First Post // First Build // Need Advice! // TY

Associate
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Right my first post. Several Questions i'd like to ask all you "sweaty nerds" as someone put it on another thread.

Looking to build me first pc.

Have got a budget of approximately £750. Obviously i'd like to spend less, but can always spend a little more if it would make a reasonable difference.

Firstly, I have not a clue when it comes to overclocking anything and a I don't think im ready to try it at the moment. Such a Pussy!

Main uses for it will be. Games, thats probably the main use actually, all sorts of games (DOOM3, HL2, FarCry, FEAR e.t.c), also will be used for playing all my music, not films. Also will be used for video editing of video camera footage and burning e.t.c.

I am unsure whether to start from scratch or just upgrade main components, CPU/MOTHERBOARD/GRAPHICS CARD/PSU and possibly RAM.

My soundcard, dvd re-writer and hard disk are ok. Although if a new hard disk would help i am willing to add that too the list becaue i will use all the bits and pieces from 2 other computers to build a low spec pc for my brother or something and the only thing im missing is a hard disk. So I can upgrade mine and stick my old one in there.

I suppose basically i need a whole system not including DVD re-writer, sound card, monitor and any accesories, keyboard mouse e.t.c. I wouldn't mind a new case and i saw the "Antec Super LANBOY Aluminum Super Mini Tower Case - No PSU". Which seemed to be a good choice.

I did look into it a bit and first decided on the AMD 64 X2 4400+, but then read that single core processors can be better for games and looked at the AMD 64 3700 San Diego, which is considerably cheaper and allows me too spend more on other parts. I don't know whether the extra cost is worth is or there is any other options which are better. I was looking at Buying to Graphics cards to run in SLi, but then decided maybe i'd just get 1 7900GTX at the moment and then maybe purchase a second in a month or so.

Any advice would be much appreciated spent hours trying to research all the different parts and trying to weigh up the price difference with the performance differences, but not knowing the real difference in performance this is rather difficult.

Anyway hope this is enough information. Just ask if I missed anything.

Looking to buy in the next couple of weeks. Have looked at several sites and components vary slightly in price but generally OC has come up cheapest overall.
 
Man of Honour
Soldato
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How 'bout:
CP-121-AM AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3700BNBOX) (CP-121-AM) 1
£134.95 £134.95
MB-014-DF DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF) 1
£74.95 £74.95
MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL) 1
£114.95 £114.95
Asus GeForce 7900 GTX/2DHT 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-097-AS) £279.95 (This week only)
CD-033-PL Plextor PX-755A 16x16 Dual Layer DVD±RW ReWriter (Beige/Black) - Retail (CD-033-PL) 1
£38.95 £38.95
Subtotal £643.75
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £8.95
VAT £109.44
Total £ 753.19

For starters. I stole the spec from Junkbot who posted in in another thread and added a 7900 GTX. It's probably a rubbish spec as I suck at this game. :o
 
Soldato
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First of all, welcome to the forums :)

Right, first off, I guess I'd start from scratch and a clean base. Building PC's is like lego, expensive lego at that but as long as you have the right parts, it will slot together seamlessly.

The 3700+ is a very good CPU, moreso than others because of it's 1MB L2 cache which is the very fast memory onboard the processor whereas most of the single core A64 range has just half of this. Very good performance for the money. For a motherboard, look no further than Asus. Perhaps if you want to overclock then look towards DFI but as it's your first PC build then you will perhaps want to steer clear of overclocking.

2GB of RAM seems to be the standard at the minute for gaming so that should do nicely. If you can stretch the budget then perhaps look at Mushkin or Gskill. If not then GeIL value RAM is very good for the money. There is lots of debates on Graphics cards at the minute but if you want to go for nVidia which it seems like from your original post then IMO 1 card is better than 2 because you can add another one when you need more juice. Must say though, have a look at Crossfire :)

If you want a new Hard disk then I would look at the Samsung SATA-II range- never had a problem. I have a 11 year old Samsung ATA-66 drive about somewhere that still works :D Case is really personal preference- go with what you like the look of. For a PSU, I have an Enermax Liberty which I've been really pleased with- rails are solid but also look at Hiper etc. There's some debate on the stability of Antec PSU's at the minute so perhaps steer clear of then but, whatever you do, stay well away from Q-Tec or expect this:

boom3.gif


Hope that helped mate, I'll see if I can do a spec for you in a little while :)

Ben
 
Soldato
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N.W London
I did look into it a bit and first decided on the AMD 64 X2 4400+, but then read that single core processors can be better for games and looked at the AMD 64 3700 San Diego

where did you read that?? hmmm

Also will be used for video editing of video camera footage and burning e.t.c.

