Build Advice Assistance Please

[Mystiik]

I have had quite a bit of help on this forum with the spec for my first build but unfortunately, recently the help has stopped and i havent finished with the spec, so i was wondering if you guys and gals could give me this one last bit of reassurance that this build will work and that im getting enough power for my buck. The budget is £850 for everything, monitor and OS.
Here's me final plan:

[smc8788]

I would:

1. Swap the HDD for a Samsung F3 500GB/1TB.
2. Drop the RAM and get this set.
3. Consider dropping the 5770 for the cheaper and generally faster 1GB 4870.

Oh, and XP? Are you insane? Swap that out for Windows 7.

[Mystiik]

Originally Posted by smc8788

I would:

1. Swap the HDD for a Samsung F3 500GB/1TB.
2. Drop the RAM and get this set.
3. Consider dropping the 5770 for the cheaper and generally faster 1GB 4870.

Oh, and XP? Are you insane? Swap that out for Windows 7.

Thanks for reply, why wud i need a bigger HDD. Im thinking of getting into UBUNTU so instead of partitioning my hdd i mite get two. Does the 4870 support HDMI input ?

oh and why get windows 7, i only have £850budget...

[smc8788]

Originally Posted by Mystiik

Thanks for reply, why wud i need a bigger HDD. Im thinking of getting into UBUNTU so instead of partitioning my hdd i mite get two.

A single large hard drive like the F3 will perform better than multiple smaller hard drives, and also has a lower cost per GB.

Originally Posted by Mystiik

Does the 4870 support HDMI input ?

HDMI input? Do you mean HDMI output? Well, that varies depending on the manufacturer but generally no, they usually come with 2 DVI ports, so you could just use a DVI --> HDMI cable/converter.

Originally Posted by Mystiik

oh and why get windows 7, i only have £850budget...

Because it's not a horribly outdated OS, better features, better user interface, DX11 support, and last but not least the ability to use all of your RAM (amongst other things). Buying a 32-bit OS in this day and age is madness; out of an £850 budget it's easily worth the extra £10.

[Mystiik]

Yes i meant output :P I didnt even bother looking at F3's until now, they sounded very expensive. Common naivity... I didnt know that you could just convert DVI to HDMI, is the quality the same as straight HDMI. Last thing, you sed that buying a 32-bit OS these days is madness, does this mean i need to buy the 64-bit ?

[PureSilver]

Originally Posted by Mystiik

Last thing, you sed that buying a 32-bit OS these days is madness, does this mean i need to buy the 64-bit ?

It's not madness - it's SPARTAAAA

No, in all seriousness, a 32-bit OS can only address (use) less than 4GB of RAM, amongst other limitations. They are to be avoided.

Also you would have to be insane to buy XP when the vastly more advanced and generally well-received 7 is only a tenner more. Buy 7 x64.

[Mystiik]

Okay, so apart from that it's all good ?

[smc8788]

Originally Posted by Mystiik

I didnt even bother looking at F3's until now, they sounded very expensive.

They're only £58 on ebuyer, and as they're currently the fastest mechanical HDDs on the market (bar the expensive Raptors), that's a bargain.

Originally Posted by Mystiik

Common naivity... I didnt know that you could just convert DVI to HDMI, is the quality the same as straight HDMI.

The image quality is the same as they both carry digital signals, but DVI doesn't carry sound so if you want that you'll have to use the motherboard sound output.

Originally Posted by Mystiik

Last thing, you sed that buying a 32-bit OS these days is madness, does this mean i need to buy the 64-bit ?

Windows XP 64-bit is a pile of crap. Windows 7 Retail comes with both 32-bit and 64-bit discs, but as you're building it yourself you can get the cheaper OEM version, so you'll have to choose the 64-bit version (this one).

[Mystiik]

Thank you very much, i will post the final list in a sec and will get my parents to order it tomorrow :P Can't wait.

[Mystiik]

The final spec. I will buy the ram from here.

[PureSilver]

Originally Posted by Mystiik

will get my parents to order it tomorrow

Parents? If you're a student you can get W7 for £30.

[Mystiik]

Originally Posted by PureSilver

Parents? If you're a student you can get W7 for £30.

Unfortunately I am 15 and don't qualify for "student". Will that set-up work ?

[PureSilver]

Looks good although if you can, I would get a cheaper OEM processor and get a decent heatsink (the supplied one will suck, really, really badly). Does the 300 need any further fans? I don't know what it's supplied with but you will need one intake and one exhaust.

[Volund]

the 300 comes with mounting points for 2 front 120mm fans, but no actual fans....

pick 2 up if you can, along with a decent aftermarket heatsink for that processor

[bigdunge]

Unless I have missed something, this may worth considering as a monitor:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/23-Ac...5ms-Height-Adj

[smc8788]

Originally Posted by bigdunge

Unless I have missed something, this may worth considering as a monitor:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/23-Ac...5ms-Height-Adj

That only has a VGA input (no DVI), so I would avoid it personally.

[bigdunge]

Fair point. I think I would take the £30, and use a dvi-vga adapter, but that's just me (and i happen to have an adapter lying around).

edit: Then possibly spend that £30 upgrading to a 4890.

I did just do a bit of reading though, and I think that, in hindsight, I bow before SMC's wisdom.

[PureSilver]

VGA's not worth it if you have DVI outputs on the 'card; why go to all the trouble of buying a decent 'card to then lose it all in translation?

Looks like you needs some fans and a heatsink. BT's 'what hardware should I buy' and 'what's the best 120mm fan' should solve those...

[bagman]

for you heat sink buy the titan fenrir only £30 for one of the best cooler on the market
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Titan...366-K8-AM2-AM3)

[Mystiik]

REMEMBER: Budget £850

Im glad someone noticed that othewise I wouldnt have noticed! Where can i save money to be able to afford 2 fans and a heatsink ?