pc building advice

seamus gill

seamus gill

seamus gill

Associate
Joined
24 Nov 2018
Posts
11
Location
scotland
good morning everyone. i wanna say hello.
my main reason for joining is to find info on how to build my own pc from scratch.
i have built pc's in the past but that was 10/15 years ago, and a lot (well nearly everything) seems to have changed since then.
what advice would other members give me to start with.
basically, i want to build a pc that is good for gaming and everyday work. i wont really be playing very high end games that often that require mega fast components(not yet anyway), but my theory is that if it can handle powerful games, then it shall be good for everything else too. im on a very strict budget( hopefully under £500 uk).
from what i can gather ssd is the way to go, but i am a little concerned about how long they will last before degrading too much. also water cooling is another feature i would like to explore( but on my budget probably cant afford right now).
also any advice on VR would be appreciated. just thinking that maybe i should make it VR ready as that seems to be the future.
sorry for the long speech, but thought it was best to lay all my cards out first.
THANKS in advance
on a side note this is the piece of scrap i have right now...


OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.17134 Build 17134
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer LENOVO
System Model 90B6007BUK
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU LENOVO_PN_90B6007BUK
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4460 CPU @ 3.20GHz, 3201 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date LENOVO IEKT26AUS, 22/07/2014
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer LENOVO
BaseBoard Model Not Available
BaseBoard Name Base Board
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State Off
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United Kingdom
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.17134.285"
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 7.95 GB
Available Physical Memory 4.18 GB
Total Virtual Memory 9.82 GB
Available Virtual Memory 5.96 GB
Page File Space 1.88 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualisation-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and the device is not InstantGo, Un-allowed DMA-capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualisation Enabled in Firmware Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes
 
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First of all WELCOME! :)

With a budget of £500 id look for some second hand bits, If your able to stretch that budget a little more you could build a decent budget build like i did back last year.... With regards to Water cooling youd definitely need a higher budget as there are so many fixtures and fittings to get then coolant etc

Im sure with everyones help on here we could try meet that £500 budget
 
thanks, nice to be here.
the 500 is a rough budget. i dont need a monitor, so that will save a little.
i realise the water cooler is just a pipe dream for now. is it worth to buy second hand parts, i always think i am buying someone elses trouble.
do you have any hints or what to avoid, or what to include. i would like to make it future proof, as much as possible on the small budget i have
 
seamus gill said:
thanks, nice to be here.
the 500 is a rough budget. i dont need a monitor, so that will save a little.
i realise the water cooler is just a pipe dream for now. is it worth to buy second hand parts, i always think i am buying someone elses trouble.
do you have any hints or what to avoid, or what to include. i would like to make it future proof, as much as possible on the small budget i have
Click to expand...

overshot but

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £541.63 (includes shipping: £11.70)​
​
 
i was looking at the ryzen. i have a soft spot for amd.
i note there s no hdd. is that the way to go in the future
what do you think of the ryzen 3 2200G
 
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Buying second hand Water cooling bits is fine aslobg as you know there's no cracks etc and it's a trusted seller... The build Orbital has done is actually great.. I didn't realise the Ryzen 1500x was that low in price... As for Storage it has to be SSD by far... Faster load times in some games and less mechanical parts than HDD so less chance of issues

Ryzen 2200G is ok but tbh for the price of the build above I know what id choose
 
normally 2 rules with storage , Gte biggest SSD you can get and add HDD when you can later as the price is always cheap.

or with amd and intel, can now create hybrid drives ( AMD bought out a software company and offer STOREMI for free), specially you could drop to 120GB ssd and get 1TB HDD. install OS on HDD and use StoreMI to add the SSD to make a larger fast hybrid drive- much faster the SDHD that are available as a single drive solution
 
I'd forget about water cooling it's overkill for the build you require. Some people have had some expensive repair bills as the result of their water coolers leaking. Air cooling will serve you well.
 
orbitalwalsh said:
normally 2 rules with storage , Gte biggest SSD you can get and add HDD when you can later as the price is always cheap.

