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I have seen a very large influx of computer threads recently. It seems many people are looking into getting that new gaming rig to satisfy their needs. I am putting together this blog (My first one at that) as an attempt to clarify a few things that I, and others have been saying on the forums.
In an order to not make this a complete wall of text that no one wants to read (Make no mistake, it will be a complete wall of text). I am going to split the blog in to categories I feel are most appropriate to the posts I've seen on the forums:
Now... We begin...
The Minecrafter!
I have seen many a thread of the person who wants to play MINECRAFT. Seriously, who on PMC plays minecraft? Anyway, a lot of times, this person will have a computer build planned out, or prebuilt chosen, and it looks something likes this
If you're looking for a computer that only needs to play minecraft, you do not need an i7, you really don't need an i5, though I would recommend it for most any gaming computer, as it gives you the room you need to upgrade other parts as your computer grows with you. Honestly you'd be fine on an i3 with sufficient speed. With new builds, don't go below 3.0 Ghz.
You do not need a high end GPU for minecraft, heck, my gpu doesn't even realize minecraft is a game! As a result, it runs on it's lowest speed... and I still get 160 fps.
Some good choice cards for The Minecrafter are the new r7 260x's from AMD or a trusty NVidia 660 or 660ti. Quality cards that will run minecraft no problem and play some other, even modern games casually.
**If you honestly plan on doing nothing else but Minecraft, you may could even get away running intel HD 4600 graphics
The Editor!
Believe it or not, there are those amung us who like to bring the art of entertainment into our lives! This is the person who likes to create art, videos, anything in high definition that makes all us PMC users "ooh" and "aah".
The editor is using programs that, although don't make us much gunshot noises as games, use quite a bit of processing power, especially when rendering and processing an HD video.
There is a technology that exists called Hyper-Threading that basically allows a cpu core to be able to run two seperate, simultaneous threads. So, essentially, your i7 is running 8 threads, on a 4 core processor. This is very helpful with processor intensive tasks such as video coding.
The Editor of course is working with graphics, so a graphics card is necessary for him or her as well. The Editor, in most cases will need a graphics card high in VRAM, or Video Ram. This is because often times, they will run more than one monitor, and more RAM helps in this case. And even more often times than none, they are using a monitor at a higher resolution than 1080p, 1440, or 4k even. Higher resolutions and Higher Definition projects need and rely on Video Ram to render, even though the card may not be fast speed wise (Ghz) it's better to be able to use your program smoothly than have stutters of speed and slowness as the VRAM is constantly wiped clean.
The Gamer!
For that brave soul who realized that there is a system out there that can do exactly what he wants it to and look good doing it. Who said: "No", I'm not going to get a Next Gen console when I can go with the timeless PC!
**That was completely for dramatic effect, the Xbox One and PS4 are both very impressive and well thought out consoles that fill a necessary niche in the gaming world, let's not turn the comment section into a war about them. Thanks!**
Anyway, The Gamer needs one thing. The Edge. A slow system is not an option here. There can be no stutter. An i5 (or AMD equivalent) is a minimum in this case. Some Gamers will even opt for an unlocked (K series in intel's case) processor in this situation so they can overclock their cpu for a few more fps.
Currently, newer games are coming out that make use of Hyper threading, personally, I don't find it essential as the FPS game is only 2-3 fps. And the $100 difference between the two cpu's could be better spent on a GPU that can handle AMD's new Mantle Technology or a trusty High End Nvidia GTX series.
With the Gamer, 2 to 3 Gb of VRAM is the sweet spot in their cards, more often then not they run a single monitor (With the exeption, where, instead of opting for more VRAM more often than not opt for a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire). Most games don't make use of more than 2 GB of VRAM. However, with HD texture mods and newer games (Or games that hate you, like Crysis 3) They can push the Video Ram into the upper 2 GB limits.
The Gamer may also opt for a Solid State Drive, as it's faster Read write speeds will load levels, load screens, save files, and even online maps faster.
The gamer will also take in to consideration the speed of his computer's RAM. He will not take anything slower than 1600 Mhz. Most Gaming PC's only need 8GB of RAM unless the user wants to create a RAMdisk (Which is fun!)
The Enthusiast!
