In about eleven weeks from now, I should have enough money saved up from walking my neighbor's dogs to build my own gaming desktop. I plan to do this because I've been tired of console gaming for quite some time now and the greater majority of my friends are PC gamers. I'd like to be able to run a large amount of games on ultra settings, which is why it will be taking month in order to save up enough money in order to buy the parts.

Who here has built their own PC? What can you suggest for me to do from personal experience? What specs would suffice my needs?

Edit: My budget for everything, including peripherals, would be around $1,000-$1,200. This is a rough estimate. Games I'd like to play on ultra include but are not limited to: The Division, Metro 2033/Last Light, Far Cry 4, Payday 2, etc. Out of the games listed, I only have Payday 2. I plan on taking advantage of Steam sales in the future, so I will figure that out in time. Suggestions for other games?

(For the record I'm a complete noob when it comes to computers, so if I sound like an idiot when I reply to anyone, it's because I am when it comes to this stuff.)

Listing my budget in the OP? Or just listing it in general?

Don't forget that you'll need money in your budget to pay for the games you want -- unless you're going to pirate them, but it doesn't sound like you have experience with that.

You need to post your budget, as well as what games you're hoping to be playing on ultra. Expect to pay upwards of $300 for a graphics card able to play current releases on ultra settings. For processors, aim for 3.0+ GHz in a quad core, around $200. Make sure your motherboard is compatible with your processor, though that's typically only an issue when you're upgrading later on. Storage is really your preference. I'd start with an HDD and eventually upgrade to a second drive or even an SSD. Get a reliable case at the start. I'm still using the same case I started with 6 years ago. Power supplies are pretty much universal, expect to pay about $50 and shoot for 700+ Watts. Finally, RAM (or memory) is also pretty straight forward. You need at least 4GB; expect to pay around $50. If you don't have the peripherals (keyboard, mouse, monitors) that you want to use for gaming, expect to add another $200 or more, depending on their quality.

Use this website as a starting point, or just use whole builds:
http://www.reddit.com/r/PCMasterRace/wiki/builds

Don't forget that you'll need money in your budget to pay for the games you want -- unless you're going to pirate them, but it doesn't sound like you have experience with that.

You need to post your budget, as well as what games you're hoping to be playing on ultra. Expect to pay upwards of $300 for a graphics card able to play current releases on ultra settings. For processors, aim for 3.0+ GHz in a quad core, around $200. Make sure your motherboard is compatible with your processor, though that's typically only an issue when you're upgrading later on. Storage is really your preference. I'd start with an HDD and eventually upgrade to a second drive or even an SSD. Get a reliable case at the start. I'm still using the same case I started with 6 years ago. Power supplies are pretty much universal, expect to pay about $50 and shoot for 700+ Watts. Finally, RAM (or memory) is also pretty straight forward. You need at least 4GB; expect to pay around $50. If you don't have the peripherals (keyboard, mouse, monitors) that you want to use for gaming, expect to add another $200 or more, depending on their quality.

Use this website as a starting point, or just use whole builds:
http://www.reddit.com/r/PCMasterRace/wiki/builds

Thanks for your suggestions. Also, I've edited the OP.

Listing my budget in the OP? Or just listing it in general?

Hi

Bumperino

Quote from: Legit 8-Bit on March 17, 2015, 11:39:42 AM

Edit: My budget for everything, including peripherals, would be around $1,000-$1,200. This is a rough estimate. Games I'd like to play on ultra include but are not limited to: The Division, Metro 2033/Last Light, Far Cry 4, Payday 2, etc. Out of the games listed, I only have Payday 2. I plan on taking advantage of Steam sales in the future, so I will figure that out in time. Suggestions for other games?

Recommendations:

Graphics card: R290X or higher ~$300
Processor: i4-4550 or higher ~$250
RAM: 8GB ~$90
HDD: 1 Terabyte ~$130
PSU: 750W ~$100
OS: Windows 8.1 ~Depends, check your school for discounts
Motherboard: (I prefer MSI A88) ~$75
Peripherals: Keyboard + mouse + monitor: ~$200
Case: <$100

That fits your budget, though it doesn't leave much room for games. Use price comparison tools to find good deals. The Reddit guide is pretty thorough.

The 290X's have awful fans and is noisy and hot as fuck, assuming you're listing the stock version.
The ones with better fans are a bit more expensiv e.

I have a sapphire 290X and have no issue with noise or heat running Far Cry 4 on ultra. The equivalent Nvidia card is fine too. It's just a guide.

