Haydos Posted 3 September 2011 Posted 3 September 2011 Think I'm gonna when my loan comes in, got this setup so far. Just wondering if there's any cheaper suggestions to anything or any better alternatives at the same price? Processor - Intel Sandybridge i5 2500 Quad Core - £151.00 (free delivery) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Sandybridge-i5-2500-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B004FA8NNW/ref=pd_sim_computers_2 Graphics card - Gigabyte GTX 560 OC Edition 1GB 256bit - £150.00 (free delivery) http://www.ebuyer.com/267865-gigabyte-gtx-560-oc-edition-1gb-256bit-dual-dvi-mini-hdmi-pci-e-gv-n56goc-1gi RAM - Corsair XMS3 1333mHz 8GB(2x4GB) - £36.56 (free delivery) http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/dp/B003N8GVUY?tag=invihand-21 Motherboard - Biostar H61MGC Socket 1155 - £39.60 (free delivery) http://www.ebuyer.com/274290-biostar-h61mgc-socket-1155-vga-dvi-6-channel-audio-matx-motherboard-h61mgc HDD - Seagate 1TB 3.5" Barracuda SATA-III 6Gb/s Hard Drive 7200RPM 32MB Cache - £45.00 (free delivery) http://www.ebuyer.com/252858-seagate-1tb-3-5-barracuda-sata-iii-6gb-s-hard-drive-7200rpm-32mb-cache-st31000524as Power supply - Corsair 500W CX Series PSU - £45.00 (free delivery) http://www.ebuyer.com/240999-corsair-500w-cx-series-psu-cmpsu-500cx I'm not planning on overclocking (for the time being at least) hence the motherboard but that's the thing I know least about so any info/feedback is appreciated. Cheers!
Austin Posted 3 September 2011 Posted 3 September 2011 I'll have a word with my brother when he's back of holidays, built many pc's himself
shen Posted 3 September 2011 Posted 3 September 2011 Run this on a geek forum. There's probably a greater chance of getting useful info. I'd probably get a more powerful PSU in your place, and what cooler are you thinking of getting?
Rusko187 Posted 3 September 2011 Posted 3 September 2011 I've got the same CPU and graphics card, go on www.overclockers.co.uk and see if everything matches.. I just bought a prebuilt one but they assure me it's simple enough. Bit of advice as well, be careful if you decide to add an SSD drive.. I got a 30gb 1 and it was to mainly use Windows on but it's about drained it and when I install I have to really go through the menus to get them on my regular hard drive.
Haydos Posted 3 September 2011 Author Posted 3 September 2011 Run this on a geek forum. There's probably a greater chance of getting useful info. I'd probably get a more powerful PSU in your place, and what cooler are you thinking of getting? Felt out of my depth reading some at times (when researching my components). I've got a couple of friends that know a fair bit but I thought a few extra opinions couldn't do any harm After reading reviews, It seemed that the built in cooling on CPU and GPU were adequate and my friend thought i'd be alright too. Same with the power supply, was told unless I overclocked it should be fine. Any idea? I'll have a read around about that. I've got the same CPU and graphics card, go on www.overclockers.co.uk and see if everything matches.. I just bought a prebuilt one but they assure me it's simple enough. Bit of advice as well, be careful if you decide to add an SSD drive.. I got a 30gb 1 and it was to mainly use Windows on but it's about drained it and when I install I have to really go through the menus to get them on my regular hard drive. What are the CPU and Graphics card like in terms of performance? I've barely read a bad word about either of them? I haven't gamed on PC's previously but I would like to and I had a balance of decentish performance/future proofing in mind when it came to this. Also, what about temperatures/cooling? (Did you need any additional fans?) (Not planning on an SSD for a while but if/when I do i'll bear that in mind)
Fox92 Posted 3 September 2011 Posted 3 September 2011 Currently looking at building one myself because my PC has had its time I think. Only built one in my life, and that was on my IT course at college Was pretty scared before hand but it went through well and I managed to build it sucesfully. If I had the money I'd most certainly do it. I have a lot of plans down, but I'm not sure if it would just be better and cheaper to just buy one and upgrade from there. I've had my current PC for 6 years now but I've kept upgrading it (I installed more memory, another optical drive and a new graphics card). My CPU is currently only 2.0GHz (AMD Athlon 64 3200+ socket 939) and I want a faster one as I think it is that which is stopping the overall performance of my PC. Been looking around on eBay for dual cores (found a AMD Athlon 64 x2 @ 2.2GHz socket 939) but I'm not sure if it will improve my performance or be cost effective. I mean, just a question everyone, will I see the benefit of replacing my 2.0GHz single core to a 2.2GHz dual core? Anyhow, in terms of building a whole PC. It is the only way to ensure you have what YOU want, instead of what the manufactorer wants. Good luck.
