A beginners first build...

lukefinch · 30 Jun 2010 at 17:08

My case just came and its really nice. Solid build quality, nice and big, quite heavy though but i wont be taking it anywhere

I have also fitted the extra fan that i ordered and that is near enough silent and looks great!

My side window didn't come today though, the delivery guy said that it probably had been sent to the wrong depot and i would get it tomorow.

Once again, thanks for everyones help with this. Stage one complete!

lukefinch · 4 Jul 2010 at 09:13

I've got everything sorted with the case now...

Front

Back

Extra Fan

Inside

Side Panel

Angled

Sorry they're not the best quality, they were taken on an iPhone 3G

Harvey616 · 4 Jul 2010 at 12:14

Good looking case, the fans look a great design.

lukefinch · 4 Jul 2010 at 12:59

Harvey616 said:
Good looking case, the fans look a great design.

Thanks a lot, i really like the orange/red/black colour scheme, orange is my favourite colour

arc@css · 4 Jul 2010 at 15:28

That case looks great! I want one!

lukefinch · 4 Jul 2010 at 15:54

arc@css said:
That case looks great! I want one!

Yeah, it looks good but, I haven't fitted anything except the fan in it yet so I'm hoping it will be easy to do.

Also, the screw less clips in this case are genius, they save so much time and messing about!

Sunny Squash · 4 Jul 2010 at 16:33

does the case come with dust filters?

lukefinch · 4 Jul 2010 at 17:38

Sunny Squash said:
does the case come with dust filters?

Yes, at the front, back and bottom. I was quite impressed about these

Sunny Squash · 4 Jul 2010 at 17:46

easy to remove and clean?

could add a pic if you wish

lukefinch · 4 Jul 2010 at 21:07

Sunny Squash said:
easy to remove and clean?

could add a pic if you wish

Yeah, they seem easy enough to remove. I'll take some pics, this time with a decent camera, and post them in the morning

Sunny Squash · 4 Jul 2010 at 21:34

thanks. what rpm are the fans?

lukefinch · 5 Jul 2010 at 11:18

Sunny Squash said:
thanks. what rpm are the fans?

I'm not sure but i will find out shortly.

I am now ready to order a PSU. I have got £52 to spend at the most. Can anyone recommend a good one for that price?

I was thinking about the PowerCool 550W Modular 80+ Dual 12V High Efficiency PSU. Is this one any good?

It seems to have a lot of features and connectors for a good price, and it's modular too.

cmndr_andi · 5 Jul 2010 at 11:39

Hi there, interesting thread - best of luck with the PC build.

I would STRONGLY suggest against that Powercool PSU. A cheap PSU is really a false economy. It may cost you less initially, but they provide sub-standard power to your expensive components, they come with a short warranty (usually only 1-2 years), they usually can't provide their rated wattage (and many will overheat and sometimes explode if you try) and if/when they do die there is a chance that they will take some of your expensive components with it.

You say you have £52 max, is it possible to increase this slightly and get this one that is currenly on offer for £56.

As for gaming and graphics cards, what kind of games do you mainly play? If you will be playing FSX a lot you may want to consider that this game does perform better using Nvidia cards. However, in other games the ATI cards generally give you better performance per pound.

lukefinch · 5 Jul 2010 at 12:05

cmndr_andi said:
Hi there, interesting thread - best of luck with the PC build.

I would STRONGLY suggest against that Powercool PSU. A cheap PSU is really a false economy. It may cost you less initially, but they provide sub-standard power to your expensive components, they come with a short warranty (usually only 1-2 years), they usually can't provide their rated wattage (and many will overheat and sometimes explode if you try) and if/when they do die there is a chance that they will take some of your expensive components with it.

You say you have £52 max, is it possible to increase this slightly and get this one that is currenly on offer for £56.

As for gaming and graphics cards, what kind of games do you mainly play? If you will be playing FSX a lot you may want to consider that this game does perform better using Nvidia cards. However, in other games the ATI cards generally give you better performance per pound.

