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01-06-2009, 03:05 PM
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#1 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 16
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Help and advice needed with a custom desktop build
Hi everyone
 I have never attemped building my own pc before but after reading around on sites such as this, i've decided to give it a go. Saying that, i am a complete amateur and so am in need of a bit of help and advice firstly with what parts i should buy. I am a film student and so will mainly be using the pc for video editing but i might dabble in the odd bit of gaming. I live in the UK and so won't be able to buy from sites like newegg but i've found a similar site for the uk (scan.co.uk) and at the moment my budget is pretty open; anything from £500 - £1000 not including monitor, OS, keyboard, mouse etc. After a fair bit of research i have come up with a few parts that i feel would suit my needs but i am definately open to suggestions from anyone who knows what they're talking about! I am not even 100% sure that these parts are compatible.. CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400, Yorkfield Core, S775, 2.66 GHz, 1333MHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 8x, Retail http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...ache-8x-Retail MOBO: Asus P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP iP965, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-...-SATA-RAID-ATX HDD: 1TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000, 3.5", SATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, HDD http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1TB-H...16MB-Cache-HDD RAM: 2GB (2x1GB) Corsair Value Select, DDR2 PC2-5300 (667), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-15 (two of these = 4GB) http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/2GB-(...d-CAS-5-5-5-15 OPTICAL DRIVE: LG GGW-H20L Super Multi Blu-Ray Writer & HD-ROM Reader inc Lightscribe Support - SATA Retail kit http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/LG-GG...ATA-Retail-kit And i found this case on ebay which i quite like but im not sure if the PSU would be suitable? GALAXY III 450W PSU&SIDE WINDOW- BLACK GAMING BOX http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-GALAXY-III...3A1|240%3A1318 As for an OS, probably just Vista Home Premium 32bit? And im stuck for ideas in terms of a Video Card and Sound Card! Would this be everything that i would need? i used the checklist from elsewhere on the forums and this was very useful so thank you to whoever uploaded that Any suggestions or help would be much appreciated because, as i said, this will be my first build and so i'm a bit lost! Thanks in advance, Tom Richards |
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01-06-2009, 03:25 PM
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#2 | |
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Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 443
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Quote:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/123067 £83.66 Get this Ram: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130429 £41.20 Get this Video Card: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147971 £103.45 Get this PSU: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141006 £69.50 That should be perfect. You should still keep the case on your list just take the PSU out. As for a sound card usually on-board sound is fine Mobo: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145750 £88.50 (has everything you will need including PCI-E 2.0) Hard Drive: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134684 £83.99 Do you really need a TB? CPU: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148933 £150.15 This should be adequate DVD drive: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139985 £64.17 Do you really need/want blu-ray? Total comes to: £710.56 (includes VAT not shipping though) There you go mate, you should be happy. Note eBuyer is cheaper than Scan for most things. Last edited by tomtoon; 01-06-2009 at 03:46 PM. |
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01-06-2009, 04:19 PM
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#3 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 16
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Wow thank you for the advice and suggestions, you've been very helpful!
I didn't realise that ebuyer was cheaper but looking at your suggestions, it looks alot cheaper than scan.co.uk so thanks! From what i understand when using Vista 64bit it can be a problem finding the drivers for certain hardware? And because ill be using my video camera id rather stick with 32bit where i know it all works fine.. Is there any real advantage to 64bit? RAM looks good, basically what i was looking for! Video card looks good as well and is around the kind of price i was hoping; would it enable me to play most of the new games do you think? What is the advantage of having 650W PSU over a 450W PSU? Or do i need a 650W to power my set up? The PSU is one of the areas i know least about.. As for the 1TB hard drive and Bluray drive, i think that both are probably neccessary.. As i said i am a film student and we shoot and edit in HD (hence the need for a decent desktop!) and so ill need the space and ive got a decent budget so i felt i might as well splash out a little.. The bluray drive probably isnt completely neccessary but it is the way film is heading and so it'd be nice to have the ability to write to Bluray.. I'm still a bit vague as to what CPU to get though.. i'm still very tempted by the 2.66ghz version: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130475 Would there be a massive difference between the one you suggested and that one? I don't mind forking out a little more money if there would be a noticeable difference ? Mobo looks good but its another of the areas where im not really sure what i want/need? I'm guessing the one you suggested would be prefectly suitable? Anyway, thank you for your suggestions and quick response; you've been really helpful and given me much food for thought! |
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01-06-2009, 04:20 PM
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#4 |
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I like me
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Tejas
Posts: 7,332
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I like tomtoon's list.
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It's coming....just you wait. |
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01-06-2009, 04:35 PM
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#5 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 16
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so do i actually
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01-06-2009, 04:50 PM
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#6 |
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Forum Administrator
Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Joplin MO
Posts: 37,765
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If you are going to spend 225 quid on a CPU, spend a little more and get a Q9450.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144953 |
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01-06-2009, 05:06 PM
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#7 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 16
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would i need anything more than the basic fans that come with all these CPUs? I don't think i'll be overclocking, at least for a while, since i have never done that before either!
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01-06-2009, 06:14 PM
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#8 |
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I like me
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Tejas
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The retail cpu will come with the heatsink. That will be more than enough for stock speeds.
The q9450 is great. I didn't realize it was still available over there. |
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01-07-2009, 08:09 AM
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#9 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 16
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Would there be a massive difference between the Q8200 and the Q9450? My video editing software reccomends at least 2.6ghz for editing HD but i don't think it will be able to utilise more than one core?
