New build - Any advice?

[t0m0]

Hi there,

Just signed up here, looks like a great forum.

I would really like to build my own PC. I already have a 19" widescreen monitor, operating system, speakers, keyboard and mouse, I just need a good performance base unit.

I don't really play games on my PC. I do however watch films and listen to music.

I also do web design and use products such as Photoshop and Dreamweaver often, so really need something powerful enough to run these programs. Here is my planned build, any comments on components would be much appreciated (where I can source them cheaper or ones I need to be better spec'd).

Coolermaster Elite 330 Case With Coolermaster eXtreme Power 460W PSU - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135101 - £57.99

ASUS P5Q-EM iG45 Socket 775 onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149280 - £87.27

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 2.8GHz Socket 775 1066MHz FSB 3MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/152177 - £84.17

Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 Memory Kit CL9 1.5V - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166995 - £80.00

Samsung EcoGreen F2 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 32MB Cache - OEM - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164282 - £56.49

Samsung SH-S223 22X DVD±RW/RAM/DL Serial ATA Black Bare Drive - OEM - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145450 - £14.99

Total - £380.91

Any comments would be much appreciated.

Regards,
Tom

[glc]

I would plan on a separate video card. The software you use will greatly benefit from it. it doesn't have to be a gaming quality card, something like an ATI 4550 will be plenty. http://www.ebuyer.com/product/190767

With that in mind, a lesser Asus board will be fine - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168935 (P5KPL-AM)

This takes DDR2 memory. http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164758

We don't recommend Samsung optical and hard drives for reliability reasons.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146079
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/170014

You can do better than a Coolermaster PSU - go ahead and get the bare case with a separate PSU.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127584
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159924

[t0m0]

Thanks for the advice.

Are all those components you listed credible? I am a bit concerned about the memory, never heard of that brand name before?

Also, will that graphics card be ok to watch films? Do I need some sort of cooling device in my build too?

Will this build be of sufficient power for operating Photoshop and Dreamweaver together?

The total now comes to £327.72. Can I just double check with someone that these components will work with one another?

Thanks for the advice!

Tom

[t0m0]

Also, on the case you recommended, where are the usb + modem slots at the rear? Sorry if I sound like an amateur.

Regards,
Tom

[Khalil]

USB ports are both on front and back of case.
Modem? Are you going to be using dial up? Not with windows 7 I hope!

[glc]

They are all credible components or I would not have recommended them. Corsair is a BIG player in the memory market and I've been using it almost exclusively for years. Their warranty and end user support is second to none.

The video card is going to play video better than any onboard video. The cooling that the case and CPU comes with is sufficient.

You can always do better, but within your budget it's going to handle your apps as well as anything.

The motherboard has integrated USB and Ethernet jacks on the rear, and also has internal headers for hooking the front case USB ports up to.

[t0m0]

Thanks for the replies.

I will be using a broadband connection, so will need a ethernet socket, I presume this is all in the motherboard though?

Thanks GLC. Does the spec look ok for my requirements?

I will start to purchase these components. Does anyone have any other good sites where I can maybe purchase the components cheaper?

Regards.

[t0m0]

Will this build also be able to support a 64bit version of Windows 7?

Would it also be possible to have HDMI compatability? Is that the graphics card or the motherboard?

[flanzig1]

The memory GLC suggested will be fine with W7. 4gigs should be enough ram.
The video card GLC suggested doesn't have a HDMI port, you can get DVI to HDMI adapters but they would be for video only. To have full HDMI (audio and video) you need a video card that has HDMI native to it.

[glc]

The motherboard has integrated USB and Ethernet jacks on the rear,

Video card with HDMI:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/182103