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Buying a new pc
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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by KoRnFlakes on Wed Feb 23rd at 4:37pm 2005

Heres something witht he help of r00t/gwil/scary_jiff I jotted down a little bit ago:

http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=601769 MOTHERBOARD
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=602540 CPU
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=603559 HSF
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=603313 MEMORY
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=601834 HDD
http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=16521&Opener=DFT MONITOR
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=603879 =DVD
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=601316 =Mouse
NO_IDEA =PSU


[MOTH][CPU][HSF][MEM][HDD][MON][DVD][Mouse]

?40.56 including VAT
?95.18 including VAT
?20.60 including VAT
?118.23 including VAT
?58.89 including VAT
?146.82 inc
?43.06 including VAT
?8.48 including VAT

-----------------

?513.64

+?15.00(PSU)

= [[?527.64]]

(CASE)(GFX) = already got


Ive never built a pc before so this does worry me a bit - quite a few people have said it was easy. Is this all that true? anybody had bad experiences?

+ could anyone comment on anything im missing out? - or perhaps suggest some other pieces? baring in mind I really dont want to spend more than 600 in total and its now at 527.

Cheers.
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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by Gwil on Wed Feb 23rd at 4:44pm 2005

The building part should be easy enough.. I think Wild Card has written some articles on it, or can at least point you in the right direction for some advice/guides on how to build a new box.

Personally my first build I found easy - the principles are very much like Lego, and as long as you make sure you're adequately earthed, I think it's quite fun.

But then, i'm sad [addsig]



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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by ReNo on Wed Feb 23rd at 4:55pm 2005

Funnily enough I've also really enjoyed building the last few PC's I've done. Hardware never interested me in the past, but the past year or so I've been getting a lot more into it.

Korn, the only part of building a PC that I've ever had any trouble with is fitting the heatsink to the cpu, which can occasionally be a little tricky. If you are buying something like that one with a small copper base and heatpipes, it will probably be a cinch.
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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by willow on Wed Feb 23rd at 5:00pm 2005

Your computer looks good, however keep in mind this stuff will be "slow" by the end of this year, beginning of next. In fact, this is pretty much the same computer I built over a year ago. Now then, as I said it's a solid computer what ya have there, in fact very nice, I'm gonna suggest some stuff to ya to save some money.

Ditch the 3200+. The Barton 2500+ (1.83ghz) easilty overclocks to 3200+ speeds (2.2ghz) just by bumping up the FSB from 333 to 400 (166 and 200 in bios). It just needs to be running on a decent HSF combo. I know as of now here in the states, a 2500+ runs about $80, while a 3200+ will run ya $150-170. So as ya see there it's a $70-90 difference. The 2500+ will OC to 3200+ and run stable for days on end as long as you have some decent cooling.

Now for the Ram, I have never used Patriot nor have I heard any comments on it so I can't critique that, HOWEVER, I can tell you that using CL2 ram in a Non 64bit computer, will make very little difference, and will cost ya more. The difference may be 2-3 FPS in games and a bit more in apps. Sooo, that's up to you.

Great choice on the HDD, however, myself I'd run 2 smaller, let's say 120gb's in RAID 0 for max speed from the SATA. Now you'll get people who say "IF ONE FAILS IT ALL FAILS", which is true, but I have never had a HDD Failure from seagate in 5 years of using them, now Maxtor and WD are a different story with me. The odds of a massive HDD Failure happening in 2-3 years is, ohhh, 1% up to 3 years then increasing after that I'd guess.

You also have a very nice DVD Drive, as for the mouse and monitor, that's all personal preference and up to you.

Now for the PSU, I'd recommend getting something that's 400+ watts, and don't by generic for PSU's. PSU is your most important piece for your computer to run fast, stable and a long time. I'd recommend an Antec, but that's just me, it's gonna cost you some cash, but well worth it.




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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by Leperous on Wed Feb 23rd at 5:02pm 2005

I got an nForce3 motherboard for ?30 from Dabs, because it had been returned for some reason (their engineers certified that it was ok). Yes there is a small risk involved, but at worst I imagine that one mobo would fail and the other would be fine (still possibly being cheaper than buying a new one for full price)



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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by ReNo on Wed Feb 23rd at 5:34pm 2005

For the PSU, I can recommend thermaltake. I got their 480W Butterfly model and its been great. Its temperature controlled so its fans will vary their speeds to keep quiet, and it also comes with a fan speed controller you can fix to a CD drive bay to have more control over the cooling / noise. It does have lights in it that might piss some people off, but it depends on how you feel about them. It has loads of power connectors and all are wrapped up in colour coded sheaths to keep things as neat as possible. Both my computer and my parents computer, as well as one of my flatmates, all have them. One of my other flatmates got a Thermaltake 560W Purepower model as he didn't want any lights, and he has had no issues with it at all. You can pick any of these up on dabs, and no doubt plenty of other places.

I think that you might wanna go for a more known brand of memory than patriot, who I've never heard of either. Crucial or Corsair are safe bets - you can pick up a double pack of 512mb sticks from either's value range for around ?100 probably. The price difference between CAS3 and CAS2.5 is normally negligable, so its best to go with the 2.5 if the price difference is ~?5. Going to CAS2 probably isn't worth the extra cash, as Willow said.
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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by satchmo on Wed Feb 23rd at 5:35pm 2005

This thread couldn't have started at a better time, since I am just starting to do some research on putting together my next PC. I may just take everyone's advice and pretty much buy the same hardware, since KoRnFlakes and I have a similar budget.

