So now that I graduated, I did three things: Join this fine Pixlbit staff now that I have more time to write, start a book titled "365 Days of Bullshit" (which if I don't publish it will at least be available online), and use some of my grad money to build a PC. So with the help of one of my best friends, I just finished getting the last of the parts and now have a checklist of everything I bought:
Computer Tower- $40- I went with mid size since I did not quite have the cash to build a large behemoth. My idea was one roughly on par with current gen consoles, so this would have enough space for that. Getting it on a sale meant I could get more cash
Power Supply - $40 (after rebate)- This power supply looked like it could get the job done well without taking too much power. One lesson I almost learned the hard way though is that a power supply can limit your graphics card, as this is 600W and some need 650, 700, or even 750W. Fortunately, I got a pretty powerful one that can run like a champ on this thing. Was lured by the sale at the time.
Keyboard- $15- It's a $15 one. You don't need to see that. Just there to get the job done
Wifi Card- Free- Came with my motherboard. Needed to connect to wifi, looked like it would get the job done well.
128 GB Solid State Drive- $60- These things are awesome. It's basically a hard drive, but boots up instantaneously. I wanted one of these so my computer would start lightning fast every time I booted it up while the rest of the data would be stored on the
500 GB Hard Drive- Free- This was courtesy of my cousin, who upgraded to a giant TB one so didn't need it anymore. There's a reason this fucker's also my best friend.
Motherboard- $128- To be honest, I'm not really sure what this does. My bud helping me build it said I picked a good one, so I'm sure I did something right. Seriously, if you build a PC, make sure you have a friend who knows this stuff.
Radeon R9 270X Graphics Card- $195- So I spent hours and hours looking charts that compared these, looking at prices for them and being confused the whole time. Then finally someone explained this one to me in perfect English: "Plays Skyrim and Battlefield 4 at max settings" Worked with all my other equipment, so sold!
CPU- $199- Like the motherboard, I'm not exactly sure what this does. But it works well for a gaming PC at the caliber I want, so good enough for me.
DVD Drive- $20- Plays and burns DVDs. Nuff said
8 GB Memory- $73- This stuff I think lets computers work faster. Maybe. I'm going to have my bud explain each component while we build it.
So after all this tax this comes to a grand total of:
$843.59
To join the glorious PC Gaming Master Race. Assuming my bud can still get me Windows for free. I'll let you all know how it turns out!
Thats cool man! Im going to buy a new laptop myself soon. Pc gaming has really come back and theres a lot of stuff available that will never be on consoles. good luck and congrats on graduation!
Good luck with that.
I have a Radeon R9 270X, and it's served me well so far. Although I think my power supply limits it. (it's only about 500W or something.) Sounds like you got a nice build going. PC gaming has it's issues, but with Steam's ultra cheap sales and what not, it's definitely worth it.
Good to hear. Think it will work well with 600W
I'd like to build my own PC at some point, but just don't have the funds for it, but that's cool that you're doing it. Maybe I'll get more money for graduating with my Master's next Spring, but I doubt it. lol
Good luck with your Master's
Not bad. Not bad. A couple of days ago I saw an AMD/Radeon build for less. That's how it is with building computers haha. My own PC will cost at most $1500 with taxes included, but I'm trying to have quality parts, and also I intend to overclock with some basic liquid cooling system.
Yeah, I was looking through many deals, but I'm still happy with what I got and my price. Good luck on your PC.
Nice, nice. Where did you get 270X for that price?
Amazon
Since I doubt my current Laptop will handle a lot of games in the future, i'll keep this in mind if I want to make my own build.
Think of your motherboard as the mother to all your other parts. :) It's the part that connects them all together. you plug your video card and your CPU and your memory chips into it. Other cards like an audio card or an internal ethernet adapter attach to it to.
The CPU is the Central Processing Unit. It's the engine of your computer it processes instructions from the operating system and by extension the programs (games etc.)
Memory also has a hand in speed of processing. Programs loaded into RAM (Random Access Memory) run faster than they do if they are being read from a harddisk. In most cases, the more memory you have the less time a program needs to spend reading from the disk.
Your memory, CPU and graphics card all have a part in how smoothly games will run.
Pretty cool. I've been debating about building my own pc. I may just pieces over time.
a 128 GB Solid State HD for $60?!?!?! I need to get on that.
Looks like your on your way to creating a decent beast of a PC. Congrats on your graduation and signing on with Pixlbit. I just noticed your name has changed. Has the EpicGreenMan been retired? =(
That's cool! I've thought about building my own PC for a while, but with my limited knowledge I've been hesitant to pull the trigger.