Help buying/building a new pc

[Kurg Burg]

Hey i currently want to buy a new gaming system (Just the tower) and i say buy because i dont want to possibly face the problem of messing up the build considering i'm only 17 if age matters.

I live in the UK so my currency is £ (pounds) just to verify that.
I have all other components , monitor , keyboard etc and just want the best tower system i can afford that can run the latest games with ease and perform well.

My Budget is £850

One idea i have was to configure the spec of this current pc's specs and upgrade where i thought was necessary

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/view/F...650-gaming-pc/

Another puzzle i've come across is if i should keep to my current OS - windows XP Pro 32 bit or upgrade to Windows 7 because of the RAM increase. If i did upgrade to Windows 7 i plan on moving over my current HDD's so what would be my plan of action there with the existing OS?

Feel free to ask for information i haven't mentioned and hope to hear from people soon. Much appreciation towards those who help.

Many thanks. Harry

 

[lehtv]

The younger you are, the better, when it comes to building your first PC! . It really isn't very difficult and there's not much you can mess up. Familiarize yourself with some assembly guides and be patient, it'll pay off - it's better to 'cherry pick' each component separately when doing so doesn't cost any more (and often costs less) than buying a prebuilt. Especially as hard drive prices are high and you can keep your current drives.

The pcspecialist site you linked seems to be pretty expensive and doesn't offer many choices.

I'd upgrade to Windows 7 64bit.

 

[DSF]

The younger you are, the better, when it comes to building your first PC! . It really isn't very difficult and there's not much you can mess up. Familiarize yourself with some assembly guides and be patient, it'll pay off - it's better to 'cherry pick' each component separately when doing so doesn't cost any more (and often costs less) than buying a prebuilt. Especially as hard drive prices are high and you can keep your current drives.

The pcspecialist site you linked seems to be pretty expensive and doesn't offer many choices.

I'd upgrade to Windows 7 64bit.

Agreed for the most part. It's not hard to do, but it can be frustrating to troubleshoot in the unlikely but possible event that something is really wrong.

If you know anyone with a little experience who could help you then I would say by all means do it yourself. I wish I had done it for my college computer but I didn't end up working up the guts to do it until after college. Now I wouldn't do it any other way, especially for a gaming machine where the markup on a prebuilt ranges from above average to exorbitant.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I was building my own rigs back in HS, so there's no reason that you couldn't either, OP.

It can be very satisfying when a build comes together.

Edit: Another vote for Windows 7 64-bit. You should get at least 8GB of RAM for your new machine, and install a current 64-bit OS (Windows 7). You could even go for 16GB of RAM if you wanted to, RAM is fairly cheap right now.

 

[ApexBoost]

If you can use a screw driver you can build a pc. Watch this video, you'll see its really not as difficult as it sounds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls

Definitely go with 64 bit Windows 7.

 

[Scout80]

OP, I built my first PC about 5 years ago and was worried about messing things up. My fears were totally unfounded as I found out building your own PC is pretty straightforward. Just make sure your processor and RAM will work for the motherboard you purchase. It will be pretty obvious when you read the specs for each component.

 

[mfenn]

Joining the "build your own" chorus here. I built my first one when I was 14 (or something like that), and it's only gotten easier since then. It may seem daunting at first, but it is really no more difficult than a 20 piece lego model.

 

[Kurg Burg]

Thanks for the help
After looking at these responces i'm going to build my own.

 

[Kurg Burg]

What are the main differences between Home premium version and Ultimate?

 

[richaron]

After looking at these responces i'm going to build my own.

Good stuff. Most of the time it's idiot simple, but people think you're a genius

What are the main differences between Home premium version and Ultimate?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions
If you're just doing normal stuff home premium is fine. Biggest differences would be filesystem encryption (if you're super paranoid) and XP mode (if you have any old programs which only work on WinXP)

 

[Rackmountsales]

It’s the Right time for everyone to try this kind of creativity and apply on their pressurized for build their own PC. I would love to create something similar for me as well. your choice of choosing the parts of it are best for me to get idea to build my own PC.

 

[Chapbass]

Agreed on building.

I'm in Germany right now, I may head over to the UK for a weekend or so to see it, I'll stop over and help

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for the help
After looking at these responces i'm going to build my own.

Here's a parts list for you:

i5 2500K 168
Hyper 212+ 19
GA-Z68A-D3 66
Corsair DDR3 1333 8GB 36
7850 190
Crucial M4 128GB 113
Seagate 1TB $71
Samsung DVD Burner 15
Antec Neo Eco 620W 58
Antec Three Hundred 44
Windows 7 Home Premium 77
Total 857

That's all from Scan.co.uk, so shopping around might get you a better price.