same hard drive will not make it faster since it's still using the same platters and arm/tool/thing. Or was speed not the point of this?

I didn't suggest it for speed, just for the ease factor of not needing extra external or internal drives.

for simplicity's sake is all.

A TB HDD is ALOT of space to keep as one partition and use a separate drive for storage media.