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Benchmarks I plan on getting it mostly on sale around boxing day and hopefully knocking off about $50.00 to $80.00 off the price. I was hoping to ask a couple questions from someone who knows about some of this in a little more detail: I was wondering if anyone had experience with the hybrid drives, it seems from
this article that it is comparable to an SSD for a fraction of the price.
Would there be a huge difference seen between a pentium G860, a pentium g2120 and an i3-3220? Also, what about comparable AMD processors that may be a bit cheaper. I've read that they may have more cores, but are far less efficient, especially when it comes to gaming.
Similar question with GPU, would there be a big difference between say the GTX 650, GTX 560SE, radeon HD 7750, and radeon HD 7770?
Basically, I am closely watching quite a few sites for a good markdown on any of those cards and chips, and would like to know if I should cut some of them from my list.
I also had a couple software questions: First, can I download and install (illegitimately) Win7, then buy a Win8 upgrade key and upgrade my non-legitimate Windows 7 (I don't really wanna spend the huge chunk for Win8 OEM)?
Also, I previously bought a copy of MS office, and it only came with 3 keys, I have used all of them. I also want to reformat my laptop, and would want office on my new PC, is there anyway to reinstall it without rebuying it? Or will I need to resort to torrents for this as well?
Thanks so much for any help.
What will you be doing with this PC? 95% gaming, mixed with web-browsing, comic-reading, and occasionally acquiring long-run television series via BitTorrent.
I want to play TW: Rome 2 on "holy SHIT" settings, if possible at this budget. Skyrim + Fallout: New Vegas on high/ultra with graphical mods would be awesome. If the PC port of GTA V comes out good, I'd love to play that on high settings with mods. I'd like to revisit Far Cry 3 and Tomb Raider (2013) on the highest settings possible (edit: at this budget)--ditto Bioshock Infinite.
What is your maximum preferred budget before rebates/shipping/taxes? $1,100 US
When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Within 2 weeks
What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? I have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers/headphones.
I
might have a 240GB SSD with a Windows 8 license (more on that below)
I need the tower and everything inside it. Tower will live about 5 feet from my FiOS modem, so I'm thinking a hard-wired internet connection will suffice (but maybe maintain the option to add a WiFi adaptor down the line, in case my living situation changes).
Which country will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in the US, are you near a Microcenter store? US, and I can get to a Microcenter pretty easily.
If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model. If you have a monitor, list the size/resolution. A)
this 24" 1920x1080 monitor. I have an HDMI-to-DVI cable (in other words, the lack of HDMI-in on this monitor isn't a problem. I don't need native DVI-output or anything. Just HDMI.)
B)
this 240GB SSD. This is currently the only drive in my laptop (I have Win8 installed on it). Do you think I, a relative n00b, could take this drive out of my laptop, install it in this new build, and then return the original HDD to that laptop without f*%#ing up everything? If so, then I can reuse the SSD in this new build.
Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU? No.
If there's any specific features you want/need from the rig, please list them. Examples might include rear and/or front-panel USB 3.0, a RAID setup, etc. Must have HDMI-out. Plan to output games to a 32" 720p LCD HDTV.
Edit: just thought of optical drives--I don't need one! I have an external CD/RW drive I can hook up in a pinch.
Do you have any specific case/tower preferences such as a window or LEDs, or do you have a preference for low-noise components? I would prefer a case with easy access for cleaning--I have a cat, and the tower will be close to the floor, so I expect a lot of fur to get sucked into the intakes. Other than that, small and quiet would be nice, but I could make sacrifices in those areas for beefier performance.
I don't want any glowing LEDs or ornamental windows--a minimal case would be best. Basically, think of an Alienware tower, then picture the total opposite. (If case windows serve a functional/practical purpose other than pure aesthetics, let me know--I could totally be missing something obvious there.)
Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Honestly, I'm not quite sure! I bought and used an official Windows 8 upgrade license from Microsoft, but have no idea how transferable that is to a new build.
Is this helpful in any way?
Also, if I reuse the SSD, would the copy of Win8 installed on that drive work in the new build, or would I need to wipe the SSD before installing in a new build? In other words, would an SSD with Win8 that was installed on a different system/MoBo still work if plopped into a new build?
Thank you so much to anyone who took the time to read and think about this post. If I can't get some good help from this sub, there's a good chance I never actually make this happen.
