Specs help for my first build

  • Thread starter Thread starter YKY
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YKY

YKY

YKY

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Joined
1 May 2011
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Location
Edinburgh
Hello OC!

My laptop dying on me coupled with some people saying that building a PC is like adult lego has lead me here. I haven't built a PC before but I've taken them apart for salvage so I'm not terrified about getting my hands dirty. I'm not particularly up to date with current hardware standards and obviously there are many things that I'm very unsure of, having bought off the shelf in the past.

I don't do anything too taxing that requires a behemoth but I'd like something mid-range as I play the odd game (football manager, SC2 and some FPSs) and do some audio work. I may also switch to dual monitors in the near future if I don't like the one screen setup. Budgeting isn't such an issue but I don't want to pay for what I don't need so I'm expecting to spend approx. £600 and no more than £700 really. Ideally it would be much less, so if I can trim the cost without adversely effecting the performance and longevity of my system then that would be swell.


I've read the key FAQs and perused several build spec threads to frankenstein this list:

N.B. I already have a LG W2361V-PF 23 Inch TFT Widescreen Monitor, Logitech MX310 mouse, and W7 64bit Home Premium for the OS. I'll need a wireless card too and it may be worth knowing that I get a pretty crummy signal in my flat.

buildu.png



I may be way off but this is my first attempt. You guys are far more knowledgeable than me so I'd love to hear any opinions on what I've selected.

Thanks
 
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Thats spot on.

If you didnt want crossfire swap to the C45 board at £99

You have included a DVD-ROM and not a burner.
 
its water tight, but hows the sub total price dropped so much? it should only be around £30 less.
 
You were right. I overlooked shipping in the new subtotal. Derp.

Revised and possibly finalised list:
build2.png


Thanks for all your help so far. I'm quite excited that I may get to tackle this project next weekend.

Is there anywhere I could make small (cost-wise) improvements? I'm not really clued into the Radeon chat as my selection are mostly based from figuring out what is good from browsing the forums rather than understanding why.
 
Is there a discernible difference between the cabling type? If scaling down the PSU will effect performance then I'm happy to pay a few quid more to avoid that. Same with any other part if I can make a jump in performance. Cost-wise wasn't the right phrase really. Cost-effective perhaps.

The HDD was a really nice find. Thanks.
 
The cabling just looks nicer.

The only thing a drop in psu wattage will do is affect any future GPU upgrade options, say for example you decided to add a powerful GPU to create a gaming pc, (anything above 5850/70,6960) and a more powerful psu would be needed, also its best to run a psu at around 50-60% load to keep peak efficiency, so keeping the 600w OCZ will allow any future upgrade options
 
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Okay, I understand now. I'll stick with the 600w in that case as I'd like the option. I think that's me pretty much ready to go.

Thank you very much OC peeps and particularly you, Stulid. You've been very helpful.
 
Thanks.

I'm sure I'll be asking for more help soon as this has been a lot trickier than I thought. I've started each day confidently and ran into an obstacle. Nothing that hasn't been overcome yet though so I'm enjoying this learning experience.
 
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