Building My Dad's Computer

Tigjaw · 15 May 2007 at 18:15

Hi guys,
I'm back and this time I'm building a new computer for my dad, he got fed up of his old excuse for a computer lagging behind mine!

Anyway, I built mine about a year ago and I couldn't be much happier with it thanks to all the help from the overclockers' frequenters and I think my dad would be more than happy with a similar setup. Here's what I've chosen so far:
EDIT- Ordered:
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3P (Socket 775) - £88.11
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - £150.39
GeIL 2GB 6400 Ultra C4 - £58.74
OcUK GeForce 7300 GT SILENT 256MB DDR2 HDTV/DVI - £27.01
Antec TruePower Trio 550W PSU - £61.09
Akasa AK-ZEN-01-BK Zen Black Case - No PSU - £29.36
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-Bit Edition DVD - £75.19
Total in VAT: £489.89

He still hasn't decided what OS he wants, Vista/XP/MCE but I think he'll end up going for Vista and if he does he may be tempted, if it's necessary (I'm not sure) to double the RAM to 4GB.

I just wanted to ask for opinions/advice/suggestions and if possible if anybody could suggest a good case that would definately fit all the components comfortably with wiggle room and of course, it has to be at least slightly purty.

Thanks in advance!

Josh

p4radox · 15 May 2007 at 18:17

Cases at various price points:

Akasa Zen
Lian Li PC7+
Akasa Eclipse

edit: you might want to consider a 3rd party CPU cooler, eg the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro or Scythe Ninja. They will be quieter and better than the stock cooler.

lsg1r · 15 May 2007 at 18:19

I think its got to be the lian li range, classy looking rather than the gamer look which I think would suit a parent. Add in the drive bay covers to make a nice uniform look

Tigjaw · 16 May 2007 at 14:31

Big thanks guys,

I'll show my dad those cases, see which he prefers, although, it seems my mum wants a say in the matter too as usual

I've got a silver Lian Li case and they are very nice.

About a third party fan, is it really necessary? I know they're a lot better but I was under the impression that you only really needed one if you were planning on overclocking or if you were an avid gamer, neither of which applies to my dad.

Are the retail fans not anywhere near as good for regular use? Are they a lot louder and will the temperature difference be a lot?

TheVoice · 16 May 2007 at 14:39

4GB of RAM would seem a lot like overkill, unless your Dad does some stupidly demanding stuff. 2GB should be more than enough for Vista.

Tigjaw · 16 May 2007 at 14:41

TheVoice said:
4GB of RAM would seem a lot like overkill, unless your Dad does some stupidly demanding stuff. 2GB should be more than enough for Vista.

Ok thanks mate, I was just wondering really because I had only heard of how hungry Vista was, I wasn't sure to what extent. Besides, if he needs it he can always buy more.

truebluecfc · 16 May 2007 at 14:42

TheVoice said:
4GB of RAM would seem a lot like overkill, unless your Dad does some stupidly demanding stuff. 2GB should be more than enough for Vista.

i second this, and its a crime to not overclock intels C2D's ! !.

misterPK · 16 May 2007 at 14:51

Tigjaw said:
About a third party fan, is it really necessary? I know they're a lot better but I was under the impression that you only really needed one if you were planning on overclocking or if you were an avid gamer, neither of which applies to my dad.

Are the retail fans not anywhere near as good for regular use? Are they a lot louder and will the temperature difference be a lot?

In my opinion, as a non-overclocker, third party fans arent that essential, especially for something that isnt going to be a top of the range gaming rig. If they didnt keep the CPU at a safe working temperature then the manufacturer wouldnt supply them with it! And at idle speeds the noise isnt going to be that noticable, and you can always change it later if it does get annoying.

PK!

Tigjaw · 16 May 2007 at 14:57

misterPK said:
In my opinion, as a non-overclocker, third party fans arent that essential, especially for something that isnt going to be a top of the range gaming rig. If they didnt keep the CPU at a safe working temperature then the manufacturer wouldnt supply them with it! And at idle speeds the noise isnt going to be that noticable, and you can always change it later if it does get annoying.

PK!

Thanks PK you make a good point, we can always get a third party fan at a later date if we deem it necessary. I'm pretty sure I know which case my dad will go for seeing as it's the cheapest and pretty smart:
Akasa AK-ZEN-01-BK Zen Black Case - No PSU - £29.36 inc VAT

I assume that case will house all the components comfortably? I don't wanna buy it and find that the PSU wont fit in or something.

semi-pro waster · 16 May 2007 at 15:03

The Zen will fit any normal PSU (the Antec is fine) and can cope with an 8800GTX being fitted so there is a fair bit of room internally.

