Budget 2500K First Time Build

SMed · 18 Dec 2011 at 15:37

Should be getting the Dell U2311H IPS monitor this week.

SMed · 19 Dec 2011 at 11:37

Won the Dell U2311H 23" IPS monitor - hopefully picking it up today.

SMed · 19 Dec 2011 at 16:05

Need a bigger desk. Pictures to follow.

Actually, once I get rid of the laptop, I'll have more space than before. This thing is bloody fantastic. Got it running dual-monitor with my laptop.

SMed · 19 Dec 2011 at 16:47

Just running on VGA for now as that's the only output on my laptop.

SMed · 20 Dec 2011 at 11:48

SMed · 21 Dec 2011 at 16:23

45 days and 86 posts until access to the Members Market.

I'll have the core of my build done by then, but after that I'll hopefully get a GPU, better PSU and a big HDD for cheap.

SMed · 22 Dec 2011 at 23:15

Ok, so I'll probably get the motherboard this week sometime.

I also just snagged a big commercial 180cm desk for £5 of the bay.
1) It's £5.
2) I wanted a bigger desk.
3) It's not that far away and can be dismantled so it'll fit in my car so I don't need to hire a van.
4) It's £5.

My current desk is 60cm x 100cm and this one is 80cm x 180cm. Nice.

Taken from ebay:

SMed · 22 Dec 2011 at 23:21

One question for anyone reading this, will I need to buy any other little bits to complete the build? I'm thinking cables or screws or something? I saw the case has come with mobo mounting screws/risers or whatever they're called. Will I need anything else to get it up and running besides what I have listed in the OP?

Stinger53 · 22 Dec 2011 at 23:23

nah everything comes with the cables etc u need

SMed · 22 Dec 2011 at 23:25

Thanks.

redfist · 23 Dec 2011 at 15:39

Just over a month into your build and it looks like its coming together! look forward to seeing this progress

SMed · 23 Dec 2011 at 16:39

Thanks. Yeah, I actually bought the CPU and RAM on November 1st, so it's getting on nearly 2 months now! lol Just trickling funds is the rate limiting step here.

redfist · 23 Dec 2011 at 19:23

SMed said:
Just trickling funds is the rate limiting step here.

Know how that feels, one thing away until i'm happy with my build but trying to convince the wife a SSD is more important than a new fridge is a tad hard

SMed · 23 Dec 2011 at 19:27

That won't go well.

SMed · 23 Dec 2011 at 19:39

Was thinking about painting the interior and modding for cable management for the Antec 300. But I probably won't for now. To do the case right will take at least a full day or more and it's pretty much just for aesthetics. Pointless for a PC that doesn't have a window and is going under the desk anyway.

Plus that's more money for a dremel, sand paper and paint. I could buy a better PSU for that. And better PSU will be the next purchase before I try running a GPU on it.

Narj · 23 Dec 2011 at 20:55

Just do it... it will nag at you otherwise. There's something really satisfying about a nice tidy job

SMed · 23 Dec 2011 at 21:05

I may save that for a summer project. Just too busy right now, technically even too busy to be doing this right now.

SMed · 24 Dec 2011 at 18:44

GA-Z68AP-D3 Motherboard - ordered. There are only a few left in stock at this price (£76.99) from the place I ordered. It's rev 1.0. I think rev 2.0 only has a some storage device changes which didn't look important to me.

Probably will come hopefully before new year.

That's just the SSD left and I'm done for now to get it up and running. After that will be an upgraded PSU, HSF and GPU roughly in that order.

SMed · 24 Dec 2011 at 18:47

Not going to get an optical drive for now as I'll install Linux from a bootable USB for now.

Actually not sure now if I should install Linux or W7 first and if it makes a difference. Hmmm... I'll think about that.

SMed · 25 Dec 2011 at 13:05

I'm debating this now. I'm getting a 64GB SSD and using a crappy 2.5" 500GB HDD.

SSD main + HDD storage

OR

HDD main + SSD caching?