Building a PC
 

Going to attempt to put a new PC together Myself.

Here is the Spec I have though of. any comments, suggestions welcome.

Nice Case
Power Supply - 600w -
M Board - Inter Bad Axe or - Gigabyte GA_965P_DS4 ?
Ram - 2gb Good Quality - Corsair - 800mhz DDR2 6400
Processor - Intel - E6600 Due - or AMD FX 70 ???
G CArd - Gainward - 7950Gt -
H Driver Raptor 10.000rpm - 74Gb -
Extra Cooling -

Going to be my first attempt at a DIY computer build, the only thing that worries me is the heat sink.

Re: Building a PC
 

get some good accidental cover so if it goes wrong you can throw it down the stairs and get a new one on accidental damage

make sure you get new for old policy ;)

one serious tip

no matter what nerd tells you do not go for a motherboard with intergrated graphics , all it will do is eat into your system memory/ram , if you are going to buy a board with intergrated graphics you may as well just buy a piece of crap from pc world, also intergrated graphics lack a lot of features that stand alone graphics cards do and you will probably run into a lot of issues with games or have to lower graphics quality to play them properly

on board sound is ok but graphics is a huge no no , even if your not planning on playing gamesthe onboard graphics will slow your system down BIG time

spend an extra 50 or so quid and get a half decent ati card , preferably pci express so make sure you buy a board with a oci express slot and not agp

scew intel they are overpriced stick with amd , cheaper and just as fast

Re: Building a PC
 

nuy one ready made...

Cheaper, easier, less agro

I used to build PCs for fun, it was a way of getting more performance than I could afford in pre built. Nowadays, you can't buy he bits for the price that people are selling PCs at.

Re: Building a PC
 

but where does he buy one ?

pc world are garbage and the likes of time etc are just as bad


i kid you not my brother bought a media center system from pc world and 5 mins after he switched it on teh fan fell off the processor and teh whole system had to be replaced

you want a decent pc build one your self

Re: Building a PC
 

Scare mongering rubbish. :eek:

Sorry mate but if 'every' PC sold by PC World was crap then they would have gone out of business years ago. the build quality is down to the manufacturer and the likes of Packard Bell, Toshiba, etc are decent. Whos to say your mate didn't bounce the PC round in his boot all the way home dislodging the fan.

There are plenty of other mail order/online places as well, pick up a copy of Micro-Mart its full of them.

Onboard graphics again is fine if all you want is a Internet/Office/email. you really don't need 128M gfx for that. Its more important to consider what you want a PC for and then spend the money on the bit that will most influence its perceived performance. I bought a new laptop a couple of weeks ago , I had got it down to a choice of two, one dual core with slightly better gfx chip or a single core, still reasonable gfx but a far nicer screen. I reasoned that I would rarely push the CPU(as 99% of people won't) or play the latest games but I would be looking at the screen a lot. So I went for the better screen as this will improve my perception of its performance.

Re: Building a PC
 

I avoid using places like PC World because of their crap service or knowledge rather than the build of the machines, although I would totally disagree with entwisi about Packard Bell, wouldn't touch one with somebody elses barge pole !!!

I use a shop in Nelson who will build whatever spec pc you want. You can buy the parts and build it yourself or for £25 they will build it for you ( lot less hassle if things go wrong). Is there not a shop like that in Accrington ?

Re: Building a PC
 

Bought my pc from pc world three and a half years ago only ever had one problem with it, still going strong.

Re: Building a PC
 

LOL Most Household Insurance comes with Accidental Damage to Personal Computer for free.:rolleyes: ;) :cool:

Well firstly I have to agree with the comment PC world, what a load of rubbish, I swore I would not buy anything from there again after a eventfull printer purchase 3 years ago and a USB cable row.;)

I will not buy a pre built machine as they are a rip off WAY to dear for the spec I want, I do a lot of online gaming and play the newest games.

I believe the Intel Chip will be VERY POWERFULL when over clocked, better if not as good as the FX70 AMD monster.

Mother Board for Graffics. LOL - I mentioned the Nvidia 7950 GT as the one I am looking at although the 8800 seems intersting, I do believe though ATi are bringing a new one out soon the willbe 50% More powerfull than the 8800.

If you see my list its a Top Spec Machine I dont want a PC world PC which has 1 good bit & 20 bad bits.

My List comes to around the £1000.00 figure. To Buy a pre Build around £1700.00 Simmaler Spec.

Re: Building a PC
 

thought about doing something like this meself! anyone ever been to Emit? and is it ok or should i not bother!

Re: Building a PC
 

Do you mean building one yourself?

Emit = Time

Seems the Internet is the best palve for parts.

ie. Scan - OverClockers Uk Ect.

Re: Building a PC
 

pc world target people who know sod all about computers and very clever wording in their comercials like , latest technology , most powerful processors etc and to top it off make out their staff are soem kind of pc guru's when the truth is once you ask a question that isnt covered in teh sales speel that have written on a peice of paper somewhere they direct you to the one person in the shop who they think may have an idea what your talking about

they also have the magic lure of finance so theres another reason why they attract so much custom because not everyone can buy a pc outright and its a quick solution to getting a pc

my brother didnt boot his pc around it was shabbyly put together probably by somone working for less than minimum wage

seriously how can you expect anything to be of any quality from somwhere that throws in free printers and cameras with a pc and still makes a huge proffitt , the parts used are of teh lowest grade quality

you give me and pc world the same specs to build a machine and my machine will out perfom it any day of the week simply because i will build it with better quality parts and set it up a damn sight better infact my 10 year old son could build a pc better than pc world

you get what you pay for and pc world are crap i would much rather buy the parts individualy from scan and have somone put it together for me if i dint know how to

time were crap and they used the same parts as pc world

to anyone thinking of going to pc world i recomend you take a look at other options before you commit your money or to a finance agreement, most people will have friends who have kids who can build better systems for them

Re: Building a PC
 

I'd rather poke my eyes with needles than go to EMit. Biggest cowboys this side of the wild west.

