Building the dankest PC, thomas the dank engine Options

[MonkeyFiend]

I think Windows 8 will do...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-FQC-0691...o/dp/B00FRAE7I4

Always windows 8.1 instead of windows 8!

To save you a bit of money, I've gifted you a legit retail key for the above (see your PMs), so you don't have to buy one.

You can download win 8.1 pro 32/64 bit retail from the microsoft site and use the key I've sent.

[HackedPenguin]

To save you a bit of money, I've gifted you a legit retail key for the above (see your PMs), so you don't have to buy one.

Could you gift me something too?

[Yet Another Fool]

although writing an iso image to a usb can sometimes be tricky, there are plenty of tools to do it magiciso/yumi etc.)

Rufus is an awesome tool for making bootable USB
https://rufus.akeo.ie/?locale=en_US

[GuyIncognito]

Regarding upgrading to win 10 from pirated win 7, the reason I said that was because Microsoft recently made the decision to allow anyone(private individuals not companies) to upgrade free to win 10, no matter if you have an illegal version or not. The reason for this is mainly because of China and the huge numbers of illegal windows copies in use, not to mention win xp that just refuses to die, and it's an enormous breeding ground for viruses and malicious software. They make the vast majority of their windows revenue from companies anyway and have kind of given up on getting the masses to buy windows legally. They know it's gonna get pirated and for security reasons they want people to have a legal and up to date version, if they are gonna have it anyway. I personally think it's also because a potential free OS by Google could be catastrophic to their install base. Windows laptop and desktop sales decrease year after year and now is simply not the time to fuck around and lose the install base you have, with competition from the likes of Google and Apple.

Anyway, I run a pirated win 7 pro just fine. Serials are a thing of the past, you just run an .exe and you're good to go.

[Yet Another Fool]

Anyway, I run a pirated win 7 pro just fine. Serials are a thing of the past, you just run an .exe and you're good to go.

Did it for years But I'm not sure it's that easy on Win 8.1... Anyway thats two months I'm using 8.1 trial

[Stupid Fat Hobbi...]

As I said, closer to the purchase of my new pc I would post the list of all the new components you guys have mentioned throughout the thread.

cooling gel - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arctic-Cooling-MX-...HDP1RJXAW3ZGZRS £3.95

motherboard - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00K8KJ..._1_1&sr=8-1 £91.74

CPU - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Core-i7-4790...HDP1RJXAW3ZGZRS £256.90

RAM - http://www.amazon.co.uk/HyperX-Series-1866...HDP1RJXAW3ZGZRS £35.54

case - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CC-9011050...ds=corsair+case
}£63.90
fans - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Series-AF1..._bxgy_147_img_y

Hard drive - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-Barracuda-...6894&sr=1-6 £54.99

SSD - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-2-5-Inch-S...HDP1RJXAW3ZGZRS £73.13

gpu - http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-GTX-980-Graphi...eywords=gtx+980 £405.77

wrist strap - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anti-Static-Wrist-...A4X3CJA6FMYV6FF £0.91

keyboard - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trust-Elight-Illum...acklit+keyboard £34.99

CPU cooler - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Master-RR-2...HDP1RJXAW3ZGZRS £28.50

power supply - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Builder-Se...HDP1RJXAW3ZGZRS £57.98

Thanks to Monkey I now have windows 8.1 pro (extremely cheeky) and an 8GB usb to store it on later today, just want to make sure I do the right things first though:

According to various websites, there is a download manager for windows OS that allows you to directly install it onto the usb, but I'm not sure if this allows you to boot up a pc instantly through the usb or if I need the iso image writing software as well for this to work.

The monitor is sorted as well, pretty damn huge (32 inches) but at least I don't need to buy one. Just wondering about the cables though, I've heard the VGA cable is better than a HDMI for monitor connections, or does it make very little difference?

Any final changes to the components I have listed above and will they all work together still? I don't want to budge on the GPU, CPU or RAM, but if there are any better/more cost effective components please mention them.

I will probably be buying it all on the 20th/21st and once it has been built then I will once again play chiv in glorious fps and graphics without my pc overheating to 80C.

[Yet Another Fool]

According to various websites, there is a download manager for windows OS that allows you to directly install it onto the usb, but I'm not sure if this allows you to boot up a pc instantly through the usb or if I need the iso image writing software as well for this to work.

