Help Building a Computer

**ccllnply** · July 19, 2011, 03:27 PM

Ok, I've decided that upgrading is pretty much worthless so I'm going to give building a go. I've never done it before and I don't even know what it involves. I know you need a motherboard, CPU and graphics card. I can only sort of guess after that. I'd try it myself but I'm afraid of picking parts that are incompatible, and I'm certain I will if I go it alone. Plus, I have no idea how to get value for money

Now I'm looking for a gaming PC, that I'll probably use for internet browsing as well. I mostly play games like Football Manager and from Paradox Interactive so a good processor is the main priority. As for the graphics card, my current computer has a Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT and that works perfectly for me at the moment so if I could get something similar or take that out of my current rig and transfer it, I'd be very happy. If not though, an above average one that's good value would be great

Other than that, I'm not too bothered, anything that can help the computer run smoother is prefered.

I have a budget of about £600. I've looked at different website and these are the one's I'm looking to buy from:

http://www.scan.co.uk/
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/index.php

Now I'll continue trying myself but as I said, I'm worried about picking the wrong things. So any help would be really appreciated

**_Elysium_** · July 19, 2011, 05:20 PM

I don't know much about the overall builds of PCs, but I'd very highly recommend an HD5670 in place of the 9600GT. With my system it plays Mass Effect 2 near maximum graphical settings and Portal 2 (released this year) only just below maximum. You may be able to get something a bit better on your budget though, depending on the other parts

I also highly recommend Scan. I've had three PCs built using components from there, and its where I got my HD5670 from in June. I went for it myself because its only a few miles away (about 20 minutes on the bus).

**mrmouth** · July 19, 2011, 06:09 PM

**Devilmaypoop** · July 20, 2011, 06:57 AM

Originally Posted by BarnabyJones

He should rather go SB because most Paradox games are single/dual threaded, thus he could run them much better. Doesn't matter if it's a i3 2100, anything will be better than Phenom II for Paradox games.

Also that board sucks, wouldn't skimp on the MOBO because of potential VRM issues.

**ccllnply** · July 20, 2011, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by BarnabyJones

With your budget I have to believe you can upgrade your graphics card and afford everything else.

Well as I said, graphics aren't my main concern. My current one works perfectly for the games I play. Although, I suppose an upgrade wouldn't hurt and plus, if I need to save a little money, the graphics card can be downgraded

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=6&subcat=1943
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MB-034-AK
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=8&subcat=1517
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...tid=56&subcat=
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...14&subcat=1279
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...tid=10&subcat=
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...57&subcat=1395
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...23&subcat=1084

Well, that all comes to £449.90, way under budget which is great. And with a copy of Windows 7:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...d=1555&subcat=

It comes to £517.88, which is the ideal amount I was hoping to pay. Now all I have to find is a case. Is there any compatibility issues with cases? Or can I just throw on the cheapest one I can find?

He should rather go SB because most Paradox games are single/dual threaded, thus he could run them much better. Doesn't matter if it's a i3 2100, anything will be better than Phenom II for Paradox games.

Well, I'm not looking for a Paradox Interactive only PC. I have Victoria and HoI2 on my PC at the moment. Is the Phenom II is very bad for Paradox games, maybe a change would work but, other than that, wouldn't a Quad Core CPU allow me more variety?

**Darkpriest667** · July 20, 2011, 10:33 AM

[QUOTE=ccllnply;9957909

Well, I'm not looking for a Paradox Interactive only PC. I have Victoria and HoI2 on my PC at the moment. Is the Phenom II is very bad for Paradox games, maybe a change would work but, other than that, wouldn't a Quad Core CPU allow me more variety?[/QUOTE]

I had a phenom quad core that ran PI games fine... don't listen to him build within your budget and yes that quad core will do you just fine.

**Devilmaypoop** · July 20, 2011, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by Darkpriest667

I had a phenom quad core that ran PI games fine... don't listen to him build within your budget and yes that quad core will do you just fine.

Yes, it would run them "fine", but if he bought a i3 2100 he would run them 30%-60% faster. Even Vicky 2 or Hoi 3 don't use more than a single core, which is where a Phenom II becomes a bottleneck.

But he didn't mention he would play other games too, and if you're going Pdox games only it doesn't make sense to go Phenom II.

**mrmouth** · July 20, 2011, 07:55 PM

I would go AMD, and I tossed that together quick as I had to leave. I could only get that one site to load yesterday and they have quite the selection, but a lot of stuff is out of stock. I was trying to go off of reviews on Newegg because I haven't had much experience with AM3 boards. And it looks like the best by far are all microATX in his price range.

