Building a new computer...

[Judge_Xero]

Was wondering about PCs. Was looking at the alienware x51 and wasn't sure if mini gaming PCs had lower quality when it came to game performance, compared to full sized PCs.

You usually end up with low end single slot graphics cards, due to size constraints. Looking at all versions of the x51 they are over priced crap. You'd be far better with a PS4 than even that $1000 unit.

In saying that though, it is possible to build an ITX PC with a full size GPU with the right case.

[Tiggy]

It's got a GeForce 970. A quick Google search shows it's one of the newest cards on the market. So I'd have to say, yes, a machine with one of the newest possible graphics cards will be able to run it. Google be strong.

[Elmeron]

Get someone you know is great at building PCs and get their help! Do not attempt to build a PC for the first time all alone! I cannot stress this enough! I made that mistake and thought I was doing well, and when I skyped my friend who builds computers for fun (I don't understand how it's fun, but I guess some people really enjoy it) and I had to end up taking apart pretty much the whole computer and re-doing it (lucky I didn't plug it in or else that would have been $700 and something completely wasted!). This was after I'd spent pretty much all day doing it.

[Averax]

It's got a GeForce 970. A quick Google search shows it's one of the newest cards on the market. So I'd have to say, yes, a machine with one of the newest possible graphics cards will be able to run it. Google be strong.

It's not graphics i worry about when building PCs, MMOs tend to be more heavy on the processor. The processor the op has picked out seem pretty good. I would have gone for 4.0 GHz, but i like overkill.

[Judge_Xero]

It's got a GeForce 970. A quick Google search shows it's one of the newest cards on the market. So I'd have to say, yes, a machine with one of the newest possible graphics cards will be able to run it. Google be strong.

Really? The best x51 that came up that I saw only had a 960 for almost 2k

@1k you get a $90 750ti

Edited: nvm I think you're talking about OPs build lol

[Wulfyn]

Alienware is Dell.

[Whocareswhatmynameis]

Ya dont get the X51, the power supply is only like 300 watts, so it can't really use big graphics cards.

[scarebearz]

Your parts list is pretty bad to be honest. (parts themselves more than capable, just put together badly imo)

Go on a US based pc forum and ask someone to "spec" you a build, tell them what you want it for and what features you would like (i.e. you seem to want a micro atx build, but don't wish to overclock).

There has been some good and bad advice given here anyway.

[KisaiTenshi]

Use MSI or Nvidia cards. PNY cards are well known for being faulty and breaking down easily. Never have had a problem with MSI or cards right from Nvidia themselves. Also, you may want to invest in a stronger power supply. 520 might run everything fine, but your upgrade capability from there may be limited with that power supply. I recommend 800+. The CPU is a good choice, if you're building for games and not computing, as video games are GPU heavy. So your 4th gen i5 will be more than enough.

MSI is kinda known for doing bad things to cheat synthetic benchmarks, but those are outliers, and not the only time someone has.

My personal preference is ASUS, but I've used Powercolor, EVGA and Sapphire. The last MSI card I had, self-destructed with the cooling fan blowing itself apart. Generally it's not so much the brand, but how you use your computer. If you have long hair, live in a high dust environment, smoke, or have pets of any kind, clean your computer every month or the fans will gum up the minute they're turned off.

The current card I have is a EVGA card that I was given and it's been nothing but stable. I generally prefer Radeon cards, but the current card is an nVidia card (because it was a gift.)

Get someone you know is great at building PCs and get their help! Do not attempt to build a PC for the first time all alone! I cannot stress this enough! I made that mistake and thought I was doing well, and when I skyped my friend who builds computers for fun (I don't understand how it's fun, but I guess some people really enjoy it) and I had to end up taking apart pretty much the whole computer and re-doing it (lucky I didn't plug it in or else that would have been $700 and something completely wasted!). This was after I'd spent pretty much all day doing it.

A friend ordered all the right parts (mostly high-spec parts) put it all together and neglected to buy the OS, so he tried to use his laptop drive... and things went downhill from there. I knew there was a problem when he ordered a separate bag of screws/motherboard-chasis standoffs... I was like "It had to have come with ones that fit that chasis" and he was adament that it didn't. Eventually after we put it all together... I discover the hidden "toolbox" in the bottom drive bay. Had he read the manual he would have known.

[File2ish]

Glad I'm not the only one with a dinosaur of a computer. I'll be building one pretty soon with similar specs so I can jump ship from the PS3/PS4 to PC!

I originally built my desktop in 2006 or so. I kept upgrading what I could to keep it running, like upgrading the GPU from a Gefore 6200GS to a 7600GS (these are AGP x8 cards mind you haha). And overclocking the CPU (AMD Athlon 64 2800+) and GPU (7600GS) up the wazoo in attempt to make games run better. Surprisingly, even after having the overclock rate on the CPU at .01GHz under the unstable point the computer still lives. I put that thing through hell, especially when I used it to convert a bunch of old VHS tapes I recorded to a more desirable format lol.

My dinosaur can't run XIVARR at all, and my laptop (which is leagues better than the dinosaur even if it's 5 years old) can BARELY run the game at lowest settings. I get major input lag on the laptop as well, so I mainly play on my PS3, PS4 when my brother isn't on it. My laptop runs the game at like 15FPS max (ran FFXIV 1.XX at 6-9FPS lmao). Not ideal, especially with the input lag (controller and KB/M, doesn't matter, the delay is really that bad).

But even at lowest settings the game looks better on PC than it does on the PS3 (shadows excluded, because the shadows look really bad on PC if you have no softening, no cascading, and lowest resolution shadows).

Get someone you know is great at building PCs and get their help! Do not attempt to build a PC for the first time all alone! I cannot stress this enough!.

I don't see this as a necessary thing to do... But I guess bad stuff can happen if you don't understand what you're doing. But I'm one of those computer guys that has fun putting computer parts together and knows what they're doing :P So my advice: If you don't know, look for help! If you can't, check the internets for answers! If that doesn't help... Just wing it! Haha.