First off, i'd like to pre-warn that this may be a wall of text as I have quite a few questions.

Okay, my first goal of this PC is to be able to run The Witcher 2 at a good frame rate with most settings on high (I do NOT intend to use Ubersampling) and at a 1080p HD resolution if possible (probably asking alot), though I could settle for 720p HD resolutions.
My second goal is to still be able to play older GOG games without any serious issues.
I plan on getting this new PC within a few months or so.

Here we go with my questions:

1. Custom PC Builder
When going with a PC builder should I go with Digital Storm or Origin PC? I'm leaning more toward Digital Storm because you get a longer warranty without the extra price. I already know alot of people are going to suggest that I build my own, but I have no experience building a PC and i'm not comfortable doing it myself as I really don't want my money going down the drain because I made a tiny mistake that destroys my parts.

2. Graphics Card
Of the two manufacturers which is more reliable and less likely to overheat or break down? AMD or Nvidia?
Should I go with the AMD Radeon HD 7870 or the newer Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 or would those be overkill? I was considering the AMD, but i'm kind of concerned about performance from the reviews i've read. I'm leaning more toward the Nvidia, but the power consumption, slightly higher temperature and price have me concerned.
Would either of these newer cards have problems running older GOG games? I seem to recall a forum post about Nvidia's OpenGL support not being that great for games that use OpenGL.
Do I need Nvidia's PhysX for certain games to run stable?

3. Processor
Intel Core i5 or i7? An article on Rock Paper Shotgun recommends an i5 2500K because it doesn't have hyperthreading which according to RPS runs games better because of this:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/01/20/which-cpu-to-buy/

4. RAM
How much do I need?

5. Power Supply
How big of a power supply do I need?

6. Cooling
With what I plan on putting in my PC, what sort of cooling do I need? Can I get by without having to use liquid cooling? (i'm a bit squeamish about using liquid) Also, I do not plan on overclocking anything.

7. Motherboard
Of the selection Digital Storm and Origin provide, what motherboard do I need?

8. Extras
Do I need extras like a fan controller and temperature display?

I'm in a similar position. In fact, I also posted a thread about this:

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/how_to_start_building_a_gaming_pc

people have given a lot of really good info and links. I suggest you check it out. Also, this site has been particularly useful:

http://lifehacker.com/5828747/how-to-build-a-computer-from-scratch-the-complete-guide




From one newbie to another, here's a few things I've learned thus far (others will be able to give better advice, of course):

Graphics card - AMD and Nvidia are neck in neck, and which you go with is mostly up to personal preference. My research seems to show that AMD makes cards with a better price/performance ratio. I'm getting the AMD 6870, and the suggestion of mushy101, which seems like it will be able to handle basically any PC game on the market at high (although my prospective resolution is 1280x1024... perhaps lower than you would want).


Processor - The advice I'm getting seems to say that the i-3 is actually a really good choice as well, and should give good performance. Then again, you might be going for a more powerful system than I am.

RAM - It seems that people have been saying that anything over 8 GB is overkill, unless you're planning on doing some really epic multitasking. Also, RAM is cheap as dirt and is getting cheaper (again, so I've been told), so there's no reason to stock up on it right off the bat.

Power Supply - This is one area where they suggest you spend as much as you can. Go for an expensive, well-known brand, and don't skimp too much on the watts. There's a power supply calculator out there, but I forget exactly how to get to it.

Motherboard - An interesting issue. A cheap motherboard will not give any drop in performance, apparently, but will limit expansion options and other options (things that I really don't understand :P). I'm still undecided as to what I'll go with, but most of the people who know anything suggest that I get a good quality one.

Most of this advice is probably useless, given that I know very little.... but I felt like being on the other end of the whole "computer building advice" thing for a change :3

small hint.

wait with your graphic card purchase. 680 was released recently (and that is a bit of overkill at the moment for the money they ask you to hand over) and it did not have enough time to affect prices of cards
6870 is a bad choice cause 7870 will be released soon making previous card obsolete in my opinion. (edit; it is actually out already. so no point in getting 6870 unless you find it for very very low price)
AMD cards will drop in prices, like it happened with previous generation and the one before and the one before and....
giving you a better bargain for a buck.

Well then, let me be the first to say "build your own!"

But seriously, I wouldn't recommend making a higher-end machine your first build. Instead, find an old PC that nobody really cares about, take it apart, and then put it back together. If you screw something up, big whoop. If you get it right, then bully for you and consider building your next new rig. It's not as hard as it looks, at least once you've done a couple.

I'll answer a few of those:

5. Power supply. a quality 750W unit should do it unless you're adding a second hi-po video card, a bunch of mechanical drives, or a ton of fans.

6. Air cooling works well but you may want to consider liquid if you're going to overclock. Some of the new kits are pretty much foolproof, being completely sealed from the moment you open the box until you get it installed and running. On those you don't have to fiddle with getting a proper mix, and don't have to worry about spilling as you fill. Obviously, they'll be tougher to install than just a fan / heatsink combo, but maybe not that much tougher. The one I did was a pain in the neck because A) the included instructions didn't instruct, and B) they didn't block the screw holes before painting.

