Advice on first build.

dwalker31 · 24 Feb 2011 at 11:26

I'm about ready to start ordering parts for my first build but wanted to get some experienced opinions before I start spending the money. At the moment I'm not too bothered about gaming but want to build a good all round machine with good potential for future upgrading and at a good price. Here is what I've come up with:

Processor: AMD Phenom II x2 555 Black Edition
Mother board: ASUS M4A88TD-v EVO (the on board graphics should be good enough for the time being and I'm given to understand that I can make my processor an x4 with the press of a button)
Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 640gb SATA2
RAM: Crucial 2x2gb pc3-10600 ddr3-1333mhz
DVD drive: LiteOn IHAS 124-19
Case: Cooler Master Elite 335
PCU: Antec Basiq Power 500w

Any advice/feedback appreciated

DragonQ · 24 Feb 2011 at 11:38

Unlocking an X2 to an X4 isn't guaranteed. I'm not even sure what the likelihood is but I'm guessing probably around 50% can be turned into X3s and 25% into X4s, or something like that.

If an X2 will be fine for you then by all means go for it and you have the possibility of a nice bonus. If you definitely want an X4, you'll have to buy one. Tis only £30 more right now (955BE vs 555BE).

mikey1090 · 24 Feb 2011 at 11:51

- Do you need an operating system?
- Do you need a monitor/keyboard/mouse?
- What is your budget?
- Any reason for chosing AMD? As for all round performance, Intel Sandybridge seems the way forward atm.

Lemin · 24 Feb 2011 at 12:02

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 840 "95W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £79.19

Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33

Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £59.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £27.98

OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £27.59 ( today only price )

Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99

Sub Total : £227.56
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £47.51

Total : £285.07

dwalker31 · 24 Feb 2011 at 12:05

An x2 will be a massive improvement on my current desktop which is almost 10 years old now. Ideally I want to have the potential to upgrade this build to a good gaming machine at some point in the future but for now I just want to get it up and running as cheaply as possible.
I'm intending to get windows 7 home premium.
I'd intended to stick with the monitor mouse and keyboard that came with my old desktop until i got round to replacing them but I never thought to check if they'd be compatible
I'm already slightly over my intended budget but was intending to buy parts over the next couple of months so I can increase the budget by increasing the time frame
The choice of AMD was entirely budget driven. They seem to represent the best value for money

anuraj · 24 Feb 2011 at 12:25

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £101.99
(£84.99) £101.99
(£84.99)
Coolermaster Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.33
(£53.61) £64.33
(£53.61)
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £27.59
(£22.99) £27.59
(£22.99)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £13.99
(£11.66) £13.99
(£11.66)
Sub Total : £256.56
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £53.31
Total : £319.87
This is a nice build

Tythus · 24 Feb 2011 at 12:47

I would still get a x4 and what about GFX card?

dwalker31 · 24 Feb 2011 at 12:57

Wanted a mother board with on board graphics so I could get the system up and running as soon as possible and be able to stream and watch dvds. at some point down the line I will want to put a decent graphics card in there but it's not a priority so I haven't started looking at the options yet

Tythus · 24 Feb 2011 at 13:02

Ok I would try and get a 5770 or something like that for your rig as it stands though

mikey1090 · 24 Feb 2011 at 14:36

Tythus said:
Ok I would try and get a 5770 or something like that for your rig as it stands though

Agreed. They're pretty cheap at the moment. I've had one for a year now and it plays DVDs/Blu-rays and games really well.

dwalker31 · 25 Feb 2011 at 00:04

Many thanks for all your input. I will go for a x4 processor and some of the suggested parts are going to save me some money which is always greatly appreciated. I've found these forums very helpful and I'm glad I registered. Thanx all