First real build

electriclinux

electriclinux

electriclinux

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Joined
12 Nov 2013
Posts
23
Hi

I am been looking at building my first Desktop (for gaming) and was looking at the following configuration (taken mostly from Doomedspeed)

1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Dual-X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Card £229.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £119.99
1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3B1K2/8GX) £61.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99

I already have windows 8.1, a Cooler Master Hyper 412S CPU Cooler,120GB SSD and a monitor and keyboard/mouse. I was thinking about this case http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-003-BX
but I am not sure in what condition it is in. I am not sure what case to get (basically I don't care if it is ugly as I just want one that has good air ventilation, at least 1 usb 3.0 and can fit all my components in) .

Any help on what case would be greatly appreciated.
 
electriclinux said:
(taken mostly from Doomedspeed)
Click to expand...

Atleast your honest, some people (not naming names) steal my (and other peoples) specs without any grace. :)

Welcome, by the way..

You seem to have everything else sorted bar the case..

That Raider is a good price and a good case though i personally find Bitfenix fans a bit weak (don't tell stulid). If you after a good budget case i would recommend either of these:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £49.99
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.95
Total : £102.24 (includes shipping : £10.25).



They an both fit all your components in..

Like you say, another issue with B grade is, "do i get all the bits i need".. The answer is "no-one knows". :)
 
Best to ask in Customer Services about the condition of any "B" grade item, before purchasing. If they can`t answer your queries to your satisfaction, don`t purchase it.
There are some good bargains to be had, but it can be a bit of a lottery.
 
You can't really go wrong with either of the cases that Doomedspeed recommended. All I'll say is, if you plan on attempting good cable management, stay away from any of the Cooler Master Elite series cases. They're terrible for cable management!
 
I queried customer service about the B-Grade 6850 they have for £50 a few days ago.
They replied with "we do not have information as to why an individual item is B-Grade".
 
I have the Raider case....If I was to buy again I wouldn't buy the Raider case :D

I just found it too small inside to work with. There is absolutely no room between the Motherboard and bays. Also the top case panel doesn't come off all the way, as there are hardwired cables from the usb ports. Oh and i agree about the stock fans...they are pants :D I swapped mine out straight away.
 
Seems a solid budget build torn between going for something like this or going full hog with a i7 not sure what's the real world difference is between the two could not careless about benchmarks
 
From experience do what ever Doomedspeed said. You won't be dissapointed.

Josh
 
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All looks fine, but I'd go for C9 1866MHz RAM, at £65 (Patriot). Also wait for the updated weekly offer prices today as some items might be on offer.
 
electriclinux said:
Sorry for the double post but I don't use dvds or cd's so can I build a desktop without one and just install everything using usb?
Click to expand...

Yeah, you can install all from USB yes..

Or you can (if you have a DVD drive already and just don't want to use it) install everything using it then remove it. :)
 
electriclinux said:
Cheers Doomedspeed you have been very helpful.
Click to expand...


Doomedspeed said:
First time for everything. :)
Click to expand...

+1 ;)

@OP your need another computer with an optical drive to install everything via the USB as your need to create an image of your Windows installation DVD and your LAN drivers at least.

Once you have yoru image you can use the Microsoft USB tool from the market place (its free) to make your USB key bootable.
 
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What version of 8.1 do you have?
If you have the cheaper version or went the upgrade path, who may find that changing your mobo, it will need re-activating via phone. There is a guide in Windows to help you do this.
 
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