First build !

thekooks

thekooks

thekooks

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Joined
8 Feb 2007
Posts
17
Hi everyone

i am looking to upgrade from my system now ( not entierly sure on specs, some You can't mention competitors builld from years ago ) and would like to try building myself, i notice you get a lot more for your money. It isnt that hard is it ?

Anyway, my budget is probably 1200 ish, but i think i could push it if i needed.
i dont play any intensive games, although i intend to try a few, all i want is a fast system for the few i do play. There are 2 catches though. First is i need everything. Absolutely everything. speakers, keyboard, mouse . The other one is i have my eye on a 24" dell, at 1920 x 1080. What can you do for me ? i want to run wow and some other games at that resolution, which i appreciate isnt to hard to do. I dont want it to be incapable of other games though.

I really appreciate any help, im preferably looking to get this soon, so i would prefer not to have any out of stock pieces.

If it isnt possible to include the monitor, point me to some alternatives, but i would love to have it in there. Also, i want to have a habu mouse, and the creative t20 speakers. im open to the others.

thanks a lot.
 
Hi there,

Welcome to the forums! :) Its not hard at all, and even if you do get a little stuck theres plenty of people on here to help you and there's always good old google.

Its heaps cheaper than buying a system from a store, I have always built my own systems. Its fun and value for money :)

I will have a look at spec'ing you a system.
 
How about this?

Went for a slightly smaller monitor to keep within budget. The case I was going to spec you is currently out of stock but should be in stock anytime soon. Akasa Zen - £30 (It's also the one I'm getting in a few weeks)
-

kooksspec.jpg
 
This set up has everything you need, the Monitor you want, a good GFX card and core2duo.

The only you can really get yourself on budget is to pick a smaller monitor. There is a great selection, I have the 20" Dell but of course the 24" is nicer and does appear much bigger.

You can overclock your c2d easy on this board and get it with the stock cooler stable at 2.8 SOOOOO EASY that it would be silly to pay the extra 80 pound for the 6600

Considering you play intensive games occasionally. I believe this is a great set up for you and includes the monitor you want.











Samsung SpinPoint P SP1654N 160GB ATA-133 8MB Cache - OEM £32.99
(£38.76)


SpeedLink Ambience SL-8222 2.1 Speaker System Black £22.95
(£26.97)

Saitek Eclipse 2 Illuminated Keyboard - Blue/Red/Purple £28.99

(£34.06)Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 - Retail £19.99
(£23.49)

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £61.99
(£72.84)

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming case £57.99
(£68.14)

Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey £469.99
(£552.24)

Connect3D ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £99.99
(£117.49)

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400DC) £94.99
(£111.61)

Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24)

Intel Core 2 DUO E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £95.99
(£112.79)

£1,269.18


Good luck with whatever you choose
 
I really like Matt's spec, the only thing I would do personally, is have the 8800GTS and not got the Dell 2407.

An X1950 Pro isnt going to run games at 1920x1200 in 6 months time. I say, get a smaller monitor now. You save at the least 250 or so on the GPU, which you can place in an upgrade fund purse, and upgrade later.

If you arent a massive gamer, then get the monitor though.
 
Dark angel gives very good advice there,

The 8800 gts and a smaller monitor like a 20/22 inch will still look great for a longer time. THen when you are some more dough or the inclination you can buy a 24 inch or even bigger and get some back on your existing setup!
 
It's a similar spec to mine, except I would swap that case for the Zen because its much cheaper and with the saved money he could dish that retail heatsink/fan and purchasing something that provides silent, effective cooling and reach 3GHz+ with no hassles. X1950 won't give you the high resolutions needed.
 
taking on everyones advice here is a new setup WITHOUT a Dell 24"

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400DC) £94.99
(£111.61)

Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24)

Intel Core 2 DUO E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £95.99
(£112.79)

Samsung SpinPoint P SP1654N 160GB ATA-133 8MB Cache - OEM £32.99
(£38.76)


SpeedLink Ambience SL-8222 2.1 Speaker System Black £22.95
(£26.97)

Saitek Eclipse 2 Illuminated Keyboard - Blue/Red/Purple £28.99

(£34.06)Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 - Retail £19.99
(£23.49)

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £61.99
(£72.84)

OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £224.99
(£264.36)

Akasa AK-ZEN-01-BK Zen Black Case - No PSU £29

V7 L22WD 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver £191.99
(£225.59)
(£29.95)

Total 1132 in vat NO DELIVERY

Highlighted in red is what has changed, you are getting a great 22 inch monitor, a cheaper case thats looks the business but is OUT OF STOCK. Plus one of the best graphic cards on the market this system is defintely more future proof and wil play the latest intense games at ease.

You have about 50 pound to play with, you could pick some biger speakers, a different case or pay for the dell 22" widescreen monitor instead.

It depends if you want the better performing system or the 24 inch monitor and only you know the answer to this one
 
Thanks so much everyone, everytime i specc'ed out a machine, it seemed to be at least 1600... although you did all forget an op. system.

I know what you are all saying, and i know your right about the monitor, but i have had my eye on it for ages. I think it would be great for general use, and easier to run games, plus could be good for a few things i have in mind for the future.

I probably overestimated what games i play really.... I use my 360 for FPS and most things, including oblivion. So i probably wont use it for anything to much. I always am playing an MMORPG though, currently wow, maybe vangaurd soon, and WAR when it comes out. These arnt too much to ask, i play the occassional other game ( generally an RTS or a good RPG ). Another thing i would like to know, will DX 10 ( think thats what its called.. ) be essential ?

I would ideally really want to keep the monitor, although would consider dropping to a good 22"/20" .

