KPWoCkAxX Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 *If this is posted in the wrong section please feel free to move it. I can't see it belonging anywhere else however.* Ok, so. Firstly I'm building a gaming PC. I have already picked out the case: http://www.internetct.co.uk/coolermasterhaf922highairflowgamingcase-p-690.html - If you wish to look. I've picked my OS (Windows 7), HDD (500GB) and DVD drives also. I just need help with the rest of the components, ha! I'd like it to be pretty powerful but it can't really cost me any more than £300. (Excluding case). So, if you have any advice then that would be brilliant! Also, 2nd hand doesn't bother me in the slightest. If it still works but will cost me less it's a bonus. Oh, and a screen wont be a problem. Already got that sorted. Cheers, KP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 I'm no PC expert, but I suggest you get as much RAM as you can (you didn't specify what you were going to have). Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPWoCkAxX Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 That was the fastest reply I've ever seen. Well, my current PC only has 1GB or ram. So anything higher would be great. I would like 4GB+ if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 ^ Nowadays that much RAM is almost required for a good gaming machine. My own computer has 2 GB, and it's plenty fast for Internet and basic documents and such. And RAM isn't expensive, so go as big as you can there. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPWoCkAxX Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 And RAM isn't expensive, so go as big as you can there. Eric Then it's all good. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 With hard drives being so cheap, I'd suggest getting two hard drives. Use the 500gig hard drive as storage, and then get a smaller dedicated hard drive to install the OS on. Should help a bit with performance. Plus, if you have all your storage on a separate drive you can reformat your OS drive down the road without worrying about backing stuff up. You should probably start by picking out a mother board, then CPU, and then figure out what kind of RAM to get. Though if you do go with 4gigs of RAM you'll probably want to go with two sticks of 2gig. Don't get 4x 1gig sticks. On quite a few motherboards, filling up the RAM slots with 1gig sticks will actually slow the computer down. More RAM isn't always a good thing. Or at least, more RAM isn't bad, but using too many sticks can reduce performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mochtroid Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 I'm in the US. 300 pounds is roughly 480$. I'd find a good guide for cheap PCs here: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/build_a_500_pc_play_crysis_40fps I'd get an AMD CPU and mobo instead. See if you can recycle any parts from old to new to save money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonCadet Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Having built my own computer this past summer(which works great I might add) I'll offer my 2 cents. First you need to decide what your computers primary purpose will be.... more demanding things like hardcore cutting edge gaming?..... video editing?.... CaD?..... or lesser things like casual gaming.... word processing..... internet browsing? That should give you a good idea of what kind of processor ... speed #of cores ect. Then you need to decided...cost/personal preference where you want AMD or Intel Personally I'm an Intel person just cause I always have been(bad reason I know). However, because of that I honestly don't know a lot about AMD chips. As for Intel.... you can honestly do almost anything on a Core 2 with a decent clock speed and it is very gentle on a budget. However you can easily step-up up to a quad core for not much more and that is a good option. Personally, I would not go for the 5i or 7i unless you really have the money to burn. The performance gains will not be worth the extra $ you have to spend on the processor RAM and MoBo. Once you pick your CPU then pick your MoBo ... make sure to match your socket type... and you will probably want it to have dual channel RAM, decent onboard sound PCIx16 ect ect that stuff is pretty standard... if you are interested in Sli or Crossfire support(dual graphics cards). For your case you need to get an ATX or micro-ATX size board.... I suggest ATX ...not as cramped. Make sure the board supports the type and speed of RAM that is recommended for your CPU(the 5i & 7i want DDR3 the rest use DDR2 I believe). As for the RAM itself it depends on the processor and MoBo. Get the 64 bit version of windows7... the 32bit version can only address 4gigs of RAM so the 64bit version will leave you some expansion room. Yes you will want 2gig sticks. Just look for decent quality RAM to the right spec. Your MoBo may have onboard video but if you want to do anything more visually demanding then browsing these forums I would suggest a graphics card.... here again you get to make a choice of Ati or Nvidia.... choose cost/preference... and look at your price per performance... if you care about graphics get the best you can. PSU... this is a big one ... nothing fries a computer faster then a bad power supply... if your case comes with one make sure its decent if not just spend a few $$ and get a good one cause a bad one can literally send your computer up in smoke. other optional goodies sound card... these days onboard audio is usually pretty good so not really needed aftermarket CPU cooler.... some people swear by them ....I haven't needed one but I don't overclock aggressively Well that's all I have to say for now.... hope some of it may be helpful. Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPWoCkAxX Posted December 22, 2009 Author Share Posted December 22, 2009 Thanks for all the help guys. I'll have to take it all in and put it to good use. Cheers, KP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Though if you do go with 4gigs of RAM you'll probably want to go with two sticks of 2gig. Don't get 4x 1gig sticks. On quite a few motherboards, filling up the RAM slots with 1gig sticks will actually slow the computer down. More RAM isn't always a good thing. Or at least, more RAM isn't bad, but using too many sticks can reduce performance. Thanks, Paul. I'm actually looking to update my RAM, and was waondering about the two sticks versus four. Now I know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freefallbestrideever Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Overclockersuk is the only online store i know of over there, not sure if it's like here where the walk in stores charge a lot more. Athlon II X4/Phenom II X4 - great if you don't want to play any games, paired with an AMD 760/780/785G chipset. You can add a video card later if you wish, it might go over budget if you buy one now. 4GB of DDR3 is what you want. Get a good PSU from a company like Corsair/OCZ/Seasonic/Silverstone. Make sure you get Windows 7 64-bit OEM, don't get milked for retail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
where'smyhotdog Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Deleted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPWoCkAxX Posted December 27, 2009 Author Share Posted December 27, 2009 Yet more replies. Cheers everyone, really helping. I've looked at the overclockersuk webiste and there's a heck of a lot to choose from. Also, my Aunties friend works with computers alot. He's got plenty of spare parts he's willing to give me sdo I'll check them out. Thanks for all the help people, KP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibztone Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Just wondering what OS you went with and also how is the BIOS for the 790i Ultra? Thanks. my 2 centsAlways get a good PSU, cheap ones do not put out the power uniformly and post their peak rates on the box which differ greatly from their sustained output. You also should get a good motherboard. With RAM, you have to go 64bit if you want more than 4GB. You should also make sure you get dual channel RAM, i.e. if you want 4GB then get 2 2GB DIMMs so that it can access faster. Everything else, you can usually get the cheaper version and not notice a difference if you are not that serious into computers. Here is my current rig and links to the products if it helps any. Antec Twelve Hundred Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043 EVGA GeForce GTX 275 Superclocked Edition http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130478 CORSAIR 750W PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 Hard Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284 Pioneer Blu-Ray Combo Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129015 XIGMATEK 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041 XFX LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra Intel Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813141009 OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227297 Logitech G9x Mouse http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104261 Logitech G19 Keyboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126053 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
where'smyhotdog Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Deleted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibztone Posted March 27, 2010 Share Posted March 27, 2010 Cool. I'm not really into over-clocking, but I am interested in how the BIOS deals with system fans. I currently have an older Intel board and for some reason it has a variable fan speed on the heat sink. Go figure on that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamjar Posted March 27, 2010 Share Posted March 27, 2010 http://3xs.scan.co.uk/ I got my computer from there, their customer service is amazing and I live around five minutes from their store! Antec 1200 gaming case, Asus M4A79T Deluxe CrossFire Motherboard AMD 3.2 Ghz Phenom II X4 955 CPU 550W Corsair VX PSU 1TB Samsung 32Mb Cache HDD 1GB ATi Radeon HD5850 GFX Card Creative SoundBlaster X-FI Titanium PCI-E Soundcard LiteOn x4 DVD Writer/BluRay Reader Scan Internal Card Reader Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Acronis True Image Home 2010 Scan 3XS System - 1year Onsite Warranty it came out at a little under £1700, as i bought a monitor, keyboard and mouse, office etc. But you should really consider them as they will specify a computer directly to your needs. ~Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPWoCkAxX Posted March 27, 2010 Author Share Posted March 27, 2010 I'll take a look, thankyou very much jamjar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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