First custom PC, need some questions answered.

[Mark719]

Hey, I am able to make my first custom PC, been wanting to for a long time now, I finally have the funds to do so. I have a few questions to clear up before I do this and need a little bit of help.

• How difficult is it to build a custom PC for the first time yourself?

I watch PC component reviews and PC building guides all the time so I have some idea but is there any advice you can give from experience?

• Is this monitor any good?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-046-AS&tool=3 I am moving from a 27" iMac to this monitor which I know the lower resolution will be strange for a bit but I will get used to it, but any advice or comments you can give on this monitor? Or maybe a better 27" one?

• Can you give me a good PC build in my budget?

I know what case I want which is this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-111-NX but I was wondering what you would recommend to go in it, I have around a 1000-1100£ budget for the parts to go in the case. The type of PC i want is mainly for gaming, but also to cope well with video editing and image editing software. So needs to be able to cope well with video rendering etc. The gaming side of things I was thinking of maybe a GTX 780. Also I am liking this CPU cooler http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-020-AL

You can change everything I like if you recommend something better instead of the case, think I am fixed on the case.

Sorry for a big post, just like to do research first before buying something so expensive.

 

[kefan77]

I'll answer 1st 2.

1, its relatively easy, you just have to follow basic steps and not rush or force anything. PC parts these days are like LEGO.
Newegg TV on Youtube has a very good 3 part guide, search for: Newegg TV: How To Build a Computer
2, you want 2560x1440 on 27", otherwise get a decent 24" 1080/1200p

 

[coolsurfer]

I was like you and I built my own for the first time earlier this month and a monster machine at that. It's very simple. Really hard to screw up the build. Even if you don't watch the vids the motherboard manual tells you where everything goes. Check my build out in the project logs section. I also got the gtx 780....brilliant card.

I'd recommend the corsair obsidian 650d case, stylish black brushed aluminium, better than the cheap looking plastic ones we typically see.

 

[Mark719]

I'll answer 1st 2.

1, its relatively easy, you just have to follow basic steps and not rush or force anything. PC parts these days are like LEGO.
Newegg TV on Youtube has a very good 3 part guide, search for: Newegg TV: How To Build a Computer
2, you want 2560x1440 on 27", otherwise get a decent 24" 1080/1200p

OK, Thats good to hear that it isn't to hard, I will most likely be following a video as I go anyway. Also well 27" at 1920x1080 I was looking at or is that a bad idea? I have heard different things about 1920x1080 on a 27" monitor.

I was like you and I built my own for the first time earlier this month and a monster machine at that. It's very simple. Really hard to screw up the build. Even if you don't watch the vids the motherboard manual tells you where everything goes. Check my build out in the project logs section. I also got the gtx 780....brilliant card.

I'd recommend the corsair obsidian 650d case, stylish black brushed aluminium, better than the cheap looking plastic ones we typically see.

Thanks, I'll take a look, also I love the case I've picked already but thanks anyway.

 

[coolsurfer]

Mate, nothing beats the satisfaction of putting together hand picked components yourself. I even replaced all the stock case fans with be quiet ones.

Go for it! You can always ask on here if you get stuck. By an anti static wrist strap for peace of mind though many will say you don't need one if you're careful. (I spent £2k so was pedantic and bought one)

 

[snips86x]

Recommendation would be:

- Gigabyte Z87-D3HP / MSI GD-43
- 4670k Retail
- 8gb RAM 2400mhz currently £65
- Samsung EVO 250gb SSD
- AMD 7979 or nVidia 770
- as for the cooler, id recommend the Alpenfohn K2, Noctua D14, Prolimitech Megahelms with 2x120mm fans or the Phanteks dual rad cooler
- Case is personal preference, but the Corsair 750D is really nice.

Id recommend a fan controller too as not all motherboards have enough fan headers.

Does this help?

Sorry for the list, i cannot spec a basket on my phone.

 

[fowler002]

Recommendation would be:

- Gigabyte Z87-D3HP / MSI GD-43
- 4670k Retail
- 8gb RAM 2400mhz currently £65
- Samsung EVO 250gb SSD
- AMD 7979 or nVidia 770
- as for the cooler, id recommend the Alpenfohn K2, Noctua D14, Prolimitech Megahelms with 2x120mm fans or the Phanteks dual rad cooler
- Case is personal preference, but the Corsair 750D is really nice.

Id recommend a fan controller too as not all motherboards have enough fan headers.

Does this help?

Sorry for the list, i cannot spec a basket on my phone.

Mentions video editing in the op so the 4770k might be better? Also future proof in terms of gaming when the games eventually start taking advantage of the extra cores/threads.

