Fresh build
djshowdown
London
I have decided to abort an upgrade of my old system and am instead going to build a fresh system and put my old one in my bedroom to watch films and browse the net.
I have put together the following system and need to know A) If I have forgotten anything and B) If I could improve my selections, either replacing the parts for better 'bang for buck' parts or downgrading anything that you feel might be overkill.
Primary uses for this PC are as follows -
Music production
Coursework (office suite)
Light gaming (nothing more demanding than Street Fighter 4 or emulators)
Case:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854/show_product_reviews
CPU
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131823/show_product_reviews
RAM
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146058
DVD RW
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/165168
PSU
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152009
CPU Cooling
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167505
I have no idea which Motherboard or Graphics card to get.
*Motherboard*
I would like something pretty current but it doesn't have to be cutting edge. Wifi would be a nice addition but not essential. More important than that it needs to have a PCI slot for my old soundcard (I have my reasons for wanting to keep it, primarily its solid and I don't want to buy a new one!)
*GPU*
This is one area where I have very little - no knowledge what so ever. Would like something quiet (my current sapphire x1650 pro has a really noisy fan) and efficient.
Please help as I would like to put the order in asap, my old computer is just annoying me!
Worth noting, I am in the UK so links to UK stores would be fantastic.
Thank you
I have put together the following system and need to know A) If I have forgotten anything and B) If I could improve my selections, either replacing the parts for better 'bang for buck' parts or downgrading anything that you feel might be overkill.
Primary uses for this PC are as follows -
Music production
Coursework (office suite)
Light gaming (nothing more demanding than Street Fighter 4 or emulators)
Case:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854/show_product_reviews
CPU
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131823/show_product_reviews
RAM
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146058
DVD RW
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/165168
PSU
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152009
CPU Cooling
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167505
I have no idea which Motherboard or Graphics card to get.
*Motherboard*
I would like something pretty current but it doesn't have to be cutting edge. Wifi would be a nice addition but not essential. More important than that it needs to have a PCI slot for my old soundcard (I have my reasons for wanting to keep it, primarily its solid and I don't want to buy a new one!)
*GPU*
This is one area where I have very little - no knowledge what so ever. Would like something quiet (my current sapphire x1650 pro has a really noisy fan) and efficient.
Please help as I would like to put the order in asap, my old computer is just annoying me!
Worth noting, I am in the UK so links to UK stores would be fantastic.
Thank you
0
Comments
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172684
That will cost you less and give you as good or better performance than the core2quad.
So, any suggestions for the two missing parts?
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158608
That thing has about every bell and whistle that you could ask for.
As for graphics cards... that's a bit more complicated of an issue. Right now I'm partial to the ATI cards especially the 5850, but that might not meet your quiet requirement. Someone else could probably chime in here with some better advice GPU-wise than me.
Any good?
Also, if light gaming potentially includes any upcoming DirectX 11 titles, you may want to look into a 5000-series Radeon... the 5770 or 5750 may well fit into your budget.
Edit for link. Took me some time to find one in Great Britain.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-ASUS-HD5750-PCI-E-20%28x16%29-1150MHz-GDDR5-GPU-700MHz-Cores-720-2x-DL-DVI-I-HDMI
How good is the ventilation on the case that I have listed? (Antec 300)
Sorry I'm being so paranoid about every component but I won't have money to upgrade for ages after this so I wanna make sure I get it just right.
I would still definitely recommend you purchase a graphics board with included fan, though.
http://icrontic.com/articles//nzxt-beta-evo-review
Buddy that case looks well specced but aesthetically, its not pretty. For me anyways. Is there anything similar to that which maybe is a bit more sleek? I like plain cases generally but there are exceptions to that rule. I like the Antec 300 and 900 cases at the moment. I really like the high end lian-li cases but I'm not looking to spend that much.
It is tempting though!
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-134-LL&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=187
Am I missing something or is the following a more advanced processor for less money?
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164047/show_product_reviews
I found a 965 for £135 which I think is justified so that's one component down.
Mobo's, I have had pretty good luck with Asus so I found one that I think has everything I need (I'm guessing I should stay away from the ones with on board ATI graphics and get a separate GPU right?)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-327-AS&utm_source=froogle
Good choice, bad choice?
Scan.co.uk are still awaiting stock for the 5750 but I found it elsewhere, just wanna make sure this is the same one.
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/product/Asus-ATi-Radeon-HD5750-1GB-GDDR5-Dual-DVI-HDMI-DisplayPort-PCI-E-Graphics-Card-Retail_22277.html
Almost there guys, now I just gotta choose a cpu fan, case and ram. Case I think I have found (that sexy new NZXT one) so its just cpu fan and ram. I think 4GB should be sufficient for quite a while and the cpu fan I have no clue what to get. This maybe? http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176157
It seems tekheads.co.uk and overclockers.co.uk both have stuff that ebuyer don't. This makes things better as I have more choice but my goodness am I getting baffled!!!!
Thanks for putting up with me. I planned to buy this system a while ago but got stuck in a bit of a financial rut. You are all on my Xmas card list!
For your motherboard, I notice the store you linked it from also carries Gigabyte... given a choice between Asus or Gigabyte, I (and I'm sure many members of this community) would select Gigabyte for the build quality of their Ultra Durable boards. All of my personal computers use Gigabyte motherboards. This, or this if you can stomach the extra 35 pounds, would be my board of choice for your build.
For a relatively inexpensive cooling setup, your choice of HSF is probably fine - I wouldn't be expecting it to perform in the same class as a 30-40 pound cooler, but it ought to at least be a chunk better than the AMD stock cooler.
So what would be the benefit of the UD5 over the UD4?
I would like to overclock at some point but budget takes priority. Which Ram would be good for this rig? I will be multitasking and making music on this rig which is very VERY resource hungry.
So system as it stands is as follows
RAM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-037-GS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1387
MOBO
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-231-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1481
GPU
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/product/Asus-ATi-Radeon-HD5750-1GB-GDDR5-Dual-DVI-HDMI-DisplayPort-PCI-E-Graphics-Card-Retail_22277.html
CPU
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/product/AMD-Phenom-II-X4-965-3.4Ghz-Socket-AM3-BLACK-Edition-125Watt---Retail_24627.html
Case and optical drive I'm still not sure on.
I had my heart set on that NZXT Hades case but I cant find it in UK.
I did stumble upon this though.
http://www.xcase.co.uk/Lian-Li-PC-60FW-Aluminium-Black-Case-Window-No-PSU-p/lili-pc60fw.htm
Any thoughts?
http://www.xcase.co.uk/PC-7FW-Black-Aluminium-Chassis-Window-No-PSU-p/lili-pc-7fw-b.htm
I think its the new version but I'm not sure
I know, I'm boring.
Lordbean, really do appreciate your time pal
Edit - that may not be a good option after all. It comes with one of those CPU air tunnel things on the side panel - your custom CPU cooler likely wouldn't fit in with it. I'll look for other options.
Great minds think alike!
Only thing that has now put me off though is the lack of a removable Motherboard tray.
Found the following for £149.99
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews.php?/cases_cooling/cooler_master_atcs_840_aluminium_atx_case/1
Overkill?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-164-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=29