anotherharboroughfox Posted 3 September 2011 Posted 3 September 2011 . I mean, just a question everyone, will I see the benefit of replacing my 2.0GHz single core to a 2.2GHz dual core? yeah, you will effectively get 4.4 GHz of power.
DB11 Posted 3 September 2011 Posted 3 September 2011 I've built them, but only using the products I've been told to fit
Haydos Posted 3 September 2011 Author Posted 3 September 2011 I've built them, but only using the products I've been told to fit Do you know much about PSU's? I've no idea what a 500w does and at what point or why you'd get a 600w or 750w or watt(get it?)ever?
anotherharboroughfox Posted 3 September 2011 Posted 3 September 2011 Do you know much about PSU's? I've no idea what a 500w does and at what point or why you'd get a 600w or 750w or watt(get it?)ever? various components require different power levels, so check you components and find the one that requires the most power and get one to match When I built one I didn't bother checking, but luckily I'd got one just powerful enough to match my components, I think my graphics card required the most.
Haydos Posted 3 September 2011 Author Posted 3 September 2011 various components require different power levels, so check you components and find the one that requires the most power and get one to match When I built one I didn't bother checking, but luckily I'd got one just powerful enough to match my components, I think my graphics card required the most. I seeeeee. Yeah, the graphics card says a min of 450w. Still not sure if that means 500w is enough. (Min spec on most things to do with computers is rarely enough)
coale39 Posted 3 September 2011 Posted 3 September 2011 Graphics card - Gigabyte GTX 560 OC Edition 1GB 256bit - £150.00 (free delivery) http://www.ebuyer.co...e-gv-n56goc-1gi Cheers! http://www.pc-titan....ini-Displa.html
Haydos Posted 3 September 2011 Author Posted 3 September 2011 http://www.pc-titan....ini-Displa.html I read up on PC Titan, seems very dodgy.... http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3327782
coale39 Posted 3 September 2011 Posted 3 September 2011 I read up on PC Titan, seems very dodgy.... http://forums.moneys...d.php?t=3327782 No credit cards accepted so that's an instant strike form me. If you want to pay they need you to wire money to Kuala Lumpar. I dont see a problem there...
Amin Posted 3 September 2011 Posted 3 September 2011 Felt out of my depth reading some at times (when researching my components). I've got a couple of friends that know a fair bit but I thought a few extra opinions couldn't do any harm After reading reviews, It seemed that the built in cooling on CPU and GPU were adequate and my friend thought i'd be alright too. Same with the power supply, was told unless I overclocked it should be fine. Any idea? I'll have a read around about that. What are the CPU and Graphics card like in terms of performance? I've barely read a bad word about either of them? I haven't gamed on PC's previously but I would like to and I had a balance of decentish performance/future proofing in mind when it came to this. Also, what about temperatures/cooling? (Did you need any additional fans?) (Not planning on an SSD for a while but if/when I do i'll bear that in mind) I know how you feel! I was going to build a gaming computer myself, but I've put the idea on hold until I can raise a bit more cash.
