Building Computers

    Master_Artificer

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    Where can I find haylat and composite irl for this micro assembler?

    But seriously, computers. Both for me and for possibly people reading this later on, lets talk computers.

    So, say I have been working all summer and have ammased a few thousand dollars, how would one go about and make a desktop for gaming and recording videos?
    I would like it to last for many years without issues, and be able to record videos at over 30 fps.
    What systems does starmade really strain, and what graphics card brands bring what to the table?

    Any good up to date articles? What personal experiances with the hardware do you guys have? I trust you guys more because many of you guys have done this before and play the same game that I do. :P
     

    Jake_Lancia

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    (this wall of text assumes you've actually got the money you mentioned, and the technical know-how to build a working PC)

    Okay, first off, start with a modern Intel CPU like a 4th generation or beyond i5 or i7. They'll last a good long time. Preferably a 6th generation CPU since DDR4 RAM support is bae.

    AT LEAST 16gb of RAM, with 8gb of which dedicated solely to StarMade. I personally use HyperX Fury 1866mhz.

    Graphics card basically needs to be Nvidia. Schema himself said SM is better optimized for Nvidia hardware. Go 1070 or 1080 for best results, though secondhand 980s will do fine too.

    A massive PSU of some 1000w at least will be required to run this rig btw.

    And finally, an SSD of AT LEAST 250gb (preferably one of those PCI-E ones) backed up by at least a 1tb standard mechanical drive, for storage.

    Some non-essentials:
    A good soundcard is pretty damned useful for recording. Sound Blaster Audigy Rx and Z soundcards are optimized for streaming and recording game sounds and voice very clearly.

    And get a beamforming mic. Seriously.
     

    jayman38

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    I get my systems from newegg.com.

    I will wait to get a bundle deal on sale, which usually includes a case, gaming motherboard with 6 GB/s HDD headers, high-end processor, at least 8 GB RAM, and a power supply of at least 430 W.

    Also, get yourself some really nice fans with really nice bearings, so that they can move air with only 0.2 amps, and you'll probably also need to pick up a fan-power splitter, to put two fans on a single fan power header. (You'll want to install more than one fan, to create a flow-path; air goes in from the front, out the back)

    As for high-end processor (CPU), you should probably go for a minimum of 2-core i5 Intel or 6-core AMD Vishera. (I opted for the FX-6300 95 w 6-core Vishera). Note on the Vishera's: Each pair of "cores" shares a floating-point processor, so divide the cores by 2 to get the "real" core count. (So technically, I consider my FX-6300 to be a triple-core system, because it has six logic cores, but only 3 FPUs.) Intel cores, on the other hand, are real, full cores, so when an Intel processor says 4 cores, you are really getting 4 cores, not just 2.

    Regardless of the video processor built into the CPU, I will wait for a high-end NVidia video card to go on sale. Theoretically, I could get away with an AMD-brand video card, but those have a reputation for not working well on Linux and I compute on Linux Mint 17. The latest card I got was an EGA NVidia 960. I have heard that the brand-new 1000 series of NVidia are as powerful as the 900 series, but at a lower cost and power consumption (and as a result, heat-generation will be lower as well.)

    For data storage, I wait for a HGST HDD to go on sale. (Generally, cloud providers have found that HGST drives are among the most reliable.) Avoid their lesser-branded WD (normally referred to as Will-Die's) HDD. The higher the capacity, the better the cost-per-GB. Generally, the cost-per-GB efficiency is currently topping out with their 4-TB models. The 5 and 6 TB models are roughly the same on a cost-per-GB basis. To relieve disk-management, I will split that up into about 15 partitions, with an average of 200 GB per partitions, with about 50 GB of blank partitions (non-partitions) where I think there will be separations between disk platters, and a 4 GB blank to set the OS to use as swap space. However, I got 16 GB RAM, so swap space is never really needed.