Often times, The Enthusiast is also The Gamer. However, they take it a step further. The Enthusiast says, I want to see how far my hardware can go. The enthusiast will certainly get a unlocked processor and a motherboard (MOBO) made for overclocking. He will also equip an aftermarket cooler to lower the temperature of the case.
The enthusiast pays attention to things that aren't often considered when building a computer, such as the CAS speed of the RAM, whether it's dual channel capable. All these things play into a faster computer, and that's the goal as fast as it can.
With all this considered, I want to give you all the opportunity to ask questions which I will post here in the blog for others to read and learn. Perhaps we can make this a first stop for those looking in to upgrading their current computer or building their own.
FAQs
Q: Intel or AMD (CPUs)
The Answer:
This is often a start of flame wars, and will be the likely cause of World War III, so I decided I would post my opinion on the matter:
I have found, that if the user wants to use the computer for any sort of graphical editing that an intel processor is the way to go. Intel chips handle video streaming and editing (their use of hyperthreading helps as well) much better than AMD cpu's. In most performance benchmarks, you will notice an Intel processor beating out an AMD processor.
However, AMD processor's are not bad. They are significantly cheaper than Intel processessors, run significantly cooler, and *usually* overclock much better. I have noticed even though AMD processors run cooler, they run closer to their maximum temperature, so without an efficient cooling solution, you may not get the most out of an overclock.
Q: I am afraid of breaking my computer putting it together, what do I do?
The Answer:
Well, one, you could pay a local shop to put it together, it would most likely still be cheaper than buying a prebuilt computer. However, putting a computer together is surpisingly easy. Most computer parts snap in to place, the only thing you will have to actually screw in, is your motherboard, which is about 9 screws. Everything else plugs in to that. My case supports screwless drive bays, so all I did was snap in my HDD and CD/DVD writer.
If you get a graphics card, however, that is one more screw you will have to screw in.
Also, invest in a good case. I do not recommend a small case for a first time builder, it will make the experience unenjoyable for you, and you will miss out on something very fun. A mid tower case is a great place to start, and leaves ample space for expansion of your system.
In an order to not make this a complete wall of text that no one wants to read (Make no mistake, it will be a complete wall of text). I am going to split the blog in to categories I feel are most appropriate to the posts I've seen on the forums:
- The Minecrafter
- The Editor
- The Gamer
- The Enthusiast
Now... We begin...
The Minecrafter!
I have seen many a thread of the person who wants to play MINECRAFT. Seriously, who on PMC plays minecraft? Anyway, a lot of times, this person will have a computer build planned out, or prebuilt chosen, and it looks something likes this
- i7 Extreme Edition
- 16(thousand) Gigabytes of 3000Mhz RAM
- 1TB SSD
If you're looking for a computer that only needs to play minecraft, you do not need an i7, you really don't need an i5, though I would recommend it for most any gaming computer, as it gives you the room you need to upgrade other parts as your computer grows with you. Honestly you'd be fine on an i3 with sufficient speed. With new builds, don't go below 3.0 Ghz.
You do not need a high end GPU for minecraft, heck, my gpu doesn't even realize minecraft is a game! As a result, it runs on it's lowest speed... and I still get 160 fps.
Some good choice cards for The Minecrafter are the new r7 260x's from AMD or a trusty NVidia 660 or 660ti. Quality cards that will run minecraft no problem and play some other, even modern games casually.
**If you honestly plan on doing nothing else but Minecraft, you may could even get away running intel HD 4600 graphics
The Editor!
Believe it or not, there are those amung us who like to bring the art of entertainment into our lives! This is the person who likes to create art, videos, anything in high definition that makes all us PMC users "ooh" and "aah".
The editor is using programs that, although don't make us much gunshot noises as games, use quite a bit of processing power, especially when rendering and processing an HD video.
There is a technology that exists called Hyper-Threading that basically allows a cpu core to be able to run two seperate, simultaneous threads. So, essentially, your i7 is running 8 threads, on a 4 core processor. This is very helpful with processor intensive tasks such as video coding.
The Editor of course is working with graphics, so a graphics card is necessary for him or her as well. The Editor, in most cases will need a graphics card high in VRAM, or Video Ram. This is because often times, they will run more than one monitor, and more RAM helps in this case. And even more often times than none, they are using a monitor at a higher resolution than 1080p, 1440, or 4k even. Higher resolutions and Higher Definition projects need and rely on Video Ram to render, even though the card may not be fast speed wise (Ghz) it's better to be able to use your program smoothly than have stutters of speed and slowness as the VRAM is constantly wiped clean.