Originally Posted by ccllnply

It comes to £517.88, which is the ideal amount I was hoping to pay. Now all I have to find is a case. Is there any compatibility issues with cases? Or can I just throw on the cheapest one I can find?

Just let us know when you are going to buy and we can get that nailed down a bit more. Like I said, I tossed it together quickly. DevilMP likes a different motherboard, maybe different memory (I picked the cheapest). But overall, you should be in the same basic price range. Maybe £20-50 difference in the end. We can definitely keep you under your budget. The magic number is around $500 USD for these kinds of builds. And obviously that changes a bit in your part of the world.

That graphics card (5850) is really nice for the money. It is a nice investment that will be plenty relevant for many years. It is a substantial upgrade, but a nice price, kind of a no-brainer. Your 9600GT would be severe underkill for your quad processor.

As far as case, the only thing to keep in mind is mid or full tower (full tower is huge and unneeded I guess) and whether or not the cpu cooler will fit in the case. It shouldn't be an issue in most cases. Just pick one out that you like for the price and show us.

**Darkpriest667** · July 20, 2011, 09:18 PM

Originally Posted by BarnabyJones

I would go AMD, and I tossed that together quick as I had to leave. I could only get that one site to load yesterday and they have quite the selection, but a lot of stuff is out of stock. I was trying to go off of reviews on Newegg because I haven't had much experience with AM3 boards. And it looks like the best by far are all microATX in his price range.

Just let us know when you are going to buy and we can get that nailed down a bit more. Like I said, I tossed it together quickly. DevilMP likes a different motherboard, maybe different memory (I picked the cheapest). But overall, you should be in the same basic price range. Maybe £20-50 difference in the end. We can definitely keep you under your budget. The magic number is around $500 USD for these kinds of builds. And obviously that changes a bit in your part of the world.

That graphics card (5850) is really nice for the money. It is a nice investment that will be plenty relevant for many years. It is a substantial upgrade, but a nice price, kind of a no-brainer. Your 9600GT would be severe underkill for your quad processor.

As far as case, the only thing to keep in mind is mid or full tower (full tower is huge and unneeded I guess) and whether or not the cpu cooler will fit in the case. It shouldn't be an issue in most cases. Just pick one out that you like for the price and show us.

I thought it was a really good build for the budget.

**mrmouth** · July 21, 2011, 05:20 PM

I would go with the 370 for a couple £ more. More features. Actually really nice for the price. Has some features I wish my $175 case had.

And get that Gigabyte motherboard that DevilMP recommended.

370 - 334

Some prices have changed due to sales starting and ending, most notably the 5850 is now £10-20 more:

CPU
Cooler - optional but you might as well, or soemthing you could add later to save now
MOBO
RAM - debatable but cheap
GPU - debatable as the price has gone up
HDD
Optical
PSU - you could go with the 500w and save £7 if you really needed to

For the GPU you could easily go with this 5770, or if you want to go Nvidia like your 9600GT you have some options, but the ATI options look better.

**ccllnply** · July 21, 2011, 07:12 PM

Originally Posted by BarnabyJones

I would go with the 370 for a couple £ more. More features. Actually really nice for the price. Has some features I wish my $175 case had.

Alright, I'll try that one then since it's only a few pounds more

For the GPU you could easily go with this 5770, or if you want to go Nvidia like your 9600GT you have some options, but the ATI options look better.

Well, I'd say it's either between the 5770 or the 5850, as I didn't really want to buy something similar to the 9600GT. I was just looking to transfer my current one into the new build. It's still under budget so the 5850 is still an option but the 5770 is a lot cheaper. Is there a big gap in quality? If not, then I'll go with the 5770 but other than that I'd rather go for quality than price since I'm under budget

**Crazyeyesreaper** · July 21, 2011, 09:32 PM

5770 offers half the performance of a 5850

**mrmouth** · July 21, 2011, 11:42 PM

Seeing as that you are limited to only one graphics card with that board (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), I would certainly go with the 5850. I didn't notice that earlier. You can easily do what you want to do with the 5770, but you are limited in adding another.

Two 5770's in crossfire, with newer drivers, can beat one 5850 most of the time, but you don't have that option if you want to stay with that motherboard. The idea being that you could always add another down the line.