    With this layout, my games (Starmade, TF2, Robocraft, and a bunch of older games that do not tax the system at all) all run pretty smooth with really high settings, and my bottleneck becomes the motherboard bus and HDD write speed. You could theoretically get a dual-video-card Motherboard and get a second video card, but I have found that it is unnecessary if you buy an advanced-enough video card to begin with, and don't run your games on three or more monitors at once. If you have three or more monitors, dual video cards are a must. Some would even recommend dual cards for just a dual monitor setup, but I think that's unnecessary for this level of gaming.
     
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    Jarraff

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    I run an I5-4690k Cpu with a asus geforce 960-gtx 4gig graphics card 16 gigs of ram 240 gig solid state drive as my main and a 2 terabyte secondary hard drive for storage oh and an 800 watt PSU

    The system has a very low power draw for what it can do which I like but I consider this a budget build as it only cost me a 1000 bucks and it is very quiet

    I would love to get a nvidia 1070
     
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    i run a Amd FX 4300 at 3.8 GHz along with 8 gb of ddr3 ram and using a Nividia GeForce GT 610 with 1 tb of HHD space and using a msi 760gm-p34 FX motherboard
     

    Dr. Whammy

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    Here's my rig. I spent $1,150 on hardware in 2014. This thing still boots in roughly 25 seconds and handles everything I've thrown at it so far. You can easily get more updated hardware for this price in 2016.

    Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz
    16GB DDR3 ram (ram is cheap but it's been said that you don't benefit much from any ram beyond 16GB)
    Mid-range MSI motherboard (I forget the model; definitely outdated though)
    Kingston 120GB SSD (OS/boot) (Drive prices have come down so you can do better than a 120GB)
    1TB HDD (data storage) (same as SSDs, shop around)
    Nvidia Geforce 760 (4GB dedicated ram) (you know the drill; shop around)
    EVGA Supernova 850 B2 PSU (A nice solid 80 plus model that was on sale)
    Zalman CPU Cooler CNPS9500AT (Massive CPU fan the size of a roll of toilet paper. I'm NOT joking. This thing rivals liquid cooling)
    Tessaract ATX case (Cheap case with decent airflow that I got on newegg).


    I prefer Intel processors due to their lower thermal output but AMD makes some very tempting CPUs. If you go AMD, do not, under any circumstances, skimp on your CPU cooler...

    For your video card; EVGA makes some of the best cards out there but do your research. Many 'superior' models aren't that much better than the next level or two down and ATI cards sometimes have a few good picks that will save you a lot of money.


    Hope this helps.

    Edit: Sorry, my CPU is an i7 4790K not a 4970. It's a beast of a chip either way.


    The Whammy
     
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    kupu

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    So, say I have been working all summer and have ammased a few thousand dollars,
    That's a big budget. Let's use 1000 USD approx as our upper limits.

    CPU : Intel i5 6500
    Motherboard : Asus Z170-P
    Graphics card : Nvidia 1070GTX
    16gb RAM
    256 (or 500gb) SSD or m.2
    600 / 700 watt PSU

    That's hovering around some very top of the line hardware. We could easily trim this down and still max out almost every game at 1080p.

    An almost identical list of parts: ThoughtA's Build Guide - Great Gaming Build - PCPartPicker

    Short video here of a very similar build.
    from PCparpicker.
    Pretty useful site : Pick Parts, Build Your PC, Compare and Share - PCPartPicker

    Few minor tips:
    Motherboard "performance" in real world applications are almost identical. Unless you can name the very specific feature you require, ignore premium or "gaming motherboards". You can get a relatively cheap, trusted brand (ie; Asus / Gigabyte) board with the relevant chipset to your CPU and you'll be absolutely fine.

    Nvidia seems to win the Price per performance in the graphics section (still). Notable cards are the 970, 980ti and the 1070gtx.

    RAM timings and mhz is almost entirely irrelevant. Lots reviewers have tackled the subject of faster memory in price per performance comparisons and the conclusion is pretty much always "spend the money on your CPU or graphics card."

    When selecting power supplies, don't go blowing your load on wattage alone. That very new, very expensive nvidia 1070 has a power draw of 150w and a recommended system power of 500w. 800 watt+ PSU's are for those bad at maths or building extraordinary set ups. Quickly tally up the wattage of your components and leave a bit of breathing room to double check your not in overkill territory.

