Building my 1st PC. Help required!

Vida

Vida

Vida

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Hey everyone. As in the title, I'm building my first PC and I would really appreciate some advice on component selection from anyone willing to give some. Hopefully the following info can give you a good idea for what will suit me!

What will I use it for?
I will be using it as a home PC, for mainly casual stuff (browsing), but it is also not strange for me to dabble in other things once in a while, such as playing a game, editing a video, and a great deal of other stuff. I would prefer to have a bigger capacity than I need on average. I do play a bit of Minecraft occasionally and would like to be able to run that with various mods, shaders etc.

I know that it is generally accepted that you can't future proof computers, but having said that, I have had my current computer (i3, 4gb RAM) for around 5 years, and in all honesty I could probably use it for another 5 years if I wanted to. I want to build something that is a considerable upgrade and would suit me for another 5+ years, which isn't out of the question with my computer needs.

What is my budget?
I don't really have a strict budget. From all the test builds I've put together, it seems to add up to about £1400ish. Assume that there is no budget, but if the price of a component is way higher than the other high end options, you can probably count that out.

I have a real lack of expertise regarding some of the components, with such a vast array of options to choose from, and also considering compatibility, I need some help.

I'll give a brief summary on each component with what I think I'll want roughly to hopefully assist anyone willing to share advice:

CPU
I currently have an Intel i3-2100 @ 3.10 GHZ and would definitely like to upgrade this. It seems the natural progressions would be an i5 or i7. I'd be leaning towards the i7 unless convinced otherwise - I don't know much about this at all.

CPU Heatsink
No idea. Something quiet and reliable I guess.

RAM
I currently have 4GB, I wanted to bump it up to 32GB, but then convinced myself that having no real troubles currently with 4GB, I think 16GB would be a nice enough boost.

Graphics Card
I don't have a clue. So many many options. I'd like a good one, say in the top 15%, something that wont struggle at all (I don't play extremely high spec PC games).

Case
I guess this one might be a more personal choice, but I'd like something preferably as small as possible without losing practicality and something that looks modest (no windows, bright colours or Transformer lookalikes).

Power Supply
Something that works!

Motherboard
No clue again.

Storage
I feel like I'm pretty set on a 2TB Western Digital HDD, and a secondary 250GB Samsung SSD. Can be convinced to change.

Optical Drive
Not needed.

OS
Would like to stay with Windows 7 Home Premium, could be convinced to change but most likely not.

Thanks for sticking with me! I welcome all questions and suggestions. :)
 
It sounds like you're using your current PC quite modestly and so you probably need to question whether there is a real need to spend as much as £1400 upgrading.

Perhaps a build centred around an i5 processor would be a worthy upgrade to what you currently have if you want something a lot more responsive for most common tasks.

List your spec in terms of components you currently have and that will give us something more to work on in terms of what can be reused in another build..
 
dholdi said:
Just a quick observation, the ssd would be better utilised as the primary drive.
Click to expand...

I hadn't realised there was a difference in placement, if this is the case then I've no qualms in doing that, thanks!

Jinxter said:
It sounds like you're using your current PC quite modestly and so you probably need to question whether there is a real need to spend as much as £1400 upgrading.

Perhaps a build centred around an i5 processor would be a worthy upgrade to what you currently have if you want something a lot more responsive for most common tasks.

List your spec in terms of components you currently have and that will give us something more to work on in terms of what can be reused in another build..
Click to expand...

My computer struggles at times especially if Minecraft is involved, which is probably the most computer intensive thing I do on a somewhat regular basis. Certain modpacks I'd like to try wont work. I like to have the freedom that extra capacity brings to to things off the cuff, rather than use a machine at full capacity giving limitation. Like I said it's not uncommon for me at all to just dabble into other things on occasion like playing a high spec game or edit a video, stream etc and who knows what I might want to use it for in the next 5-10 years.

