Newbie needs help with building a PC!

WARHURYEAH · 14 Feb 2009 at 17:32

Has anyone got any advice or a guide for building my own PC? I'm looking to start building one around the summer and I have no clue what I need and what is compatible with what!

Here's a few questions etc.

Would I need to buy all the cables?

Do I only need to water cool if I'm overclocking?

Some people have 2 graphics cards of the same e.g. 2x 8800GTX, is this only possible with a few?

Is having a quad core faster + better than a dual core even with lower Ghz?

ATI or Nvidea?

Things like Processors, Memory, Motherboards and GFX Cards are DDR3, DDR2, GDDR3, GDDR5 etc.

Are they all compatible with each other or do only certain things work?

Thanks. Chris.

Kennysevenfold · 14 Feb 2009 at 17:56

Hi and wolcome to OCUK

1. all cables will come with the motherboard/graphics card and power supply

2. no just a decent 3rd party cpu cooler.

3. better to get 1 card for a certain price than 2 at half the price and sli/x-fire them. ie (1 at £200 rather than 2 x at £100)

4. quad is more suited to video editing and true multi-tasking, duals are better for gamming due to higher clock speed.

4 personel preference, think ati has the edge just now but realy depends on your budget.

5 graphics card memory GDDR2/3/5 workes will all motherboards just make sure the slot is compatable ie. pci-e, pci-apg though the latter two are almost extinct in graphic terms.

ram memory is however linked to the motherboard, you get a DDR2 motherboard, you need ddr2 ram same with DDR3

have a look on youtube to get familiar with some of the hardware/ where what goes etc, i found it very helpfull when i started out mate, videos you can actually see the parts and where they go etc, you can only do so mutch with typing

Kennysevenfold · 14 Feb 2009 at 17:59

and if all the hardware compatabilities really do stump you, you could always post on here your budget and what you need - system obv, monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers/operating system.

and we will do out best to spec you a system that best suites your needs and within budget

WARHURYEAH · 14 Feb 2009 at 18:21

Yeah I most proberly will do once I've saved up

My original plan was to buy each part gradually but then of course there's risk where I could have gotten what I bought a lot cheaper 4 months later.

Also i7 Processors! wtf is all that about? Is it better at multi tasking than a quad? If they're good is it worth investing in a high spec one?

Kennysevenfold · 15 Feb 2009 at 22:22

WARHURYEAH said:
Yeah I most proberly will do once I've saved up My original plan was to buy each part gradually but then of course there's risk where I could have gotten what I bought a lot cheaper 4 months later.

Also i7 Processors! wtf is all that about? Is it better at multi tasking than a quad? If they're good is it worth investing in a high spec one?

I would just get a decent Core 2 setup myself and invest in a high-end graphics card and going for an i7 setup for what you want to use the system for tbh

AlexTrickle · 15 Feb 2009 at 22:54

Basically the key points:

1. Check your CPU socket matches that stated by the motherboard.

Current CPU sockets are:
LGA775, (Intel Celeron, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad)
AM2/AM2+, (AMD Athlon X2, AMD Phenom, AMD Phenom II 920 and 940 only)
AM3, (AMD Phenom IIs)
LGA1336 (Intel Core i7)

2. Make sure that your RAM is supported by your motherboard, this comes in three factors:

a) Dual or Triple Channel: The only CPU/mobos which take triple at the moment is the Core i7 setup. All the others are dual channel.

b) DDR2 or DDR3: DDR3 is newer technology and more expensive for what is generally accepted as not a huge improvement. Core i7 and Phenom II setups both support and take DDR3. Important: The grand majority of LGA775 (Core 2 Duo/Quad) setups take DDR2 however a few motherboards take DDR3 so make sure you check this and imo avoid.

c) RAM frequency: This is the stock mhz of the RAM and is linked to the PCxxxx number of the RAM. Just check that the quoted mhz is equal or below what is stated on the motherboard specification.

3. Check the other connections of the motherboard:

a) Graphics and other add-on card connections. Nearly all new graphics cards run via a PCI-E slot and this is standard on nearly all new motherboards too. PCI-AGP cards/motherboards are few and far between and are being phased out. This shouldn't concern you but just it always pays to double check! Furthermore should you choose to go down the multi-GPU path then make sure your motherboard has 2 PCI-E slots.

b) Optical Drives/HDD connections. Check that these match. I.e. if you go for a SATA drive, standard now, that your motherboard has SATA ports and vice versa should you choose IDE drives. N.b. Check the number of SATA ports - should you be someone to have lots of drives make sure your motherboard will have enough ports.

I will probably think of more general beginner advice later. In which case i will update you

Audigex · 16 Feb 2009 at 11:15

Something not mentioned....

If a part says OEM in the title, it means it's "Original Equipment Manufacturer" stock. These do NOT come with heatsinks and fans, cables etc.

They're great as replacements if your DVD drive goes bust and you still have the wire, or if you want to re-use your old CPU cooler and want to save a couple of quid, but if you're building your first PC you need to buy "retail" parts. These come with all cables etc.

reflux · 16 Feb 2009 at 11:19

WARHURYEAH said:
My original plan was to buy each part gradually but then of course there's risk where I could have gotten what I bought a lot cheaper 4 months later.

Yup, don't do this. Product prices decline steadily all the time; not to mention new products appear regularly; so you're far better off waiting until you can afford the whole lot