    Instead try and get something higher in quality so you know the power rating is stable and correct. I found this list to be a helpful reference point when checking out reviews or browsing shops. PSU tier list 2.0
     
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    First thing you'll want to do is select your CPU. This is very important, as the CPU, motherboard, and RAM must all be compatible or the computer will not work.

    Once you picked your CPU, check its socket type and supported chipset and RAM DDR# & MHz. The socket type determines what boards the CPU will physically fit properly in, which will immediately narrow down the motherboard choices. The find a cooler that has mounting that fits the socket type.

    Next, you'll look for a motherboard that has that socket type and chipset, and also supports the same RAM DDR# & MHz as the CPU. While a CPU can support one or two types of DDR, a motherboard will only fit one. The motherboard specs will also tell you how many GBs of RAM it supports as a max, though modern boards typically support 32, 64, or 128 GB, so that's not a concern if you're going with 16GB (which I'll add to the consensus of that being plenty for game + recording software). Also note the form factor (ATX, micro-ATX, Mini-ITX, etc.) as this will be important later.

    For RAM, get the DDR# and MHz supported by chip and board, in whatever GB quantity you desire. Note: For best results with memory access efficiency, try to pair up DIMMs (the technical term for the sticks of RAM) that are the same speed and capacity, for dual or quad channel (which is basically your CPU looking at 2 or 4 sticks simultaneously for data). They don't have to all be the same model of DIMM, though doing so does throw all guesswork out the window. You also don't have to fill all the slots, either. Just 2 DIMMs for a dual channel board, the most common among 4-slot motherboards, is all you'll need to access the channel benefit. Just look at the motherboard's instructions when installing the matching set, put them in the Channel A slots, and you're good to go.

    Graphics card... I'd agree with the above statements. With the 10xx series out, the 9XX Geforce GTX cards are coming down in price, so you can find a good bargain if you shop around, especially when they're on sale. 970, 980TI (the top of the line in 9XX series), or 1070 are solid options for price and power.

    1 TB HDD is good for most gaming computers, but you're wanting to do video editing as well. Video files, especially raw and HD ones, take a good chunk of space in storage, so you want a sizable drive depending on how much footage you need to store. This issue can be alleviated if you have a preexisting storage solution, such as a NAS, file server, or sufficient cloud storage plan, in which case a 1 or 2 TB will suffice for data storage. I agree with the others about getting a SSD for the OS; it's much faster to load than the HDD.

    Finally, case and power supply. For the case, get the same or larger form factor as the motherboard, so the board can fit in the box. Likewise, make sure the case is wide enough to have enough clearance for the cooler inside, especially if you got one of those big air-coolers. Other than making sure everything will fit inside, the choice in case is all about price and aesthetics. For the power supply, I absolutely agree with kupu on this. This thing is the heart of your computer, providing electricity as your own pumps blood. Do not skimp out and buy a "super cheap" PSU, as a poor quality one can fail early, potentially taking out other components with it. PSUs also have a form factor, which matches up with the case and board.

    A DVD or Blu-Ray drive is 100% optional for a game recording machine, especially since Win10 and Linux can install from USB drives. However, since you do (plan to) have the software, you might in the future deign to record family-related recordings onto optical media, or make an instructional DVD for work, or some such. Plus, having the optical drive would be helpful if you buy software that comes in DVD rather than USB or digital download, or want to watch a DVD movie on your computer. A basic DVD RW drive should be reasonable in cost, if you desire.


    One thing the others haven't mentioned:

    When building the computer, take caution with regards to static electricity. Sensitive electronics + static electricity discharge = NOPE.
    When you touch something, and feel the zap of ESD(electrostatic discharge, aka static electricity), you've unloaded 1,500 volts. If you hear the BZZT as well, that's 3,000 volts. If you can see the tiny lightning bolts, that's 6,000+ volts. However, components can fry from far, far fewer volts than humans can perceive, so you could damage one with ESD and not even know it. Those usually-gray bags the parts come in when you buy them new? Those are anti-static bags, faraday cages that protect the components from ESD while they are closed with the parts inside. Leave the components in their bags until you're ready to install them, and save the bags if possible. You may also want a grounding strap (example linked to show item and typical price range), and don't work on carpet.