I appreciate £1400 sounds like a lot, but to me, seeing as I like to buy my computers for the medium-long term, I see it as a pretty cheap investment over that time and that has served me well so far, which I get my moneys worth with and more with all the time I spend using it.

My computer at the moment has:
- Intel i3
- 4GB RAM
- 1TB HDD
- AMD Radeon HD 6450 (Total Available Graphics Memory 2807MB) (Dedicated Video Memory 1024MB)

Sorry if some details are missing! RE re-using components, I'd probably keep this computer as a secondary one in all honesty, at least to begin with after building the new one.
 
As the above poster says you may be going a bit Ott if this PC main function is going to be browsing it all depends on how often you dabble in the vid editing an what type of games you play .

1400 is a very high end budget especially if all that money is going in to a tower and you don't need a monitor OS etc...

Edit you can spend 500 on parts and completely obliterate mine craft I appreciat you use your PC for a long period of time but you really probably do not need to spend so much
 
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robwigan said:
As the above poster says you may be going a bit Ott if this PC main function is going to be browsing it all depends on how often you dabble in the vid editing an what type of games you play .

1400 is a very high end budget especially if all that money is going in to a tower and you don't need a monitor OS etc...

Edit you can spend 500 on parts and completely obliterate mine craft I appreciat you use your PC for a long period of time but you really probably do not need to spend so much
Click to expand...

The £1400 figure was from my uneducated assembly's. But please let me be the one to worry about budget. It's not that I currently play high end games or stream or edit videos all the time now, but I want to have the capacity to do it somewhat modestly in the future should I wish to do so which isn't out of the ordinary with things I like to do or am potentially likely to. (i.e. I'm not going out to buy the very best in all components no matter what, but I want capacity to play with).
 
OK given the generous budget you have and wanting something that lasts (and the the fact you dabble in video editing multimedia etc) go for an i7 may aswell go for Skylake as it's the current generation. Video/photo editing is where these chips pay dividends in responsiveness. Go for an unlocked version so you can overclock and get even more juice out of it.

2x8GB (16GB) DDR4 is a good starter (you can always add more) H170/Z170 based motherboard for features such as overclocking.

I've got a hunch the onboard graphics of the CPU will be superior to the HD6450 but there's no harm with the cash you have acquiring something like a GTX960 or 380X for discrete graphics that are capable for modern titles at 1080p at reasonable frame rates (4GB VRAM minimum for bit of future proofing.) Or if you're happy with onboard for a few months wait for Nvidia Pascal to drop and see what this brings about.

Get a half decent aftermarket cooler - £30 or so will do the job for overclocking keeping the temps down on the CPU.

Maybe minimum 250GB SSD or (M2 SSD for faster speeds) for OS installation and a few more commonly used apps. 2TB mech drive for storage/ other apps.

Go for decent quality PSU Gold rated 600w+ (Seasonic)

Sorry if this info is vague there are better people on here with more time for providing actual specs and links but that should give you some food for thought in terms of your future aspirations.

Do upgrade to Win10 :)
 
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Vida said:
I hadn't realised there was a difference in placement, if this is the case then I've no qualms in doing that, thanks!
Click to expand...

I meant the ssd should be the drive with your os and main programs on and the 2tb be a storage drive. Sorry if I misunderstood you.
 
Jinxter said:
OK given the generous budget you have and wanting something that lasts (and the the fact you dabble in video editing multimedia etc) go for an i7 may aswell go for Skylake as it's the current generation. Video/photo editing is where these chips pay dividends in responsiveness. Go for an unlocked version so you can overclock and get even more juice out of it.

2x8GB (16GB) DDR4 is a good starter (you can always add more) H170/Z170 based motherboard for features such as overclocking.

I've got a hunch the onboard graphics of the CPU will be superior to the HD6450 but there's no harm with the cash you have acquiring something like a GTX960 or 380X for discrete graphics that are capable for modern titles at 1080p at reasonable frame rates (4GB VRAM minimum for bit of future proofing.)

