First PC buy for 6 years, first build, I need help!

Fortin · 29 Oct 2009 at 12:50

Hey all, I'm in need of some advice:

My current pc is 6+ years and is in a dire state, I need a new pc that can play the new games well and will last. My aim is to spend roughly £600-700 on the core system then buy peripherals like monitor, mouse, keyboard etc slowly.

Have been reading the forums but have only got so far putting together what I need. Below is what I've got:

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 965 Black Edition 3.40GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail - £144.98
Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail - £139.99
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard - £105.00
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD6401AALS) - £48.99
Sony Optiarc AD-5240S 24x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM - £16.99
TOTAL = £467.47

I have no idea what RAM or power supply to buy and am torn about what case to get (I like the look of Lian Li but not sure if they're worth the money)

Could someone please look over the components and give me a hand choosing the final parts.

Cheers

95thrifles · 29 Oct 2009 at 12:53

If you have a read of the thread in my sig, theres a couple of builds at £700 in there as well as a bit of an explanation of things further down

xGaffner · 29 Oct 2009 at 12:59

First of all, for your first build that is a fatastic choice of components. You will want a really reliable powerful power supply (Rule #1 never skimp out on your PSU, normally when a bad PSU blows, it takes the rest of the components with it.) A 550W Corsair would run that with 0 trouble what so ever. For the RAM, i would again go for some 4GB DDR3 Corsair RAM (Known for being high quality, as well as being very compatible with all kinds of motherboards) Failing that, Kingston is also great. As for the Case, well it's what ever suits you. Lian Li make gorgeous cases but they can be very pricey. Personally i'd get a Coolermaster 590 or 690, fantastic build quality, airflow, look great, and can fit pretty much any card on the market inside it.

Fortin · 29 Oct 2009 at 14:41

Cheers for the quick replies. Got a couple more qs thou:

Just had a look at the DDR3 RAM but can't figure out which corsair ones I need. Do I go for dual channel or tri channel? And what about 10666, 12800 or 14400+ ? Tbh I have no idea what the numbers mean!

Also do I need a CPU cooler?

z0mbi3 · 29 Oct 2009 at 14:46

I'd go for a 58xx series graphics card over a 4890.

PermaBanned · 29 Oct 2009 at 15:17

Fortin said:
Also do I need a CPU cooler?

Yes. If it's a stock one or not is a different matter, but it's highly recommended for it not to be.

Fortin · 29 Oct 2009 at 15:20

Is the 58xx series really that much better than a 4890? I wasn't sure about getting one since they are pretty pricey...

Fortin · 29 Oct 2009 at 15:23

Superewza said:
Yes. If it's a stock one or not is a different matter, but it's highly recommended for it not to be.

By a stock one do you mean one that comes with the CPU?
What cooler would you suggest I get instead?

z0mbi3 · 29 Oct 2009 at 15:24

Fortin said:
Is the 58xx series really that much better than a 4890? I wasn't sure about getting one since they are pretty pricey...

That's because they're new. If you aren't planning on upgrading your new pc for awhile then it would be wise to get a 58xx series now as you'll be getting directx 11 support, which future games will make use of. I believe the 58xx series is less power hungry than the 48xx series as well.

An okay trade off might be too look at the 5770. I know it's comparable to the 4870 and it also supports dx11. I'm not sure how it compares to he 4890 though. It's not a power whore like they are though

Fortin said:
By a stock one do you mean one that comes with the CPU?
What cooler would you suggest I get instead?

If you aren't planning on overclocking then just buy a retail CPU and use the stock cooler that comes with it.

Fortin · 29 Oct 2009 at 15:55

Hmm I hadn't realised that the 5xxx series could run a higher dx, I'll have a look to see if my budget can stretch that far! Thou when does the 58xx series get released?

And I wasn't planning on overclocking at this stage, first I'll see if i can build a pc first! So will stick with the stock cooler for now.

Bonjour · 29 Oct 2009 at 15:59

Good spec.

I'm always amazed with what you can get for your money nowadays.

z0mbi3 · 29 Oct 2009 at 16:02

Fortin said:
Thou when does the 58xx series get released?

Pretty sure they're expecting some tonight / tomorrow.

GK7 · 29 Oct 2009 at 16:03

Go for the Phenom II X4 955 as opposed to the 965. The 965 has a higher TDP and you can just overclock the 955 to get the equivalent speed.

Poontun · 29 Oct 2009 at 16:04

The 58xx series is out but stock allocation in most places is pretty bad currently for a number of reasons...

Fortin · 29 Oct 2009 at 16:12

Ok cheers for the heads up on 58xx stock.

Main reason I was gonna go for the 965 was cause its on offer this week (only £8 more than the 955) so thought I might as well get a higher CPU.

O and can anyone suggest which speed RAM to go for and whether to buy dual- or tri-channel please?

pcAnywhere · 29 Oct 2009 at 17:07

I believe dual channel is needed for that CPU; something like : OCZ Gold 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 Low-Voltage Dual Channel (OCZ3G1333LV4GK)