Please help with new build confusion

J

j3nni

New Member
I'm going to be attempting my first build but really don't know what componants would be good. I need a good gaming pc, under a grand ideally(GBP) and was hoping to have somewhat of a list i could have posted and got comments on but i'm finding it harder than i thought.
At first i was thinking something like a Intel Core Quad Q9300 but i've seen around that maybe something like a Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 may be alright instead?
I'm having quite alot of confusion over mobo's, they seem to be the things i cant figure out, what would be a good one to go with for either of those processors?
As for RAM i'm up for whatever may be recommended really, i'm guessing at least 4GB's would be good.
Thinking of the ATI 4870 as the graphics card... and a PSU that will cater for it all. Also will an arctic cooling 7 be good enough for the cooling? Have i missed anything else?
Oh and i need room for a tv card and sound card obviously and i'd like alot of HDD space, so i was thinking maybe 2x 500GB drives and a dvdrw/cdrw optical drive (possibly 2 of those) so any case would have to have enough bays
 
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I don't know what that is or if it would benefit me :confused: I use my storage for installing games and i use alot for films and pictures etc so its constantly used and i need alot
 
j3nni said:
I don't know what that is or if it would benefit me :confused: I use my storage for installing games and i use alot for films and pictures etc so its constantly used and i need alot
Click to expand...

I'd run a raid, it is a backup such that you won't lose all your data. your storage capacity will get cut in half because your data is constantly stored on BOTH hard drives.Should one fail you don't lose all your data, you insert a new hard drive and go on your merry way. so that computer has 3 terabytes worth of storage but you'll only get to use 1.5 terabytes (1,500 gigabytes).
 
another recommendation is have someone with you that has done this before. I built a computer this month for the first time in 6 years and nearly screwed it up. raid is easy to setup, its one of the bios controller menus (the one other than CMOS).
 
Ah i see, i'll definately consider that then. When i click on your link it takes me to a login page but i cant sign up because i'm from the UK and it wont let me use a UK address =/

EDIT: Thanks lol ill have a look through
 
Ok so i've looked through, looks to be what im looking for. Obviously i'll most probably be shopping around for the componants as i probably cant get them from newegg, but you think the quad core will be better than the duo core then? Also i've not heard of that graphics card before, is it better than the ATI 4870?
For the case i'm going ot be extremely picky about what it looks like but as long as it has the same dimensions/bays etc as that one should it be ok?
 
the link that is to newegg is useless, they don't ship outside of the US.

As for the build, on my rig right now i'm playing games like WoW on full, CoD4/5 on near full and most others on near full. The system cost about £850 (£1200 or so with upgrades from when i first built it, but now it is about £850), so you could have the exact same with quad core and 2 500GB 7200RPM in raid0 configuration and a 600-850W power supply for about £1000. I know the price is about £850 because i am from UK ^^. My rig is posted in my signature.

I recomend getting the parts from either:

www.overclockers.co.uk

or

www.scan.co.uk


RAID is very simple (in simple theory and in making it, gets complex when you go deeper but that doesn't amtter).

There are 2 common RAID configurations: RAID0 and RAID1, there are others such as RAID5 and RAID 10, but those are the most common.

with 2 hard drives that are identical (you can have ones that are same retrieveal, disc speed etc but different capacities and will work in RAID, but generally it is easier to to it with identical ones) you can, so long as you have a RAID controller, which is built into most modern mobo bios', set up hard drives in RAID configuration.

raid0 is where you have 2 hard drives working simultaneously. When you install something it obviously puts it on the hard drive. with 2 hard drives in raid0 it puts half on 1, half on the other. This means, in theory, that retrieval speed is doubled because it can get different parts of the same thing from 2 places and then work it out into 1. In RAID0 the totalty is the total of 2 drivess with 2 250GB drivs it will be the same as having 1 500GB drive. RAID0 is for performance

RAID1 is where you have 2 hard drives which put the same information on both drives. This is for stability, so if one goes down you have a backup. It is generally used on unstable systems or on slave drives with important data on that cannot afford to be lost. The total of the 2 drives is the total of 1 of the drives, so 2x250GB drives has a capacity of 250GB.

Because you are making a performance computer you would be better using RAID0 to speed up your system further with no extra cost
 
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get the q6600 processor instead since much higher overclocking power and pick the gtx280 GPU as you can get those for 300$ too now. the power supply is way to expensive , you can get better PSUs for 70$.
 
I don't think ill ever be overclocking as i don't get it and to be honest as long as the processor play my games without a hiccup then thats fine for me. I'll definately go with raid0 i think after reading about it.

And if anyone could point me to the same sort of parts but on overclockers or scan or ebuyer i'd appreciate it as i don't know where to begin on finding similar parts on UK sites.

I'm still kinda of wanting to stick with ATI graphics cards rather than nvidia, i have the 4780 in mind (think thats the one, completely got confused on the numbers now lol)

Also for processors, what would be better out of the Q9300 one or an i7?
 
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Hmm is overclocking far more simple than it sounds? because if any newbie can do it and i'd be able to manage it then i think i might go for the Q6600, seems to be all i need and if i can overclock it then its saving money from the 9300, and even if i get cold feet i think it would be enough anyway. I'm stuck with what would be a good mobo for it though, any suggestions? i want at least 4gb ram, possibly more if recommended
 
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