[HELP] Building 1st PC

dudeinmud

dudeinmud

dudeinmud

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Joined
16 May 2009
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23
Hello.

I intend on building my own PC near Christmas time, and have come up with a spec that I like. I am not an expert, so I am not 100% sure if these parts will be compatible and/or safe together so I hope that someone will be able to tell me. The parts are as follows:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLAPL
GEIL 4GB DDR2 800 CL5 DC BLACK DRAGON *****************
Gigabyte GeForce GTS 250 PCI E Graphics Card *****************
WD HD SERIAL 500GB UDMA 300 7200RPM *****************
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64 *****************
T/TAKE CASE LANBOX LITE VF6000BNS BLK *****************
SC-148 CD Drive *****************
GA-73PVM-S2 Motherboard http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2734

As you may have noticed, I haven't included a PSU. If all these parts are OK together please reccomend me a PSU that is safe and/or compatible with the selected parts (bearing in mind I am on a tight budget).

Thanks in advance, Luke.

Linking to competitors is against the rules. Please make sure you read the FAQ - No promotion of OcUK's competitors section.
 
I'd wait until a maximum of 2 weeks before you intended to purchase the parts as prices fluctuate a fair bit.

As for PSU, Something like a Corsair VX/TX/HX.

I'd remove the Competitors links as this is the forum for Overclockers.

If you give a budget it'd be possible to throw you a build together as well.
 
If i was you mate, i would keep the e8400 and the memory, get the p5q pro turbo, 4870 or the 4890, windows when it comes out, corsair 650w and the wd 500gb black hard drive. Do you have a budget and what will you ben using it for?
 
Do you have the The E8400 and GA-73PVM-S2 already, as that mobo is not good for overclocking. I used to have the S2H version and the volts for memory is only 1.8v and can't be changed, the memory you have listed needs at lest 1.9v.

If you have no parts yet, i would start looking at building around the i5 cpu.
 
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DAMO RAM80 said:
You do see a lot of new accounts posting to other competitors early on in there thread count i wonder if they have a connection to the owner or just don't bother reading the rules :(
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I just didn't read the rules, sorry.

Thanks for the help so far guys, my budget on a PSU is £50, but I would like it to be a little cheaper, as I don't need so much power for these parts do I?

My budget is £500 maximum, and my pc will be used for gaming mostly.

I WOULD like to keep the case I selected, as I will be using it for portability. Nobody has told me yet whether these parts are compatible (eg. will the motherboard and gfx card fit inside this case?)

Thanks
 
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hmm the core 2 e400 is a good chip but games are starting to become more threaded and taking advantage of quad cores plus its a dead socket so your upgrade options are limited to the core 2 quad 9x50 series. you might be better off going for an i5 or i7 setup, the cheapest i5 for example is only 20 pounds more expensive than an e8400. and you can upgrade to i7-8 series or whatever else they bring out in the future.

as for the case - hmm most i can find out is that it fits 8800 series gpus. i also found a review with someone who had a 280 gtx in a vf6000bws - not sure what differences there are between the bns and the bws.
 
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jamiehavok said:
hmm the core 2 e400 is a good chip but games are starting to become more threaded and taking advantage of quad cores plus its a dead socket so your upgrade options are limited to the core 2 quad 9x50 series. you might be better off going for an i5 or i7 setup, the cheapest i5 for example is only 20 pounds more expensive than an e8400. and you can upgrade to i7-8 series or whatever else they bring out in the future.

as for the case - hmm most i can find out is that it fits 8800 series gpus.
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Thanks, at least I know now that the gfx card will fit.

I still need to know:
Will the motherboard fit the case?
Are there any quad cores for the same price as the e8400 that are just as good?
Will my motherboard support the quad core you reccomend?

Thanks again
 
dudeinmud said:
Thanks, at least I know now that the gfx card will fit.

I still need to know:
Will the motherboard fit the case?
Are there any quad cores for the same price as the e8400 that are just as good?
Will my motherboard support the quad core you reccomend?

Thanks again
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did some more reserach and edited a bit

its a micro atx motherboard so as long as the case supports micro atx then it will fit - as its a cube case it probably will. edit yes it supports micro atx

your motherboard supports most core 2 quad core processors according to cpu list but might require a bios update

you can get a q6600 and a q9450 about the same price as the e8400, some stuff may benefit from e8400s higher clock speed though.

if you want an i5 quadcore which mostly benchmarks higher than an e8400 yes you will have to change motherboards but you will have more upgrade options. final edit also forgot that i5 uses ddr3 only so you will have to change ram to so that might take you out of price range.
 
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jamiehavok said:
did some more reserach and edited a bit

its a micro atx motherboard so as long as the case supports micro atx then it will fit - as its a cube case it probably will. edit yes it supports micro atx

your motherboard supports most core 2 quad core processors according to cpu list but might require a bios update

you can get a q6600 and a q9450 about the same price as the e8400, some stuff may benefit from e8400s higher clock speed though.

if you want an i5 quadcore which mostly benchmarks higher than an e8400 yes you will have to change motherboards but you will have more upgrade options. final edit also forgot that i5 uses ddr3 only so you will have to change ram to so that might take you out of price range.
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Ok thanks a lot for the help! So will everything else definaley fit like the PSU etc?

Also I only play counter strike source and that is a single threaded game, so do you reccomend I get the e8400?

Also is it better to have a quad core of 2.5ghz or a dual core of 3.0ghz? do they add up?
 
dudeinmud said:
Ok thanks a lot for the help! So will everything else definaley fit like the PSU etc?

Also I only play counter strike source and that is a single threaded game, so do you reccomend I get the e8400?

Also is it better to have a quad core of 2.5ghz or a dual core of 3.0ghz? do they add up?
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yeah if thats the only game you foresee yourself playing in the future i would recommend the e8400.

the core 2 quad at lower clockspeeds will benchmark lower than the e8400 on single/dual core threaded titles as they are the the same processor architecture.

A core i5/i7 quad core however are likely to outperform the e8400 at lower clockspeeds however as they are a better architecture overall and do more per clock, but as i said with the ddr3 and mobo change that may be out of budget and if all your going to do is play counter strike probably not worth it.

if you suddenly want to play a game that benefits from quad cores later a core 2 quad from the e8400 would probably still be a nice upgrade.

it looks like your case is compattible with an atx ps2 psu. not sure if this is different than a standard atx psu?

just get a good brand like corsair, coolermaster or bequiet not a budget brand as if your psu blows it can take other components with it, maybe at least 650 watts or so incase you wnt to upgrade your gpu in future - if you want to consider sli in future you may need 1000 watts or more.
 
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For counter strike a dual 3.0gHz will be best.

With the cores, you can't just add them up (eg an E8400 isn't the same as a 6gHz single core) but they do scale, depending on what apps you're running.

For CS an 8800GT and E8400 should be great - I get 140fps+ with an 8800GT and AMD 720BE (2.8gHz, for the purposes of a single-threaded app) so you should get comparable results.

PSU wise an OCZ modXstream 500W will do you fine. Mine's lovely and stable even with a 30% oc on the cpu and 10% on the graphics card.
 
You're best off making a new thread when you're actually ready to buy. By Christmas new kit will be out, and you will without a doubt be able to get better gear.
 
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