First time pc

karlos88 · 16 Jul 2014 at 13:49

Hey guys, I'm looking to build myself a pc over the summer for a bit of a challenge between uni terms, but looking at the component lists it really is totally overwhelming. :confused:

Basically what I'm looking for is a pc which is able to cope with research very swiftly..getting a ton of articles up at once along with office use.probably not that intensive to be fair.

However I would like to make it upgradable, because basically during next summer break I'll want to play fallout 4

up until that point I won't need a graphics card so a decent integrated one for videos would be handy.

What do you think would be a good set up for my needs? Budget for now would be 350-400.

Thanks a lot in advance, I appreciate you probably get a lot of these questions!

Danny75 · 16 Jul 2014 at 13:57

Hi and welcome to the forum, Karlos.

As much info as possible would be helpful, particularly with that budget. For instance, do you need a monitor, headset/speaker, keyboard, mouse... can you get Windows discounted as you are a student (do a bit of searching on that if you were unaware), etc?

Sandycheeks · 16 Jul 2014 at 13:59

Pentium K anniversary and cheap motherboard.

Sandycheeks · 16 Jul 2014 at 14:01

check out tohrazers builds

karlos88 · 16 Jul 2014 at 14:02

Of course, my apologies.

All I'm looking for is the tower..already got software and peripherals.

Danny75 · 16 Jul 2014 at 14:11

karlos88 said:
Of course, my apologies.

All I'm looking for is the tower..already got software and peripherals.

Thanks.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus Z97-K - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£14 Saving** £246.58
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £46.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £42.98
1 x Zalman Z3-Plus Midi-Tower - Black £39.95
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £10.99
Total : £453.08 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Integrated HD4600 graphics capable of HD video playback and a little gaming (particularly on low res). And an upgradable rig ready for a discrete GPU to be added.

An alternative, to get a fast SSD in, is to ditch the 1TB mechanical drive, and start off with this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99

It would mean stretching the budget of course. But you could get the OS and programs on it, and just add a mechanical drive for extra storage when you need it.

Danny75 · 16 Jul 2014 at 14:17

Slightly cheaper motherboard and 240GB SSD:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x MSI Z97 PC Mate Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £64.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £46.99
1 x Zalman Z3-Plus Midi-Tower - Black £39.95
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £10.99
Total : £476.50 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Haven't specced an aftermarket cooler for overclocking that CPU. The stock cooler would do at stock speed, for now.

Tohrazer · 16 Jul 2014 at 14:41

Sandycheeks said:
check out tohrazers builds

i fully endorse this comment!

(@ OP however if you're adding a GPU later rather than immediately, id advise spending more now, perhaps something similar to my £600 or £700 build WITHOUT the graphics card)

karlos88 · 16 Jul 2014 at 15:04

Thanks Danny, that looks like a very nice basket (to my newbie eyes) I've read an SSD makes a lot of difference so I do plan on investing in one of those.

Tohrazer, I will check out your builds, thank you. Why do you recommend spending more now? Am I deluded in my impression that upgrading at a later date will give me more for my money? Or are you thinking just about future proofing the machine allowing for more expansive upgrades?

karlos88 · 16 Jul 2014 at 16:26

Is there any reason I can't use the cheap Bitfenix case? It's just going to get put in the cupboard anyway. Not really sure watt i'm doing with the power supply, but I stuck with the 550W despite going for a HDD and SSD, don't know if i'll need more power though?

Hopefully you can see this link, I don't know how to list it all nice like you guys.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/viewcart.php

Danny75 · 16 Jul 2014 at 16:36

karlos88 said:
Not really sure watt i'm doing with the power supply

I see what you did there.

Your basket won't display to us, unless you use the OcUK shopping cart viewer.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18371076

I personally use the Chrome extension linked to there.

karlos88 · 16 Jul 2014 at 16:46

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus Z97-K - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£14 Saving** £268.54
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan ORANGE 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLAD38G2400HC11CDC01) £55.99
1 x Crucial MX100 128GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT128MX100SSD1) £54.98
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £43.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £42.98
1 x BitFenix Neos ATX Tower Black/Red £27.95
1 x Akasa AK-CC4013EP01 Nero 3 V2 Premier CPU Cooler £25.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £10.99
Total : £541.02 (includes shipping : £8.00).

ooo, very nice.

Quite a lot more than my origional budget..oops. I'm hoping this will last me a few years and can be easily upgraded though? right?

lude1962 · 16 Jul 2014 at 18:07

It's just going to get put in the cupboard anyway.

??

karlos88 · 16 Jul 2014 at 18:13

As in my pc desk cupboard..not in the dusty cupboard under the stairs

lude1962 · 17 Jul 2014 at 09:39

karlos88 said:
As in my pc desk cupboard..not in the dusty cupboard under the stairs

hope its not a cupboard with a door on the front