    When handling the components, don't touch the gold, especially with bare hands.
     

    Calhoun

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    OK, so you're going for recording and presumably editing videos? That means we're going to base a build around an i7. The extra 4 threads will be used.

    (Just to put your mind at ease, I do this kind of thing for a job.)

    Also going to assume you're based in the US.

    OK here's what we've got:
    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($297.99 @ SuperBiiz)
    CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X31 69.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($68.89 @ OutletPC)
    Motherboard: MSI H170I Pro AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($118.99 @ SuperBiiz)
    Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($58.88 @ OutletPC)
    Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($154.85 @ Amazon)
    Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card ($429.99 @ SuperBiiz)
    Case: Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Mini ITX Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
    Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
    Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
    Total: $1373.46
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-05 22:50 EDT-0400


    Mind that these parts are chosen for quality and longevity. This is not the cheapest you could have this performance, but it's definitely not going to let you down. The CPU cooler is optional, and everyone has different tastes in cases so go for your life. For more storage, a HDD can be added fairly cheaply. Hope this helps.
     
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    Regarding the power supply, which I think is often overlooked, you'll definitely want to go quality over quantity.

    I have an AMD FX-8350 and a Nvidia GF960, with a thermal design power of about 120W each, an SSD, an HDD, and 16GiB of RAM, and my 450W power supply provides ample power for all of it, I'd even say it's a bit on the high side. Instead of a "cheap" no-name 600 or 800W PSU, I've spent the same amount if not more on a quality brand, certified 80+ Gold unit that has reliable voltage and current stability.
    Another factor to keep in mind is that PSUs are less efficient when they have to work way below their rated specs.
    Current Intel CPUs are usually less power hungry than AMD's, in my opinion an 800W PSU is an unnecessary waste of money and energy unless you go for a multi-GPU configuration.
     

    Calhoun

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    Regarding PSU's that people keep talking about: The PSU tier list that Kupu linked is basically a must read when choosing.

    As regards choosing a capacity, a quality 650-850W unit will be virtually enough for 99℅ of people. The other 1℅ do crazy over clocks for fun. Often however, that range (650-850) is generally around the same price! And the higher capacity, the more efficient you'll be.
     
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    the higher capacity, the more efficient you'll be
    That's the thing I was talking about - it's not the higher the better, but the closer the PSU's rating is matched to the actual load. Of course it needs to have some capacity to spare, but you don't want to have an 800W PSU in a system that only draws say 250W at max load. It's wasting energy because it isn't working efficiently, and you're wasting money because you could have bought a less expensive PSU. The sweet spot is around 50%, so for that 250W example, you'd go for a 4-500W PSU, considering that most of the time the system won't run at full load, and even then the PSU won't break a sweat.
    It's not that the PSU is a huge cost factor, just that it doesn't make sense to always go for the biggest you can get.
     

    BJammin

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    PCpartpicker all the way. Used that extensively to find parts for my rig.