Dual core is great when it comes to video editing for example you can capture video footage from camcorder tape to hdd and play a game at the same time as you have dual core :)
I am unsure whether to start from scratch or just upgrade main components,
CPU/MOTHERBOARD/GRAPHICS CARD/PSU and possibly RAM

Building a pc is fun for some ppl and a nightmare for others until you dont try you wont know...however that said I totally understand if you just want to buy a prebuilt one...If you choose to build yourself you just require patience cuz its a steep learning curve for first build because of nerves etc...

As far as upgrading is concerned dont know what you have currently so its hard to advise :p

I was looking at Buying to Graphics cards to run in SLi
IMO you dont really need SLI soon there will be better gfx card than the 7900gtx with dx10 so dont worry...

My soundcard, dvd re-writer and hard disk are ok.
Tell us what you have now and what u can keep for this new pc so ppl can advise you better on what to get and whether a new component is justified..Also please tell us your budget...
 
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133
Location
Orpington, Kent
Thanks for all the quick responses.

Can't remember where i read that, thought i saw it couple of times though, trawled so many websites i've forgotten.

I am not too fussed about recording footage from camera too computer at same time, or infact doing any 2 things simulataneously really, except maybe music and web browsing e.t.c. My video camera uses SD Card so transfering to my pc is prettyy quick and painless.

I am not really nervous about buidling the pc tbh. I have upgraded my current pc before. Probably only things are screwing motherboard down and installing cpu. I have looked at pre-built but i think buidling my own is much better . Firstly cheaper, secondly Most pre-built pcs you don't want some of the stuff thats included.

I had pretty much decided to go with the single graphics card and had not really looked into the Ati option. Although i currently have a Radeon 9550.

I don't really know spec of DVD Re-writer. It's a BenQ and I don't particurlarly use it that much. Only occasionally. My soundcard is a Soundblaster Live 24Bit, which i understand is not top end by any means, but it is all played through my stereo system. The Hard Disk is Barracuda 7200.7 120GB if that helps. I have 2 pieces of 512MB RAM. Think there unbranded Elixir/Matrix if that means anything. Think that is probably the cause of a few problems i have been having so maybe replacing that would be wise.

My Budget is approx £750, can be swayed to spend a little more and am definitely willing to upgrade more in near future.

Have not really looked at Crossfire, but will do know, thanks Trigger.
 
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GX-038-OK OcUK GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-038-OK)
£259.95 £259.95
CB-041-GE Akasa Rounded Ultra ATA133/100/66 IDE Cable (0.45m) - Blue (CB-041-GE)
£2.95 £5.90
CA-012-AN Antec Super LANBOY Aluminum Super Mini Tower Case - No PSU (CA-012-AN)
£28.50 £28.50
CA-006-HP Hiper HPU-4B580 Type R 580W Modular ATX2.2 PSU - Blue (CA-006-HP)
£59.95 £59.95
MB-038-GI Gigabyte K8N Pro SLi nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-038-GI)
£67.95 £67.95
CP-150-AM AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-150-AM)
£101.95 £101.95
HS-005-TT Thermaltake Blue Orb II Socket 939/754/775) CPU Cooler (CL-P0257) (HS-005-TT)
£15.95 £15.95
MY-059-CS Corsair 1GB DDR2 XMS2-5400 TwinX (2x512MB) (MY-059-CS)
£64.95 £64.95

Subtotal £605.10
VAT £105.90
Total £711.00

Just for reference that was what i came up with! Maybe need to stick a another GB of RAM on.
 
Man of Honour
Soldato
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You've spec'd DDR2 memory. Socket 959 like the CPU and mobo you've chosen can only work with DDR.

Can you spring for another 40 quid or so? Consider memory like
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL) £114.95
 
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I just chose that completely at random. Because theres so many and I don't know the difference between any. Thats why i started the thread so i can find out if there are better options.

