Complete newbie after build help

jaysus

jaysus

jaysus

Associate
Joined
25 Dec 2009
Posts
442
I've got the PC mentioned in my sig and want to upgrade it, keeping whatevers viable and using whats left over as a basic for a media PC at a later date. Slight problem: I've not got a clue where to start, and for some unknown reason my PC doesn't like the OCUK forums and takes 30 odd seconds to load a page - so leeching off the advice given to others isn't particularly practical.

I'm looking to use it for gaming and browsing only, have a Thermaltake Tsunami Dream case (which from previous posts I believe should be re-usable?) and I've got a budget of £400 (can stretch to £500 tops, but has to be worth the extra) and whilst I'm capable of putting stuff together I don't know whats compatible with what, the last time I did any series digging I was told AGP was a dead end option - so you've some idea how out of date my knowledge is.

Its a big ask but could someone give some help putting together a build?
 
Hadn't thought about the OS. I've got a retail version of XP Pro but will upgrade to 7 after a couple of months, so budget won't need to include that.

At the moment I'm playing stuff like BFBC2, Napoleon TW etc on 1600x900, and it struggles frankly - particularly with the TW games when theres a lot going on.

I'm looking for this to be as futureproof as possible as I won't be able to justify a big upgrade for a few years. I'm not sure how much of an improvement running two GPU's in SLI/x-fire is, if its a decent one then buying one card now and then getting a second a few months down the line is an option.
 
A thought occurs to me that hopefully isn't too stupid:

XP can only utilise a max of 3gb RAM can't it? So presumably I'm going to have to look at a copy of Win 7 as well?
 
Given the size of my existing case I can't use that as the basis for an HTPC. Is it worth the extra for the case mentioned above? If it's worth upgrading to a better case I'll do it.
 
That sounds to me like a very good plan. I can live without sli/x-fire. I take it my 400w PSU will be enough? And do I need to think about any additional cooling if I'm not looking to overclock?
 
Cheers for your help mate. Think I'm going to order the HDD and get a copy of Win 7 early and get everything shifted over to the new HDD - gives me something to do while I'm saving for the bulk of the stuff.
 
Okay, what's the thoughts on this setup? Will be able to order everything except Win 7 shortly. And have I picked the right version of Win 7?

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 965 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.40GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail - £128.98
Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 AMD 870 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard - £84.99
Corsair Dominator 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMD4GX3M2A1600C9) - £75.99
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with HAWX2 PC-Game - £151.99
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) - £33.98
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - Retail (Full Version)(GFC-00025) - £123.36
Total: £599.29

I've already got a PSU (Corsair CX400) and it will be going into a Tsunami Dream case. Is it worth upgrading the cooling? I won't be overclocking straight away but might further down the line.
 
Cookeh said:
If you aren't overclocking then there will be no need for additional cooling.
You could by the GTX460 now, and it would work, but as mentioned would be bottlenecked severely (basically, heavily reduced performance).
I'd have patience, and hold out until you can buy it in one lump.
Click to expand...

Probably be cheaper that way I guess.

As for the RAM, I'll be using the old stuff in an HTPC.
 
Cheers. A couple of the bits in the shopping list stulid kindly suggested are in This Week Only (RAM and HDD) shaving about a tenner off, so shall order them now and be patient with the rest.

Is there anything that it's worth sinking an extra £20 into for the next step up or is that about as good as I'm going to get without increasing the price significantly?
 
Last edited:
Right, the HDD and RAM have arrived and the rest of it should be arriving next week.

Rather embarrassing question on a PC forum, but I've only once tried to plug in a CPU - years ago and it didn't work. Is there anything I need (some sort of paste?) and does anyone have a link to a decent guide?
 
Doh.

Wondered why I could afford it slightly earlier than expected...forgot to order the GPU. Since that'll have to wait until next payday, on the off chance I can afford it what's the next step up from 460 1GB?
 
Liampope said:
I may be stating the obvious to you - but the paste aint for plugging in the CPU!:) Dont get paste anywhere near the CPU socket or it's contacts. The CPU just sits in there then is locked down by the cover. The paste is for when you fit the cooler to the top of the CPU. You knew that anyway, right? Just being safe :). Lots of vids on youtube. You want the 'pea' or 'line' methods if I recall - dont pre-spread with a credit card.

One up from 460 would be 470 or 6870.
Click to expand...

Will see how much cash I've got come next payday...might be able to stretch to this, will depend how generous I feel towards other with my Christmas shopping - is it worth the extra £50 though? I'm happy to pay it if I'll see a difference between this and a 460:

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 470 OC 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with MAFIA 2 [GV-N470OC-13I] £204.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-067-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1810

Right, another question that reveals how little I know about PC's: since I won't be able to afford the GPU (regardless of whether I go for a 460 or 470) until next month, will my current 9500GT work with the rest of the setup?

Cheers for everyone's patience with me, I'm learning as I go along and hope to pay a bit more attention to these forums between now and my next upgrade so I don't have to ask so many daft questions.
 
RJC said:
Some MX-4 or MX-3.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-002-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-003-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27
Click to expand...

Gah - forgot to order this.
Is there a high street retailer that sells this?

ETA - not sure if endorsing a competitors product is against forum rules, but I've just ordered £500 worth of kit from OCUK - hopefully the mod's can overlook a fivers cooling compound.
 
Essexraptor said:
Yes.... but not MX-3 or MX-4 so better off biting the bullet and ordering up some :) only takes 24hrs to come anyway :)
Click to expand...

But that's 24 more hours of not being able to game properly. On top of the 6 months or so I've been planning this upgrade. Is there really no equal alternative that'll do the job?

(I know I'm being childish but the rest of the stuff is due to be delivered Tuesday, and I'm itching to get it up and running.)
 
Last edited:
The MX-3 arrived before the rest of the gear - who'd have though Royal Mail would beat DPD?

Just in the process of backing up everything from my existing HDD to the netbook before I vac the case, clean it out as best I can and then rip everything out of there. Then I'll start putting it back together, and hope like **** I don't break anything.
 
Right, all sorted. Everything plugged together without event and it all seems to be working. There's still a bit of cable management to do (although most of it stayed as was) and for my peace of mind I want to stick on a side of case fan before I buy the new GPU.

Now just a case of doing some digging to find out whether or not it's worth the extra £50 for a 470 over a 460. Then I'll look at some gentle overclocking.

Thanks very much to everyone who's helped me out (particularly Stulid.) Am looking forward to playing a few new games on decent settings for once.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom