need help with 1st build

[smudge1977]

ok this will be my 1st build,and im not really sure if it will be compatible together,i know little about the inside's of computers,and i could do with a little help, it will be mainly for gaming, thks for your time,any advise would be fantastic

1)case,antec df-85 | eBay
or Coolermaster HAF X Computer PC Case | eBay

2)mobo, Asus CrossHair V Formula - AMD 990FX Chipset - Skt AM3+ | eBay or Asus Sabertooth 990FX - AMD 990FX Chipset Socket AM3+ | eBay im open to options

3)cpu, AMD Phenom II X6 Black Edition 1090T 3.2GHz 9MB Cache | eBay

4)ram, not sure,im thinking about 8gig

5)grafix, this is really hard choice as theres so many diff kind but i was looking at XFX AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB Graphics Card - HD-687A-ZNFC | eBay

6)storage, ive been studying youtube and i was thinking of Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB,Internal,5400 RPM ... | eBay (not sure) for storage and another hdd for running my os on

7)power, Corsair Gamer Series GS700 700W 80+ PC Power Supply PSU | eBay

8)heatsink fan, Zalman CNPS9900A-LED Intel AMD CNPS9900 CPU Cooler 1366 | eBay

9)drives, any dvd drive really

10)o.s, WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM - UPGRADE FROM XP OR VISTA | eBay


i will be getting a better moniter than i have atm HP w1907s 19" COMPUTER MONITOR | eBay

i would like to go crossfire too, but not atm,and use that 3 screen display too thats on the grafix, but thats down the line

[David M]

What is your budget?

Does your budget also include three monitors and other peripherals?

Don't buy computer components off Ebay.

[flanzig1]

A few thoughts: since you linked a retail package for the CPU, don't need to get the after market CPU cooler, one comes with the CPU. Ram: look to Corsair,Kingston,Adata.
That Win7 upgrade may only work if you have a XP/Vista DVD. I would look for an OEM version of Win7, it will be easier to install.

[Bronxbomber90]

WD Caviar Black would be better

[glc]

Originally Posted by Bronxbomber90 WD Caviar Black would be better

For an OS drive, yes. Greens are fine for storage. You could even consider a SSD for the OS, budget permitting.

Ram: look to Corsair,Kingston,Adata.

Also, Crucial.

Don't buy computer components off Ebay.

DEFINITELY do not, unless you need something that you can't find anywhere else. Stick with a major well-regarded online vendor such as Dabs, Ebuyer, Overclockers, or Scan. I'm assuming you are in the UK.

i was looking at XFX AMD Radeon HD 6870

Stick with Asus, Sapphire, EVGA, HIS, Diamond, or MSI if possible.

Corsair Gamer Series GS700

If you want Corsair, stick with TX, HX, or AX series. Other good units are Seasonic and Antec Earthwatts or HCG.

I would look for an OEM version of Win7

Definitely. Should be around the same price.

You do not need a 6 core processor for gaming. For the same price, you can get a strong quad. Don't overspend on the motherboard - just get a high quality one (Asus is high quality) that has the features you need. A Crosshair or Sabertooth probably has a lot more than you need.

Give us a budget for items 1 through 10, in GBP is fine.

[smudge1977]

my max is £800-which put into a currency converter is 800.00 GBP = 1,302.30 USD, yeah i didnt really know where to look for this kind of stuff,thats why i just used e-bay as a guide, any chance you could point out a good grafix card (bearing in mind i might go muti screen later) as for the cpu, i just went for one of the latest ones, it hurts my head looking at all the stats on these things to pick the stuff i need, ill pop a rough cost of each

1) case- £100 ish
2) mobo-£150 ish
3) cpu-£150
4) ram-£50
5) grafix-£200
6) storage-£50 each ?
7) power-£60
8) heatsink fan-£40
9) drive-£20
10 o.s-£85

i have a monitor atm and i have the mouse,keyboard etc..
what im really looking for is a dam good machine that will last me some time before it needs upgrading, if you guys can build me a good fast gaming machine that would be fantastic, i would like to stay under the £800 mark,for risking the wrath of the miss's thks again for the replys

[glc]

Here is an Intel-based system, I'll let one of the other guys give you an AMD recommendation. Cases are somewhat of a personal choice - what looks good to me may look like crap to you, and vice versa, so I'm simply going to recommend a representative case that I know is high quality and is relatively inexpensive. I'm not going to recommend a CPU cooler, retail boxed processors come with one that is adequate for stock speeds and mild overclocking. You may of course add one later if you find you need better cooling.