 

[snips86x]

Mentions video editing in the op so the 4770k might be better? Also future proof in terms of gaming when the games eventually start taking advantage of the extra cores/threads.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £259.99
1 x MSI HD 7970 Twin FrozR OC BE 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD316G2133HC11ADC01) £129.95
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x XFX Pro 850W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £95.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series THNSNH 7mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH128GCST) £82.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £67.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £53.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
Total : £1,128.71 (includes shipping : £23.20).



SSD for OS, HDD for storing files & folders
4770k is a quad core with hyperthreading which should help with video editing, however, the 4670k would be just as good as quick-sync would be used for this. Hyperthreading may not be used by the editing software, but the choice is there.
Motherboard & PSU will allow SLi/xFire
Cooler is one of the top 3, cannot recommend it enough.

Because the Intel CPU's use quick-sync for video work, I think the 4670k would be a safe bet. This way, you can save yourself £70 and put it into a bigger SSD (Samsung EVO 250gb) or a better case.

 

[oceaness]

Quick note I think you're video editing application needs to be optimized to make use of quick-sync same as it does hyper-threading. So that may be another reason to consider your editing program.

Also, from Wikipedia:-

Quick Sync, like other hardware accelerated video encoding technologies, gives lower quality results than with CPU only encoders. Speed is prioritized over quality

 

[Mark719]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £259.99
1 x MSI HD 7970 Twin FrozR OC BE 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD316G2133HC11ADC01) £129.95
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x XFX Pro 850W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £95.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HG5D Series THNSNH 7mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - (THNSNH128GCST) £82.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £67.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £53.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
Total : £1,128.71 (includes shipping : £23.20).



SSD for OS, HDD for storing files & folders
4770k is a quad core with hyperthreading which should help with video editing, however, the 4670k would be just as good as quick-sync would be used for this. Hyperthreading may not be used by the editing software, but the choice is there.
Motherboard & PSU will allow SLi/xFire
Cooler is one of the top 3, cannot recommend it enough.

Because the Intel CPU's use quick-sync for video work, I think the 4670k would be a safe bet. This way, you can save yourself £70 and put it into a bigger SSD (Samsung EVO 250gb) or a better case.

Thank you, this is a nice build, will take a closer look at each part.

Anyone else suggest a build?

 

[oceaness]

I think you could spec other stuff, but it wouldn't be any better than what Snips' got there, think he's pretty much nailed it.

I would go for the 4770K with hyper threading over the 4670K, as it can improve multi-threaded applications like video editing, and whilst quick-sync does speed things up it sacrifices quality.

 

[Mark719]

What would be a good replacement for the 7970? If I would prefer a GTX card?

 

[oceaness]

For the same money I'd say a 680. Though the AMD's are usually better value for money.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 680 OC Twin Frozr 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Batman & Splintercell PC Games £239.99

 

[Mark719]

For the same money I'd say a 680. Though the AMD's are usually better value for money.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 680 OC Twin Frozr 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Batman & Splintercell PC Games £239.99

OK, Thanks. How about power supply? I was thinking more modular this an OK replacement? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-197-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=2466

Also is this decent SSD? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-162-SA&tool=3

 

[oceaness]

That's an excellent PSU choice

SSD, go for the EVO, little bit more much faster

YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £149.99

 

[Mark719]

That's an excellent PSU choice

SSD, go for the EVO, little bit more much faster

YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £149.99

Thank you, If I was to spend more money on my graphics card would this be a good option? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-114-GI

 

[oceaness]

The 780 is a top card, I think it's not far behind a Titan performance wise, but is considerably better value for money.

How far over budget are you by now though

 

[Mark719]

The 780 is a top card, I think it's not far behind a Titan performance wise, but is considerably better value for money.

How far over budget are you by now though

Yeah, I know the thing is I haven't a 100% budget in mind, it's very rough, I could go bit more expensive, my current basket is £1750, that includes that 780, but haven't picked out my RAM yet, so possibly another 100 on top of that. The basket includes a 230£ monitor and £200 case also.

Not sure how I add the code to shown my basket in this forum otherwise I'd do that and show you.

 

[oceaness]

It's a bookmarklet, you add it to your browser and click it when you're on the basket page of the OcUK site

Here

 

[Mark719]

It's a bookmarklet, you add it to your browser and click it when you're on the basket page of the OcUK site

Here

Thank you, this is my current basket, not everything is 100% final just a rough idea.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 WindForce 3x OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N780OC-3GD) £512.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £259.99
1 x Asus VS278Q 1MS Gaming Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £239.99
1 x NZXT Phantom 820 Enthusiast Ultra Tower Case - Black £199.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 750W Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (0-761345-06223-7) £99.95
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £67.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £53.99
1 x LG GH24NSB0 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
1 x Asus Xonar DG 5.1 PCI Sound Card with built in Headphone Amp - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,777.91 (includes shipping : £27.55).