Novice builder needs a little help

tonytupman · 12 Aug 2008 at 16:50

Hi guys, I'm new here and this is my first post so first a bit of foundation, I'm 46 yrs old and have been using PC's for about half that time. In all that time the most I've ever done inside a computer is install more ram and a better graphic card. Despite my age I'm pretty much a novice in the computer building area and am very nervous about cocking things up so that's why I'm here.

In the past I've always bought PCs from companies like Dell, Gateway and Evesham and while these machines have generally served me well (especially the Evesham) I feel the time has come to get my hands dirty.

Can some of you experts help to spec me a rig including everything I need apart from a moniter, speakers, keyboard/mouse.

I want to build a gaming PC,

I have 'about' £1000,

I know nothing about 'overclocking' but feel it is something I would like to get into.

I have done some reading and this is as far as I have got:

Antec 900 case

Antec TruePower Quattro 850W PSU

Samsung Spinpoint 750gb hard drive x2 in a Raid 0 config

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz)

Asus P5Q Deluxe P45 Socket 775

Pioneer DVR-215DBK 20X SATA DVD±RW DL Int Black - OEM

I have no idea which graphics card to go for, far too much choice for me to make the correct decision.

Is there anything else I need, cables, extra cooling, thermal paste etc?

Thanks in advance for all your help

Tony

Chimerical · 12 Aug 2008 at 17:28

This is what I'd buy.

You can swap the 280GTX for an ATi 4870 (saving about £50). I don't know what screen you have, anything the same as or less than a 22" would mean a 4870 would be perfect.

I chose a faster, cooler running dual core over the Quad because unless you ever use the quad properly, its just sitting there wasting electricity. Plus, a faster dual is better for games.

The Lian Li case is MUCH better than the Antec 900 (trust me, I used to own a 900, dust central even with filters installed).

EDIT: Also with the money saved on buying a 4870, get an Artic Freezer 7 Pro or Tuniq Tower CPU cooler (for overclocking) and some Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound. - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-001-AR

lamboman · 12 Aug 2008 at 17:34

You need an OS, I presume. How big a monitor do you have?

Vista Home Premium 64 bit OEM
Q6600 Retail
P5Q Pro
Antec Nine Hundred
Corsair TX750
Powercolor 4870
2x Spinpoint 750GB
Tuniq Tower 120
GeIL Black Dragon PC6400 4GB
Add the Pioneer drive to that, and it totals to around £830. The only real upgrade that you could do is to add an X48 motherboard, and go for two 4870s, which would bring the total up to £1080 or so.

The problem with Chimerical's build is that the case is better, but is far more expensive. If you don't want dust, get an Antec P182, or the Lian Li. While I would go for the Antec (I would sacrifice the build quality slightly for the quieter case), it is a personal choice. The graphics card doesn't offer enough performance for the price, and, as he said, the 4870 saves money (actually about £70, not £50). There will be barely any difference with dual core and quad core at higher resolutions, where performance becomes GPU limited rather than CPU limited. In general use, it is better to have four slower running cores than two higher running ones (and processors are so fast nowadays, that there isn't a need for the extra clock...). The Enermax is ludicrously expensive, as a Corsair HX620 would deliver close power (700W) for less money. The Corsair memory isn't as good an overclocker as the GeIL. The motherboard offers more features than needed.

Chimerical · 12 Aug 2008 at 17:46

lamboman said:
You need an OS, I presume. How big a monitor do you have?

Vista Home Premium 64 bit OEM

P5Q Pro
Antec Nine Hundred

The problem with Chimerical's build is that the case is better, but is far more expensive. If you don't want dust, get an Antec P182, or the Lian Li. While I would go for the Antec (I would sacrifice the build quality slightly for the quieter case), it is a personal choice. The graphics card doesn't offer enough performance for the price, and, as he said, the 4870 saves money (actually about £70, not £50). There will be barely any difference with dual core and quad core at higher resolutions, where performance becomes GPU limited rather than CPU limited. In general use, it is better to have four slower running cores than two higher running ones (and processors are so fast nowadays, that there isn't a need for the extra clock...). The Enermax is ludicrously expensive, as a Corsair HX620 would deliver close power (700W) for less money. The Corsair memory isn't as good an overclocker as the GeIL. The motherboard offers more features than needed.

Yeah all true. At least get the Antec P182 instead of the A17 (if you don't mind having a door). The 900 sucks in too much dust.

Steve2000 · 12 Aug 2008 at 18:22

Or an Eclipse 62. They don't do much dust either.

noxidjkram@hotm · 12 Aug 2008 at 19:20

Anyone thought to ask the man what he will be using the PC for before suggesting components? I know he says gaming - but there may be other requirements?

M

tonytupman · 13 Aug 2008 at 15:53

Hi guys, thanks a lot for all your help & advice.

Think I'm going to stick with the q6600 because I'll be future proofing, don't want to end up having to change my cpu next year.

To Chimerical, real shame about the Antec 900, after seeing a video review of it I'd fell in love with the damned thing. The Lian-Li looks nice though, will investigate it & the Antec P182. Thanks for your spec, looks very interesting.

To lamboman, I've got a Samsung 22inch widescreen monitor & yes I will be wanting Vista Home Premium 64 bit. As for a graphics card, I thought Nvidia had the upper hand at the moment, is this not the case? Is a single hd480 anywhere near as good as the GTX280?

To 'noxidjkram', apart from gaming the pc will just be used for word processing, bit of dtp, and converting vinyl records to a digital format (I've already got the turntable). Any web browsing and such will be done on my laptop, although I will obviously need to get online with my new build. Will I need a wireless card or something to connect to my broadband router?

As for the motherboard, am I ok going for the Asus P5Q Deluxe or should I go with lamboman's suggestion the Asus P5Q Pro?

Is the Antec TruePower Quattro 850W PSU no good? Everyone seems to change that on my spec yet all the reviews rave about it.

Is the GeIL Black Dragon PC6400 4GB ram just about the best for overclocking at that price?

Apologies for going on a bit, want to make sure I've got everything right before throwing a grand at ***********!

Once again, thanks guys for all your advice & tips, it is much appreciated.

Tony.

noxidjkram@hotm · 16 Aug 2008 at 11:50

Assuming you have a 'Wireless capable' broadband router, then yes - you will need wireless capability for the PC you build (unless you are goiing to direct wire by LAN into the router).

While i'm on, i'd also think about the newer 1333MHz FSB bus CPUs - may as well go for the 45nm chip - for both power consumption and processing capability reasonns.

Good luck,

M