I did put together a PC before, but that was a 386 in the 80's. Lots have changed since. I do, however, make frequent hardware upgrades on my own, but they're usually extremely simple stuff (like putting in a second hard drive or slapping in a graphics card). The most challenging thing I did recently is upgrading my computer to wireless network. That took me some time to get everything running.

Thanks guys.

P.S. In case you're curious, here is the specs of my current piece of s**t:

Celeron 1.1 GHz
512 MB PC330
ATI 9200 Radeon
20 GB HDD

But the most amazing thing is that Half-Life 2 still runs well on it, and I even map using this machine.
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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by satchmo on Wed Feb 23rd at 5:45pm 2005

One question: What's a reputable online hardware vendor in the U.S.? I live on the West Coast.

I don't want to buy something from Britain and have them shipped all the way across the Ocean. Thanks for any input.
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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by willow on Wed Feb 23rd at 5:51pm 2005

? quote:
One question: What's a reputable online hardware vendor in the U.S.? I live on the West Coast.

I don't want to buy something from Britain and have them shipped all the way across the Ocean. Thanks for any input.


Without a doubt, go with http://www.newegg.com . Best shipping in the US, and better prices then most sites you will find on Priceline. ALSO!! Has a great RMA policy in case anything goes wrong. For instance, when I used to live in Illinois, with their Free SuperSavers shipping, I would get products I ordered within 2-3 days with FREE SHIPPING. Can't go wrong with that, and if you order by 12:00 PST, they have same day shipping. Newegg is THE ONLY PLACE I buy hardware from now, I can't say enough good things about them.
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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by satchmo on Wed Feb 23rd at 5:55pm 2005

Thanks for the tip, willow. I'm going to check it out right now.
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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by Wild Card on Wed Feb 23rd at 6:47pm 2005

Without having read the replies, here are my comments.

Processor is a good choice, however I recommend a smaller HSF. I like the Thermaltake Silent Boost myself. Im scared that big one might crush the CPU core.

I would get that same hard drive, but in SATA, so that it will last you longer.

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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by Rof on Wed Feb 23rd at 7:22pm 2005

Newegg ship really amazingly quickly. I've ordered stuff from them that's been shipped within an hour of placing the order. Great service.

I also like Mwave (mwave.com), particularly their motherboard and CPU bundles.
It's nice to know that the core components are compatible with each other (i.e. you didn't buy the wrong type of memory, though this is less of a problem nowadays).
They'll install the CPU, heatsink and memory onto the board and ship it to you ready-assembled and tested for $9 extra.




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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by mazemaster on Wed Feb 23rd at 8:07pm 2005

Ive gotten stuff the next day after ordering from Newegg with standard shipping. [addsig]



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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by Crono on Wed Feb 23rd at 8:19pm 2005

This is a general comment, but how did I know the board would be Asus before I clicked the motherboard link?

Anyway, nice to see you're keeping the price down. Everything looks fine. If you goto Asus' site check to see if that board supports Sata, if it does: see if you can get a Sata drive. Not because they'll "last longer", but they are faster (however, I believe they can give trouble sometimes)

No matter, your motherboard book will actually tell you how to do everything. The basic thing you need to remember is DON'T turn it on if any metal is touching. The only place you need to worry about this is putting the board in. But, your current case should still have the "pegs" or whatever they're called, in. You might need to move a few to fit the new board (or take some out). The only other thing I'd suggest is putting the CPU and heat sync on before putting the board in the case. Its much easier and it will put less pressure on the connections.

Have fun. [addsig]



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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by satchmo on Wed Feb 23rd at 9:34pm 2005

What kinds of accessories do I need to put everything together? For example, I believe I need to get my own SATA cables and also power cables for the HDD. In addition, do I need to buy the power cord for the power supply separately? If I get a new case, does it come with all that already?

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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by ReNo on Wed Feb 23rd at 9:46pm 2005

As far as I can tell, most PSU's come with a cable. I guess try and find that out before hand, but if you can't then it might be worth getting one for all it will cost you - if the PSU does have one then at worst you'll have a spare SATA cables, I couldn't tell you, but power cables for the HDD's are attached to the PSU. Make sure you are getting a PSU that has SATA power cables, and if it doesnt then make sure you get adaptors I guess.

One thing to be sure you have is some thermal compound, which you put between the CPU and HSF. Some HSF's come with thermal compound, but as you won't be going anywhere without it either make sure it does or order some seperately (Arctic Silver is highly recommended).
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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by $loth on Wed Feb 23rd at 10:40pm 2005

Haven't looked at the rest of your system but I would say to get an enermax PSU or something along the lines of that. They are a good make.
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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by Orpheus on Wed Feb 23rd at 10:46pm 2005

I have to ask, so don't take this wrong. I am new to PC building too.

isn't that motherboard and processor old? or older would be a better question.

i am not saying its crappy, but it looks like you could get a bit newer for about the same cost.

no, i cannot change your currency into mine so i dunno how much yours is costing you.

this is a serious inquiry, i am genuinely curious to learn. especially since i so recently acquired my own new system.

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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by rs6 on Wed Feb 23rd at 11:04pm 2005

id go for an AMD64 if i was you AthlonXPs are starting to be phased out. [addsig]



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 Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by Crono on Wed Feb 23rd at 11:09pm 2005

Orph it wouldn't stay cheap if he got 64 stuff.

Right now, that computer is a pretty good price (although, considering you're not buying a video card, it should be a little lower, but whatever)

The processor isn't "old". It will probably perform about the same as the processor you're getting. Not a big deal really. It'll last a good 2 years or so (until it's actually outdated).

Phasing out means the perfect time to buy
Do you honestly think anything that may come out in the next couple years would require at the absolute minumum amount more then what this system will have (past maybe video)? Because it wont. [addsig]




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