Thanks for that information, I did not know the dangers of a cheap PSU. That other PSU that you recommended seems great, however with the £8.00 p&p OCUK charge, it is quite a lot more than my budget. If only I got free shipping from OCUK, then I would definatley buy it :rolleyes:

As for games, I will mainly be using this PC for FSX about 90% of the time, then really old games like roller coaster tycoon and GTA SA for the other 10% of the time.

If you think an nvidia GPU would be better, can you recommend one for me please? I am willing to spend up to around £100 on one.

lukefinch · 5 Jul 2010 at 12:20

Or how about an OCZ OCZ400MXSP-UK ModXStream 400W PSU?

I believe it's the same PSU but 400w instead of 600w. I also believe that it is still modular.

Will this PSU have enough power to run my PC?

cmndr_andi · 5 Jul 2010 at 12:30

Depending how much you can spend on a graphics card, I would suggest this card or this one on the Nvidia side.

As for PSU, if you are going to go for a 400W PSU I would either get the Corsair 400W or OCZ StealthXtreme. I understand what you mean about the delivery price, but if you get a few items from OCUK at the same time - the per item price of the delivery is pretty small. The 600W is such a good deal, I don't know if I can recommend the other PSUs - you are only paying ~£20 more and getting a modular PSU that will last you ages and has loads of headroom for future upgrades.

NormanPorkinson · 5 Jul 2010 at 12:37

Built a comp for my mate a few months ago in that case - v nice for the money. Looks good too!

lukefinch · 5 Jul 2010 at 12:57

cmndr_andi said:
Depending how much you can spend on a graphics card, I would suggest this card or this one on the Nvidia side.

As for PSU, if you are going to go for a 400W PSU I would either get the Corsair 400W or OCZ StealthXtreme. I understand what you mean about the delivery price, but if you get a few items from OCUK at the same time - the per item price of the delivery is pretty small. The 600W is such a good deal, I don't know if I can recommend the other PSUs - you are only paying ~£20 more and getting a modular PSU that will last you ages and has loads of headroom for future upgrades.

Do I actually need 600w though or will 400w do for what I need?

cmndr_andi · 5 Jul 2010 at 13:08

Depending on which graphics card you go for (as the power and current requirements vary greatly between models) you will most likely be fine.

However, a 400W PSU with a quad core CPU and a medium level graphics card will be running a 400W PSU reasonably close to its limit. If you went for a 600W one, you would have much greater headroom for future upgrades and also the PSU will be running more efficiently. Even though a good PSU can run at its maximum rated power- it will not be cool, quiet or efficient at 100% load as it would be at 50% load (the optimum load is usually around 50% for PSUs). So if you did get run a 330W PC on a 400W PSU you would be fine, but it would likely be hotter, louder and less efficient than a similar quality 600W on the same system. Since a PSU running at a higher efficiency means that you will be using less power to to do the same thing, you can justify the bigger PSU in cost terms as over a year of usage you would be saving money on power (assuming you pay the bill or the person paying the bill is also helping you to pay for the PC).

lukefinch · 5 Jul 2010 at 13:19

cmndr_andi said:
Depending on which graphics card you go for (as the power and current requirements vary greatly between models) you will most likely be fine.

However, a 400W PSU with a quad core CPU and a medium level graphics card will be running a 400W PSU reasonably close to its limit. If you went for a 600W one, you would have much greater headroom for future upgrades and also the PSU will be running more efficiently. Even though a good PSU can run at its maximum rated power- it will not be cool, quiet or efficient at 100% load as it would be at 50% load (the optimum load is usually around 50% for PSUs). So if you did get run a 330W PC on a 400W PSU you would be fine, but it would likely be hotter, louder and less efficient than a similar quality 600W on the same system. Since a PSU running at a higher efficiency means that you will be using less power to to do the same thing, you can justify the bigger PSU in cost terms as over a year of usage you would be saving money on power (assuming you pay the bill or the person paying the bill is also helping you to pay for the PC).

I understand now, I think I will go for the 600w PSU then as it will be better for future upgrades.