The Gamer!
For that brave soul who realized that there is a system out there that can do exactly what he wants it to and look good doing it. Who said: "No", I'm not going to get a Next Gen console when I can go with the timeless PC!
**That was completely for dramatic effect, the Xbox One and PS4 are both very impressive and well thought out consoles that fill a necessary niche in the gaming world, let's not turn the comment section into a war about them. Thanks!**
Anyway, The Gamer needs one thing. The Edge. A slow system is not an option here. There can be no stutter. An i5 (or AMD equivalent) is a minimum in this case. Some Gamers will even opt for an unlocked (K series in intel's case) processor in this situation so they can overclock their cpu for a few more fps.
Currently, newer games are coming out that make use of Hyper threading, personally, I don't find it essential as the FPS game is only 2-3 fps. And the $100 difference between the two cpu's could be better spent on a GPU that can handle AMD's new Mantle Technology or a trusty High End Nvidia GTX series.
With the Gamer, 2 to 3 Gb of VRAM is the sweet spot in their cards, more often then not they run a single monitor (With the exeption, where, instead of opting for more VRAM more often than not opt for a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire). Most games don't make use of more than 2 GB of VRAM. However, with HD texture mods and newer games (Or games that hate you, like Crysis 3) They can push the Video Ram into the upper 2 GB limits.
The Gamer may also opt for a Solid State Drive, as it's faster Read write speeds will load levels, load screens, save files, and even online maps faster.
The gamer will also take in to consideration the speed of his computer's RAM. He will not take anything slower than 1600 Mhz. Most Gaming PC's only need 8GB of RAM unless the user wants to create a RAMdisk (Which is fun!)
The Enthusiast!
Often times, The Enthusiast is also The Gamer. However, they take it a step further. The Enthusiast says, I want to see how far my hardware can go. The enthusiast will certainly get a unlocked processor and a motherboard (MOBO) made for overclocking. He will also equip an aftermarket cooler to lower the temperature of the case.
The enthusiast pays attention to things that aren't often considered when building a computer, such as the CAS speed of the RAM, whether it's dual channel capable. All these things play into a faster computer, and that's the goal as fast as it can.
With all this considered, I want to give you all the opportunity to ask questions which I will post here in the blog for others to read and learn. Perhaps we can make this a first stop for those looking in to upgrading their current computer or building their own.
FAQs
Q: Intel or AMD (CPUs)
The Answer:
This is often a start of flame wars, and will be the likely cause of World War III, so I decided I would post my opinion on the matter:
I have found, that if the user wants to use the computer for any sort of graphical editing that an intel processor is the way to go. Intel chips handle video streaming and editing (their use of hyperthreading helps as well) much better than AMD cpu's. In most performance benchmarks, you will notice an Intel processor beating out an AMD processor.
However, AMD processor's are not bad. They are significantly cheaper than Intel processessors, run significantly cooler, and *usually* overclock much better. I have noticed even though AMD processors run cooler, they run closer to their maximum temperature, so without an efficient cooling solution, you may not get the most out of an overclock.
Q: I am afraid of breaking my computer putting it together, what do I do?
The Answer:
Well, one, you could pay a local shop to put it together, it would most likely still be cheaper than buying a prebuilt computer. However, putting a computer together is surpisingly easy. Most computer parts snap in to place, the only thing you will have to actually screw in, is your motherboard, which is about 9 screws. Everything else plugs in to that. My case supports screwless drive bays, so all I did was snap in my HDD and CD/DVD writer.
If you get a graphics card, however, that is one more screw you will have to screw in.
Also, invest in a good case. I do not recommend a small case for a first time builder, it will make the experience unenjoyable for you, and you will miss out on something very fun. A mid tower case is a great place to start, and leaves ample space for expansion of your system.
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Not a Graphics Card.
Your Graphics card has nothing to do with performance.
Just visual appearance.
Also, during this time while you're looking, I'd recommend signing up for Newegg and TigerDirect (And any other site you use) Newsletters, often times, They'll send out an email with a truly great deal.
I spent many weeks comparing prices before I jumped on a part. Personally, if you want to have a great build, you can't allow yourself to rush. Good luck to you!