There are official tools but I had trouble with the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool where my ISO were not recognized. I ,then used Rufus, it burned smoothly and quicky my Win 8.1 ISO to a bootable USB. The tool wipes out the USB, makes it bootable and copies installation files on it.
If the Windows 10 tool doesnt work, Try Rufus : https://rufus.akeo.ie

The monitor is sorted as well, pretty damn huge (32 inches) but at least I don't need to buy one. Just wondering about the cables though, I've heard the VGA cable is better than a HDMI for monitor connections, or does it make very little difference?

I switched from 22 to 27" recently, I think using a bigger will cause headaches if you are not far enough

I'd say HDMI > DVI > VGA.
VGA is a analog only signal and is limited in resolution. Bound to disappear on gamer graphic cards.
DVI can be both, but you probably got a a digital only (http://www.networktechinc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/DVI-connectors-type.jpg)
HDMI is digital and will also (except if its a old version) transmit sound if you got integrated speakers, wich would suck but anyway.
The main concern is to see what output your graphic card has : DVI-I (both analog and digital), HDMI and DisplayPort. Then check what your monitor have as input.

Any final changes to the components I have listed above and will they all work together still? I don't want to budge on the GPU, CPU or RAM, but if there are any better/more cost effective components please mention them.

In my opinion, i7 isn't a good fit for games. I got a i7 first gen for my last rig, and now i5 4'th gen and I find the new i5 more powerful for gaming. You only loose HyperThreading, which isn't useful (and can cause problems) in most cases for games but only useful for multitasking. A i5 is cheaper than a i7.

Also, I see you chose RAM clocked at 1866MHz but you CPU nativly manages 1600MHz. I'm not that experienced with overclocking but it's possible that your RAM would be downlocked to 1600MHz, and those designed for 1600 are slightly cheaper. Can someone tell if it would work anyway at 1866MHz ? http://ark.intel.com/fr/products/80807/Int...-up-to-4_40-GHz

[The Malefic Trou...]

In my opinion, i7 isn't a good fit for games. I got a i7 first gen for my last rig, and now i5 4'th gen and I find the new i5 more powerful for gaming. You only loose HyperThreading, which isn't useful (and can cause problems) in most cases for games but only useful for multitasking. A i5 is cheaper than a i7.

Ditto.

Wouldn't say i7 is actually bad for gaming, but it's definitely not better than i5. Most games are not threaded enough to benefit from hyperthreading, and even the threaded ones have parts/stages that depend almost entirely on single threads. So unless you're going to do tasks like 3D rendering or video editing you'll be better off with i5 since it's cheaper.

[Yet Another Fool]

Ditto.

Wouldn't say i7 is actually bad for gaming, but it's definitely not better than i5. Most games are not threaded enough to benefit from hyperthreading, and even the threaded ones have parts/stages that depend almost entirely on single threads. So unless you're going to do tasks like 3D rendering or video editing you'll be better off with i5 since it's cheaper.

Yeah, my post is misleading, i5 is not more powerful than i7, but you will pay at 50% more for 5-10% more performance, that's why I don't recommand i7 for gaming computer.

[The Malefic Trou...]

I don't even think the performance increase is that high, last time I read about it it was more like 1-2% maximum when it comes to gaming

Edit: especially since most modern games rely mostly on GPU, except for strategy games like Total War or MMOs.

[Stupid Fat Hobbi...]

So basically just replace the CPU with the most powerful i5 I can get instead of the i7? Even with this laptop I haven't really had a problem with the CPU (it is also i5) the only major problem is the overheating and occasionally the RAM, but I rarely have both games and the RAM devourer Google Chrome open at the same time, maximum I've ever had is 5GB RAM usage when I was checking how much AC black flag would take up on max settings with chrome open at the same time...those 5fps hurt me a lot. I doubt I will be doing video editing at all, unless I decide to do youtube, which is highly unlikely, so I guess i5 it is.

[Yet Another Fool]

the only major problem is the overheating

The cooling system on a laptop is way less efficient than a desktop one, even with the stock cooling system.

Don't worry about performance with an i5, when we say its less powerful in multitasking, you still be able to have Chrome with 4-5 tabs open, skype/teamspeak and your game without any issue. We are talking about heavy multitasking like in a intensive work environment.