If it were me and I was buying soon, I would call them and ask for the sale price that was just going a day or so ago on the 5850 given that you are tossing a good bit of coin their way. I think it was £119. That is me, though. I try to haggle down most everything like I'm in some Moroccan bazaar. Im going to make a terrible old man...

**ccllnply** · July 22, 2011, 08:57 AM

Originally Posted by BarnabyJones

Seeing as that you are limited to only one graphics card with that board (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), I would certainly go with the 5850. I didn't notice that earlier. You can easily do what you want to do with the 5770, but you are limited in adding another.

Two 5770's in crossfire, with newer drivers, can beat one 5850 most of the time, but you don't have that option if you want to stay with that motherboard. The idea being that you could always add another down the line.

Well, by the sounds of it, I'd be far better going with the 5850. Not only is it better but it seems to be cheaper in the long run

If it were me and I was buying soon, I would call them and ask for the sale price that was just going a day or so ago on the 5850 given that you are tossing a good bit of coin their way. I think it was £119. That is me, though. I try to haggle down most everything like I'm in some Moroccan bazaar. Im going to make a terrible old man...

I like to haggle myself. Any time I go to markets, I love getting things for cheaper than the asking price, even if I don't need it. That said, if I was to do it over the phone, I'd probably get the price put up. I'm happy to pay the price it's at now. Even with the case, a copy of Windows 7 and delivery, it still comes in under budget so I'm delighted with

To be honest, I think I'm close to ordering. Everyone here has been a huge help, especially BarnabyJones, so thanks to everyone.

All I want to do now is confirm everything I'm buying is compatible and is the best I can get so here's my basket at the moment

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Taiji** · July 22, 2011, 09:11 AM

I know the 5850 will be cheaper from overclockers but maybe check out scan.co.uk for the other stuff. I saved £40 doing that recently.

And I can vouch for the 5850, it's a really nice card.

**Sharpe's Company** · July 22, 2011, 09:48 AM

I just built a budget pc from overclockers recently

I'm not a mad gamer, cost me around £375 i think.

Asus M4A78LT-M (cheapo does the trick, opens up cores)
Phenom II X2 Dual Core 555 BE (now X4 and overclocked)
4GB Corsair DDR3
HD 6870
Corsair GS600

Already had other stuff, used my old HDD, Case etc

I like Overclockers, quite cheap and 5 mins from my house, no extra charge

**mrmouth** · July 22, 2011, 05:55 PM

Yeah, until recently I could not get scan.co.uk to load in the US for some reason. They have the 6850 which is the newer version of the end of life (discontinued) 5850 for basically the same price. And you get a copy of Dirt 3 so you can stretch the legs of the new build.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-x...2x-dvi-hdmi-dp

That means breaking up the order, but it is something I would consider.

**ccllnply** · July 23, 2011, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by BarnabyJones

Yeah, until recently I could not get scan.co.uk to load in the US for some reason. They have the 6850 which is the newer version of the end of life (discontinued) 5850 for basically the same price. And you get a copy of Dirt 3 so you can stretch the legs of the new build.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-x...2x-dvi-hdmi-dp

That means breaking up the order, but it is something I would consider.

A better graphics card for cheaper with a free game? Count me in!

I don't think I'm losing anything by breaking up the order so it should be well worth it.

Edit: Scratch that, just went on the site now and the price has gone up £20. Still think it's worth it though

**ccllnply** · August 03, 2011, 02:05 PM

Ok, so I got all the parts together and got a few friends over today to help me do an external build. Other than spending about two hours being confused by the CPU Cooler, everything when well. Got everything put together and tried to boot it but, I'm either doing wrong or something is not working because nothing happens except for a high pitched noise when I turn the power supply on.

Help?

**ccllnply** · August 05, 2011, 09:08 AM

Ok, I've come across a new problem.

Before I put everything in the case, I did an external build where I plugged the wires from the case into the motherboard to get to know the case before I put everything in. I connected the wires, pressed the button on the case and everything turned on.

So I put everything into the case, spent two painful days connecting all the cables and pressed the button to turn it on. And nothing happened! Unbelievably disheartening and I don't know what caused it.

The only possible thing I can think of is that I put the wires from the power/reset buttons in wrong (but if I have, I don't know where to put them) and that the graphics card doesn't look like it's in totally because it won't fit. Other than those, I can't even guess at what caused it

Any ideas or suggestions or anything? Please help

Thread: Help Building a Computer

Thread Tools

Search Thread

Display

Hybrid View

Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Re: Help Building a Computer

Posting Permissions