First Time Build Advice

S

seavik

New Member
Hello,

I would like to give building a computer a shot and could use some (ok, a LOT of) advice. I’ve never been a huge computer guy, but I love building things and I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, so I’m not a technical idiot either. I’ve just never had a particular need for a killer computer until recently. My desire to build a computer is due to 1) being tired of my off-the-shelf computer being too slow in every way, 2) moving to the UK a couple of years ago and wanting my computer to give me the best available quality streaming of NFL games and 3) the satisfaction and pride that I get from building anything myself!

I think I could figure out a working mix of components, but I have no idea how to balance the quality of those components. Without expert advice, I’d probably end up with some components being bottle-necked by others. So, please advise on what you’d suggest I buy to build a system for £1,000 ($1,500) or less. Also, I could use advice on where to purchase – I’ve found this site in the UK (www.microdirect.co.uk), although I’ve compared a couple of products with Amazon and the prices seem slightly better on Amazon (I suspect Amazon is a joke for all you techies!). So, here is what I’m looking for:

Primary Uses for Computer
1) I want to stream online TV through my computer, connect my computer to my HDTV (Sony Bravia KDL 40W4000), primarily through nfl.com/gamepass
2) General internet, desktop apps, etc., obviously.
3) Movie, photo, data storage (at least 500 gb)
4) Occasional gaming (ex: StarCraft)

Other Factors / Considerations
1) My current download connection speed is 11488 kbps, but I believe I could upgrade if this would improve video streaming quality. I’m with Sky Broadband.
2) I have a Samsung SyncMaster 225BW monitor. It is about 4 years old and the picture seems to have deteriorated, although I don’t know if it’s my monitor or my video card. When there is something on the screen, like the black type of these words, a horizontal shadow extends across the screen. Not sure if that means it’s my monitor or video card?
3) I am temporarily living in the UK, but will be returning to the US and would like to ensure my computer can operate on either electrical system.
4) I’d like to have capacity to upgrade various components in the future if not too expensive to leave that option.

If I get promising advice and build this, I’ll gladly post pictures of my process and results!

Thanks,
Seavik
 
The power won't be a problem...any power supply unit (PSU) worth its salt will automatically adapt to whatever the input voltage is.

Other good sites in the UK (that I know of) are overclockers.co.uk, ebuyer.com, and scan.co.uk.

For the price, I'd suggest an AMD Phenom x6 rig, unless you want to keep it significantly under £1k.
 
Ok, thanks. So that's just the processor...and aren't there about a million AMD choices? How do I choose?
 
Ok, thanks. But again, that's just the processor. First, what is it about that processor that you like over others and second, what about everything else?
 
It should be plenty. where do you want to buy from? there are a few UK etailers you could use.
 
seavik said:
Ok, thanks. But again, that's just the processor. First, what is it about that processor that you like over others and second, what about everything else?
Click to expand...

AMD only has two consumer-grade hexacore models, and the other one is $100 more and only performs a bit better. (it has an unlocked multiplier for overclocking, though)

If you want upgrades, I would look at a Gigabyte or Asus motherboard with an AMD 8xx chipset. An 890GX board would be a good balance of price and upgrade ability.

For RAM, 4GB (ideally two 2GB sticks) of good DDR3 should do it. G-skill Ripjaws typically is a good deal, but there are several others. Prices fluctuate so much that it's best to pick this when you actually go to order, so you can do some price hunting.

For the graphics card, you don't need anything particularly powerful for what you want, unless your occasional gaming needs to be done at maximum settings. Does it?

For the power supply, something in the 550W-650W range should be plenty. Like the RAM, it's best to pick the exact model just before you order. From what I can see, the best deals and highest quality right now are mostly coming from Corsair, Antec, XFX, Silverstone, and Seasonic. (there are quite a few less common, but still very good brands as well)

For the optical drive, Lite On and Sony are my favorite brands, but these are cheap...as long as it does everything, there's not a huge difference in them. You can usually find a 24x CD/DVD burner with Lightscribe for about $20.