[TurboMidget]

CPU: no need to replace it if you don't want to. i7's and i5's don't have huge differences in gaming though but there are, considering the price differences and depending on what game you want to play, definitely some things that set them apart and again, depending on the circumstances, they're way bigger than 1-2%, that much I can guarantee you. If you're sticking mostly to games like chivalry or rocket league (games that don't need a great deal of calculating power but rely more on graphics to make things look pretty) then a high i5 should do fine. If you play strategy games as well (or other games that require more calculating as to what unit is where etc), then you'll see better performance with an i7. Outside of games, when there's calculations coming into play (think anything from editing videos/photoshop to running simulation programs/CAD for school/college) the i7 will again prove to be at a advantage.

Basically, if you feel more comfortable having an i7 over an i5, go i7. No need to listen to what every single person on the internet says if you don't want to, this post included

As for your laptop, it probably has a Mobile i5 CPU in it. They're specifically designed for laptops and tend to have lower clockspeeds, less cache memory etc to make sure it doesn't burn a hole in your laptop case. i5M's are more comparable to a desktop i3's than to desktop i5's.

And for some personal experience: I currently have a 2 year old i5-4670K in my desktop. It can easily handle multiple tabs in chrome and a game like the witcher 3 at the same time, but I am starting to see limits in strategy games. Sometimes this is because of crappy coding in the game itself, sometimes this is because I want bigger units in Rome 2 or Shogun 2 than my CPU can handle. I don't regret getting an i5 instead of an i7 (i7's were a lot more pricier 2 years ago compared to i5's), but I don't think my CPU will be able to keep up with modern strategy games 3 years from now.

And a final note: CPU's fit in a socket on your motherboard. These sockets will have a number like 2011 to show what size it is. This number is mentioned at the CPU description as well. If you switch from an i7 to an i5, you'll most likely have to look for a new motherboard as i7's and i5's have different sizes and therefore different socket types.

[Yet Another Fool]

I currently have a 2 year old i5-4670K in my desktop.

Got the same Nice CPU !

If you switch from an i7 to an i5, you'll most likely have to look for a new motherboard as i7's and i5's have different sizes and therefore different socket types.

NO MILORD

http://ark.intel.com/products/75048/Intel-...-up-to-3_80-GHz -> FCLGA1150
http://ark.intel.com/products/80807/Int...-up-to-4_40-GHz -> FCLGA1150

[TurboMidget]

http://ark.intel.com/products/75048/Intel-...-up-to-3_80-GHz -> FCLGA1150
http://ark.intel.com/products/80807/Int...-up-to-4_40-GHz -> FCLGA1150

Huh, lucky hobbit then.

[Stupid Fat Hobbi...]

Well I pretty much play everything, not just rocket league and chiv, also bought a lot of the batman games and will eventually buy witcher 3 (maybe since I didn't like the 1st one at all) and mount and blade 2 But as well as those I play a lot of strategy games like the total war games and civ, so my pc needs to be an all-rounder that can handle every type of game. If the i5 you guys suggested can do that, then I am a lucky hobbit indeed. Thanks for all the advice guys!

EDIT: Found this i5 CPU for about £100 less than the i7, by the looks of it, it should still work with my current motherboard as they both have the LGA 1150 socket thing http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-4690K-Proces...ywords=i5+4690k I'm guessing the 4690k is the strongest i5 available (the higher the number the better it is, right?)

I think I'm learning about the computerings!

[Yet Another Fool]

I think I'm learning about the computerings!

Yes, 4 6 9 0
4 because it's 4th generation of i5
6 is an indication low-middle-high end CPU in the intel catalog (i5 highest is 6 and i7 highest is 7. Xeon - server cpu - is 8)
9 because its the most powerful of this low/middle/high range.
0 because everybody likes "round" numbers.
K because you can overclock it if your motherboard supports it (I wouldn't recommand it at this time)

[Stupid Fat Hobbi...]

Well, downloading the OS onto the USB was so much easier than I thought lol, literally just had to choose the language and what edition it was and wait for it to install XD

GG Windows Installation Media Creation Tool

[Stupid Fat Hobbi...]

Ah, it was a good journey, and I learned a lot from all your advice, but the time has come and my mother has decided that I am not allowed to build my own PC, alas, I will get one from Cyberpowerpc prebuilt. We had a good run guys, thanks for the help, but I have lost the battle... RIP

[The Malefic Trou...]

Uhm... there are computer stores that offer to build a custom PC for you - would that be an option?