Coolermaster Elite 335 Case | Ebuyer.com

Corsair TX 650W V2 PSU - 80plus Bronze Certified | Ebuyer.com

Asus P8Z68-V Socket 1155 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard | Ebuyer.com

Intel Core i5 2300 2.8GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache retail.. | Ebuyer.com

WD 1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6Gb/s Caviar Black Hard.. | Ebuyer.com

LiteOn iHAS124-19 24x DVD±RW DL & RAM SATA.. | Ebuyer.com

Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile Vengeance.. | Ebuyer.com

Sapphire HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI DisplayPort.. | Ebuyer.com

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium w/SP1 - Licence and.. | Ebuyer.com

[jdeb]

I don't think you can get a better AMD build than what glc recommended.

[Khalil]

I am an AMD fan but I agree with Jdeb, currently Intel has the upper hand and what glc recomended for the money is the way to go.

[smudge1977]

any chance of a amd build pls, and how long will this mobo last for before being replaced, same for the grafix card, cus there the 2 that i think are important things to look out for, im still puzzled on a few things still

1) AMD v intel and whats going to be the best for gaming
2) nvidea v radeon again for gaming

ive had the intel rig posted,but id like to compare it to an AMD rig, and compare the 2

ive come across a site like http://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/pcs-ga...FZRc4Qod-Q-Zyg where you can add to the spec would it be wise to buy a pre built one ?
thks again

[glc]

Scan.co.uk: Asus M5A99X EVO AMD 990X AM3+ Motherboard - 90-MIBFL0-G0EAY00Z

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3.. | Ebuyer.com

MSI GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 Dual DVI MIni HDMI Out PCI-E.. | Ebuyer.com

[Katreat]

1) AMD v intel and whats going to be the best for gaming

Intel by a hair at the top! If you want to step down a bit in performance and cost, AMD will be very competitive and win at many price points.

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: July 2011 : July Updates

2) nvidea v radeon again for gaming

Too close to call. It all depends on your price point. Both make very good graphic cards at almost all price points.

Best Graphics Cards For The Money: August 2011 : Best Graphics Cards For The Money, August Update

ive had the intel rig posted,but id like to compare it to an AMD rig, and compare the 2

GLC provided a build, but again you are really comparing apples and oranges. AMD makes a great processor, but at this point in time Intel wears the crown at the top of the list. There is no equal AMD processor at this time, you will need to wait for their next chip release.

ive come across a site like Gaming PCs - Dino PC Ltd where you can add to the spec would it be wise to buy a pre built one ? thks again

If you are up to it, it is almost always more cost effective to build your own. It is also very fun. If you really can’t build it yourself, I would personally recommend checking out some local computer shops and getting them to build it for you. If you know what you want in it they will often charge you a very fair fee for putting it all together and testing it before delivery. Most online retailers might give you choices but rarely allows you to chose every part. The closest on-line retailor I have found that will really let you chose what goes into your computer completely is AVAdirect. They have one of the best selections of parts I have seen and will let you choose what you end up with. But they dont put it together for free so expect to pay more than you can buy the parts for yourself. If you have found a build on-line that just seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Kat

[Khalil]

If you go AMD I would not buy anything higher than the Phenom II 965 glc suggested because they would make no difference for gaming.

[glc]

Khalil, would you recommend any lesser motherboard that Ebuyer has in stock? The one I recommended is not carried by Ebuyer and is actually on a preorder status at Scan. It looks like 900 chipset boards are kinda scarce on the other side of the pond except for the high end Sabertooth and Crosshair and the entry level micro boards.

[Khalil]

Yes, this motherboard here I like a lot for gaming rigs Asus M4A87TD/USB3 870 Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio ATX.. | Ebuyer.com
I built at least 10 machines with it last month.

And they have it in stock

[glc]

That's a considerable savings and would let you get a nicer case without busting your budget.

Now, you can choose whether you want the 6950 2gb or the GTX 570 - but I do not know if the 570 can natively handle 3 monitors. I know for a fact that the 6950 can.

Also, that board does not support SLI or Crossfire. You would need a stronger power supply to support 2 video cards anyway.