    You're getting a lot of good advice on how to pick parts. Though if you plan on building this yourself (which it sounds like you are) keep these things in mind as you go about it:
    - BEWARE static electricity. This is a big one. Every time you shuffle around and rub up against stuff, you build up static electricity waiting to be discharged. This can be very problematic when building PCs and handling electronic components as you can easily short out your parts and kill them. A good no-extra-cost way to prevent this is to:
    1.) Wear clothes that don't rub around too much
    2.) work in a non-carpeted area, and
    3.) give yourself a grounding point to discharge yourself periodically. A good way to do this is to place your power supply in your case, plug it in to a wall outlet, then turn the PSU off (that way the PSU doesn't shock anything it contacts). As you build your PC, touch anywhere on the case with the PSU installed in it repeatedly to discharge any built up static through the case + PSU setup into the wall. Tada! No worries about killing your components.
    -Work in a clean, organized environment. (For a room suggestion, I built mine in my kitchen. Hard floors, and a big island in the middle to use as a workstation. Though wherever you build yours is up to you.) Depending on your case, it's likely you'll have a lot of little bits and similar-but-different screws to deal with. Having separate bowls to put your smaller parts in comes in handy a great deal, and can save you a lot of frustration down the line.
    -Get a set of small screwdrivers to use. People sometimes overlook this fact. Getting the parts for the PC is one thing, having all the necessary tools to assemble them properly is another. A small jewler's set or multi-tip screwdriver will likely do the trick just fine (especially if they're magnetic. SOOO useful.) Additionally, exercise caution if you need to remove screws. If you're not careful, you can strip the heads of your screws making them impossible to use any further. And, of course, the classic rule: righty-tighty, lefty-loosey.
    -Keep your parts in their boxes until you need them. That way, they won't risk getting damaged in any way while you do the assembly.
    -Do the small stuff outside of the PC case. Doing things like placing the CPU, inserting the RAM, and installing the cooler/heatsink is a lot easier when done before putting it all in the case. A note on this however: make sure you place your MoBo on a non-conducting surface while you work to avoid any short-circuiting. DO NOT place it on the anti-static bag. The insides of those things are anti-static, the outsides are not. Instead, just place it on top of the box it comes in, and use that as your makeshift 'workbench'. (This is a common practice in PC building. Trust me, it's safe.)
    -Zip ties/ twisty ties are your friends. With your budget, you can easily afford a modular PSU and won't need to worry about cable management too much. That being said, having a few around to tie off the power cables to the sides or together is extremely useful and can improve your PC's airflow ever-so-slightly. Also, when building your PC, organize your cables as you assemble it to avoid unnecessary obstacles down the road.
    -Be gentle with your parts. Typically, electronic components can withstand a decent amount of handling, but never use more force than is necessary. Remember this especially when handling your CPU. Depending on the brand, the pins will either be on the chip itself, or in the MoBo socket. These are very fragile, and are a pain to fix if damaged. Be very careful when placing your processor on the motherboard. (In fact, this is usually the first part people put on the MoBo when doing the assembly, that way nothing else is in your way.)
    -If you're using a third-party CPU cooler, you'll need to apply your own thermal paste (this helps transfer heat from the CPU to the heatsink). General rule of thumb: a little goes a long way. Just squeeze out a small, grain-of-rice-sized portion on the top of your CPU (after installation into the MoBo), then place your heatsink on top of it, securing it firmly. That's all you need to do.
    -Keep any extra bits you have lying around for later after you're done. (Especially the cover for the CPU socket that comes with the Motherboard. If it's a dud, you'll need it to send it back.) If, like I said, you need to send it back, or sell it for something new later on, having all the extras (box included) helps tremendously.
    -READ THE MOTHERBOARD MANUAL. Especially for those tiny-ass power and peripheral connectors that come with your case. Everything is labeled in there, and is a must-read if you want to avoid any mess-ups.
    -After all is put together, power on your PC to see if it posts. That's the sign that you did everything right, and it all works. This usually leads into the BIOS, from which you can select a temporary boot drive to install your OS from.

    That's all I can think of for now. If I remember some other critical factoid to keep in mind, I'll update my post. In the meantime, happy building, and good luck to you!
     

    JonasWalker

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    I personally vouch for SeaSonics X-Series, some of the most rock solid and well built PSU's I've ever used.
     

    ZektorSK

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    As someone in a similar situation as Master_Artificer and wanting to do the same thing, this is very useful!

    Thanks for the great info so far guys! (except ZektorSK, at least put the silly image in a spoiler...)
    Yay !!!!!!!!!!

    He can go on a PC tuning forum and ask people who actually really understand it... that is my reccomendation
     

    Master_Artificer

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    So what, I can get these parts off of amazon or do I need to go to special computer part sites?

    This is going to be more work than I thought!
    And yeah, I would prefer to spend under 1500 so I have plenty if savings still if something unexpected comes up.

    -_-
    Thats a calculator...