# Need New Computer Advice



## MR H3LLMAN (Oct 20, 2011)

My box is currently on the brink of death it seems and I am looking for a replacement at the moment. I have never built a computer myself so in looking into buying a new desktop that will be primarily used for development and compiling. I work at Best Buy so I get a discount in most product we sell and was wondering what peoples thoughts are on this computer: http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/detail.jsp?skuId=6963856&pid=1218817520124 I am also fully open to other suggestions and ideas! Thanks in advance for any feedback y'all can offer.

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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

Mobile page. I build my own PCs. Not fond of whatever an OEM decides to toss into one as far as parts and quality.


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## CaucasianAsian (Dec 21, 2011)

yarly said:


> Mobile page. I build my own PCs. Not fond of whatever an OEM decides to toss into one as far as parts and quality.


http://www.bestbuy.c...4&skuId=6963856

If you are mainly using it for developing I think your most important parts would be the CPU ( compiling and decomp ), RAM ( for program switching and overall system smoothness ), and monitor size ( larger work space ).

It sounds like you might get away with this system. Ivy i5 and ample RAM. You would see better performance from an Ivy i7 IF your dev tools take advantage of hyper threading but either way I am sure this system would serve it's purpose well.


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

24gb of ram (or more, but my current PC is limited to 24), partition 12gb or so of it for a ramdrive, compile Android on the ram drive. Blow away compiling speeds of regular hard drives or ssd. Well that or at least get 2 disk drives (one for reading from and one for writing to for compiling).

Also for desktop, Nvidia usually plays nicest with Linux if you are using the proprietary drivers. If you plan on playing games, the 620 Nvidia is not the greatest really. Better to get at least a 660 or greater if you want to avoid another GPU for a few years (I have a 680, but it's probably overkill for most). I prefer 16:10 ratio monitors for development as vertical space is more important than how wide it is when reading.

I recommend reading anandtech for parts reviews. http://www.anandtech.com/tag/cpus


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## CaucasianAsian (Dec 21, 2011)

yarly said:


> 24gb of ram (or more, but my current PC is limited to 24), partition 12gb or so of it for a ramdrive, compile Android on the ram drive. Blow away compiling speeds of regular hard drives or ssd. Well that or at least get 2 disk drives (one for reading from and one for writing to for compiling).
> 
> Also for desktop, Nvidia usually plays nicest with Linux if you are using the proprietary drivers. If you plan on playing games, the 620 Nvidia is not the greatest really. Better to get at least a 660 or greater if you want to avoid another GPU for a few years (I have a 680, but it's probably overkill for most). I prefer 16:10 ratio monitors for development as vertical space is more important than how wide it is when reading.
> 
> I recommend reading anandtech for parts reviews. http://www.anandtech.com/tag/cpus


There is no kill like overkill! 

I didn't NEED another 580, it was just a matter of WHY THE HELL NOT!? lol


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## Art Vandelay (Jan 4, 2012)

Not sure what your bestbuy discount is, but I built my own PC last year and it was significantly cheaper (~70% cheaper) than the comparable store brand.

I never built one before and it was super easy. Did some research and asked some questions that bought everything from new egg.

I'd recommend checking out building your own. There are a lot of smart people in here that can help you out.

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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

CaucasianAsian said:


> There is no kill like overkill!
> 
> I didn't NEED another 580, it was just a matter of WHY THE HELL NOT!? lol


Haha. I did something similar. I had an EVGA 570 and used their step up program to get the 680 since it was significantly better. Had 2 9800s in SLI before that.


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## hardkick (Apr 2, 2013)

get some valuable informations in pc world


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## shiznu (Jun 14, 2012)

Definitely build your own. Like already stated OEM build quality is very poor. You can't get to much ram as much as can be used at least. Also sdd drives speed up compile time by quite a lot.


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## hardkick (Apr 2, 2013)

i built my own pc by purchasing the parts from the near by shop


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## Mellen_hed (Aug 11, 2011)

Looking at building a computer for myself in the near future and have been considering an amd octo core over Intel. Anyone have any input one way or the other? Mostly going for compiling and moderate gaming

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## housry23 (Aug 25, 2011)

Mellen_hed said:


> Looking at building a computer for myself in the near future and have been considering an amd octo core over Intel. Anyone have any input one way or the other? Mostly going for compiling and moderate gaming
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


If just compiling and moderate gaming the 8 core AMD will do just fine. I have a quad core AMD Vishera chip and build Cm10.1 nighlty's in about an hour. If you are a big gamer you'd be better off with an i5 or i7. I would go with at least 8GB of RAM for compiling, but recommend 16GB. Don't skimp on the motherboard and Power Supply either. They are crucial to a long lasting, future resistant computer.


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## Mellen_hed (Aug 11, 2011)

Nah, I've built my own before so I know the basics; but it's been so long ago (~10 years) that I'm not terrible sure what to choose anymore without just going for "more expensive means better." Looking at an asus sabertooth mobo and starting out with 24GB ram (with option for another 8GB stick). Cost isn't a terrible concern since I plan to run this thing until parts start falling off, but don't care to waste my money in one area when it could be better spent in another.


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## shiznu (Jun 14, 2012)

I've found you usually get what you pay for. I would buy quality parts in the key areas. You can build a quality rig without the 6000++ bleeding edge gaming rig hit.

Sent from a place using a thing.


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

shiznu said:


> I've found you usually get what you pay for. I would buy quality parts in the key areas. You can build a quality rig without the 6000++ bleeding edge gaming rig hit.
> 
> Sent from a place using a thing.


Parts in my computer (with some extras I will omit) I have bought since amounted to around 1200 (not including mentioned updates since 2008). That includes the following:

Intel i7 920

Asus rampage II gene motherboard

WD black 500gb hard drive (I have 3-4 other HDDs now and also 2 SSDs).

12gb Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (now I have 24gb)

Antec 900 case

Silverstone 650W Power supply

Arctic Freezer 7 Pro CPU fan (not really needed, but it's 25 dollars and quieter than the stock Intel CPU fan that comes with the CPU)

Evga 680GTX GPU. Though I have upgraded this obviously since I building my CPU. I started with a 9800gt → 2 9800gt in SLI → Nvidia 570GTX → Nvidia 680GTX.

Not everyone needs a 680GTX. The lower end 6xx series or the 5xx series (such as the 570GTX) are good enough for games. CPUs...you can get a Sandy Bridge for the price I paid for the 920 at the time, but either one is good enough. Most games don't require much CPU usage and the GPU is the bottleneck. Only a few are exceptions, such as strategy games with lots of AI, simulation games with lots of AI (such as the X series), and games like ARMA II and ARMA III because they use a ton of AI. ARMA is really the only exception for FPS type games though as most are really just doing a bunch of scripting (pre planned events) and not true AI related algorithms where it reacts based on what you planned to do. Otherwise, CPU is only good for encoding certain things faster, unzipping things faster, compiling really large things fast (such as Android) and some rendering programs that need a good CPU as well as GPU (like CAD/3d related stuff).


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## shiznu (Jun 14, 2012)

Basically my point, I had about that in my last build and had plenty of power. I'm sure you of all people know that you can spend a ridiculous amount if you go with the next greatest thing. I mean I've seen builds at prices of good used cars. Lol

Sent from a place using a thing.


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## hardkick (Apr 2, 2013)

i built my own pc which is very useful for me like i have saved some money for the further use


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