First time PC build suggestions/help.

[Dijeangenie]

Hi Everyone, I am going to be building my first ever pc and would like help to make sure I am not doing anything stupid/wasting money etc.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for.
Gaming (+word processing etc, but I presume thats not worth mentioning)

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
c. £350-400 (about $550-650)

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
The UK

4. IF YOU have a brand preference.
Nope.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I intend to use my current hard drive. (I don't what model it is, it has a 232 GB capacity. It is called a ST3250310AS )
I know it's a poor hard drive but I am trying to get best game performance for the least possible money and since it will only affect start up and load times, I don't care too much. (I think that's write, please correct me if not).

I have two disk drives already which i presume i could transfer over also.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Default

8. What resolution will you be using?
1600 x 900

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
ASAP.


I was think of getting an i3 processor, and a 560ti, 4gb of ram (or 8 if it will make any difference) - but I really need help on what case and power supply to get. (plus anything else).

Also what do I do about cooling, do I need to buy extra fans etc...

Thanks for your help in advance!

 

[mfenn]

Do you need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and/or OS license?

 

[lakedude]

The 7850 might be a better choice than the 560ti.

The 7850 is overkill at your res...

 

[lehtv]

Not really overkill. At 1680x1050, BF3 plays 60fps at high settings but not ultra, and undoubtedly games will get more demanding. VRAM use is over 1GB with ultra textures.

 

[Dijeangenie]

I have a monitor, keyboard, mouse , and I am going to reuse a hardrive with windows 7 on.

 

[azeem40]

You can't reuse the OS on the HDD if you use a new motherboard.

 

[lehtv]

Yep, have to reinstall the OS. If it's a retail license you can use it in the new PC, if it's an OEM license you can't unless you manage to convince MS to activate the Windows by phone.

 

[Dijeangenie]

Oh, sorry being such a noob, I didn't know that. The computer I am using at the moment was not originally windows 7, so i presume its not OEM, but I didn't install it myself - so I don't have a disc for it or anything... is that the only way I can carry it over?

 

[mfenn]

Oh, sorry being such a noob, I didn't know that. The computer I am using at the moment was not originally windows 7, so i presume its not OEM, but I didn't install it myself - so I don't have a disc for it or anything... is that the only way I can carry it over?

A significant hardware change will mandate at least a reactivate, most likely a full reinstall. You won't be able to activate it without the product key.

So, I suppose we should figure the cost of an OS license into the budget?

 

[Dijeangenie]

Guess so

 

[riversend]

Out of curiosity, Dijeangenie, what is your current system and what games are you interested in playing?

 

[Dijeangenie]

Out of curiosity, Dijeangenie, what is your current system and what games are you interested in playing?

My current system is very poor, it can't really play any games so I game on a xbox 360 at the moment. It has an AMD athlon LE-1640 2.6ghz proccessor, 2GB of ram and an ATI radeon 1200x series GPU!

I want to be able to play games such as Guild Wars 2, Fallout New Vegas etc.

 

[lehtv]

Can you not reuse the case?

I have two disk drives already which i presume i could transfer over also.

Hard disks or also a DVD drive? Are this SATA as well?

 

[Dijeangenie]

Can you not reuse the case?
Good point, I guess I can!

Hard disks or also a DVD drive? Are this SATA as well?

A DVD drive, and a CD drive

 

[lehtv]

Does your DVD drive not play CD's...? I'd just get a new DVD drive that can, if so. Costs only $15 and means you don't have to use two 5.25" slots.

In any case, here's what I'd recommend

CPU Pentium G840 £50
Mobo Gigabyte B75M-D3V £55
RAM 2x4GB 1600 £35
GPU HIS 7850 2GB £150 @OCUK (google it, can't link). The shop has some bad reputation but it should be just fine. This week only offer.
HDD Reuse £0
DVD Reuse £0
PSU XFX 450W £35 (ask when they're getting it) or Antec HCG-400 £40
Case Reuse £0
OS Win 7 64 OEM £74

= £399

Next upgrade:
CPU to a used i5 for about £70-100 off of eBay (1-2 years)
New hard disk or SSD

 

[Dijeangenie]

Does your DVD drive not play CD's...? I'd just get a new DVD drive that can, if so. Costs only $15 and means you don't have to use two 5.25" slots.

Yeah I the DVD drive does, but it came with the two drives and I have never changed them, I could just take out the CD only drive couldn't I, would that give me space for another hard drive or something, I mean I have no interest in having another one now, but in the future I suppose I could.

 

[Dijeangenie]

A significant hardware change will mandate at least a reactivate, most likely a full reinstall. You won't be able to activate it without the product key.

So, I suppose we should figure the cost of an OS license into the budget?

Is the product key the same as the product ID, because I have one of them (XXXXX-OEM-XXXXXXX-XXXXX)

EDIT: I just realised they are very different things! nevermind.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

you should get a new monitor

 

[Dijeangenie]

you should get a new monitor

Why?

 

[riversend]

You do not need a new monitor. You have your priorities right and the build lehtv just gave you will feel amazing compared to what you are currently using. I game at 1680x1050, but financially it makes no sense for me to bump up until this one dies. If you get the extra cash down the road that 7850 he recommended will do fine with a resolution step up.

 

[Dijeangenie]

Thanks very much Lehtv (and everyone else) very helpful.

 

[Dijeangenie]

Does your DVD drive not play CD's...? I'd just get a new DVD drive that can, if so. Costs only $15 and means you don't have to use two 5.25" slots.

In any case, here's what I'd recommend

CPU Pentium G840 £50
Mobo Gigabyte B75M-D3V £55
RAM 2x4GB 1600 £35
GPU HIS 7850 2GB £150 @OCUK (google it, can't link). The shop has some bad reputation but it should be just fine. This week only offer.
HDD Reuse £0
DVD Reuse £0
PSU XFX 450W £35 (ask when they're getting it) or Antec HCG-400 £40
Case Reuse £0
OS Win 7 64 OEM £74

= £399

Next upgrade:
CPU to a used i5 for about £70-100 off of eBay (1-2 years)
New hard disk or SSD

Really appreciate this help Lehtv - If I was to spend another £40/50 what should I upgrade to, I could stretch to an I3-2120 which would be about £85-90, or is there something else I should upgrade (and would changing the processor effect any of the rest of the build?)

 

[mfenn]

Really appreciate this help Lehtv - If I was to spend another £40/50 what should I upgrade to, I could stretch to an I3-2120 which would be about £85-90, or is there something else I should upgrade (and would changing the processor effect any of the rest of the build?)

I'd probably grab a 7870 with the extra money since that'll directly impact your gaming performance.

 

[lehtv]

I'd rather go for an Ivy Bridge i3 for £96 and avoid upgraing the CPU later. The 7870 is also more likely to be bottlenecked by the Pentium. This also directly affects gaming performance by in CPU intensive quad threaded games

 

[Dijeangenie]

Thanks, thats what I will wait 1 week and do that then