For the hard drive, you'll want either a Western Digital Caviar Black, a Seagate 7200.12, or a Samsung Spinpoint F3. The last line typically has the best mix of price, performance, and capacity. You pick the size...

For the case, look for something that looks cool to you and has good features. I recommend NZXT, because they usually have awesome cases for the price. Cooler Master and Antec are the top two manufacturers, though, and also have great models. Those are by no means the only good brands, though.
 
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linkin said:
It should be plenty. where do you want to buy from? there are a few UK etailers you could use.
Click to expand...

Anywhere that delivers in the UK is fine with me. I compared prices on the AMD PHENOM II X6 on all the sites dremin mentioned above, as well as microdirect.co.uk and amazon.co.uk. I was surprised that amazon was tied with ebuyer for best price at £156 (with max price of £162 at microdirect). So, unless there are any good reasons not to, I'll probably just go through amazon.
 
Drenlin - Thanks for your post, very helpful.

Here are my next round of questions...

Processor
AMD PHENOM II X6 1055T (HDT55TFBGRBOX)
Is it worth upgrading to the 1090T for streaming HD video (going for £220)? The site I plan to stream from recommends 2.33 GHz and the 1055 is only 2.80 GHz vs. the 1090 at 3.20 GHz. If the 1090 is likely to make a noticeable difference to streaming quality, I’d gladly pay for the upgrade.

Motherboard
- How do I choose the chipset for my motherboard?
Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H (£105) vs. this one GA-880GA-UD3H (£80)?


RAM
- What difference does it make if I get 2 x 2MB
- What difference does BUS rate make?
- Does brand matter or should I just go with the cheapest for the specs I want?

Graphics Card
- No, my occasional gaming needs don’t need to be at maximum settings. What I’m more concerned about here is whether or not the graphics card makes a difference on the quality of the feed to my HDTV. I currently run a regular monitor chord to both my monitor and TV so I can watch streamed video on my TV as well. I use a regular monitor chord with a splitter. For whatever reason, the color on my TV gets screwed up. Not sure if this is the card, my connection or something else.
- I’m pretty lost on this one, but wonder if I could get a graphics card that has HDMI output to connect to my TV, or would that make no difference?

Power Supply
- Anything I need to look for here other than watts? How do I know how much I need? It seems like prices vary hugely for PSUs with same output (like from £10 to well over £100) and I’m not sure why.
- Is it safe to assume all will fit in my box or do I need to check that too?

DVD Drive
Any reason not to salvage my existing drive from my current computer? It’s 4 or 5 years old, but seems to work fine and I hardly use it.

Hard Drive
Any reason one way or the other between 2 x 500 vs. 1 x 1000?

Case
I like the NZXT Hades. Are the cases typically wired with UBS inputs, memory card inputs, etc?

Other
- What about sound?
- Do components typically come with needed wiring?
- Do processors come w/ fan or is that separate?

Thanks!
 
It is the best thing and the perfect way to implement a kind of planning. It may sometimes be very much higher and will the perfect mastered way.
 
When are you going back to US? UK price is a lot more expensive...

Here is some machine you can buy off shelf.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-035-OP&groupid=43&catid=1444&subcat=
- Case: Antec 300 Gaming case - Black
- Power Supply: Corsair Extreme 600W
- CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1055T 95W Edition 2.80GHz overclocked to 3.80GHz
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H 880G
- Cooler: Corsair H50 CPU Cooler (H70 Option)
- RAM: Corsair XMS3 (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: Seagate Baracuda 7200.12 500GB 16MB Cache
- Graphics Card: GTX 460 768MB [ADD]
- Sound: 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)
- Optical Drive: LG DVD+/-RW SATA Drive
- Cooling: 2x Xigmatek Crystal White LED Fans
Home Premium 64bit
£750