Haydos Posted 3 September 2011 Author Posted 3 September 2011 Had a look and found a 600w PSU with good reviews for barely any more so probs go for that. OCZ 600W ModXStream Pro http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCZ-600W-ModXStream-Power-Supply/dp/B001GLFD54 Also that mobo was a bit cack and discontinued so think I'm gonna spend a tenner more on: Gigabyte SKT-1155 H61M-D2-B3 http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/dp/B004Q5W7FQ?tag=invihand-21
nothin2seehere Posted 4 September 2011 Posted 4 September 2011 yeah, you will effectively get 4.4 GHz of power. No you don't. You'll get 2 cores running at 2.2GHz each.
nothin2seehere Posted 4 September 2011 Posted 4 September 2011 I've never bought a computer in my life, except when my dad got my first 486 when I was about 11. Been building them ever since - that is to say, I've upgraded, or built from scratch, about 4-5 separate builds. The PSU debate is spot on - I've got a 500W PSU and my PC is happy enough. Quad core 2.4GHz CPU and a nVidia GTX 460 I think.The more power hungry components you add the more power you'll be draining from the PSU. Things like massive overclocking and adding a second graphics card will kill you the most. That said, modest OCing and a single card you probably won't need more than 600W. And my tip of the day is: Get. A. SSD. Hard. Disk. Yes, they're expensive, but boy-oh-boy will performance of your computer go through the roof. It doesn't add anything to processing power i.e. game frame-rates etc, but loading times and overall responsiveness is so much better. You will NOT regret it. You don't need a huge one, mine is 120GB with Windows 7, Office 2010 and a few other apps installed, and I've still got more than 50% free space. You just need to be careful when installing games and install them to your already-allocated 1TB spinner disk. Absolutely the best thing I've ever upgraded to. If you do decide to go down the building route, I think you'll be extremely pleased at what you achieve. You can do your own tech support and you'll have that much more experience when you decide you want to make something go faster, or more efficient etc. Good luck!
Haydos Posted 4 September 2011 Author Posted 4 September 2011 Right, think I've got my final build in place.... Processor - Intel Sandybridge i5 2500 Quad Core - £152.00 (free delivery) http://www.ebuyer.com/251597-core-i5-2500-3-3ghz-socket-1155-6mb-cache-retail-boxed-processor-bx80623i52500 Graphics card - Gigabyte GTX 560 OC Edition 1GB 256bit - £150.00 (free delivery) http://www.ebuyer.com/267865-gigabyte-gtx-560-oc-edition-1gb-256bit-dual-dvi-mini-hdmi-pci-e-gv-n56goc-1gi RAM - Corsair XMS3 1333mHz 8GB(2x4GB) - £36.56 (free delivery) http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/dp/B003N8GVUY?tag=invihand-21 Motherboard - Gigabyte SKT-1155 H61M-D2-B3 - £49.99 (free delivery) http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/dp/B004Q5W7FQ?tag=invihand-21 HDD - Seagate 1TB 3.5" Barracuda SATA-III 6Gb/s Hard Drive 7200RPM 32MB Cache - £45.00 (free delivery) http://www.ebuyer.com/252858-seagate-1tb-3-5-barracuda-sata-iii-6gb-s-hard-drive-7200rpm-32mb-cache-st31000524as Power supply - OCZ 600W ModXStream Pro Power Supply - £55.00 (free delivery) http://www.dabs.com/products/ocz-technology-psu--modxstream-pro--600w---uk-5D15.html Case - Casecom KM-6988 Black Mid Tower - £25.00 (free delivery) http://www.ebuyer.com/205154-casecom-km-6988-black-mid-tower-case-with-full-black-interior-exterior-120mm-red-km-6988 SSD I almost certainly will invest in in the near future. Going to see how this runs when all set up. If I want some better loading times I'll look at SSD's at Christmas. "You just need to be careful when installing games and install them to your already-allocated 1TB spinner disk." What do you mean by that? On my main 'normal' hard drive? I thought SSD's were good for installing games on as it would increase their load times.
