Semi-building a new computer

RobFace

RobFace

New Member
hey i need some help choosing the right bits for a computer i need.
i'm planning on getting the core (case/psu/cpu/cooling) of a computer from pcspecialists (http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk). then adding the bits i know i can do myself (PCI/IDE/mycurrent SATA HDD/).

i have a couple of ideas for the system, which revolve around the motherboard, and whether i can make the more expecive parts worth my tiny pile of student money (about £650ish/ i think about $989.49).

There is a good liklihood that i will want to overclock my CPU a bit to get stuck in with some modern games. so 3.4Ghz+ really.
i tried intel with my last home made computer, so i'm gonna try AMD.


The question about motherboards really seems to depend upon the new PCIe 2.1, and DDR2, or DDR3 ram. whether i'll need the latest (DDR3/PCIe2.1) to last me happily the next 4 years, or whether it'll just cost me extra money for something i can run at a cheaper price. and the oc abilities which are all pretty similar.

i'm not planning to do any Major multi-tasking so prob only need 2gb ram. although i'm not too sure if i'm gonna need the higher speeds for oc-ing (1066/1333 for these 3 boards). but as the PCI2.1 socket is backwards compatible and i'm unsure in the advertised differences in DDR3 besides probable FSB communication.

To all 3 configurations i'll be adding:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache (SATA)
LiteON 20x DVD±RW IDE Dual Layer ReWriter (IDE)
Netgear PCI card can't remember its details right now (PCI)
some sort of 1gb graphics card, would also like to see directx11, but haven't looked into this too much, thought i'd sort out the rest 1st.
(untill i can hopefully get a better one: Sapphire Technology ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro 256MB (PCIe x16)

the only otherquestions i had were:
about wattage, i'm not sure how much i need (450/600 or more)
and about CPU cooling



AMD PHENOM II X2 550 SOCKET AM3 (3.10GHz/6MB CACHE) - BLACK EDITION
2GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR DUAL-DDR2 1066MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY
ASUS M3N WS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
250GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
ANTEC 900 BLACK GAMING CASE
600W Quiet Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER
(£516)


AMD PHENOM II X2 550 SOCKET AM3 (3.10GHz/6MB CACHE) - BLACK EDITION
2GB CORSAIR DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY!
ASUS M4A77TD
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
250GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
ANTEC 900 BLACK GAMING CASE
600W Quiet Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER
(£513)


AMD PHENOM II X2 550 SOCKET AM3 (3.10GHz/6MB CACHE) - BLACK EDITION
2GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR DUAL-DDR2 1066MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY
ASUS M4N78-AM
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
250GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
ANTEC 900 BLACK GAMING CASE
600W Quiet Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER
(£497)

what do you think?
anything that you can help with is always appreciated.
 
daisymtc said:
Why don't u build the PC yourself?
Click to expand...

the last one didn't go 100% or even 70% as smoothly as it should has, faulty harware, settings, set me back quite a while, and it has recently got the better of me.

seeing as i've taken the past 2 years trying to fix it i'm pretty annoyed with it and wanna put that on the back burner and can get a running computer for now.

the idea of using part of pcspecialist and part of my own build is that i know the core pc is put together properly and tested before i get my hands on it.
 
Don't buy a quad rail PSU unless you plan to use 2 cards with two inputs each. You will not be able to use the PSU properly. This is one more reason why Corsair single rail PSU's are so good. If you run a Quad rail PSU and have a 6 pin PCIE card you will only draw power to the card from one fo the 4 rails.

I called Antec about the quatro power 850 and they said not to run it on the 5970, they recomeded a TP 750 even over it.
 
I recommend the £513 with DDR3 RAM. But it won't work without graphic card.
Also, I have no clue what PSU being given, not recommended.
 
daisymtc said:
I recommend the £513 with DDR3 RAM. But it won't work without graphic card.
Also, I have no clue what PSU being given, not recommended.
Click to expand...

i'd prob get the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5570 1024MB GDDR3.
i'll try and contact pcs about their psu's. should i be looking for the make, and some sort of product code?



edit: i've emailed them about single rail psu's. should get back to me soonish.
 
Last edited:
RobFace said:
i'll try and contact pcs about their psu's. should i be looking for the make, and some sort of product code?
Click to expand...

You should be looking for a branded, well known PSU such as, Corsair, Antec or Coolermaster. Having a not known PSU and cheap PSU could seriously damage any, if not all of your components.
 
Last edited:
Voltt said:
You should be looking for a branded, well known PSU such as, Corsair, Antec or Coolermaster. Having a not known PSU and cheap PSU could seriously damage any, if not all of your components.
Click to expand...

PC Power & Cooling, OCZ, Seasonic, Silverstone, Thermaltake, Xigmatek, XClio, and several others are also very good.
 
after looking at my other options and hearing you guys (and having no reply from pcs), rather tempted to find someone local who is a bit of a veteran at computers just to double check my choices and help me put it together. (obviously still talking to you guys as well :D)

i'm sure when i'm more confident i'll have another go at wacking one together myself.
so back to the drawing board.
 
The middle one. Plus the 5750. But see about getting a 16mb. cache Western Digital or Seagate harddrive. Get a name brand power supply.
 
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