Build Advice Is this a good choice of hardware for a first build?

Hi guys, these are the things I am looking to get for my first build, tell me what you think of it (is it a bad choice etc etc).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The computer:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> e5200 2.5Ghz dual core pentium cpu (which I will probably overclock a bit) coupled with arctic cooler freezer 7 pro
> Asus p5ql pro Motherboard
> 2gb OCZ Platinum 800Mhz RAM
> xfx gts250 512mb graphics card
> 7200rpm 250gb Maxtor Hard Drive
> Antec 300 Case
> OCZ Stealth Xtreme 500w PSU
> DVD RW and 3 120mm fans
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other stuff:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>19" LG Monitor
>OCZ Alchemy Elixir II Gaming Keyboard
>Razer Salmosa
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My budget is £500 and the current set-up (including monitor etc) falls just below that

If anyone wants to know, I'll probably use this for stuff like Microsoft word (school work) and bit of gaming; (race driver grid ) and probably not something power hungry like crysis.

 

My personal recommendation would be to take a Radeon 4770 over a GTS 250, and also to lower the PSU wattage a bit (you won't need anything more than a Corsair 400CX). Use the extra cash from saving money in those areas to get yourself 4GB of RAM instead of the 2 you have down, and switch the hard drive to a 320GB single-platter drive from Western Digital or Seagate.

- Diosjenin -

 

are you sure about the psu?, I'll probably overclock the e5200 from 2.5Ghz to 3.0Ghz maximum, will the 400w psu be enough?

 

Spend a little more on the hard drive. It won't cost much more for a 500 GB drive, certainly less than twice the price.

And I'm pretty sure the Three Hundred comes with fans? Don't spend the money on the extra 3 if it does.

 

I know that, it comes with 2 fans as standard and you can add 3 fans

 

and also, I only need 250gb and so I don't want to spend more on the hard drive

 

I've OCed an E5200 to 3.45GHz on a Corsair 400CX with plenty of wattage to spare. Trust me - you'll be fine.

And if you don't want to spend the extra for the added speed/capacity of a larger hard drive, at least do yourself a favor and get one from Seagate or WD. I've had issues with other brands, but never from those two.


- Diosjenin -

 

+1...good advice

the 4770 would be a better performer in grid, and is cheaper. just have to find one lol.
the 400 watt unit is more than enough for your needs.
definitely get 4 gb ram, almost foolish not to.
as far as the hd, maxtor's are...meh...get a wd or seagate or samsung. i recommend the caviar black series. in regards to need, who really needs 250 gb's? or 500? the point they are making is it would be better to get so much you wont need to buy a second hd since the cost to go from 250 to 500 is minimal. good luck.

 

Yea, I suppose..., btw what the difference between brands? quality? cuz I thought the specs only really mattered... Is the maxtor poor in reality?

 

Ok, this is the revision:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The computer:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> e5200 2.5Ghz dual core pentium cpu (which I will probably overclock a bit) coupled with arctic cooler freezer 7 pro
> Asus p5ql pro Motherboard
> 4gb Corsair XMS2 800Mhz RAM
> Gigabyte HD 4770 512MB graphics card
> 7200rpm 500gb Western Digital Hard Drive
> Antec 300 Case
> Corsair 400w CX PSU
> DVD RW and 3 120mm fans
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other stuff:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>19" LG Monitor
>OCZ Alchemy Elixir II Gaming Keyboard
>Razer Salmosa
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And it has only gone over the budget by £3

 

Good choice, Western Digital and Samsung are the current leaders in hard drive speed. As for overclocking the cpu, you should overclock the nuts off it

 

maxtor's are noisy, and have a reputation as less reliable(well founded in my opinion).


good choices. keep us posted how things go. and if you run into some issues, come back and ask for help.

 

Doesn't Seagate own Maxtor? Why would there be a difference in quality?

Are you completely set on going with a socket 775 system? An AM3 system should last a bit longer, and probably won't be a whole lot more expensive.

EDIT: Nevermind, AM3 is more expensive than I remembered it being

 

Maxtor could be that...you know, low end stuff.

And if you really wanted to save money, you could go with a EP35-DS3L or a EP31-ES3G(it has only 2 RAM slots and subpar extras but it's cheap).

 

-1 on getting a P31 board, P35 is still good, but you'll hate yourself for getting a mobo with only two RAM slots a few months from now.

 

I know, but I was suggesting the bare minimum.

 

The only thing that I am somewhat unsure about is how much I should spend on the case?, I saw a lot of antec reviews, I just saw this deal for £50; Coolermaster Elite 333 with 460w Coolermaster eXtreme power PSU... Should I take this deal and save like £50?. The only thing I am concerned about is cooling, the coolermaster case has just one 120mm at the front and another at the back, whereas the Antec 300 has 1x120mm and 1x140mm at the back whilst 3x120mm intakes at the front and the side. Will the coolermaster cool my chosen set-up well?

BTW here's the coolermaster;



It has the mesh front, just like the antec 300, and also has 2 external 3.5"s which the antec does not have, this could come in handy because the only good (analogue, not digital) fan controllers that would fit in the 5.25" slot have like 6 fan controls which I don't really need

EDIT: If I were to get this case, recommend me a good graphics card for £130?

Thnx

 

If you are taking that one do not use the PSU that is supplied with it. Any PSU that is supplied with a case in a £50 bundle isn't worth the cardboard it is supplied in. It's a fairly plain looking case, there are better ones out there if you are willing to spend a little more money on it, and there'd no douby that the Antec has better cooling than that CM. In my opinion the 300 is the best for looks and performance for £50 or less. The Akasa fan conrol pro has 4x analouge controllers and is a 5.25" unit. Put the black faceplate on it and it'll look well on the front of an Antec 300

Personally I would advise you to get a different PSU. The thing that you are seeminly neglecting here is upgradeability. Whether you think so or not, at some point in the future you are going to want to upgrade this PC, and when you do, you'll need more than 4 or 500 watts of power. I'd also advise you to get a modular PSU, because the 300 is a fairly good case for cable managment and you can build a neat and tidy system in one if you take the time and effort to, and if you have a modular PSU. If you use the PSU that you have specified, you'll have more work to do and money to spend down the line when you want to install a new GPU or CPU, or add more hard drives.

 

Well, I'm pretty sure it does not come with the case and rather bundled together by the retailer...
Check it out;

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161317#

 

eVGA GTX260 192 core is £139, probably overkill for a 19" monitor, though.

I build a cheap system yesterday for a friend using this Asus case (£26) which was fairly easy to work in. I did take the front off and put a dust filter on the front fan intake, though, as otherwise it'd become dust-city in short order. Cable management wasn't the best, but its not a mess.