Forgot one thing, overclocking. I dont have a clue how you do it, and would need help if i was to try.
 
Last edited:
thekooks said:
Forgot one thing, overclocking. I dont have a clue how you do it, and would need help if i was to try.
Click to expand...

Post in the Overclocking and cooling section, and we'll help you out. The "Basic Guide..." sticky there is brilliant.
 
mattpj said:
taking on everyones advice here is a new setup WITHOUT a Dell 24"

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400DC) £94.99
(£111.61)

Asus P5N-E SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24)

Intel Core 2 DUO E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail £95.99
(£112.79)

Samsung SpinPoint P SP1654N 160GB ATA-133 8MB Cache - OEM £32.99
(£38.76)


SpeedLink Ambience SL-8222 2.1 Speaker System Black £22.95
(£26.97)

Saitek Eclipse 2 Illuminated Keyboard - Blue/Red/Purple £28.99

(£34.06)Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 - Retail £19.99
(£23.49)

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £61.99
(£72.84)

OcUK GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £224.99
(£264.36)

Akasa AK-ZEN-01-BK Zen Black Case - No PSU £29

V7 L22WD 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver £191.99
(£225.59)
(£29.95)

Total 1132 in vat NO DELIVERY

Highlighted in red is what has changed, you are getting a great 22 inch monitor, a cheaper case thats looks the business but is OUT OF STOCK. Plus one of the best graphic cards on the market this system is defintely more future proof and wil play the latest intense games at ease.

You have about 50 pound to play with, you could pick some biger speakers, a different case or pay for the dell 22" widescreen monitor instead.

It depends if you want the better performing system or the 24 inch monitor and only you know the answer to this one
Click to expand...

Sorry but why on earth are you speccing PATA hard drives?
 
Is overclocking fairly easy to do aswell ?

Has anyone got anything to say now, regarding my last post ? i probably really dont play many top end games, i over estimated myself just incase i wanted to, but i doubt i will play anything too much. is it possible to have a powerful future proof pc and the monitor ? if say i pushed the budget slightly.

and couldnt i just run a lower resolution or non max settings if i wanted to try some power hogging games ?

I could always upgrade at a later date anyway, coudnt i ?

Is that 22" matt suggested a good monitor ? i would probably be willing to drop to this, if it gave me a powerful pc, that will last ( althouhg i really was after the high resolution. )

I am not too sure i would like to try overlcocking just yet though, this will be the first time i build, and it needs to be stable, no problems, and will run 24/7 most likely.

Is the 6300/4300 sufficient without overlcocking, or will it be a bottleneck ?
 
Last edited:
thekooks said:
Is overclocking fairly easy to do aswell ?
Click to expand...

Not too hard, have a look at the sticky in the Overclocking and Cooling section as I said.

thekooks said:
Has anyone got anything to say now, regarding my last post ? i probably really dont play many top end games, i over estimated myself just incase i wanted to, but i doubt i will play anything too much. is it possible to have a powerful future proof pc and the monitor ? if say i pushed the budget slightly.
Click to expand...

The budget seems to easily cover an 8800 GTS which would be perfect for a monitor of that size.

thekooks said:
and couldnt i just run a lower resolution or non max settings if i wanted to try some power hogging games ?

I could always upgrade at a later date anyway, coudnt i ?

Is that 22" matt suggested a good monitor ? i would probably be willing to drop to this, if it gave me a powerful pc, that will last ( althouhg i really was after the high resolution. )
Click to expand...

8800 GTS, good conroe cpu, 22" monitor, 2gb RAM, SATA HD, all in budget - am I missing something here? What is the problem? :confused:
 
how about this:)


Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black
(£58.74)
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£199.74)
Intel Core 2 DUO E4300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail
(£112.79)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
(£111.61)
Creative Gigaworks T20 2.0 Speaker System - Retail
(£58.74)
Samsung SH-S182D 18x18 DVD±RW ReWriter (Black) - OEM 9
(£19.96)
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
(£82.24)
Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM
(£50.51)
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Soundcard - OEM
(£29.36)
Akasa Ultra Quiet 500W Paxpower Active PFC ATX2.2 PSU - Black Nickel
(£58.74)
SpeedLink Ultra SL-6465 Flat Metal Keyboard
(£23.49)
Razer Copperhead Tempest Blue 2000dpi High Precision Gaming Mouse - Retail
(£37.59)
Belinea 2225S1W 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver
(£211.49)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk
(£72.84)


Total : £1,157.15

what do you think?

as far as i can tell it has everything you want and more, very compatable and easily overclocked. the only other thing you could do is: spend more on the monitor, and/or choose oem cpu and buy another cpu cooler.

this system will rock mate:)
 
Is there anyway to fit an 8800gts and the 24" monitor in, without going too over budget ? and will the gts run that monitor at max resolution for a long time ?

Another question.. hows the 22" asus monitor ? looks very smart.
 
Last edited:
There is a way almost, but with a rubbish Celeron D processor for example. I would save the extra 150-200 and make sure you can get everything.

8800 gts will be fine with that monitor at max res for a long time
 
fine with the 24" ?

What is a good 22" monitor then ? asus, dell,

could someone spec me a setup with the gts and 24" dell, that will last for a long time ( able to upgrade, quadcore ? ) be fast and use the high resolution of the dell monitor in games for a long time. id likew to see what this comes to.
 
Last edited:
In fact, i tried again. If you want to have the Dell and GTS you just going to have to save the extra. I wouldn't bother having a cheaper cpu and mobo.

The only other way is if you use your old case and power supply. Again I would leave that alone as well
 
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