Dom_sufc

Well, so you wondering what the title Is all about? Basically, building a new computer Is a Giant Leap for me, as Im a complete newbie when it comes to this stuff. And from what I read, this stuff seems to be the basis of most people's talents on this forum. One small step for you... Ok ok, cmon I tried to put the effort In to it lol.

Right, to the point then. Currently Im running a Dell Dimension 8400, bought around 3 years ago, before I even knew what a harddrive was. At the time, It was great. Played all my games. High speeds in various windows programs ect. It was the dogs bollocks (Thats a good thing). Now though, Its very outdated, and with my growing computer knowledge and with new games setting the standards these days, I think Its time for an upgrade. But buying one is no fun, and is expensive, just to get a load of useless software ect ect that I dont need for the price they ask.

Firstly, I choose Intel over AMD, because I read a few articles and saw a few things where Intel seemed to be faster, although slightly more expensive It seems. Also I saw in someones siggy here, not to mix nVidia with AMD. Something to do with with the ATI intergrated gfx in some of the boards? Well I have an 8600gt, nVidia. So... Im not sure. But unless someone gives me good reason, Im quite happy with the Intel route anyway


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Case - CoolerMaster Elite 330
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As you can see, It IS a budget case, but Its all I need. It looks pretty nice, and has a good amount of space for all the drives. Also the front light is functional, and the 120mm fan at the rear you can see.

£30 inc VAT & postage - BARGAIN!


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MotherBoard - Gigabyte S775 Intel P35 Express ATX Audio Lan
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Decided on this as it has 3 dual slots for RAM which would be nice If I choose to expand in the future. Also I read It has nice OC capability. And also not to mention I read Gigabyte has a good reputation. These small things I know about are the only thing I can judge a good board on. That and the reviews Ive read too. Hope I made a good choice ;D


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RAM - OCZ Technology 2x1GB 240DIMM PC2-6400 DDR2 Platinum
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Like above, Im not an expert with these things, but I read these are good entry level RAM with not bad OC capability. There are better, but I think these are good for the price, and will do me nicley. I personally didn't think that its worth the extra money for Gold, as Im a noob anyway, and probably wouldn't notice a difference. And all these small extras add up overall.

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PSU - Corsair 520w
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Today after alot of consideration, I bought a new power supply. Although I do plan on taking a few things from my current system to my new one, I thought a new PSU was an essential. Im not really happy to transfer some Dell Stock PSU... Anyway. I got the Corsair 520w atx for £70 inc VAT & postage. Not bad I dont think I read good things about this, and was told to buy the best I could afford. I think this fits nicely within what I want to spend on something like that.


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GFX Card - Inno3D 8600gt
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I bought this for my current system, and Ive had problems with It, but I hope a new PSU will solve this while I build my new system. Anyway, thats another topic (see my threads hehe). Assuming Its all fine, I will be taking this along to my new system, as Its still a pretty decent card for my budget.

(EDIT: card is fudged, getting warranty replacment)


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Hard Drives - IDE:Maxtor 160gb - SATA:Samsung 80gb - Barracuda .9 400gb
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Using my samsung to boot, and the rest for normal use. Just bought the Barracuda for the new build. nothing fancy, but seems a nice HD.

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5.35" + 3.5" Drives - CD ROM/Writer - DVD/+/- ROM/writer
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Again, not sure of the brand. I will update if necesary. These are all I need for my requirments. They dont need to be anything fancy, just 48x or whatever They play discs, they copy them These will also be coming along into the new system.


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PCI Cards - Belkin Network Card - Sound card
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Again, even more newbiness. But they do what they do, and dont need upgrading as far as I know. They will be coming along with the others into the new system.

EDIT: I think my sound card was intergrated into the mobo. I hope my new mobo that I ordered has one intergrated too If not nevermind hehe.

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Ok, so thats my left overs I plan on using. Now for the much needed advice. My system will primarily be a gaming.

EDIT: As of the update today, Ive added new parts ive ordered, and edited a few bits as Ive learnt more, and so my criteria has changed slightly. only thing I need now Is a good processor. Im gonna wait till my new mobo arrives, and OC my P4 530 Prescott. (I cant OC it with my current Dell mobo I dont think). That will do me until I see a cheap 2nd hand Core Duo go through the sale threads here on OCN. I saw some really good deals a week or so ago, but missed out. I think its best just to keep my eyes open for one there than pay a 1/3 more on a new one.


Sorry for the long post, I dont know if many of you are patient enough to read all this rambling. But any help is appreciated.

IcedEarth

Here - The same HDD as mine, ofcourse you can choose a lower one if you don't need the space. They are some of the best drives you can buy at the moment.

Now for the mobo/CPU/RAM we will need to know a budget.

We can't just throw them about because the price can get very high!

Give us a budget then we have a base to start from

Also don't transfer your old RAM, not to be rude but it sucks

DDR2 is hella cheap nowadays. And this is the best set to get is this. They are a bargain for £70! and have D9 IC's which means they will most likely go to DDR1000!

__________________

I R Edwud!

British Overclockers Club

Dom_sufc

That IS a nice HD, maybe that will be last on my list though, but I did plan on getting something bigger sometime.

