Am i missing something?

Well here's what i got sorry the picture is small maybe u can zoom to see, its hard to screen something so long :D

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£878
 
the problem with getting a cheap a psu is that the thing that makes sure everything is getting the correct power all the time, skrimp on that and whatever you fit will more than likely not run at its full potential or be very unstable.
sorry if i came accross as saying it was silly, i am just trying to get the point accross that as in essance the psu and mobo control everything the computer can do, then surely these are the 2 items you want to get right.
 
I just brought a psu slightly over rated for need but the fan and heat will be good for about 480watts for a 600watt psu anything more and you generate a lot of heat and high fan speed
 
but thinking about the other posts AM3 is prob better choice for non overclocking and simple use. imho ive had 2 amds and they never let me down for what I need. current processor will play games like grid and cod while im hammering it with 80 90% ussage pretty good in my books
 
You NEED a good, solid, reliable PSU no matter what the spec, the spec dictates the voltage. A good basic PSU such as the Antec Basiq rated at 300w will be a better choice for a budget office PC than a Supertronic 800w. It's inherintly more reliable, a recognised brand and provides sufficient power. It would not be suitable for a top end PC. The Supertronic 800w does not provide anywhere near as stable power as an 800w Antec (or other recognised brand), nor does it actually provide 800w when you work out the amps*volts - it's a theoretical number. The 800w Antec PSU WILL provide 800w.

Think of it as the engine in a car. You wouldn't buy a Ferrari with a crap engine, you wouldn't buy a Morris Minor with the best engine ever. It needs to be a balance, but remember a PSU is crucial to your system working correctly, and the more expensive PSUs wont kill your PC if there's a power surge, a cheap PSU can quite easily do so.
 
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thats a really good set up :) uv managed to get everything i need.

Maybe its me whats not been clear so far? if it is i realy apologise for that.

The angle im coming from is, you see people every day buying pre-built systems from shops and home catalogues for there sons/daughters/younger people, who are going to be gaming on them and they seem to manage just fine. And as you guys have told me, places like that will be using budget parts everywere.

Obviously i dont want budget parts i just dont seem to understand this fire in some peoples stomachs which makes them so obsessed with high branded parts
 
anything on this site between £65 - £90 is a good psu with adequate power failure protection. OCZ COOLERMASTER CORSAIR Etc all very good.
 
scott1102 said:
thats a really good set up :) uv managed to get everything i need.

Maybe its me whats not been clear so far? if it is i realy apologise for that.

The angle im coming from is, you see people every day buying pre-built systems from shops and home catalogues for there sons/daughters/younger people, who are going to be gaming on them and they seem to manage just fine. And as you guys have told me, places like that will be using budget parts everywere.

Obviously i dont want budget parts i just dont seem to understand this fire in some peoples stomachs which makes them so obsessed with high branded parts
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pre built ones are only designed to have to last for their 12months warrenties. find people that have bought off the shelf pcs and ask them how long it lasted before needed work, then find some people with self built ones and ask the same. pretty sure prebuilt from experience (im a computer engineer in a shop) have a life expectancey of 16-18months and then something will need doing, and 9 times out of 10 its psu related. the people with self built, me included, have not done any work that wasnt out of choice in the same time period.
im not saying that there is anything wrong with the budget parts, im just saying that from experience, and we sell a lot of both, the prebuilt off the shelf ones come back a hell of a lot more than ones we built.
 
Its purely in my head i know it is.

It was quite a knock back to learn 600-700 pound wouldnt get me an awesome setup. Before coming on here to ask for help i though that type of money for the parts inside the computer alone would be more than enough. I thought in a couple of weeks time id be sat here building a monster, now i realise ill be building a "decent" machine.

Didnt expect to be squeezing parts
 
I wouldn't get too hung up on Branded parts personally - they're usually made in the same factory.

ie RAM chips are all made by a handful of companies, then rebranded. Sure, Corsair will run above spec better than others, but so long as it runs to your requirements I wouldn't worry too much. Value ram is fine at stock speeds for example, so if that's all you require you're only really paying a premium for little benefit.

Graphics cards are usually made in one factory - bar Gainward - every nVidia card for example is made in the same factory. BFG might get the pick of the cards and run them at faster speeds (negligibly faster in reality) but a no-brand card is not really different.

The only real tangible benefit is the warranty, but it's rarely realised anyway.

That said, there are exceptions as at times no-name brands use top chips - TwinMoss Value was a fraction of the price of other brands many moons ago, but used the same Winbond chips and performed identically.

If you're on a budget, I'd highly recommend budget parts if you've no interest in overclocking and just want a budget PC.

CPU - you can't really cheat here - but don't get the top models - a bottomish end i5 or AM3 would suffice tbh
Motherboard - The CHIPSET is the most important factor. Asrock are made by Asus and have been solid when I've used them - ideal for HTPCs, budget builds etc. The only thing they really miss out on are features - think of it as a BMW without leather, satnav etc
RAM - So long as it works in spec, it's fine.
Graphics card - Get the cheapest of the model you want IMO. ATI offer better value at the moment.
Case - it's a chunk of metal, get whatever you fancy
PSU - Get a RECOGNISED BRAND - search for reviews. Antec's Basiq range offers a good, simple, quality PSU.
 
jellybeard999 said:
I wouldn't get too hung up on Branded parts personally - they're usually made in the same factory.

ie RAM chips are all made by a handful of companies, then rebranded. Sure, Corsair will run above spec better than others, but so long as it runs to your requirements I wouldn't worry too much. Value ram is fine at stock speeds for example, so if that's all you require you're only really paying a premium for little benefit.

