first ever build.

scottmorley

scottmorley

scottmorley

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Joined
4 Jan 2013
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177
Location
kent
hi guys,
my plan of action is to build my first ever pc :D
i've been an avid gamer since i can remember and i've never actually got round to building my own gaming pc, so it's time to do just that.

obviously this build will not be replacing my current pc as it's merely for practice and if all goes well and i don't blow myself up then it'll just be used by other members of the family so they no longer have to use MY machine.

i know it's fairly straight forward building a pc, i've watched many tutorials and read up on it a fair bit. the only thing i'll probably suck at is cable management.

i'm not sure what my budget for this build is but i'd like it to be as cheap as possible, but, here's the twist! and now i'll probably get laughed at.
once i've built this machine i'd then like to attempt (very important word there)
to watercool it :eek:
only basic stuff, none of the top of the range watercooling equipment. just cheap and cheerful.

so with this in mind, what would you guys recommend?
i wont be buying the watercooling gear straight away, i'll be building the machine first and then when i have the funds watercooling it.

ideally i'd like an intel set up. so what cpu/mb is fairly cheap and will be compatible with watercooling? same goes for the psu and maybe the gpu(was only looking to watercool the cpu but if it isn't too much to do it with a gpu then i'll do it)

i'm not fussed about mounting the rad out side of the case either, cosmetics mean nothing here (plus i know decent watercooling cases cost a fortune)
this is purely for me to learn something new and have a bit of fun.

sorry for the wall of text and any help will be appreciated
 
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bit hard without a budget, do you need a complete system? OS,keyboard, mouse & monitor? you could really buy a very basic PC a second hand older GPU and then get the blocks for it :)
 
I also don't like the phrase "cheap and cheerful water coolong", that just spells disaster to me.. Unless you mean an AIO like the H100 (still not cheap)
 
Ethermaster said:
+1000
Click to expand...

Glad to see someone agrees. :)

@op

You cant go about doing the rig you really want on a small budget. If you want a top notch system, water cooled to the nines, you need to pay it forward.... (word)..

Or if you want a budget build you'll have to sacrifice some performance and cooling aswell as style..

Which will it be?
 
Probably best to give a maximum budget, then people can spec things as low as possible below the max :)

From what I gather you aren't intending to actually 'use' this pc, you just want a build that's as cheap as possible but compatible with water cooling for practicing purposes.
 
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No I just need the specs for the tower. I already have everything else.
And I don't see why you need a budget lol.. I said it just needs to be a cheap as possible
This pc will not get used for anything except for other members of the family to browse the net on. Its more for me to learn how to build an entire pc and how to watercool.

By cheap watercooling I was looking at Something similar to the ocuk v6 kit..
You can't really get any cheaper than that and it had good reviews so what's the problem with it?
 
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JamesCapaldi said:
Probably best to give a maximum budget, then people can spec things as low as possible below the max :)

From what I gather you aren't intending to actually 'use' this pc, you just want a build that's as cheap as possible but compatible with water cooling for practicing purposes.
Click to expand...

Yep, exactly.

Well for the actual machine I was looking at 300-400 and then at a later date a further 130-150 for watercooling. Perhaps a bit more if I could watercool the gpu as well.
 
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YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK Tech Lab - V6 Watercooling Kit 120 £76.88
1 x XSPC RS120 120mm Radiator - Black £29.99
1 x XSPC RayStorm CPU WaterBlock (Intel) £51.98
1 x Mayhems X1 UV Red Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L £7.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £43.99
1 x MSI H61M-P31-G3 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £38.99
1 x Intel Celeron G550 2.60GHz Socket LGA 1155 Processor - Retail £37.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x **B Grade** Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM £30
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34096M1600HC11DC) £29.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £412.79 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Edit: It should work fine.
 
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I may have misunderstood but it sounds like you want to buy and watercool a computer to practise on before building a proper gaming rig? If so why not spend more time and money and do it properly the first time and then give your current system to family?

Watercooling and system building is not hard, I understand it can feel a bit daunting but people here will help you if you get stuck.

Like others have said you can't do watercooling on the "cheap" so you may as well just build a good system that would benefit from it, if your going to do it.
 
Ash2097 said:
I may have misunderstood but it sounds like you want to buy and watercool a computer to practise on before building a proper gaming rig? If so why not spend more time and money and do it properly the first time and then give your current system to family?

Watercooling and system building is not hard, I understand it can feel a bit daunting but people here will help you if you get stuck.

Like others have said you can't do watercooling on the "cheap" so you may as well just build a good system that would benefit from it, if your going to do it.
Click to expand...


valid point, but i've not long spent £1,300 on a pc from overclockers. so i won't be looking to upgrade for a while. like i've said, this is mostly for me to learn something new. surly i can build a pc for about £300-400 that;s compatible with watercooling then at a later date spend £130-150 and watercool it.

like others have mentioned, it might be worth looking into a second hand pc components and watercooling that, thus saving money.
 
ThaReaperGuy said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK Tech Lab - V6 Watercooling Kit 120 £76.88
1 x XSPC RS120 120mm Radiator - Black £29.99
1 x XSPC RayStorm CPU WaterBlock (Intel) £51.98
1 x Mayhems X1 UV Red Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L £7.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020058-UK) £43.99
1 x MSI H61M-P31-G3 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £38.99
1 x Intel Celeron G550 2.60GHz Socket LGA 1155 Processor - Retail £37.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x **B Grade** Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM £30
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34096M1600HC11DC) £29.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £412.79 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Edit: It should work fine.
Click to expand...


thank you. this seems ideal, fairly cheap and watercooled. all i'd need to do is pick up a second hand gpu and it would be sorted, and its around the ball park figure i was looking at spending.

things all being compatible was my main concern, i looked the mb/cpu up and it would go fine with that watercooling gear but what about the psu? does that have the connections for the pump and such?
thanks for taking the time to look all that up by the way, appreciate it.
 
Fair enough would you not fancy watercooling your current system and rebuilding it? Although would be a shame as would void the system warranty with Ocuk. Maybe just get a cheap system spec as above and then get some used watercooling parts or the kit that you mentioned and then maybe you could just use that on your system one day. One good thing with watercooling parts is that they last and you only need to update the blocks.
 
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