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01-07-2009, 09:10 AM
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#10 |
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I like me
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The q9450 is a bit faster, but it has 3x the cache. I believe that will help with encoding speed. (I believe.)
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01-07-2009, 09:23 AM
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#11 | |
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Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 443
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Quote:
2)If you cannot get the drivers for the hardware you have, I recommend buying 3GB of RAM: 2GB: £23.42 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119279 1GB: £12.39 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119273 They both match. 3)The 650W is suitable for your set-up plus it allows future upgradability. The 450W isnt as they are mainly used in low-end builds and plus you also want a reliable brand when it comes to PSU's |
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01-07-2009, 04:04 PM
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#12 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 16
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Right thanks for the advice everyone, you've all been very helpful! Here is the build that i think i'm going to go for but any more suggestions or advice would be great!
Ram: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130429 Video Card: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147971 PSU: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141006 (still not sure about the case though..) Mobo: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145750 Hard Drive x2: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134684 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129414 Decided to buy a smaller HDD as well to run my OS off; i've had problems in the past of Windows messing up and i've lost everything on my hard drive.. CPU: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148933 Decided to go with this one because it's a fair bit cheaper and apparently overclocks pretty easily.. Optical drive: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/LG-GG...ATA-Retail-kit I checked my camera and my printer and i dont think there are drivers for either on Vista 64bit so i'm guna go with 32bit as my OS.. i know that it won't be able to use all of the RAM but at least it leaves me extra RAM so that i'll be able to run 64bit in the future when it becomes a bit more 'plug and play'.. As you can see, it's almost exactly the set up that tomtoon suggested so thank you very much for the help! As i said, any suggestions would be useful as im learning more and more as i reasearch this in more depth Thanks everyone, tomtoon especially! |
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01-07-2009, 06:17 PM
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#13 |
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Wrench Bender
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Plymouth,MN
Posts: 5,961
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Would look to get an OS HD with the same size cache as the storage drive which is 32meg. The HD you picked is only 8meg, there is an 80 gig with a 16meg cache. For a smaller HD with 32meg cache there is this one: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130826 . With the bigger cache, the drive doesn't have to work as hard.
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01-08-2009, 02:00 PM
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#14 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 16
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Right, i think i'm done changing my mind about everything and this is the spec that i've decided on:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz) Socket 775 L2 8MB Cache (2x4MB (4MB per core pair) Retail Boxed Processor http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131950 MOBO: Asus P5Q PRO P45 Socket 775 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145751 RAM: Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5 Lifetime Warranty http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130429 HDD: Seagate 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache - Retail http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140288 PSU: Antec EarthWatts 650W PSU - 80Plus Certified 12cm Fan 3x 12V Rails http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141006 VIDEOCARD: Inno3D 9600GT 1GB DDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147971 OPTICALDRIVE: LG GGW-H20L Super Multi Blu-Ray Writer & HD-ROM Reader inc Lightscribe Support - SATA Retail kit http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/LG-GG...ATA-Retail-kit OS: Vista 32bit CASE: Gallaxy III Black Gaming Case http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=270323565831 Thats it but i have a couple of questions 1) Firstly, what does everyone think? How's it looking? Is everything compatable? 2) Not too sure about the Video Card... the reviews on ebuyer aren't too great. Can anyone reccomend another or is this one alright? 3) If i do decided to overclock, is this a good set up to do it on? (ideally, i'd love to get the CPU up to 3.0Ghz) 4) I was going to get another HDD to run my OS off but i decided it was all getting too pricey - what's everyone's opinion on that? 5) Will it all fit inside the case i'm looking to get? That was one of the things i wasn't too sure about? Any input would be great and i'd love to hear your suggestions so please keep posting Thanks everyone! |
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01-08-2009, 02:44 PM
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#15 |
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I like me
Join Date: May 2007
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Looks good.
For a different video card, what games will you be playing? What is your budget? You should be able to get 3.0 with this setup. Might need a heatsink though. (Be aware that overclocking voids the warrenty) I have two hds. One for my os and programs, and one for personal documents. If you want just one drive, you can partition it. Not sure. It seems like it will fit. Only thing you would really have to worry about is video card length. |
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01-08-2009, 03:23 PM
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#16 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 16
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I'm not sure what games i'll be playing because i'm happy with my Playstation as a gaming platform at the moment but that is only because i havent got a pc capable of playing the newest games... i.e. i think i'd switch to pc if i could.
My budget for the video card is around £100 i suppose but i could go a little over.. If you reckon that's a decent video card though then im happy with it; im just a little wary because of the reviews. As for the HDD, i was only tempted by a 2nd to run my OS off because Windows has corrupted all my data before and i've lost alot of work.. because of that i back up everything important on an external hard drive now anyway so i think i can probably do without a 2nd HDD.. In terms of overclocking, i probably won't want to go over 3.0Ghz but i am tempted to get this fan just in case the standard one wouldnt be able to handle it: Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 Processor Cooler http://www.ebuyer.com/product/105994 It looks pretty good and the reviews are awesome but im not sure it would fit the motherboard/case i've chosen as people have said it's quite large.. I'm not too sure about the case being big enough but i guess i'll just have to hope? thanks again for the help! |
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01-08-2009, 05:24 PM
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#17 |
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Forum Administrator
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You can always partition a single hard drive - OS and programs on one partition, data on another.
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01-09-2009, 12:05 PM
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#18 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 16
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yeah i think that's what i'll end up doing - don't really a need a 2nd HDD anyway, at least for a while..
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