Never built a PC before :D

Kic Trickster · 18 May 2015 at 22:44

Hi guys.

My name is Matt and I'm new to the forums and building computers.
I'm a big gamer and have a Xbox One, I'm wanting to build my first PC I've been reading around on the forums and I think I have a good knowledge of what I'd be doing when it come to assembling all the hardware, I don't really have a budget as of yet but ideally I'd like something around the £500 - 600 mark, I'd like something that could be up graded as time went on. I would need everything apart from keyboard mouse speakers. It will be completely for gaming with games such as battlefield games, RPG's and racing games.

I don't mind what type of manufacture either as I've noticed that people can be either Intel or AMD, I also don't mind buying things as I go along as I know how quickly things get better in this market.

Thanks for reading and hope I didn't waffle on.

Matt

stulid · 18 May 2015 at 22:46

Hi and welcome.

You say you need everything apart from keyboard/mouse+speakers.

Do you need a copy of windows and a monitor?

Do you know how to build a PC?

Kic Trickster · 18 May 2015 at 22:50

Yes I'll need OS and monitor but can use my LCD tv for the screen for a while, I've done some reading on how to build one and making sure the components will work together, plus I have a few friends into this kind of thing.

stulid · 18 May 2015 at 22:55

Knowing people that can help is good and as you said, many many guides on Youtube.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 960 DirectCU2 OC Strix 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £169.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £63.95
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £55.99
1 x Antec TruePower Classic 550w '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £53.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £47.99
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA100) HDD £41.99
1 x Antec GX500 Midi-Tower - Black £32.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £14.99
Total : £583.28 (includes shipping : £17.85 Ex.VAT).

Thats a little something I have just put together for you.

• The motherboard allows you to overclock the CPU as it has an unlocked multiplier.
• The motherboard will also accept an i5 or i7 Haswell/Devils Canyon CPU and the upcoming Broadwell CPUs, this is one of the first things to upgrade when you come to it.
• The case has good space inside and two fitted fans.
• The extra heatsink will help keep noise under control and heat from the CPU if you do overclock it.
• The PSU will accept better GFX cards like a GTX970.

The GTX960 from ASUS runs passive at idle (so fans stop spinning) and includes a free game.

An SSD (250Gb or better) would be a great addition or maybe buy it first and add a large HDD later for extra storage.

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Any items on weekly offer change Wednesday as the offers run Wednesday to Wednesday.

There are also two daily offers every day.

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If you did need an ok monitor to game on,

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-023-AO&groupid=17&catid=510

1ms response time should help eliminate ghosting.

Dewgy · 18 May 2015 at 23:44

Don't worry too much about the building of the PC. It really is just like putting together a giant lego, even better since you got friends to help!

Good luck with ya building man.

mahius · 19 May 2015 at 00:03

Depending on whether you'd be willing to upgrade your processor later or not, I might suggest an i5 processor, like the popular 4670k. It would increase the cost a bit. The G3258/960 just about competes with current gen consoles like PS4/XBONE. The processor/GC are the things to upgrade for significant performance boost. Might I add that upgrading the graphics card is the easiest thing to do when it comes to fiddling with PC hardware.

xchaotic · 19 May 2015 at 01:19

Since this is your first computer build, I'd recommend you go with a large, modular case and a modular power supply to make connecting things as easy as possible and also air cooling to avoid any potential problems.
Others have provided some component choices for you. It's not good for the market, but there's very little competition in the PC world nowadays.
For you, as a beginner, this should make things a little easier, as despite many brands such as MSI, Asus etc, they're all just sticker running the same hardware underneath.
For CPU you have a theoretical choice between AMD and Intel, unfortunately AMD is pretty far behind at the moment, so it's hard to recommend AMD for your budget and computer role.
In other words, you should go with quad-core Intel i5 processor, for example 4670.
It's your choice to go with a "K" processor or not. K means unlocked so you can overclock, in gaming this translates to very little gain nowadays, so you're better off spending the budget on GPU.
Likewise if you don't indtend on overclocking you can save money on the motherboard
For RAM, DDR1600 is a standard,so don't waste money on fancy modules. Likewise don't waste money on more than 2x 4GB - you can always add mroe later and no games that I know take advantage of more than 4GB of RAM anyway.
For GPU, you have a choice between nVidia or AMD. Again, it's hard to recommend AMD, due to it's low power efficiency, but you may be able to get a better deals in terms of performance/price ratio on the AMD side.
I would recommend to go with nVidia GTX970. This will be a significant part of your budged, but it will allow to enjoy all games in 1080p (FullHD) in good detail and see a vast difference to consoles.
Finally nowadays, SSD is a must. I'd recommend you go for 256GB, which will fit Windows, apps and a few games.
You can add more storage later 2TB HDD is a good option if you need lots of space, another SSD might be better if you prefer speed instead.
Don't waste money on blu-ray or dvd-rom reader. They're cheap, but very, very useless nowadays. I haven't used mine in years.

Kic Trickster · 19 May 2015 at 12:29

Wow thanks for all the great help guys, will consider everything you all have said and will probs buy it in the next few weeks after abit more research. I take that as long as all the stuff fits in a case I can buy any? A friend of mine has got a couple of hard drive lying around de he said he would give me them

stulid · 19 May 2015 at 12:34

Many cases will tell you waht size board they can take (mATX, ATX etc) the max length of gfx card that can be supported (whether you need to take a HDD cage out from inside or not etc) and what CPU cooler height measurement can be.

All that info you find at the manufacture website for the products.

There is a handy app to allow you to post a basket like above - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18371076&highlight=browser

Vinno · 19 May 2015 at 12:54

I haven't got any advice other than good luck and have fun! I still remember building my first ever PC. It feels great when you press the power button and it actually works!

Ch3m1c4L · 19 May 2015 at 19:41

Vinno said:
I haven't got any advice other than good luck and have fun! I still remember building my first ever PC. It feels great when you press the power button and it actually works!

and feels horrible when nothing happens, you check everything over, and realise youve missed the 4 or 8 pin cpu power. Then it feels great afterward when it works

FatRakoon · 20 May 2015 at 04:22

My son was 4 years old when he built his first PC.
He was watching me, and he knew not to touch anything, and he just happened to ask one day if he can do it and I thought why the heck not.

I gathered some older bits, a Mobo, a K6 500 CPU and a couple of sticks of RAM, an Audio PCI card and an AGP GFX Card, a HD, CDROM and an AT PSU and said to him to have a go.

I said he can look inside mine, ( which was open and on its side on my bed ) but he cannot touch, and he can do the same with his.

He did everything pretty much spot on.

The only issue he did have, was the jumpers were setup for a 400 and the CPU was a 500 and you wont get that issue cos the boards these days do it for you, and the AT PSU connections he had wedged in the wrong way round and again, with ATX this wont happen either.
The HD and CDROM he used seperate IDE cable and they were the wrong way round, but it still worked just fine of course and he had not used any screws to hold the Sound & GFX Cards in, but small things. 10 minutes after checking over we gave it a shot and it booted up, I tightened everything up and he used it for months to play pictures ( MSPAINT )

So I promise you mate... building a PC is the easiest thing you can possibly do.

If somehting isnt quite rightm, that can be the swine to fix, especially when you what needs to be done, but it does not help.

just dont freak, and imagine its a lego technic and you will be fine.