Graphics cards are usually made in one factory - bar Gainward - every nVidia card for example is made in the same factory. BFG might get the pick of the cards and run them at faster speeds (negligibly faster in reality) but a no-brand card is not really different.

The only real tangible benefit is the warranty, but it's rarely realised anyway.

That said, there are exceptions as at times no-name brands use top chips - TwinMoss Value was a fraction of the price of other brands many moons ago, but used the same Winbond chips and performed identically.

If you're on a budget, I'd highly recommend budget parts if you've no interest in overclocking and just want a budget PC.

CPU - you can't really cheat here - but don't get the top models - a bottomish end i5 or AM3 would suffice tbh
Motherboard - The CHIPSET is the most important factor. Asrock are made by Asus and have been solid when I've used them - ideal for HTPCs, budget builds etc. The only thing they really miss out on are features - think of it as a BMW without leather, satnav etc
RAM - So long as it works in spec, it's fine.
Graphics card - Get the cheapest of the model you want IMO. ATI offer better value at the moment.
Case - it's a chunk of metal, get whatever you fancy
PSU - Get a RECOGNISED BRAND - search for reviews. Antec's Basiq range offers a good, simple, quality PSU.
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a lot of very good points made there, and agree completley, other than with the mobo comment. is past experience, not really brand wise, there seems to be better arguments for getting a good motherboard even if you dont overclock, as the more stable a setup you have on that side of things, the better performance you will get from everything else. ie get a mobo that only supports pci-e 8x in xfire/sli and you have pretty much limited how good you can upgrade in the future. get a mobo that supports ram up to 1333mhz and again, future upgrades are limtied and so on.
likewise with the psu, if its not capable of running multiple gfx cards or multiple hdd/optical drives, you haveshot yourself in the foot for upgrading as you will be spending £20-£30 now to get it up and running then £60-£70 in the future, making a £60 psu effectivly cost you £90+
 
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coupe69 said:
Here you go for the same price as the catalogue pc you've seen, I've put together an infinitely better spec machine.

950spec.jpg
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nice spec there. for similar money to the catalogue you are getting specs for pcs that will in my opinion not need too much tweaking over the next 2-4 years.
 
thx guys honestly.

Just 1 more quick little question, I'v heard about students getting windows 7 at cheaper prices? i went onto the microsoft website what said they were not doing it anymore but others are, so checked the "others" it told me of and all they say is Windows 7 upgrade.

Im not sure what upgrade means and is there full version you can get as a student cheaper?
 
scott1102 said:
thx guys honestly.

Just 1 more quick little question, I'v heard about students getting windows 7 at cheaper prices? i went onto the microsoft website what said they were not doing it anymore but others are, so checked the "others" it told me of and all they say is Windows 7 upgrade.

Im not sure what upgrade means and is there full version you can get as a student cheaper?
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the upgrade means you have to have a full licenced copy of vista too.
not sure bout the student offers though sorry.
 
scott1102 said:
thx guys honestly.

Just 1 more quick little question, I'v heard about students getting windows 7 at cheaper prices? i went onto the microsoft website what said they were not doing it anymore but others are, so checked the "others" it told me of and all they say is Windows 7 upgrade.

Im not sure what upgrade means and is there full version you can get as a student cheaper?
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There is a thread on this forum in the Windows & Other Software section but I believe the offer for the Windows 7 upgrade for students has expired now.
 
Just remember Scott, with pre-built systems from people like the purple shirt brigade or from the guys who sing about lolly pops on the TV advert, most of the time the components inside these systems are inferior to the components these guys are selecting for you, so this is another reason why it's best to build your own rig over buying a pre-built system, at least when you build yourself you know exactly what hardware is going into the system.

The spec that coupe has posted above will make for a killer PC that will be much better than a system with a 9550, the components he's listed are very good, and I'd imagine they'd be a lot better than the parts that's inside this pre-built system you keep referring to...

At the end of the day though it's your call, It's up to you what you spend your money on. but as I said in my previous post, these guys are giving you sound advise, and you should take it onboard.
 
^^^

If that is your budget then you won't get a better system and you would be very happy if you built the one that Coupe specced.

There is still a bit of money to be saved if you get a 500Gb hard drive, a student OS if it can still be found cheap and a keyboard and mouse bundle for £20 so you may be able to JUST nudge it under the 900 mark.
 
I know an overclocker has to start somewhere - but I always feel nervous about speccing a component build to a person who has never taken a PC apart before.

Now if this is your first PC and the only other computer you have had is a laptop (as you mentioned in your 3rd post), I'd really recommend one of the OcUK's prebuilt units. They don't have that much of a surcharge, and you can guarantee they turn on out of the box... because it's by OcUK, they understand / expect you to open the box and tinker.

If you have local help at hand, by all means have fun putting it all together and learning the process. Once you have a basic understanding and look back on the progress, it's incredibly easy to put a PC together like LEGO.

All the builders on this site have experienced pushing the power button and nothing happening, but it can be pretty daunting for a first timer who needs to learn fault detection, static ESD and if need be the RMA process.

My 2c, get someone who has done it before to build it with you.
 
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