First time builder £300-£400 budget. Specs provided

[Zachh]

Hi all!

I am wanting to build a PC of my own. I have collected some information from a previous forum I was once on looking for answers. Sadly they never replied and I never got a good answer.

However they did suggest a list for me, after previously posting my own.


Samsung 500GB Hard Drive £49.01
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164274

DVD/Rw Drive £15.99
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132282

Crucial 4GB Kit PC2-6400 (2x2GB) £34.92
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142403

Coolmaster Black Elite 330 eXtreme £59.99
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146338

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Socket AM2 (2.7GHz) £43.20
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/138891

NOTE: I do need a graphics card and I do need help on finding one. Ebuyer will be my best bet.

My uses for this computer will be for games, such as Unreal Tournament, various games like Bioshock and Call of Duty: WaW. Also for lots of pictures/music and game making software. And able to run smoothly for online games too.

If there is ANYTHING I may have missed out please don't hesitate to reply with your questions.

I hope you can help me.
Thanks in advance,
Zach

[glc]

1. Samsung hard drives do not have a good reliability record.
2. That DVD burner is obsolete IDE, and is discontinued. Get a SATA drive.
3. You are missing a motherboard.

[Zachh]

http://www.xfxforce.com/en-gb/produc...AE%208300.aspx

There is the motherboard I will be using hopefully. I forgot to post it.

I looked at some alternative suggestions from your feedback.

Maxtar 50GB Hard drive.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159390

SATA DVD Drive+RW
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164449

Could you please give me assurance that the other items are okay, and also help with a suitable graphics card? I named my uses, it should help?

Thing is with graphics cards I have no idea what I am looking for

[indaface95]

for the hard drive id suggest western digital black caviar, that what got suggested to me by glc or force flow. as with the graphics card ATI 4800s and NVIDIA 200s are good choices if u want a good graphics card a 4890 (200-250$ US) and 295 (500$ US) are the newest i think. but u can go lower depending on your budget

[AMGrbaowska]

Umm, I might look into another motherboard, XFX is supposed to be of poor quality and have poor customer service, Asus is probably the best consumer Motherboard, that is what many people here recommend. When it comes to building a computer, you should try very hard not to compromise, some stuff you can get by with but you should try to get good customer service and such, like what happens if your mobo goes bad soon? Asus with replace it, not sure about XFX

ASUS M4A78-VM 780G Socket AM2+ HDMI DVI VGA 8 Channel Audio MATX
ASUS M4A78-VM 780G Socket AM2+ HDMI DVI VGA 8 Channel Audio MATX This is Barely more expensive than the mobo you have picked out and much better, it should work fine.

And as far as a Video Card, this should game very nicely on almost anything.
ASUS HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDCP HDTV out PCI-E Graphics Card

*Sorry if I am going over you budget because I'm American and not good with looking for stuff in other currencies.

[Zachh]

Thanks indaface95! I picked up on you're advise and found a hard drive.

Western Digital 500 GB
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150246

And also on a ATI 4800 graphics card, £80? Around $160 in your place.

Palit GTS250 512MB
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160669

Thanks AMG! I picked up on a motherboard.

ASUS M4A78-VM 780G Socket AM2+
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168321

Is that any good? I also found out recently that XFX is bad quality. Thanks for the heads up!

Couple of questions:
1: Will the proccesor be compatible with the motherboard? (Because I had to change it for the XFX
2: I need help on a moniter, I don't know what to look for in that perspective (19-21"?)
3: Will XP work fine for this?

[glc]

That Coolermaster PSU may have a hard time handling a video card in that class.

[Zachh]

Originally Posted by glc That Coolermaster PSU may have a hard time handling a video card in that class.

Then could you suggest an alternative?

See, this is why I came here, I just need to be shown alternatives because this is my very first time building and I am not very experience with all parts.

glc, if you could maybe find something that you are suggesting? Because Im not sure what you're on about.

Any other answers to my questions please?

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Zachh Thanks indaface95! I picked up on you're advise and found a hard drive. Western Digital 500 GB http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150246 And also on a ATI 4800 graphics card, £80? Around $160 in your place. Palit GTS250 512MB http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160669 Thanks AMG! I picked up on a motherboard. ASUS M4A78-VM 780G Socket AM2+ http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168321 Is that any good? I also found out recently that XFX is bad quality. Thanks for the heads up! Couple of questions: 1: Will the proccesor be compatible with the motherboard? (Because I had to change it for the XFX 2: I need help on a moniter, I don't know what to look for in that perspective (19-21"?) 3: Will XP work fine for this?

Replies to your questions:
1. Yes
2. Depends on your budget, if you have a very low budget, you may want to look at a CRT probably 19" or higher, otherwise 22" LCDs are very good choices as they cost close to as much as 19" and 21" but have better resolution and size.
3. Yes

[Zachh]

Thank you Masaki, If I were too get a Widescreen, wont this stretch the desktop of XP OS? Or would there be a way to fix that.

[glc]

No, you will have a full selection of widescreen resolutions available.

If you like that case, buy it with *NO* PSU -

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127584

Then get THIS PSU -

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/120377

[Zachh]

Thanks! I have sorted it out now and this is my final list!

One last favor and just check that everything is OK!


Western Digital 500 GB £44.14
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150246

DVD/Rw SATA Drive £16.99
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164449

Crucial 4GB Kit PC2-6400 (2x2GB) £34.92
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142403

Coolmaster Black Elite 330 eXtreme No PSU £28.44
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146338

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Socket AM2 (2.7GHz) £43.20
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/138891

ASUS M4A78-VM 780G Socket AM2+ £53.58
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168321

Palit GTS250 512MB £81.71
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160669

Antec EarthWatts 500W PSU £54.81
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/120377

EDISPLAY Samsung SM2043SN 20" Monitor £88.20
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169547

Total = £429 exactly! A little over budget but it won't kill me.

I have a keyboard and mouse sorted! Just check that everything there is fine and will run smoothly together! And to give me a rough estimate whether it will be a quick machine.

[AMGrbaowska]

Looks good, I think you should be very happy with that build.

[Zachh]

Originally Posted by AMGrbaowska Looks good, I think you should be very happy with that build.

Thanks very much,

I have everyone to thanks here for helping me! I really needed it and deeply appreciate it, thank you!