or with amd and intel, can now create hybrid drives ( AMD bought out a software company and offer STOREMI for free), specially you could drop to 120GB ssd and get 1TB HDD. install OS on HDD and use StoreMI to add the SSD to make a larger fast hybrid drive- much faster the SDHD that are available as a single drive solution
Click to expand...
im not sure i understand exactly what you mean. i always liked amd more than intel. so get a smaller ssd, and could i use my old hdd, but i thought hdd was way slower than ssd. that would save some money.
the water cooling thing was just me day dreaming of having won the lottery and going all in. it never occured to me about water cooling systems leaking and causing destruction(doh).
anyway back to the build. what would you recommend me to use. can you give me any idea why you all are choosing particular components so i can try to learn again please
 
Just been reading up on the AMD storemi. I like the idea, but it seems a bit over my head for now.
Just had an idea, what if in the short term I got an SSD and installed on my existing pc to speed it up a bit, then as I got more money I could invest in say power supply first, then motherboard and chip, etc etc. It would mean I could build a better pc in the long run.
It might solve another problem I am having. My existing pc has got VERY SLOW to do anything it is about 2 years old and when I was away from home for work for 2 months I suspect it was exposed to overheating for some time which has damaged it making it a nightmare to do even the basic tasks.
The SSD might kick that problem down the road a bit for me.
 
seamus gill said:
Just been reading up on the AMD storemi. I like the idea, but it seems a bit over my head for now.
Just had an idea, what if in the short term I got an SSD and installed on my existing pc to speed it up a bit, then as I got more money I could invest in say power supply first, then motherboard and chip, etc etc. It would mean I could build a better pc in the long run.
It might solve another problem I am having. My existing pc has got VERY SLOW to do anything it is about 2 years old and when I was away from home for work for 2 months I suspect it was exposed to overheating for some time which has damaged it making it a nightmare to do even the basic tasks.
The SSD might kick that problem down the road a bit for me.
Click to expand...

if you need a complete rebuild, easier to buy all in one go or save up for full system. if you buy parts bit by bit, you'll find they either be replaced by something better for equal value, also comes issues of not being able to test within 14 days period etc and some units can have a month RMA time etc .
 
orbitalwalsh said:
if you need a complete rebuild, easier to buy all in one go or save up for full system. if you buy parts bit by bit, you'll find they either be replaced by something better for equal value, also comes issues of not being able to test within 14 days period etc and some units can have a month RMA time etc .
Click to expand...
very good point which i didnt consider. thanks.
 
anyone got any thoughts on what may be wrong with my present system. my thoughts are overheating because it was running warm when i got home. my wife didnt pay any attention to it when i was away. i have done all the usual checks and reinstalls. the only thing i did not do was a zero write of the hdd and because i have no other system to test it on i cannot completely rule out the hdd. that is the reason i was contemplating a liquid cooled system for the future.
some of the systems i have seen on here look amazing, and very powerful. i just wish i could afford to build one of them myself.
the more i read, the more i realise just how much the industry has changed in a few years. i am totally overwhelmed with the choices and specs
 
the above rx570 is by no means slow, specially at 1080p gaming , sure beats a console .

but as always more money, more power! just need to justify the extra spend ... do you game a lot or what the highest quality or frame rate , and does your screen allow a powerful GPU to take advantage of it? are the games your playing latest AAA titles that can tax a system or older/indie games etc
 
i am hoping to get into more modern games again but at the moment i dont play much, mostly because i dont have the spare time. my partner does play games that require extra juice. monitor should be ok for now but will need upgraded in the near future.
 
yeah, it would be nice. got anything in mind that would be nice. i would like to future proof it also, if that is even possible these days. everything changes so fast
 
Welcome dude. I advise against watercooling got a first build. It can be difficult, and expensive.

Unfortunately £500 isn’t a very good budget for buying new these days. I too would recommend either buying used, or saving up a couple hundred more pounds.
 
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