First ever build - need some advice

[Xeract]

Hi,

I'm going to university next month, so I'm looking to build a PC to take with me. I want the PC to be able to play the latest games on high quality settings, as well as being able to multi-task easily.

I have about £800 to spend, but I need the whole package so box, screen, mouse and keyboard. I have a copy of Windows xp though. I've spent a week or so reading a bit on these forums and having a look around but I still feel completely lost with the amount of choices. I had a go at putting together a build, let me know what you think and where I can improve it. I can't decide on a motherboard or ram yet.


Case and PSU:

Antec SLK1650BUK 350W PSU
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...2&v=1#infoarea
£47.48

Processor:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx...0000&InMerch=1
£128.29

Motherboard:

Not sure, need some more help on this one

Graphics:

EVGA GeForce 7900GT 256MB DDR3 PCIE Dual DVI HDTV Out Super Overclocked Edition
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...000,4294963789
£219

RAM:

So many options, so I'm not really sure what to go for.

Storage:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB S300
http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx...0410&InMerch=1
£69.94

DVD Drive:

NEC DVD+-RW/RAM 16x IDE Black LabelFlash Dual Layer Bare Drive
http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx...1&v=3#infoarea
£27.69

Monitor:

Relisys TL966 19" 600:1 8ms (1280 x 1024) PC White MultiMedia TFT Monitor
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/65113
£117.49

Keyboard and Mouse:

Microsoft Wireless Black Optical Desktop 1000 - USB
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/88758/rb/21150396593
£18.70

Total: 581.91

So I have about £220 to spend on a motherboard and RAM, which I really want a gig of. Is that too much of a stretch? If anyone has any ideas on how to improve the system let me know, because like I said I'm a complete beginner.

Thanks

[Mr.Ferrari]

ram: Corsair 1GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX (2x512MB) (MY-112-CS)
8th one down.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...S2_Memory.html
£64.95 £76.32 Including VAT at 17.5%

mobo: Asus P5B (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-151-AS)
3rd one down.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal..._Asus_177.html
£94.95 (£111.57 Including VAT at 17.5%)

If you end up having some extra cash I would see if you can bump it up to 2gb.
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX (2x1GB) (MY-092-CS)
4th one down.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...S2_Memory.html


**Have you decided on a psu? Do you have any interests in sli or crossfire?

[Xeract]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll take a look at them.

As for PSU, I was going to use the one that comes with the case because I heard that Antecs cases come with decent PSU's. In the future I guess I'll want to use SLi, but at the minute I don't need it.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Decent..but not enough 350w wont power your setup.

[blue60007]

Very true - the 7900GT requirement is 400W. See if you can upgrade to the Sonata II (Antec). It's got a 450W. Not sure if it's availabe in the UK though.

keep in mind if you want to use SLI, you'll need a motherboard and power supply upgrade.

[freakitchen]

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/93403/rb/21152315825

Antec Sonata II case from ebuyer.co.uk

FK

[Xeract]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I'll keep in mind that I'll need an upgrade for SLi, but I'll leave it for now as I don't think my budget can stretch much further.

Here's the final build, the total comes too £839, a bit over budget so no room for 2 gigs of RAM unfortuantely but that's an easy upgrade for the future. Before I go out and buy it will this computer be able to run the latest games (i.e. oblivion) at high quality settings? Also, is there any way of getting more performance for my money on any of the components?

Thanks again.


Case and PSU:

Antec Sonata II With 450W
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/93403/rb/21152315825
£70.45

Processor:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx...0000&InMerch=1
£128.29

Motherboard:

Asus P5B (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-151-AS)
3rd one down.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal..._Asus_177.html
£111.57

Graphics:

EVGA GeForce 7900GT 256MB DDR3 PCIE Dual DVI HDTV Out Super Overclocked Edition
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...000,4294963789
£219

RAM:

Corsair 1GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C5 TwinX (2x512MB) (MY-112-CS)
8th one down.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...S2_Memory.html
£76.32 Including VAT at 17.5%

Storage:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB S300
http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx...0410&InMerch=1
£69.94

DVD Drive:

NEC DVD+-RW/RAM 16x IDE Black LabelFlash Dual Layer Bare Drive
http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx...1&v=3#infoarea
£27.69

Monitor:

Relisys TL966 19" 600:1 8ms (1280 x 1024) PC White MultiMedia TFT Monitor
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/65113
£117.49

Keyboard and Mouse:

Microsoft Wireless Black Optical Desktop 1000 - USB
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/88758/rb/21150396593
£18.70

Total: 839.45

[jayb1234]

As far as the OS, check with the university to see what they require.

Some of them require XP Pro, others are fine with regular XP.

I don't know how it is over there, but on this side of the big pond the school will usually provide you a copy for a small charge or even free of charge.

[Xeract]

Originally Posted by jayb1234 As far as the OS, check with the university to see what they require. Some of them require XP Pro, others are fine with regular XP. I don't know how it is over there, but on this side of the big pond the school will usually provide you a copy for a small charge or even free of charge.

I havent heard anything over here about Universities needing pro. The computer will mainly be for my personal use, gaming etc so I don't think it would be a problem. I'll check it out anyway though just in case.

Before I go out and buy it though, will this PC be able to play games like oblivion on high quality settings? Also, I've heard that most applications today don't use multi-core technology. Does this mean that with these apps I will effectively only be using a 1.8Ghz processor?

[blue60007]

Yes....games and apps that are multi-threaded and run on both cores will still only be runing 1.86GHz. Theoratically, using both cores could do twice as much work as a single core, but that doesn't mean twice as much performance (because it doesn't mean 2 x 1.86GHz = 3.72GHz). You could run two video encoders (single-threaded) at the same time with little performace hit. But running one multi-threaded encoder doesn't mean it will necessarily go twice as fast...it depends on how well the program is programmed. To put it this way, using a single-threaded game/app on a dual core doesn't *hurt* performance.

(sorry if that's a bit confusing! )

[jayb1234]

Some of them require XP Pro because it has more networking options that they want you to have to avoid problems on thier campus network.

You should be able to find the info on the schools website about what they want you to have.

[Xeract]

Originally Posted by jayb1234 Some of them require XP Pro because it has more networking options that they want you to have to avoid problems on thier campus network. You should be able to find the info on the schools website about what they want you to have.

Ok thanks, good point. I'll send them an e-mail asking if they need Xp Pro.

Yes....games and apps that are multi-threaded and run on both cores will still only be runing 1.86GHz. Theoratically, using both cores could do twice as much work as a single core, but that doesn't mean twice as much performance (because it doesn't mean 2 x 1.86GHz = 3.72GHz). You could run two video encoders (single-threaded) at the same time with little performace hit. But running one multi-threaded encoder doesn't mean it will necessarily go twice as fast...it depends on how well the program is programmed. To put it this way, using a single-threaded game/app on a dual core doesn't *hurt* performance.

I see what you mean, I think. I know that the core duo performance is great, so I guess I don't really have to understand it completely