First computer build - looking for some help

sk82jack

sk82jack

sk82jack

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First of all, I've never built a computer before but there's a first time for everything right ? :) I've been looking over the forum for a couple of days now looking at all your recommendations and criticisms of certain products and I've come up with my first draft. I don't need a monitor, dvd drive, operating system, keyboard or mouse, but I need everything else. OK here's how it's looking so far:

Case - Elite 334 Midi Case - Black £33.68

PSU - OcUK Battle 550W £43.91

Processor - Intel Core i5-2500K £179.99

Mobo - Gigabyte P67A-UD3-B3 £114.98

Graphics Card - XFX ATI Radeon HD 5770 £94.99

RAM - Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) £43.99

HD - Seagate Barracuda 1TB £37.99

CPU Cooler - Thermaltake Frio £42.98

Which comes to a total of £592.51 without shipping.

Basically what I would like to know is if everything here will work with each other? Is the case big enough to take all of these? If there are any revisions to the list which would keep the overall cost around the £600 mark?

Also, the prices quoted don't include "this week only" prices as this will end up being a combined family and friends birthday present for me (as I'm a student and don't have the funds myself :p ). My birthday is beginning of June, so also wondering if there are any alternatives coming out between now and then which would be worth waiting for, or for the price tags I'm looking at, whether this will be as good as it gets?
 
Hi and welcome to the forums :)

Looks a decent spec but I would advise you to invest in a better PSU such as this one which is only an extra few quid. Never scrimp on the PSU ;)
 
philtorrens said:
Hi and welcome to the forums :)
Click to expand...

Thanks lol

philtorrens said:
Looks a decent spec but I would advise you to invest in a better PSU such as this one which is only an extra few quid. Never scrimp on the PSU ;)
Click to expand...

Geek. said:
your set up looks ok but change the PSU to this one it is a lot better http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-042-BQ&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1083 never skimp on the psu it will save you money in the long run:)
Click to expand...

Are these PSUs easy enough to set up? I thought I read somewhere that modular ones are quite a bit easier to install, so that's one of the reasons why I chose the one I did. If these are easy enough so set up I think I'd go for the Corsair over BeQuiet.
 
sk82jack said:
If these are easy enough so set up I think I'd go for the Corsair over BeQuiet.
Click to expand...

OK scratch that, I just read in another thread that the new range of Corsair PSUs seem to off lower quality than the units they replaced, so the BeQuiet it is then :)

Lemin said:
Much better card...

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** [11162-15-20G]
£107.99 inc VAT
£89.99 ex VAT

Pre-order
ETA: 04/04/11
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-259-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1711
Click to expand...

Cheers for the heads up! For an extra tenner the quality seems worth-it.
 
John101 said:
I would change the CPU cooler to a cheaper but equally good one. Something like >

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-001-CS

or even cheaper but still good....

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-029-CM

The 2500k is not a hot chip even when overclocked so the HS above should be able to do just a good job as the one u chose + saves u an extra £20 or £12 for something else...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, this is the sort of thing I wanted, cheaper but just as good alternatives :p lol

I checked both of them out and looking at the reviews for the coolermaster, a few people had a bit of trouble fitting it. Seeing as this is my first build, I think I'll stay away from this as I don't wanna damage anything, not at these prices anyway.

I think I'll go with the Corsair A50, looks like a lot of people are using it successfully with the 2500k, so looks like a good shout to me. Thanks.
 
olivier renault said:
Yup, go with the A50. Really good performance, maybe noisy at high speed.
Click to expand...

not too fussed about noise to be honest, at the moment I'm usually either on my laptop (which is pretty loud) or my xbox 360 (also very loud) so as long as its not bursting my ear drums or something, it should be OK lol

OK here's the revised list so far:

Case - Zalman Z9 £44.99

PSU - BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530w £42.98

Processor - Intel Core i5-2500K £179.99

Mobo - Gigabyte P67A-UD3-B3 £114.98

Graphics Card - Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 £107.99

RAM - G.Skill RipJawsX 4GB (2x2GB) £39.98

HD - Seagate Barracuda 1TB £37.99

CPU Cooler - Corsair A50 £29.99

Which comes to a total of £598.89 without shipping.

Looking good so far, managed to improve the graphics card, PSU and CPU cooler for only an extra £6 or so :D
 
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
OcUK Motherboard Bundle - Intel Core i5 2500K & Asus P8P67 Intel P67 Mainboard **B3 Revision** OcUK Motherboard Bundle - Intel Core i5 2500K & Asus P8P67 Intel P67 Mainboard **B3 Revision** £267.98
(£223.32) £267.98
(£223.32)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £107.99
(£89.99) £107.99
(£89.99)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply £66.98
(£55.82) £66.98
(£55.82)
Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
(£37.49) £44.99
(£37.49)
Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3) Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3) £38.99
(£32.49) £38.99
(£32.49)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM 1yr Warranty (ST31000528AS) Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM 1yr Warranty (ST31000528AS) £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £35.99
(£29.99) £35.99
(£29.99)
Sub Total : £500.76
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £102.25
Total : £613.51

EDIT: changed my mind a couple of times due to B3 revision
 
Last edited:
J-FRO said:
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
OcUK Motherboard Bundle - Intel Core i5 2500K & Asus P8P67 Intel P67 Mainboard **B3 Revision** OcUK Motherboard Bundle - Intel Core i5 2500K & Asus P8P67 Intel P67 Mainboard **B3 Revision** £267.98
(£223.32) £267.98
Click to expand...

I was gonna go for this bundle but I read some bad things about the Asus P8P67 and that some people have had problems with it, which is why I chose the Gigabyte mobo instead.
 
Fair enough. I've also seen all the negative stuff, but as with anything I find most people only seem to speak out when there is something to complain about so I never figured that complaints are a true representation of the majority.

But I would go with what you're comfortable with.
 
It just worries me when I see stuff like that when I'm spending so much money on it, and it's my first time, so I'm trying to limit possibilities of something going wrong lol I saw something about it not working after a power cut, and the exact same thing happened to someone else, then I'm thinking power cuts don't happen often but its not like they never do, so what if it happens to me a couple of months down the line? or am I just being too paranoid? lol
 
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