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-252-OK&groupid=43&catid=1444&subcat=
- Case: Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
- Power Supply: Corsair Extreme 600W
- CPU: Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz overclocked to 4.00GHz
- Motherboard: Asus P7P55D-E Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard
- Cooler: Titan Fenrir CPU Cooler
- RAM: Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
- Graphics Card: GTX 460 768MB [ADD]
- Sound: High Definition 7.1 Onboard Sound Card
- Optical Drive: 22x DVD+RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter -
- Home Premium 64bit
£780

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/pc/range/novatechxfirepro.html
Processor: AMD Quad Core Phenom II X4 965
Memory: 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz
Harddrive: 1TB 3.5" 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
Case: Antec Three Hundred Case
Graphics: ATI Radeon 5850 1GB GDDR5
Power Supply: OCZ StealthXStream2 700W Power Supply
Motherboard: AMD 890GX + SB850 Chipset Motherboard
Add OS
£819

I will get you a hardware list later
 
CPU - 1055T is fine, personally don't see 1090T worth exta money
RAM - Recommend get DDR3 1600 min. Brand - advoid no name.
Video card - ATI 5770 1GB is a good mid-range card.
Mobo - since you are not heavy gamer, you won't need to run crossfire.
Get mobo with AMD870 SB850 or AMD 880G
PSU - 500 - 600W is what you need. Get something ~ £50
HDD - 1 x 1TB. Just partition yourself.
Sound - onboard, unless you get a good set of speaker. dirt cheap soundcard not worth investing. Get something like Asus Xonar D1/ DX at least if you want upgrade
cables - come with motherboard
cpu heatsink - come with cpu if you buy retail version.
DVD drive - you can use existing. only downside is it has big IDE cable
NZXT Hades - Front Ports USB / Audio / e-SATA, you will need to get card reader if you want memory card input
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Card+Readers/Internal+Card+Readers/
 
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£688 from AriaPC

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...cket+AM3)+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=40095

Asus M4A87TD/USB3 870
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=40261

G.SKILL RipJaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...0C9+1600MHz+Dual+Channel+Kit+?productId=37612

Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...+1TB+SATA-II+3.5"+Hard+Drive+?productId=37726

XFX HD 5770 1GB
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...+Card+++Assasin's+Creed+Game+?productId=38286

OCZ Stealth Xstream II 600W PSU
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...hXStream+2+600W+Power+Supply+?productId=40944

Sony Optiarc AD-5260S-0B
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...ernal+DVD±R/RW+Drive+-+Black+?productId=40716

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium OEM 64bit
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Sof...+7+Home+Premium+64-Bit+-+OEM+?productId=38272

NZXT Hades
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...idi+Tower+Gaming+Case+-+Black?productId=40135
 
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I figure I should answer these, so you'll understand things a bit better. In bold.
seavik said:
Drenlin - Thanks for your post, very helpful.
You're welcome :)

Here are my next round of questions...

Processor
AMD PHENOM II X6 1055T (HDT55TFBGRBOX)
Is it worth upgrading to the 1090T for streaming HD video (going for £220)? The site I plan to stream from recommends 2.33 GHz and the 1055 is only 2.80 GHz vs. the 1090 at 3.20 GHz. If the 1090 is likely to make a noticeable difference to streaming quality, I’d gladly pay for the upgrade.
Nope. Most of the price difference comes from the fact that the 1090T has an unlocked multiplier to aid in overclocking. Your GPU should handle most of the load for streaming flash videos, anyway. Also, that site you mentioned is probably referring to a processor with 1 or 2 cores, not six!

Motherboard
- How do I choose the chipset for my motherboard?
Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H (£105) vs. this one GA-880GA-UD3H (£80)?
You pick a chipset by what features it has. The biggest difference in AMD boards is weather or not it has integrated graphics, and how much bandwidth it has on the second PCIe slot.