Get a half decent aftermarket cooler - £30 or so will do the job for overclocking keeping the temps down on the CPU.

Maybe minimum 250GB SSD or (M2 SSD for faster speeds) for OS installation and a few more commonly used apps. 2TB mech drive for storage/ other apps.

Go for decent quality PSU Gold rated 600w+ (Seasonic)

Sorry if this info is vague there are better people on here with more time for providing actual specs and links but that should give you some food for thought in terms of your future aspirations.

Do upgrade to Win10 :)
Click to expand...

No this is the exact kind of advice I need, it's much appreciated. I don't want to be drowned out in technical terms. :)

I have a couple of questions. Firstly in a nut-shell what is over-clocking, is it simple and is it very necessary? Is there a drawback? The name of it suggests like you're really hammering it, which puts me off! lol

Also I'll check out some more youtube vids of Windows 10 I think. I do like Win7 but I don't want to be stuck in the past too. I'll compile a build or two soon based on all advice given and post it up for critique. Thanks for your time man.
 
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dholdi said:
I meant the ssd should be the drive with your os and main programs on and the 2tb be a storage drive. Sorry if I misunderstood you.
Click to expand...

Oh right, yeah that's what I intended to use it for based on what I had read about SSD's, appreciate the advice though!
 
Vida said:
I have a couple of questions. Firstly in a nut-shell what is over-clocking, is it simple and is it very necessary? Is there a drawback? The name of it suggests like you're really hammering it, which puts me off! lol
Click to expand...

Increasing the operating speed of the CPU/GPU etc.
It can range from simple to very complicated depending on the level you take it too.
Is it necessary, no, unless that's your thing, I haven't felt the need to permanently OC my 4770K yet.
Drawbacks, will produce more heat which if not dealt with can reduce component life.
 
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You're welcome Vida- in terms of overclocking just takes a bit of research, perseverance and time to achieve. Makes your chip run faster (aftermarket cooler will offset the increase in heat somewhat) Chips burn out quicker when overclocked but not usually beyond the useful life of the chip itself which is why so many do it (this is Overclockers after all!) It's free performance upgrade for a bit of tinkering ;)

You'll want Win10 if you're planning on running new games and want features of DX12.
 
Its also rather expensive.
Always stuck with Gigabyte personally because of their UK RMA and a good personal experience having used it.
Others will tell you otherwise though, bit like trip adviser :D
 
Vida said:
There seems to be a fair bit of price disparity with all the Z170 motherboards I can see. Is there a better brand to go with? A certain feature that some have over others that causes a price increase? I can't spot anything obvious.

Edit: This one looks pretty good: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...cket-1151-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-668-as.html
Click to expand...

That's a quality board I'd have no hesitation in recommending it given your budget. Price difference for same series chipsets generally based on quality / more enhanced features on top of the normal expectation of the chipset like better audio options / better quality capacitors and overclocking stability etc.
 
Any advisable brand for RAM? (Sorry for being blunt right now, compiling a basket to show you guys then we can go back to full discussion!) :D
 
Vida said:
Any advisable brand for RAM? (Sorry for being blunt right now, compiling a basket to show you guys then we can go back to full discussion!) :D
Click to expand...

They're pretty much on par in terms of what Overclockers offer. You want dual channel RAM if you're going for the i7 6700k. Higher speeds are generally more expensive for minimal gains compared to lower speed RAM IMO.
 
Something I forgot to mention is that I'll be probably buying this over a period of a few months, since I want to wait to build it until I move house, but I'd like to buy bits already in preparation to get the ball rolling.

On that note, I've gone with the "GeForce GTX 970 DirectCU II OC Strix 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card" for basket purposes because it seemed by far the most popular and the price was quite reasonable relative to everything else on offer. I feel like the graphics card is where I'll have the most difficulty choosing, there is just so much to choose from and I understand so little about them.
 
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