We don't usually do this, but I have been getting a lot of emails and messages on social media from gamers looking to build their first PC this summer. With the release of the high end GeForce GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 cards this month, and the pending release of the Radeon RX 480 for more budget-minded gamers, there will likely never be a better time to get into PC gaming than now!
Back in February my nephew wanted to undertake building his own gaming PC for the first time. I took that opportunity to build an article and three video series for enthusiasts and DIYers that were either new to the game or needed a refresher on how to put screws to PCB, so to speak. With the numerous emails and messages I've been getting, I thought now would be a great time to bump our story back here and showcase to everyone how easy it can be to build your own PC, whether it be for gaming, VR, productivity or anything else.
You can find the original story right here, sponsored by Gigabyte, but I have also re-embedded the videos below. Yes, the component selections we used in February could use some updating on the graphics card, monitor and maybe power supply, but the rest of the build summary is spot on and the build process remains unchanged.
Good luck to all the budding enthusiasts out there!
Maybe a new feature on
Maybe a new feature on building and testing a Bristol Ridge based system with 2 RX480s, with plenty of details for the newbies out there! It should include more than just building the system, and should go into some software/driver tweaking/testing on both windows and Linux/Steam OS builds, including setting up and using benchmarking software.
There can also be included at a later time an update to this AM4 build with a Zen SKU, so users can see how a CPU upgrade is accomplished. Also not only should this system build be done, and updated to Zen when it becomes available, but the system should have its software and drivers updated and instructional videos made. I’d like to see a system built and then tested over a period of at least a year, with some updated videos as the Vulkan/DX12 and driver/graphics APIs, Linux/windows GPU diver/software stacks, and New API/gaming ecosystems all mature over that year.
That Vulkan/DX12 Graphics API GPU multi-adaptor support may make the need for CF/SLI in the GPU driver support obsolete, and allow games/non gaming graphics software to get better multi-GPU utilization. This system Build should also be tested with not only games, but also graphics software(Blender, GIMP, Krita, Adobe, etc. and productivity software) so the readers can see how much the Vulkan API will be of use for not only games, but other graphics/compute software uses also.
This system could also become a test bed for the Vulkan API, and the many uses that Vulkan API may be used for in the future, on both windows(7, 8.1, 10) and Linux OS(Steam/Mint, etc.) based builds.
The same type of system build should be done for Nvidia’s competing product using not only AMD’s Bristol Ridge/Zen AM4 mainboard x86 CPUs but also Intel’s CPUs/mainboards(with updates for Intel’s competing CPUs when the Zen SKU’s are available) with both AMD’s and Nvidia’s competing GPU SKUs, and I mean competing on the SKU cost and same intended market bracket for the system builds tested over that one year period.
So have a one year long comparison of these systems while keeping track of how the SKUs perform initially and how they improve on a monthly basis as the software, drivers, and gaming ecosystems are tweaked over that one year period make better use of the new DX12/Vulkan/Windows/Linux based gaming and software ecosystem. So start with a 2 RX 480s/Polaris based system, and an Nvidia Pascal competing SKU(2 GTX 1060s/other Pascal SKU in the same price range as the RX480) and allow for the Zen CPU update(and an Intel CPU update using a comparable price metric) while testing the gaming platforms build over a year, with no GPU hardware updates allowed, only driver/software/middleware updates for the GPUs.
hmmm… SLI/XFire Z board
hmmm… SLI/XFire Z board with i5-K CPU OVERCLOCKING CPU… with non-water cooling with 550 watt PSU. Waste money on some sort of mechanical keyboard and a wireless mouse… and single GTX 970 with a 4K monitor…. HUH?!?!?!
Urgh, here we go again…
Urgh, here we go again… We’ve already had try-hards saying how they could have done much better when it was first posted. No need to go around again. The selection was fine at the time and for the target budget. Just because someone would make different choices doesn’t make these choices bad.
No! You’re WRONG! HIS is
No! You’re WRONG! HIS is the only opinion that matters!
Its actually not the best
Its actually not the best time to build a pc.
1) pascal availability is well lack there of, so waiting a month for a promised $379 gtx 1070 is a better time.
2) waiting for Polaris $229 8 gig vram 480 in a month as well is a good time.
3) zen cpu launch is a great time but you would have to wait till end of 2016 to beginning of 2017.
Waiting for the rest of the
Waiting for the rest of the Polaris and pascal mid to low gpu line up is also a great time for some serious gpu wars!