There's multiple Sapphire 290X cards. Be a bit more specific.

Quote from: BritishLemön on March 17, 2015, 05:30:25 PM

Quote from: HurtfulTurkey on March 17, 2015, 05:28:37 PM

I have a sapphire 290X and have no issue with noise or heat running Far Cry 4 on ultra. The equivalent Nvidia card is fine too. It's just a guide.

There's multiple Sapphire 290X cards. Be a bit more specific.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202079

That's why you don't have heat and noise problems then. That's a non-reference model.

For your processor I would highly recommend an Intel i7 or above

Not really. An i5 is more than enough if he's only using it for gaming.

Quote from: BritishLemön on March 17, 2015, 06:07:56 PM

Quote from: Decimator Omega on March 17, 2015, 06:02:50 PM

For your processor I would highly recommend an Intel i7 or above

Not really. An i5 is more than enough if he's only using it for gaming.

Well, I have an i7, but I do more than just gaming on this thing, I also have 16GB of RAM.

I think I'm gonna upgrade my graphics card next.

Well there you go then. Unless OP is doing video editing or 3d rendering and shit, an i5 is plenty.

No point in him going overkill and getting something unnecessary.

Quote from: Decimator Omega on March 17, 2015, 06:12:44 PM

Quote from: BritishLemön on March 17, 2015, 06:07:56 PM

Quote from: Decimator Omega on March 17, 2015, 06:02:50 PM

For your processor I would highly recommend an Intel i7 or above

Not really. An i5 is more than enough if he's only using it for gaming.

Well, I have an i7, but I do more than just gaming on this thing, I also have 16GB of RAM.

I think I'm gonna upgrade my graphics card next.

Well there you go then. Unless OP is doing video editing or 3d rendering and shit, an i5 is plenty.

No point in him going overkill and getting something unnecessary.

Actually, now that you both mentioned it, I was thinking about going with i7 for editing videos and such (I'm going to be testing for an Adobe Premiere certification and I use the program quite frequently. I plan to get certified in AfterEffects as well).

Quote from: BritishLemön on March 17, 2015, 06:15:19 PM

Quote from: Decimator Omega on March 17, 2015, 06:12:44 PM

Quote from: BritishLemön on March 17, 2015, 06:07:56 PM

Quote from: Decimator Omega on March 17, 2015, 06:02:50 PM

For your processor I would highly recommend an Intel i7 or above

Not really. An i5 is more than enough if he's only using it for gaming.

Well, I have an i7, but I do more than just gaming on this thing, I also have 16GB of RAM.

I think I'm gonna upgrade my graphics card next.

Well there you go then. Unless OP is doing video editing or 3d rendering and shit, an i5 is plenty.

No point in him going overkill and getting something unnecessary.

Actually, now that you both mentioned it, I was thinking about going with i7 for editing videos and such (I'm going to be testing for an Adobe Premiere certification and I use the program quite frequently. I plan to get certified in AfterEffects as well).

Well if you're doing a lot of editing, I'd recommend and i7.

Quote from: Legit 8-Bit on March 17, 2015, 06:53:49 PM

Quote from: BritishLemön on March 17, 2015, 06:15:19 PM

Quote from: Decimator Omega on March 17, 2015, 06:12:44 PM

Quote from: BritishLemön on March 17, 2015, 06:07:56 PM

Quote from: Decimator Omega on March 17, 2015, 06:02:50 PM

For your processor I would highly recommend an Intel i7 or above

Not really. An i5 is more than enough if he's only using it for gaming.

Well, I have an i7, but I do more than just gaming on this thing, I also have 16GB of RAM.

I think I'm gonna upgrade my graphics card next.

Well there you go then. Unless OP is doing video editing or 3d rendering and shit, an i5 is plenty.

No point in him going overkill and getting something unnecessary.

Actually, now that you both mentioned it, I was thinking about going with i7 for editing videos and such (I'm going to be testing for an Adobe Premiere certification and I use the program quite frequently. I plan to get certified in AfterEffects as well).

Well if you're doing a lot of editing, I'd recommend and i7.

Agreed, as well as asset rendering as well, you will need power for that.

Quote from: Decimator Omega on March 17, 2015, 06:02:50 PM

For your processor I would highly recommend an Intel i7 or above

Not really. An i5 is more than enough if he's only using it for gaming.

i5s are going to bottleneck with the GPUs coming out later this generation.