Rusko187 Posted 4 September 2011 Posted 4 September 2011 Felt out of my depth reading some at times (when researching my components). I've got a couple of friends that know a fair bit but I thought a few extra opinions couldn't do any harm After reading reviews, It seemed that the built in cooling on CPU and GPU were adequate and my friend thought i'd be alright too. Same with the power supply, was told unless I overclocked it should be fine. Any idea? I'll have a read around about that. What are the CPU and Graphics card like in terms of performance? I've barely read a bad word about either of them? I haven't gamed on PC's previously but I would like to and I had a balance of decentish performance/future proofing in mind when it came to this. Also, what about temperatures/cooling? (Did you need any additional fans?) (Not planning on an SSD for a while but if/when I do i'll bear that in mind) Mines come overclocker but I have thrown everything at it and never experience any lag or anything, does help with having the SSD but you will need around a 120gb just to be on the safe side.. Makes a HUGE difference!
nothin2seehere Posted 4 September 2011 Posted 4 September 2011 SSD I almost certainly will invest in in the near future. Going to see how this runs when all set up. If I want some better loading times I'll look at SSD's at Christmas. "You just need to be careful when installing games and install them to your already-allocated 1TB spinner disk." What do you mean by that? On my main 'normal' hard drive? I thought SSD's were good for installing games on as it would increase their load times. Traditionally, SSDs are reserved for the operating system and applications you use on a day to day basis. And, since their £ to GB ratio is massive compared to a magnetic spinning disk, you can't really buy 1TB worth of SSD storage (unless you've just won euromillions) to accommodate all those games. So, what most people do is use an SSD for the OS and a few apps, then a bigger, cheaper spinning disk for the massive games. If you only play one game at a time you could easily just install it to your SSD, play and finish it, then uninstall it again. Make sense?
Haydos Posted 4 September 2011 Author Posted 4 September 2011 Traditionally, SSDs are reserved for the operating system and applications you use on a day to day basis. And, since their £ to GB ratio is massive compared to a magnetic spinning disk, you can't really buy 1TB worth of SSD storage (unless you've just won euromillions) to accommodate all those games. So, what most people do is use an SSD for the OS and a few apps, then a bigger, cheaper spinning disk for the massive games. If you only play one game at a time you could easily just install it to your SSD, play and finish it, then uninstall it again. Make sense? Yeah, I was aware of most of that, was mainly referring to, say, installing your favourite/most played game on it. Yeah, that's cool
z-layrex Posted 4 September 2011 Posted 4 September 2011 You're very right to go with that CPU, best price/performance ratio processor on the market, anything from AMD doesn't even touch it sadly. For the case I would go with the Antec 100, better cable management, better airflow and it's black inside. You only need for 4GB RAM if you're just gaming, 8GB is total overkill. Motherboard is ok, but wouldn't you rather have SLI support for the future? I would spend some more money and go MSI. This has SLI and Xfire support, incredible on board Audio, Overclock genie and frankly looks awesome.
Haydos Posted 4 September 2011 Author Posted 4 September 2011 You're very right to go with that CPU, best price/performance ratio processor on the market, anything from AMD doesn't even touch it sadly. For the case I would go with the Antec 100, better cable management, better airflow and it's black inside. You only need for 4GB RAM if you're just gaming, 8GB is total overkill. Motherboard is ok, but wouldn't you rather have SLI support for the future? I would spend some more money and go MSI. This has SLI and Xfire support, incredible on board Audio, Overclock genie and frankly looks awesome. I've already gone over my original budget of £500 and really don't want to spend any more at the moment. 8GB of RAM was essentially because it was about £5 more than a decent 4GB. The case I already stepped up from a £10 one and I'll admit the mobo is pretty basic but that's only because of my limited needs regarding overclocking (seen many posts on forums + reviews saying this kind of setup is fine without overclocking). I imaginge that would be the first thing I upgraded though but I'm hoping this build will last a few years how it is. Out of interest, what is SLI and 'Xfire support'? I'm not clued up at all when it comes to them tbh.
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