New To Building Desktops, What Do I Need?

kellaway225

kellaway225

kellaway225

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Right i have been thinking about replacing my Laptop (Sager NP9262) with a Desktop and i know that building it yourself can save you money. However i have NEVER built a desktop before, i have added / removed parts like RAM, hard drive, PCi slot audio items and with info i would be confident in installing CPU knowing what they are and where they go

So what do i need?
i know i need the following :

CPU
RAM
Hard drive
GPU
PSU
Case
Motherboard
DVD Drive
OS

is there anything i am missing? where would the best place to get these parts from? i know Hard drives and RAM can be easily purchased from Ebay and have done before but what about GPU and PSU?.

As i havent built a system before would it be better to just buy a basic system and upgrade as i go that way it will have all the required parts to work and i can then work at getting it upgraded with parts.

I dont have a desktop at the moment so i would be buying all the parts, i do have a Q6600 that is currently in my Laptop (Sager NP9262) which i could take out and put in the desktop to save a bit of money and upgrade later.

Some of the parts i know about, like OS, RAM and Hard drive and CPU but the most confusing would be the Motherboard, would it be possible to get a Motherboard that would work with the Q6600 but be able to upgrade to i5 / i7 in the future without having to upgrade the Motherboard.

As for Graphics i would want something like the 260 GTX and have the option for future to upgrade to SLI.

So my main question : Would it be best to build the desktop my self or buy a decent desktop and upgrade as i go rather then buying all parts and putting it together my self as i havent built a desktop my self before
 
Okay thanks for the link.
Where i would like to build myself, just dont know what i need or where to get it :)
well i know the easy parts like RAM, CPU, GPU, HD, Motherboard
but other then that i am not too sure
 
or you could post another thread. state how much u have to spend. what you would use it for

and also any parts you already have / will or can reuse.

people here are VERY helpfull with builds and deffinatly got me more bang for buck


top left... where it says "OCUK" click it.. giant store full of decent parts :)
 
If you tell us what you intend to use your PC for and how much you want to spend then im sure we could suggest a good system for you. Do you know if you want to have an Intel processor in your machine or AMD??
 
okay, i have not used AMD processors before so dont really have any idea about them
but used plenty of Intel ones and they seem fine. i have upto £1,000 to spend but that includes a Monitor / TV as well so about £400-£600 on the desktop. I would use it for gaming, net, MSN, movies and the like. i would also be using modelling tools and using office and the like as well
 
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £135.99
(£115.74) £135.99
(£115.74)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £124.98
(£106.37) £124.98
(£106.37)
Patriot Sector 5 G Series 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz Dual Channel (PGV34G1600ELK) £86.99
(£74.03) £86.99
(£74.03)
Asus M4A785TD-V Evo AMD 785G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
(£63.82) £74.99
(£63.82)
Coolermaster Storm "Scout" Gaming Case - Black £69.99
(£59.57) £69.99
(£59.57)
OCZ StealthXStream 500w Silent Power Supply £48.99
(£41.69) £48.99
(£41.69)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £40.98
(£34.88) £40.98
(£34.88)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
(£12.76) £14.99
(£12.76)

Sub Total : £508.86
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.75
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £91.11
Total : £611.72

AMD Phenom IIs offer very good value for money when it comes to gaming and if you're not overclocking then they offer better stock speeds.
 
thanks, mind telling me where thats from?
i could try to overclock in the future, once i get a better understanding of it :)
as for the hard drive i would be looking for atelast 1TB and with space for more - i guess thats down to the case correct?

EDIT : as i will be connecting to a TV the Desktop would need HDMI support :)
 
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Okay great thanks i will check the main site out now :)
i like the NZXT Hush or NZXT Lexa Blackline cases - would these be good options?
i dont see them on the site, any idea where i can buy them from? other then ebay
 
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I've been told that a lot of the nzxt cases seem quite cheaply made, dunno if that's changed now a days

The Cm-690's a good case that i've found with a couple of extra fans provides excellent cooling
 
It will be my first desktop so i want a nice looking case as well :)
i would also like it to have a see through side in case i feel like adding LED lights :)

EDIT : So i have looked up the Scout on Youtube with reviews
i do like the look of it so i think when i get my Desktop i will go down that road for the case, thanks for recommending it :)
 
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MonkeykingZX said:
+1 to redmint's suggestion although maybe swap the hdd out for the 1tb samsung f3 if you're gonna be doing a lot of 3d modeling and maybe switch to a modular psu for easier cable management for £5 more?
Click to expand...

whats the difference between normal and modular PSU?
i am thinking about going with the above suggestion but change the HD
to something like a 1tb drive for the space and then will add a second at a later date
 
Modular PSU means you can remove the cables you don't need so there's less clutter in the case.

I've not tried the Scout myself but I've also seen a lot of good reviews for it and I've generally had good experiences with the Coolermaster cases I've owned the past.
 
with the setup you suggested (thanks for that) would i need anything else to or would it be install and play? i dont mean things like OS, key board and mouse i mean like extra fans or anything?
 
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