And as i said, I am most probably not going to overclock.
 
Soldato
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dfi / msi are good overclocking boards with dfi being the best...

asus / abit are good stable boards for stability and are rarely used by the hardcore clockers..

If I were you and I was not overclocking I would go for an ASUS mobo...or even an MSI if I wanted to overclock in the future I wouldnt be restricted due to BIOS options...

MSI RD480 Neo2 Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-066-MS)
for £64.95 (£76.32 Including VAT at 17.5%)
Hell no :p
 
Soldato
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AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3700BNBOX) (CP-121-AM) £160

GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS2.5 (GE1GB3200BHDC) (MY-005-GL) £67

Asus A8N-SLi SE nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-101-AS) £70

GX-038-OK OcUK GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-038-OK)
£305

CA-012-AN Antec Super LANBOY Aluminum Super Mini Tower Case - No PSU (CA-012-AN) £30

Antec NeoHE 500W Modular ATX2.0 PSU (CA-045-AN) £70

Total £707

I have chosen the cpu, same gfx and case as you as I presume you like these..

I have chosen only 1g of RAM as I assume you only wanted 1gig...

I did not include a hdd or dvd rw as I am not sure whether you have these already?
 
Soldato
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better still but only if you want to overclock.....just change the gfx card and case for the one you want :D

HS-017-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) (HS-017-AR)
£15.95 £15.95
MY-034-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB5300DC) (MY-034-GL)
£109.95 £109.95
CP-116-IN Intel Pentium 4 805 Dual Core "LGA775 Smithfield" 2.66GHz (533FSB) - Retail (CP-116-IN)
£71.95 £71.95
MB-116-AS Asus P5ND2 SLi nForce4 SLi (LGA775) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-116-AS)
£59.95 £59.95
CA-040-AN Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN)
£56.95 £56.95
HD-018-SA Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-018-SA)
£45.95 £45.95
GX-027-BG BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 6200 LE Turbo Cache 256MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-027-BG)
£19.95 £19.95
Subtotal £380.65
VAT £66.62
Total £447.27

I know its an Intel but at 4.3ghz can you really go wrong :)
 
Soldato
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4,297
At 4.3 GHz that Intel is on liquid cooling & ouputting a lot of heat & costing you more than its worth in electricity bills. Not good at all for a machine being used day in / out. Would have a very short life.
 
Soldato
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4,297
s96024 said:
GX-038-OK OcUK GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-038-OK)
£259.95 £259.95
CB-041-GE Akasa Rounded Ultra ATA133/100/66 IDE Cable (0.45m) - Blue (CB-041-GE)
£2.95 £5.90
CA-012-AN Antec Super LANBOY Aluminum Super Mini Tower Case - No PSU (CA-012-AN)
£28.50 £28.50
CA-006-HP Hiper HPU-4B580 Type R 580W Modular ATX2.2 PSU - Blue (CA-006-HP)
£59.95 £59.95
MB-038-GI Gigabyte K8N Pro SLi nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-038-GI)
£67.95 £67.95
CP-150-AM AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-150-AM)
£101.95 £101.95
HS-005-TT Thermaltake Blue Orb II Socket 939/754/775) CPU Cooler (CL-P0257) (HS-005-TT)
£15.95 £15.95
MY-059-CS Corsair 1GB DDR2 XMS2-5400 TwinX (2x512MB) (MY-059-CS)
£64.95 £64.95

Subtotal £605.10
VAT £105.90
Total £711.00

Just for reference that was what i came up with! Maybe need to stick a another GB of RAM on.


Thats a decent spec. Personally i would advise the choice of an X2 CPU either OEM X2 Dual Core 3800+ or 4200+ depending on how much overclocking you intend to do. Dual core is the way forwars with more & more apps / games being patched or being made to support this.
Obviously change ram to DDR.
Also unless you have a large screen monitor & play at very high resolutions you wont really need two graphics cards, one will be sufficient. I would always choose a (usually cheaper) X1900XTX over the slower 7900GTX, if playing games like Oblivion etc.
 
Soldato
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Gloucester
Just remember if you're buying a 7900 GTX then you're going to want a Nforce motherboard with SLI support, not a crossfire one! Also, modern games @ max settings requires 2Gb ram so dont settle for anything less...
 
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