Here's a cheaper Intel board:

Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 Socket 1155 8 Channel Audio.. | Ebuyer.com

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Khalil Yes, this motherboard here I like a lot for gaming rigs Asus M4A87TD/USB3 870 Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio ATX.. | Ebuyer.com I built at least 10 machines with it last month. And they have it in stock

I've built a computer with that motherboard recently, runs pretty good, only problem i've had with it is the ram slots are pretty close to the cpu socket. I have the heatsink (AC 7 Pro v2) brushing up right up against the ram, so if using an aftermarket heatsink, may not be the best choice (at least if you are using all 4 DIMM slots).

If you really want to get an AMD board at the moment and plan to upgrade the processor at some point in the future, make sure it can handle AM3+ processors, right now only a few 8xx chipset motherboards can handle AM3+ (http://event.asus.com/2011/mb/AM3_PLUS_Ready/), while all 9xx chipsets can handle AM3+ processors

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by Masaki 7-11 I've built a computer with that motherboard recently, runs pretty good, only problem i've had with it is the ram slots are pretty close to the cpu socket. I have the heatsink (AC 7 Pro v2) brushing up right up against the ram, so if using an aftermarket heatsink, may not be the best choice (at least if you are using all 4 DIMM slots). If you really want to get an AMD board at the moment and plan to upgrade the processor at some point in the future, make sure it can handle AM3+ processors, right now only a few 8xx chipset motherboards can handle AM3+ (ASUS First to Provide AM3+ CPU Ready Solution for Current AM3 and Future AM3+ Motherboards), while all 9xx chipsets can handle AM3+ processors

There will not be any AM3+ processors, not sure what AMD meant by AM3+, the bulldozers will not be AM3+, they are a completely different socket. The AMD Phenom II 980 is the end of the road for that socket type.
I do not use aftermarket CPU coolers, the AMD coolers work great and Asus design their motherboards around AMD standards.

[smudge1977]

Again thks for your replys,

ok i think i might have a build

1)mobo Scan.co.uk: Asus M5A99X EVO AMD 990X AM3+ Motherboard - 90-MIBFL0-G0EAY00Z
2)cpu AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3.. | Ebuyer.com
3)hhd WD 1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6Gb/s Caviar Black Hard.. | Ebuyer.com
4)power Corsair TX 650W V2 PSU - 80plus Bronze Certified | Ebuyer.com
5)drive LiteOn iHAS124-19 24x DVD±RW DL & RAM SATA.. | Ebuyer.com
6)ram Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile Vengeance.. | Ebuyer.com
7)o.s Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium w/SP1 - Licence and.. | Ebuyer.com
8)case eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace
9)grafix Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 1GB GDDR5 Graphics Card | eBay

again on the cards ive stuck to the ones you mentioned,(sapphire-asus-etc.. i still find it hard to pick,is there a big diffrance to a 1g and a 2g card,ive gone for the 6950 1g but even then theres so many choices, id like to stay at the £200 for the card so if there is a really good card for £200 that would be great, maybe £250 tops (card wont be from e-bay)

thks again

[glc]

Note that the motherboard is NOT in stock, it's in preorder status.

If you are planning on running 3 high resolution monitors, you should get the 2gb card. If not, the 1gb card is fine.

[David M]

How badly do you want to play games with those three monitors?

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Khalil There will not be any AM3+ processors, not sure what AMD meant by AM3+, the bulldozers will not be AM3+, they are a completely different socket. The AMD Phenom II 980 is the end of the road for that socket type. I do not use aftermarket CPU coolers, the AMD coolers work great and Asus design their motherboards around AMD standards.

Bulldozer are AM3+, at least as far as I can tell from reading the news, AMD has not changed their plans and bulldozer will be an AM3+ part which has 942 pins and is mechanically compatible with AM3. Wiki link: Bulldozer (processor) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Regarding stock vs aftermarket heatsink, I would say the AMD ones are ok, but if you're looking for low noise or lower temperature than 60C during full load with one of their 125W processors you'll want to grab an aftermarket heatsink, especially if you plan on doing any overclocking. I've been running a Phenom II x4 940 for a while with stock heatsink in a coolermaster case and it gets close to 60C during gaming while making a fair bit of noise, as soon as I upgraded to AC 7 Pro v2, load temps barely reached 40C and the noise level was much lower; did the same thing with my new Phenom II x4 965 build, ran it with stock for a bit to update bios and install the OS, then replaced the cooler with an AC 7 Pro v2 and noticed the same type of improvement.