As for the RAM, no offence taken. I thought It might be usless these days, but thought I could ask I take It it has no resale vaule? OK I'll stop with the RAM hehe. Thanks for the link, I will definitely bookmark those. I think 1gig sticks are better for me, especially If I plan to improve on my system over time. Otherwise Id end up having to throw 512 sticks that I might have bought. Cheers for the other site too. Its hard finding good UK sellers I have found. Nothing quite like NewEgg. Which I spent hours on before I found they dont do UK Shipping -_-

Price range? Well.Im thinking lower end, although I dont know enough to give a price range. Just something that can meet my specifications for good value. Although Im not looking to pay more than £100 per part. But like I say, If it really Is worth It, then maybe I'll expand on that.

Pir

Let's start by throwing everything that has Dell written on it out of the window, Now get me right Dell makes a very nice consumer pc but we need to think ahead here.
Hmmmm. for a budget build with every component under 100 pounds each i would suggest you take a look at a AMD X2. This way you will get more power for the buck,pound,euro whatever.
Also, with modern rigs and their need for sufficient cooling i would suggest another case. Give us a budget and we'll see what we can do

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The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.

MSI

IcedEarth

£100 per part is very reasonable. DDR2 prices won't last much longer. Just as DDR has high prices now, they were low once upon a time

So the best thing to take advantage of at the moment is getting the best RAM you can afford.

For the motherboard and cpu i will leave for some other guys to recommend. I'm not really full of knowledge on that stuff.

Although look into some things like the E6320 (£190) it has 4mb cache and a 1066fsb. Here

Or likewise the E4400 which is only £75 but has 2mb cache and 800FSB. This would be your best bet as they are very budget but really good performance.

Mothers, most probably the best value motherboard that i have seen is the Gigabyte DS3 which is about £80 i think. And has some great OC'ing abilities for a budget board.

EDIT: Two good sites to use are here:

http://overclockers.co.uk/

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/home/

__________________

I R Edwud!

British Overclockers Club

Dom_sufc

Too late, already orederd the case Heheh.

I am essentially throwing everything away from Dell. The only left over from the orginal package deal will be the Sound Card & CD ROM. Which I have no problem with.

AMD? Is there an issues with this & having an nVidia card with their mobos? Or have I been misinformed?

Ok, on another note, im going to order a HD today, that way I can cleanup all my files and reformat my drives properly ready for the new system. So can I ask, what Is the difference with the Barracuda 7200.9 and the Barracuda 7200.10. At the moment I have a 400gb HD, and a 320gb HD for the same price, but the 320gb is the Barracuda 7200.10 version. New obviously, but much difference? Would I notice?

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Ok I will take those Into consideration, thanks Im wondering though, why do the RAM prices rise on older models?

IcedEarth

YOU wouldn't notice any real performance gains. It offers a quicker transfer rate and scores higher in benchmarks.

But the 7200.9 is not slow by any means. If you want to save money then get a 7200.9

There will be differences, but they are negligible for the average consumer.

There is no problem with AMD & Nvidia. I have happily ran a 6600GT and my 7900GTO on two of my previous AMD systems without a hitch. We won't let you buy a board with integrated graphics so don't worry

But no, AMD is not the way to go. With an E4400 at £75 and a DS3R at about £76 here

There really is no point in going AMD. The E4400 when OC'ed will exceed most/all AMD systems you could buy within the same price range.

EDIT: RAM prices rise because of supply and demand.

They have stopped production of mos DDR RAM now because of DDR2 being mainstream. When they sell most of the stock off cheap, they then have only limited stock left. Which most people want, so they put the price up.

Likewise with DDR2 they are trying to sell off most stock to give way for DDR3. This is from what i understand anyways.

__________________

I R Edwud!

British Overclockers Club

Dom_sufc

Ok, I went ahead and bought the Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 400GB S300.

I choose this over RAM for now (cant afford both after my other buys) as I thought It would be good to back up all my drives and format them, and do a fresh windows install.

Dom_sufc

Ive been looking around alot, and cannot really see what Mobo & Processor to buy.

What would you lot reccomend?

Im not looking to spend more than $200 for each of these, but like ive mentioned, if you give me good reason to stretch this budget, i might. Not just so "Oh you can play DX15 if you pay an extra $300 for this. I mean value for money reasons

Criteria for a Motherboard:

Intel. for starters.
PCI-e slot, of course.
2 Channel for RAM, so 4 slots.
4 SATA slots, at least
1 ATA slot at least. I still have 2 Optical drives that run on this, but can settle using one if the price is greatky different to one with 2 slots.
DDR2 compatible. Not sure WHICH DDR2s, I'll leave that for you to decide. Hehe.

Also should be able to handle a decent Processor.

I have no criteria for a Processor, as long as Its better than what I have. I have an Intel Pentium 4 530 Prescott. How out dated Is this CPU? I know alot of mobos take the 775 sockets, so If there is too big a price gap on something better than this, I can always transfer It over... But like I say, I really dont know how good/bad this cpu is

THanks for all your help so far. Im actually really enjoying this project.

IcedEarth

For your budget i go with my previous statement of getting the E6320 (good little OC'er with a 4mb cache!)

Paired with the Gigabyte DS3R. This is an awesome board for a mere £75! and supports quad and DDR3!

Sio you are future proofed!

__________________

I R Edwud!

British Overclockers Club