First time build.

Hello guys , I first came on this forum looking for advice on buying a new desktop pc but after looking around a bit and reading a few threads it sounds as if its maybe cheaper and better value to build my own. First off my current pc is very dated and have needed a new one for a few years now. I have a budget of around £300-350 and I'm looking for a basic pc really , I use my current pc for playing poker , watching movies , browsing the internet and just general computing use so nothing really fancy , I would like my new pc to have ddecent memory size , I've seen you can have a blu-ray optical drive ( this really isn't essential ) but basic would do for now so I can burn data discs , I would also like windows 7 as I've used XP forever and would like to update. I use my tv as my monitor so wouldn't need to buy one. I have no idea where to buy components which components to buy and all the other stuff I probably need to know lol. Would this be possible on my budget or would I better just to buy a standard model from somewhere ?

Thanks
Danny.

Is there a website you prefer to use?

Website for what ?

to buy your parts. I see you said you dont know where. Im assuming your in the UK from the currency mark you used, so I would suggest you look at www.overclockers.co.uk or www.amazon.co.uk for parts.

I get what you mean now , yes I'm in the UK. As for what website to use I'm open to suggestion really as the only electrical place that I know I could buy stuff from is Maplin , so would you say the 2 you have suggested are the best ?

I've been looking around on websites and in a Maplin catalogue, I've sort of put together a rough list of parts just to see what anybody thinks.

Case - http://www.ebuyer.com/108273-casecom-kb-7720bk-black-atx-midi-tower-case-no-psu-kb-7720bk

Processor - http://www.ebuyer.com/242140-amd-athlon-ii-x4-640-socket-am3-3ghz-2mb-l2-cache-retail-adx640wfgmbox

Optical drive - http://www.ebuyer.com/194807-lg-ch1...dvd-rw-lightscribe-sata-blu-ray-drive-ch10ls2

Hard drive - http://www.ebuyer.com/272944-seagat...cuda-hard-drive-7200rpm-16mb-cache-st500dm002

PSU - http://www.ebuyer.com/124922-arctic-power-500w-psu-p2-arctcic-500td

Motherboard - Unsure here and open to suggestion

Memory - Also this would depend on the motherboard

As for graphics card I'm not fussed as I don't game, I'm open to suggestion on all of the above so any ideas will probably be better than what I've suggested

Thanks again

with that CPU you'll want an AM3 motherboard, a cheap one can be had like this, 4GB of RAM is plently enough and can be had very cheap like http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(2x4gb)-corsair-ddr3-vengeance-jet-black-lp-pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-15v

edit: actually that's 8GB, assumed that because it was £38 it was 4 :/ either way dual channel (sticks in a set of two in the same colour DIMM sockets) will be fine,

I'd recommend getting a better case like the NZXT beta evo or the elite 430 - it'll be quieter and last you way longer if you want to build again.

Also, very important fact about PSUs - only buy from a reputable brand. You won't actually be getting 500w from that thing, it's more about voltages but basically, anything under £40 for a 500W will be terrible. A search on google will tell you which brands are a no no. The integrated GPU on the motherboard should be fine for your purposes.

.. yeah you got screwed on the hard drive, but that's how things are at the moment, prices are high... Go for the cheapest 500GB - 1TB one you can find from seagate or samsung.

edit: My rig cost me a little under £400
- You could downgrade the CPU to an athlon II X2 250. You would barely notice the difference for casual computing tasks.
http://www.cclonline.com/product/26...II-X2-250-3-0GHz-Dual-Core-Processor/CPU4592/

Thanks for the reply, I'll check out those cases I like the look of both. I was looking at motherboards and wasn't sure what micro atx was and whether it has a disadvantage to getting a normal board. Also with the processor I really just picked a half decent one and went with it to determine what motherboard memory etc to go for as anything newer than what I have at the moment I will probably see a huge difference. I can change the hard drive as I haven't bought any parts yet just looking over parts and prices. Also been watching the you tube videos from new egg and hopefully I will just buy everything then 1 day at the weekend go for it and try putting everything together, I'm hoping to buy all parts in the next 2 weeks so just trying to gather as much information as possible on buying the best equipment within a budget.

Thanks
Danny.

So I took the advice and put together this selection of components just like to know what you think and what limitations I may have or anything I could improve ....

Case - http://www.hardwareking.net/product...P&info=p85372_NZXT-Beta-Evo--BEVO-001BK-.html

Motherboard - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus...raid-sata-pcie-(x16)-graphics-on-board-micro-

CPU - http://www.cclonline.com/product/26...II-X2-250-3-0GHz-Dual-Core-Processor/CPU4592/

Memory - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-...pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-15v

Hard-drive - http://www.ebuyer.com/272944-seagat...cuda-hard-drive-7200rpm-16mb-cache-st500dm002

Optical drive - http://www.ebuyer.com/194807-lg-ch1...-lightscribe-sata-blu-ray-drive-ch10ls20-auau

PSU - http://www.ebuyer.com/269259-corsair-600w-cx-series-v2-psu-6x-sata-2x-pci-e-cmpsu-600cxv2uk

Operating system - windows 7 I can pick up home edition for around £70

This brings me in at £394.40 , would this computer last any length of time ? This to me looks pretty good but then again I'm a complete beginner at this and again open to suggestion on anything so if anybody can see anywhere that I could buy better for the money I'm paying.

Cheers
Danny.