TheVoice · 16 May 2007 at 15:04

The main benefit I can see a third-party cooler having, is being quieter than the stock one. That said, I've got no experience whatsoever with the HSFs that come with the current Intels so I don't know if they're particularly loud in the first place. Most motherboards will have settings that allow you to run the fans at a lower speed anyway though.

Tigjaw · 17 May 2007 at 20:11

Okay we've now ordered all the parts but about an hour after I confirmed the order my dad decided he'd like a new CD/DVD Drive/writer/rewriter combo!

I'm afraid I have no idea about CD/DVD drive, I've never bothered with making/copying CDs and DVDs so I don't have a clue what all the numbers are. My dad bought his own a few years ago but I'm assuming the standard has changed a bit now.

I'm wondering if anybody could suggest a good drive to slot in this beast or at least explain what I'm supposed to be looking for!

Thanks again, looking forward to putting this thing together. I can't believe how inexpensive it was, £502, I told my dad I could make a high end (non-gaming) computer for him for less than £600 but I seriously thought I'd go over.

All thanks to the deals on the RAM and graphics card, thanks again OC.

lsg1r · 17 May 2007 at 20:14

pretty much any dvd/rw is good these days. Personally I like lg models due to them just working and being fairly quiet in my case. Look for one which supports all formats, ie ram, +/- r/rw and you should be fine.

Tigjaw · 17 May 2007 at 20:21

lsg1r said:
pretty much any dvd/rw is good these days. Personally I like lg models due to them just working and being fairly quiet in my case. Look for one which supports all formats, ie ram, +/- r/rw and you should be fine.

Yup that's exactly what makes me hesitant in choosing a DVD/rw drive, they all look pretty much the same and I think to myself, surely there's gotta be something one has over the other.

LG drives do seem quite popular, as do samsung. I'll take a looksee and post back here with a few I've shortlisted.

Ta!

Jimmy1983 · 17 May 2007 at 22:13

Tigjaw said:
Yup that's exactly what makes me hesitant in choosing a DVD/rw drive, they all look pretty much the same and I think to myself, surely there's gotta be something one has over the other.

LG drives do seem quite popular, as do samsung. I'll take a looksee and post back here with a few I've shortlisted.

Ta!

Yer please do Iam after one and would like to know what you get. Last time I looked I was thinking off the new pioneer 212, but its not in yet

Tigjaw · 18 May 2007 at 21:19

Jimmy1983 said:
Yer please do Iam after one and would like to know what you get. Last time I looked I was thinking off the new pioneer 212, but its not in yet

So far I've shortlisted these but my dad hasn't looked at them yet to see if they meet his requirements:
LG GSA-H42NBRL 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter - £23.49
This one seems to support everything but apparently it's quite loud, not sure what to think of that though.
Samsung SH-S183ABEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA - £23.49
Also seems to support every type of DVD/CD you could want and it comes with a software bundle but I doubt that sways a choice much.

I'd look at the others that are a few quid more expensive but they're brands I've got no experience with such as plextor and LiteOn.

chris74 · 18 May 2007 at 21:32

I have 2 of the samsung sata drives and couldnt be more happier. I was always a nec fan but samsung in general make good products at great prices.

Question with regards the graphics card. I take it your father isnt planning on playing games?.
Just a thought as i see that as the computer achelies heel. Also get the lian li, i have the pc-60 and the quality is amazing. Photographs dont do it justice.

Chris

Tigjaw · 18 May 2007 at 21:44

chris74 said:
I have 2 of the samsung sata drives and couldnt be more happier. I was always a nec fan but samsung in general make good products at great prices.

Question with regards the graphics card. I take it your father isnt planning on playing games?.
Just a thought as i see that as the computer achelies heel. Also get the lian li, i have the pc-60 and the quality is amazing. Photographs dont do it justice.

Chris

Thanks for the advice, I was leaning to the Samsung. Hopefully he'll take a look later and give it the nod.

Nope my dad's not a gamer at all so the graphics card doesn't matter, it's only £25 and that graphics card is great for that price, it'll do everything he'll use it for.

I tried to persuade my dad to get a Lian Li, I got a PC7 a it's a beauty but he went for the Akasa AK-ZEN because it's still smart and quite cheap.