8. Temp display. Maybe if you're overclocking, but you can get free software monitors that accomplish pretty much the same thing.

Hmmm, I just wonder if the AMD 7870 can run The Witcher 2 at a decent frame rate with some of the higher settings on. The reviews i've seen seem to suggest that games like Arkham City can run at a decent rate, but the low frame rate for the Metro 2033 benchmark had me concerned, of course that game could just be poorly optimized. Then again, I barely know jack when it comes to PC gaming.

1) Building your own is not hard at all. It's very similar to putting together building blocks. You can find some very good guides to doing it yourself if you do a little googling. I highly recommend it. Sure, it's intimidating, but it's really a simple, straightforward process. And trust me, it's highly unlikely you'll fry any of your parts due to a simple error. It actually takes some effort to do that.

2) I'm running a GTX 560 Ti in my rig and have no issues running any of my GOG games. That's not to say you won't run into any problems, but I don't think it should be a big concern. As far as AMD or nVidia goes, go with whatever you think you like best. I've been using nVidia cards for several years now, but either one is a good choice. There are advantages and disadvantages to either one. With regards to the price point, a lot depends on your budget.

3) I'd say go with the i5. I'm running an i7 920 in my rig, and have no complaints or issues with it, but the i5 2500k seems to be very highly regarded. I don't think you can go wring there.

4) IMO, I'd go with 6 G minimum (if you have triple channel. If your mobo is dual channel, go with 8 GB - as long as you have a 64 bit system). My board's a triple channel, so I'm running with 6 GB on Win7 64 bit.

5) You should make sure you choose a good brand of power supply above all. As for the wattage, it depends on your other components, but overkill doesn't hurt. I'd probably look at at least 750 watts.

6) If you're not overclocking, watercooling is absolutely unnecessary. Just go with the stock cooling and you'll be fine.

7) Not sure (I didn't bother googling the sites), but just make sure it has the features you need. There's no need to go for a bunch of crap you'll never use.

8) No. Not unless you're overclocking.

A different view... What would you be using the PC for? Why don't you go for a laptop instead, it will give you a lot more options in terms of mobility (though it won't be upgradeable much)? Oh, I was playing Metro 2033 on medium with an nVidia 9800M GS! It ran decently, no slowdowns at all, and besides, Metro 2033 looks great no matter the details enabled.

How expensive would laptop be that can play witcher 2? I mean, a reasonably priced laptop can probably play all the other games on GOG but don't see Witcher 2 being really playable without a real good graphics card.

I cannot really talk about TW2 as I haven't tried it, but TW1 runs very good on nVidia 9800M GS 512MB graphics card, 4GB DD2 RAM and Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 CPU.

Assuming he'll be getting a Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge CPU, he'll have a much better CPU and RAM, and will just have to find a build with a good GPU. Dunno how much will that cost.

ok, my specs and I can play W2 full bells and whistles (minus uber) at 1080p

Q9550
8gb corsair ram
900 w modular power supply
Rampage Extreme (1st ed) Mobo
HD 4890

So you can see a fairly modest (now.. it was top when I put it together) system goes pretty damned far these days, the only game that gives me any trouble is Metro2033 and that's a sucker to run anyway.

My opinion for purchasing parts today, would be:

Don't scrimp of the proc and ram, if they're good it'll carry you a long way, an i7 top or one under (didn't know that the 3960X existed, don't count that at all) and 8GB of good ram, that's a good base. 8GB isn't 'strictly necessary. but it's cheap now and it'll give your machine breathing space.

A good Asus motherboard for your components, don't spend more than £150.. I went for full on top of everything with my Rampage Extreme, didn't use half the stuff on it and it cost me £350, i'd never do that today.

gpu..I'd go for a middle to high range, not top, the proc will carry you well, and you'll be set for a couple of years with it.

an 8-900w psu will do, a good brand though, OCZ are doing some good ones.

Cooling... I went with water for my 'uber' build and regretted it, it was a pain in the arse to maintain and Iwas getting comparable temps when I had to go back to air when the pump went tits up.

The doohickies.... they are a nice substitute to the wow factor of watercooling and not nearly as unreliable, if you have the cash they're unnecessary but very nice to have.

A bluray rewriter, a copy of PowerDVD and you'll be all set.

That makes no sense at all. Hyperthreading is there to improve performance.

According to this Arkham City gets about 58 fps on 1280x1024 and 39 fps on 1920x1080:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1863/4/

Battlefield 3 seems to fare much better with about 70 fps on 1280x1024 and 51 fps on 1920x1080:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1863/5/ I'm just not comfortable building it myself nor do I have the spare PC or cash to try a test run. Not to mention something with the software installation or configuration could go wrong.
Well, i'm guessing they meant that performance might take a hit in certain games or situations. I have no idea.

You should have a try, seriously.. it's like lego these day.

I don't know, maybe. If I did would you recommend any of the same parts Digital Storm or Origin PC has?