Building my first gaming PC and I could use some advice.

Iron Goldfish

Iron Goldfish

Iron Goldfish

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11 Nov 2006
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26
I've finally decided to get myself a gaming PC. I don't need anything top-end, I'm not too bothered about playing anything on the level of Oblivion just yet. I'm after something that can play the games of about a year or two ago smoothly, on high settings if possible. Games like The Sims 2, Guild Wars, Morrowind, possibly World of Warcraft... things like that.

Now, I know very little about PC hardware, but I've been reading the sticky and a few threads, and I've ended up with this:

- Intel Pentium 4 820 Dual Core "LGA775 Smithfield" 2.8GHz (800FSB) - Retail (CP-102-IN) £59.99

- Asrock Conroe945G-DVI (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-004-AK) £45.99

- BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-025-BG) £84.99

- Crucial 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2 PC2-4200C4 Dual Channel Kit (CT2KIT6464AA53E) (MY-081-CR) £79.99

- Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-018-SA) £44.99

- Antec NSK6500 Super Midi Tower Case - 430W PSU (CA £58.99

- Pioneer DVR-111DBK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM (CD-038-PO) £18.99

- Sony DDU-1615 DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM (CD-020-SO) £10.50

- Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 Keyboard (KB-054-MS) £11.99

- Logitech LX3 Optical Mouse - Retail (KB-085-LG) £17.99

- Creative SBS260 2.0 Speakers - OEM (SP-080-CL) £7.95

- Belinea 1925S1W 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver (MO-005-BE) £124.99

- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk (N09-01528) (OS-001-MS) £52.99

Subtotal £620.34
VAT £108.56
Total £728.90

Apart from if it'll all work together properly, I'd like to know if it'll run the games I've mentioned well. I'm kind of pushing it with the price, so I'm also wondering if this is overkill, and if something cheaper would suit me just as well.

I probably have a hundred more questions, but I'll leave it at that for now and see what advice I can get. :p

And as I said, I don't really know what I'm doing, so be gentle with me. :(
 
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Okay, I've changed the HDD to a Samsung one of the same price.

The Comfort Curve is the same price too, so I might aswell give that a try.

I really can't afford to spend any more than I have, so a core 2 duo is out of the question. I didn't really want to go above £700. That said, I have a question about the graphics card. Does it make much difference getting the GT over the GS? Think I could consider getting the GS instead to lower the price a little?

Thanks for your help.
 
I've had a little look around and managed to find *ahem* another site that builds the PC for you and lets you pay over 9 months with no interest. This would let me push my budget up a little, allowing me to get the cheaper Core 2 Duo, along with the 7600 GT (and it'd probably be safer having someone build it for me ;) ). I've brought the price down a little by going for a 160GB HDD, because I really doubt I'll need 250GB. Even if I do, I can always get a bigger HDD later.

The only problem with this other site (apart from it making me paranoid by seeming too good to be true) is that you get very little choice in motherboards. It looks like I'd be going for the Asus board. So, how reliable are Asus?

Thanks for all your help so far by the way. :D
 
Heh, I know, I was just asking about Asus, that's all. I came here looking for good help with picking hardware, and that's exactly what I've got. :) Didn't mean to sound like a naughty rule-breaking type guy.

Ran a search on google and can't see any problems. Think I'll go for it.

Thanks again!

Ooh, can't wait to play something newer than Starcraft for once.
 
Hmm, that card's a little more expensive than the 7600GT.

Turns out I don't work enough hours to qualify for that pay later thing, so I'm just going to order the parts from here and buid it myself. I get paid soon, I've managed to sell this PC I'm using now and I have more than enough overdraft to pay the rest (I love being a student *cough*).

So yeah, I've decided on the PC above, and I'm going to be crazy and get the Core 2 Duo.

I have a couple more questions though. Will the PSU be enough? I doubt I'll be doing any overclocking. What about cooling? Do I need anything else to keep my PC from bursting into flames?
 
Okay, I'll do that. If I do decide to upgrade later, I'll be kicking myself if I have to splash out for a new PSU.

What about fans? I ask because I'm clueless about the different types of fans, how many you need etc.
 
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