RAM
- What difference does it make if I get 2 x 2MB
2x2GB is better than one 4GB stick because it's usually cheaper and allows you to run your RAM in dual channel mode.
- What difference does BUS rate make?
You mean the clock speed? Faster is better, but it doesn't make a huge difference except n certain situations.
- Does brand matter or should I just go with the cheapest for the specs I want?
Brand does matter, but the G-skill that daisy picked is good.

Graphics Card
- No, my occasional gaming needs don’t need to be at maximum settings. What I’m more concerned about here is whether or not the graphics card makes a difference on the quality of the feed to my HDTV. I currently run a regular monitor chord to both my monitor and TV so I can watch streamed video on my TV as well. I use a regular monitor chord with a splitter. For whatever reason, the color on my TV gets screwed up. Not sure if this is the card, my connection or something else.
- I’m pretty lost on this one, but wonder if I could get a graphics card that has HDMI output to connect to my TV, or would that make no difference?
Yes, you can do that. You can also get a DVI to HDMI adapter, if it doesn't have HDMI, because they carry essentially the same signal.

Power Supply
- Anything I need to look for here other than watts? How do I know how much I need? It seems like prices vary hugely for PSUs with same output (like from £10 to well over £100) and I’m not sure why.
The cheap ones are just that...cheap. They won't put out anywhere near their rated wattage, they're not reliable, and when they blow, they're likely to take put half(or all!) of your components with them.
- Is it safe to assume all will fit in my box or do I need to check that too?
Any standard ATX powersupply will fit in any standard ATX case. Sometimes there's abnormally large ones (usually 1000W+ monsters), and Antec has one made specifically for a couple of their cases, but generally they're all the same.

DVD Drive
Any reason not to salvage my existing drive from my current computer? It’s 4 or 5 years old, but seems to work fine and I hardly use it.
unless you want to continue using your old computer, there's no reason you can't reuse it :good:

Hard Drive
Any reason one way or the other between 2 x 500 vs. 1 x 1000?
1x1000 is cheaper, and allows you to put everything on one drive

Case
I like the NZXT Hades. Are the cases typically wired with UBS inputs, memory card inputs, etc?
That's a good case, and it has USB and eSATA, but no card reader. Most cases don't have those. You can buy one separately, however.

Other
- What about sound?
The onboard sound should do fine.
- Do components typically come with needed wiring?
Yes, and then some.
- Do processors come w/ fan or is that separate?
They do come with one, and it works fine, but if you want to overclock you'll need a better one.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
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Thanks Drenlin, thanks Daisy! Much appreciated. I'll put together a final selection of components over the next day or so and post for review before I pull the trigger!

One quick question Denlin on your last point (processor fan). What does "overclock" mean and is that something I'll want to do?
 
Ok, I couldn't wait...here's what I'm thinking:


NZXT Hades
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/44776

OCZ StealthXStream 2 600W
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...hXStream+2+600W+Power+Supply+?productId=40944

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...cket+AM3)+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=40095

GIGABYTE MOTHERBOARD GA-790XTA-UD4
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/43791/Gigabyte-motherboard-GA-790XTA-UD4--AMD-AM3-DDR3

AMD-AM3--DDR3-ATX G.SKILL RipJaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...0C9+1600MHz+Dual+Channel+Kit+?productId=37612

XFX ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...+Card+++Assasin's+Creed+Game+?productId=38286

Sony AD-5260S-0B 24x Internal DVD±R/RW Drive - Black
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...ernal+DVD±R/RW+Drive+-+Black+?productId=40716

Samsung HD103SJ SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 3.5"
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...+1TB+SATA-II+3.5"+Hard+Drive+?productId=37726

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM
https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Sof...+7+Home+Premium+64-Bit+-+OEM+?productId=38272

NETGEAR GIGABIT PCI NETWORK CARD (10/100/1000) GA311GE
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/47284/Netgear-Gigabit-PCI-Network-Card--10-100-1000-
 
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