New PC Build

[alijk1989]

I am new to making my own PC and recently read the feature in PC format (building a DX10 rig for 176) as I am sure some of you did and was looking for some advice on my build.

I have changed some of the components from the magazine feature. Here is what I have come up with.

CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 5000+ 2.6GHz 1024KB (2x512KB) L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W (42.98)
Mobo M2N-X PLUS AM2/+ NFORCE520 ATX SND+LAN+U2 FSB2000 SATA2 IN (30.98)
RAM 2GB kit (1GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-4200 memory module (28.19)
Graphics Card GIGABYTE NVIDIA 8400GS 256MB 128BIT DDR2 PASSIVE PCI-E GRAPHICS CARD (19.85)
Hard Drive SAMSUNG 250GB 7200 8MB SATA (20.25)
DVD Drive *SAMSUNG 20X DVDRW SATA BULK BLACK LIGHTSCRIBE (10.14)
Case + PSU Compucase 6CS3 Black Midi Tower with 400W PSU (25.84)


Total = 178.23

I am also wondering about operating systems. I would like to either run Vista Home Premium 64-bit or Mac OSX but I have no clue about compatibility so any help would be appreciated.

I would use the PC mainly for office work and running a couple of games, Football Manager 2008 (and onwards), Rugby 2008 and Age of Empires 3 so my demand for high quality graphics is not high up on my list.

[shadowpr]

First, welcome to PcMech.

Now on to your build.

If you have links, that would help us. Are you in the US? If so, look at www.newegg.com for parts.

I don't know enough about amd to offer advice there.

Not a big fan of samsung drives. HAve heard a lot of bad about them. I would get a seagate hard drive, and either an asus or lite-on dvd burner. Make sure all your drives are sata, and that the dvd burner is a retail drive.

The power supply is very important, and you don't want to get something low quality. I'm willing to bet that the power supply with that case is bad. You may want to get a seperate power supply, or get a combo that has a good psu. Here is an example of a good combo for a budget build without a demanding videocard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811153089 Another one is the sonata III.

To build a good computer for that low of a budget is hard to do if you want to build with quality parts. If you don't use quality parts, then you might spend more money in the long run trying to fix and replace things later on.

[alijk1989]

I am in the UK actually, so I am talking of a build of around £180 but I reckon I should be able to get at least some of the stuff you have suggested.

If you don't know much about AMD maybe you could suggest a similar intel processor, I prefer Intel myself but only went with AMD cause it seems to have a cheaper clock speed to pound ratio.

Thanks

[freakitchen]

Take a look at www.overclockers.co.uk and www.ebuyer.com for parts in the UK.

£180 is limited even for a basic computer. For example, this is the cheapest case and power supply combination I'd trust:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...%20Watts%20PSU

With the low budget in mind, consider a motherboard with on-board video. That allows you to get a decent quality board with an Intel chipset

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...%20Motherboard

Clock speed is not sufficient to compare Intel and AMD at the minute, the two manufacturers run on different architecture. The basic Intel processors are comparatively priced

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...)%20-%20Retail

Getting RAM from a top brand like Corsair is important, no-brand memory is in my experience, flaky at best

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...TwinX%20(2x1GB)

Finally, look at Seagate drives and NEC or Lite-on optical drives.

With these parts, you're going to be looking at a price more approaching the £250 mark, but that extra cash would be VERY well spent to get yourself a stable, quality system. Regarding your question of operating system, you can't run OSX on a PC. I'm running Vista 64-bit and am perfectly happy with it, though you should consider 32-bit if you have old hardware that must work with this new system. 64-bit driver support isn't comprehensive yet. This is another area that you need to consider cost for, Vista Home Premium OEM is around £60.