First build.

Combat Butler · 28 May 2011 at 20:51

This is my first time building a computer but after reading guides I feel confident enough to be able to do it. I would like for you to recommend the parts you think I should buy; even basic parts such as thermal paste; I will be buying the components with the next 2 weeks. My budget is about £1000; it is flexible so I am willing to go higher if necessary.

The computer will be primarily for gaming, watching HD movies and a small amount of video encoding as well as mundane tasks such as browsing the web and such. I would like for the computer to be future proof for at least a few years.

I need everything necessary to build a computer including an OS, I don’t need a keyboard, mouse or monitor however. I would prefer if the computer had a large amount of storage space.
Thank you.

Combat Butler · 28 May 2011 at 22:29

Unfortunately I can't salvage any parts from this computer because I will be giving it away after I build this one. Its a rather old computer too. Which build do you think is best?

Combat Butler · 28 May 2011 at 23:00

I'm going to be buying it by the end of next week probably on Friday. My computer currently has 100GB of storage space.

Combat Butler · 29 May 2011 at 00:59

Thanks a lot for all your help everyone, I'll be back next week when I'm ready to purchase all the parts.

Combat Butler · 29 May 2011 at 20:20

I have put together this preliminary build after reading the spec you all have given me, I wanted to run this by you to see if it is any good,
looking at the previous builds having two 1TB harddrives is a bit much, only one is enough. I will still be buying the components this week I just wanted to know if this build works.

Your basket
Product Name
MSI GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
£239.99
(£199.99)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £173.99
(£144.99)
Gigabyte Z68X-UD3P Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £148.98
(£124.15)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599)
£79.99
(£66.66)
G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL )
£79.99
(£66.66)
Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black C
£59.99
(£49.99)
OCZ StealthXStream 2 600W Power Supply
£50.99
(£42.49)
OCZ Agility Series 30GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1AGT30G)
£44.99
(£37.49)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £43.99
(£36.66)
Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366)
£27.98
(£23.32)
Cooler Master CM-690 II Case Window Side Panel
£17.99
(£14.99)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£15.98
(£13.32)
Arctic Silver Thermal Epoxy (7g)
£9.98
(£8.32)

Sub Total : £829.03
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £13.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £168.56
Total : £1,011.34

Combat Butler · 2 Jun 2011 at 22:17

I'm going to be buying the component this weekend and would like final input on whether the parts are correct.

I was thinking for trading out the Samsung spinpoint for a Seagate HDD because I heard the Seagate are less prone to breaking down and I was told that I would need a bigger PSU to power the components I have chosen.

Combat Butler · 2 Jun 2011 at 23:21

Thanks a lot for the list, I was under the impression Asus motherboards were harder to deal with then something from gigabyte. Also, What is the difference between the OEM and retail CPU?

Combat Butler · 3 Jun 2011 at 11:46

The mother board on your list isn't a B3 revision is it? I heard there were problems with the earlier motherboards when using the sandybridge chips, wouldn't this mother board be a better choice?
Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION **

Combat Butler · 3 Jun 2011 at 14:03

Are there any notable differences between the Asus and the Asrock Z68 motherboards in terms of ease of use, or anything else I should be aware of?

Combat Butler · 4 Jun 2011 at 18:06

I will be purchasing later tonight but I have one last quick question, I will be ordering a MSI GeForce GTX 570 graphics card and was wondering whether it will fit properly on the Asrock P68 motherboard I will be buying.

Here is my my final purchase list.

Product Name
MSI GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
£249.98
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
£173.99
Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
£144.98
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599)
£79.99
OCZ Vertex 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1VTX60G)£79.99
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
(CMX8GX3M2A1600C9)
£65.99
Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black
£59.99
Antec High Current Gamer 620W Power Supply
£49.99
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ)
£43.99
Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366)
£28.99
Cooler Master CM-690 II Case Window Side Panel
£17.99
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
£15.98

Shipping : £12.50
Total : £1,026.86