Re: Building a PC
 

emit sell all the parts that didnt quite make it through time's quality controll and also sold the systems that were taken in under the part exchange deal time had going at one point

went down there a few weeks ago and they dont realy sell systems anymore but thats because obviouly time is shut down

they sell mostly plasma tv's etc and a few componments for computers

go to www.scan.co.uk

if you ring them up and tell them what you want and how much you have to spend they will help you out on what parts to buy

Re: Building a PC
 

i think you will find they are indians :D

or pakistani iem not sure :)

Re: Building a PC
 

I knew somebody would pick up on a technicality :D

Re: Building a PC
 

Re: Building a PC
 

I've only been in Emit twice, both time with Mick and Mez :D

I'd claim it was only to relieve the boredom when I was off work with my appendix last year but I actually bought a cable from them so I can't[1]


Otherwise I wouldn't touch them either.

As for P-Bs I've seen a few in my time and they may be built so you can't easily swap bits about but in general, those I have seen have been well put together and seem to last quite well.



[1] I didn't go there to get it but I did need one and they happened to have one for a quid so I would have been daft not to buy it.

Re: Building a PC
 

oooh somone mentioned an incident with pc world and a printer cable , i assume they wanted you to buy one as it dosnt come with the printer lol

i think pc world charge between 5 and 10 quid for a printer usb cable but my tip of the day is screw them and go to poundland or any other pounshop and get one for a quid , exacly the same and you can also buy usb extension cables for a quid too for if you want your printer further away from your pc

Re: Building a PC
 

Ohh no it was better than that.

I purchased a Printer and in big writing on the front it said USB, I mistakingly though that it must be included and was not advised other wise when buying, I then got home went to set up my new printer and Guess what No Lead.

Upon my return to PC world I was not very happy and as you do complained, to be surrounded by 3 young muppets arguing with me, when I said I presumed it had one in as it says USB in big letters on the front, he remarked, well it says PC on the side do you think you get a computer free aswell. I nearly smacked him. Instead I just let them and most of the customer in the shop at the time that PC world are complete rubbish (In a french way)

As for the lead £1.00 in good old accy centre.

Re: Building a PC
 

Re: Building a PC
 

If your looking at a high speck pc you should think of a lot bigger harddrive than 74 gig more like sata 400+ gig twin mirror or raid drives:)
80 gig is a very small drive these days

Re: Building a PC
 

Was thinking of the 74gig for a fast drive - 10.000rpm

Might just go for a simple one now though, been recomended this one.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=226863

Re: Building a PC
 

Just make sure the motherboard you buy will support sata drives

Re: Building a PC
 

I find Creative computers down at Road End on the other side of Haslingden best. They build it to what you want. Bro bought a computer from there before xmas and they built it £50 cheaper than from PC World!

Re: Building a PC
 

Choice of 3.:rolleyes:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MB-016-IN

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MB-062-GI

OR

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=505256

Re: Building a PC
 

the first and third look fine not sure about the second though
the first looks good i know its a bit expensive but it will support everything you need

Re: Building a PC
 

Shoudnt be to long now until I get all the bits.

Here Is what I have settled For.


Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, Socket 775, 2.4 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, Conroe Core, 4MB Cache,

640MB XFX 8800GTS XT PCI-E (x16), Mem 1700MHz, GPU 530MHz, 96 Streams, 2 x Dual Link DVI/HDTV

600w Seasonic S12-600 SLi Ready Silent PSU 2xPCI-E 4xSATA 120mm Fan ATX1.3/2.01

Asus P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP iP965, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

2GB (2x1GB) CorsairTwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12, EPP

320Gb HGST (IBM/Hitachi) HDT725032VLA360 Deskstar T7K500, SATA300, 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.5 ms, NCQ

Antec Nine Hundred/Ultimate Gamer Case no PSU

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - P4 up to 4.4GHz - S775 Dual Core / Core2Duo Ready

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound for CPU and Chipset Coolers

Sony AW-G170ASV Silver 18x DVD±RW x12 Ram Dual Layer DVD-Writer OEM

Now all I have to do is build it.

Anyone up for helping if I need it.:D :D :D

Re: Building a PC
 

so go on, whats it cost up to now?

Putting them together physically is teh easy bit, getting everything installed and working to its best is teh fun (and time consuming) bit

Re: Building a PC
 

I think pc world is a right rip off, found cheaper stuff else where

Re: Building a PC
 

Have A Guess.:)

Re: Building a PC
 

Building a PC has it's Pluses and Negatives. It is cheaper to do, but you can run into compatability issues if you're not careful and don't do your homework beforehand.

Ie DDR 400 RAM is imcomptible with VIA Chipset Motherboards (Not sure if this is the case on their newer Boards)

I ran into this problem myself, never actually noticed a problem until I installed Half-Life 2 and it kept crashing randomly. Removed the stick of RAM and it was fine.

AMD>Intel
and
ATI>NVidia

They are cheaper and benchmarks prove, that on similar models ATI and AMD beat Intel and NVidia. I also believe AMD and ATI are the same company now, could be wrong though.

Avoid onboard Graphics and Sound, because they still eat up System Resources if you ever decide to install a Seperate Sound or GFX card, not sure whether Disabling the on-board stuff in BIOS makes a difference either.

Anyhow, just PM me if you run into problems, been messing with PC's for a about 7 years and have always solved all my PC probs myself