First build - £800 - Any Suggestions? :)

FrankDaTank · 18 Feb 2010 at 04:00

Hey there, I'm new to the forums. I have never built a PC for myself, but i have upgraded mine and others, and i think i am pretty handy round one, so i would like to build one.

Can anyone maybe suggest a few components they have used which might suit me? I would like to spend around £800 (excluding monitor) on it and i am unsure where to start. I have researched plenty and would like to hear some input from you guys/gals.

Any suggestions on good motherboards, processors, graphics and sound etc (everything really!) would be greatly appreciated.

The machine will basically be used for playing/streaming video, and hopefully a bit of gaming, but i want to cram as much in there as possible.

Thanks very much, Frank!

Leodido · 18 Feb 2010 at 07:09

I'd suggest an i5 build, best bang for the buck imo

If you are not that much into gaming maybe you should get a lower end GPU this one is pretty much overkill

Vision · 18 Feb 2010 at 11:31

i5 build is the way to go I think. No need for a 5870 like guy above said if you're only gonna be doing a bit of gaming, 5770 or 5850 might be better suited. Think about getting a modular psu aswell.

FrankDaTank · 18 Feb 2010 at 18:14

Wow thanks for the help. That setup looks pretty good. I am not a big PC gamer but i think might go for that GPU because at least it gives me the option. I havent had time to check yet but do all those components come in at or around 800?

Also what is a modular psu? Compared to a regular psu? Why do you have an 80gb ssd as well as a 1tb. Would you recommend having both, i'd imagine one for the os and the other for data?

I have never overclocked anything, and was wondering if its worth doing it myself, if at all, or going with one of those pre-overclocked cpu's?

Thanks very much. Any other suggestions are more than welcome.

FrankDaTank · 18 Feb 2010 at 18:51

I'm not sure if its possible, but are there any tv cards or something i can put into my computer that would be capable of recording xbox 360 video, without having to buy a seperate external capture device. I would like to include this in my build. Thanks again.

thorinf · 18 Feb 2010 at 19:12

Leodido, does that really add up to £800? And you forgot a case

freezin8472 · 18 Feb 2010 at 19:14

A modular psu is one with detachable power cables. It lets you keep unused cables out of the case to keep it tidier.

The sdd would primarily be for the OS for a fast boot time. The other hdd would be for storage.

Overclocking shouldn't be too hard. There is plenty of information on here to help. Doing it yourself saves you some money (and additional satisfaction of doing it yourself

).

Edit: Leodido's spec comes in well over £800.

thorinf · 18 Feb 2010 at 19:16

Personally i would get the smallest SSD possible, no point getting a massive one, you only need it for you OS and applications (just generally all the stuff you regularly boot/use)

I am also shocked you have chosen the OEM for him, you can get this Intel i5 650 clocked at 3.2ghz for £150 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-313-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1672)

There is also no OS in this build, no wonder its soo good

FrankDaTank · 18 Feb 2010 at 19:22

Great thanks for the reply. Didn't know about the modular psu, i will definately consider this as i want it as tidy as possible in there.

Also the faster boot due to ssd would be great aswell. I have always wanted to overclock something myself but i have never had the opportunity, and was also afraid of maybe breaking something, lol. But now that i am going to build my own rig i will definately do it.

I will need a lot of storage as i have a lot of data on externals and things, so it would be a big issue for me. I don't mind splashing the extra cash on a few 1tb or 1.5tb's. I recently lost a 1.5tb worth of data because i was stupid enough not to have it backed up. Don't want to make that mistake again.

FrankDaTank · 18 Feb 2010 at 19:25

Thanks thorinf, i was considering a faster cpu, just because i don't want to have to upgrade this thing for a while. Keep the ideas coming, you've all been great help.

freezin8472 · 18 Feb 2010 at 19:51

mattgaunt · 18 Feb 2010 at 19:57

Hey guys,

I'm currently looking at possible new build and similar situation to Frank, I was looking at this CPU instead of the one above *otherwise a fairly similar setup*:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-301-IN

The one I mention has 4 cores, not two and surely this more than makes up for the slower clock speed, but am I just being naive?

Cheers,
Matt

freezin8472 · 18 Feb 2010 at 20:38

That is the one that I linked to above. Having 4 cores doesn't necessarily make up for a slower clock speed. Programs need to be able to make use of them. The i5 750 can easily be overclocked to well over 3ghz. Overall it's a very good buy imo.

mattgaunt · 18 Feb 2010 at 21:01

hey freezin, i didn't actually mean your post, you posted just before I did, I was actually referring to the original post for hardware :-)

freezin8472 · 18 Feb 2010 at 21:05

Ignore me then ^_^

FrankDaTank · 18 Feb 2010 at 21:11

Oh I see. Thought that spec would be around 800, ah well. 834.00 seems ok too. As i said 800 is the budget but i never stick to budgets.

Thanks guys, i was also looking for a Blueray Reader/ReWriter drive. Any one any recomendations on those.

Oh yeah is there any benefit with going for a sound card over on board sound?

Cheers!