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Build Advice Help chosing components for building PC

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by knarF, 25 May 2011.

  1. crosshair

    crosshair It's life Jim but not as we know it

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    Yes, I apologise if I made it sound more complicated than it is. It's not of course.
    Once all your bits have arrived, lay them out in front of you, and have a "dry run" just to familiarise yourself where everything goes. If it looks like it'll fit, then it probably does.
    If you're uncertain about ANYTHING before actual assembly, post a question, you'll get an answer pretty quick.
    It's a doddle I promise you, and once you've completed your first build you'll have a great sense of achievement and wonder why people bother to buy them "ready made."
     
  2. Blogins

    Blogins Panda have Guns

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    Get the book KnarF, save you a few pounds by not getting someone else to build it for you and get to hand select the best components for your system! I think that's pretty much why we do it around here.
     
  3. jasonst888

    jasonst888 What's a Dremel?

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    Seriously mate they are easy to do, just take your time! How to see which wire is ground and live? Normally the coloured one is live the white one is ground? but if not just compare all the plugs, the wires that are the same colour are bound to be ground. Its sounds a lot more complicated than it really is. But if you know someone who is good at this it might help to have their number on standby, but even then you will probs just be ringing them to confirm what you already have figured out! :p
     
  4. knarF

    knarF Noob

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    I think that book looks like it would be an ideal purchase, thanks for showing me that.

    After looking at videos online of someone using the same case as i'm thinking of (Coolermaster Elite 430) putting his PC together, this really does look pretty simple, even the CPU part. The amount of cables coming out of the PSU look somewhat confusing, but i'm sure it will be fine if i take my time.

    I've noticed a lot of people using extra fans and cooling units, is this really necessary?
    Because, at first, since the components chosen and Windows 7 are going to cost me like £700, which is going to be stretching my bank account and can't afford to splash out on fancy coolers and fans right away. I'm not likely to over heat my PC by gaming without a cooler am i? I will probably buy one once i have the money though.


    Talking of Win 7, my dad recently bought a pre-built PC from PC World which came with Win 7, i'm assuming it came with the disc too, what would happen if i were to try and install it with the same CD on my PC when built?
    I'm guessing it wouldn't let me, but worth a shot it it's going to save me £70. I'm not really that knowledgeable with Windows, been using Linux for a good few years now. Obviously i have the product key, it will be on his PC somewhere.
     
  5. crosshair

    crosshair It's life Jim but not as we know it

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    I've just completed the build on another rig using the Coolermaster Elite 430, and I can tell you I'm very happy with it. The only down side, is you can't mount two fans in the roof if you use a CPU cooler larger than an Arctic Freezer7 Pro, which is what I used. I got both fans in but I had to trim the side of one of them to clear the upper heatsink assembly.:duh: You might want to consider this before purchasing.

    Generally, you can't install a used copy of windows because it's bound to an individual motherboard.:waah:
     
  6. knarF

    knarF Noob

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    Yeah, the guy on the video did say that, but i'm just using the standard CPU cooler that comes with it, so it shouldn't be a problem. Even if it is, i don't think i need to use all of the 7 fan ports, i don't plan on over clocking until it becomes necessary. TBH it's the cheapest, nice looking, case that i've found and it looks to be decent quality, i also found that it's bundled with a 500 watt PSU on eBuyer for like £55, which is nice.

    I suspected as much. Really tempted to stick with Ubuntu, but i don't know how well Wine deals with modern games.


    Speaking of eBuyer. Because i'm on a budget here saving the odd few quid can make it easier for me to afford a new monitor. I've found that a few components are cheaper on eBuyer than on Scan, so i'm thinking of using both of them and just getting the cheapest of the same components off each, which will save me ~£40, is this advisable?
    I know how much people here love Scan, but i need to save every penny i can. That £40 is half way to a new monitor.


    Also, i said above, i found a case with a 500 watt PSU, will that be good enough for me?
     
  7. crosshair

    crosshair It's life Jim but not as we know it

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    1st. Yes, the Coolermaster 430 Elite is a nice case. It's very well put together with an all black interior and has toolless HDD and optical drive bays. All in all, its appearance belies its price.

    2nd. If it's bundled with a PSU, there's a good chance it's one no-one's ever heard of, and is therefore probably rubbish. I strongly, strongly advise you to buy one seperately, and a well known make at that. The Corsair CX500 Builder Series is a good bet @ £44 from Scan. I'm about to order the very same.

    3rd. Now that you've submitted over 20 posts, delivery from Scan is free when you spend over £20. Also, getting it all from Scan means you can insure your basket; when you come to assembly, any cock-ups are covered. It's all good.:thumb:
     
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  8. Sponge12349

    Sponge12349 (づ。◕‿‿◕。)づ ︵ ┻━┻

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    The Bundled 500w PSU is actually ok but it only has one 6pin PCI-E power connector. According to this it is a FSP power supply which is a bargin type of manufacturer which is also used by BeQuiet. It is responsible for the respectable StealthXStream series of Power Supplies by OCZ and the Lower end Strider/Strider Plus by Silverstone.
     
  9. Sponge12349

    Sponge12349 (づ。◕‿‿◕。)づ ︵ ┻━┻

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    Oh and here is the detailed specs for the RS500 psu. It has 18A on both rails which is good! :)

    EDIT: I think thats a different version because scan states it only having 3 molex not 5. :/
     
  10. IronDoc

    IronDoc What's a Dremel?

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    That's a different one I think. Has A3 at the end of the product number instead of J3 and the name should be 'elite power' not 'extreme power plus'.

    Could be wrong
     
  11. crosshair

    crosshair It's life Jim but not as we know it

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    Generally, in the world of PSUs, you get what you pay for, and even the cheapest could last for years. However, considering how much you spend overall on a PC, skimping out on a PSU, which has electric current going to everything, is false policy.
    Remember this: When a PSU goes; it doesn't go alone...:waah:
     
  12. donok

    donok Every Little Helps .....

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    for extra protection tell your insurance whether it home or office
     
  13. knarF

    knarF Noob

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    Ok, so i'm really confused here. The bundled one on Scan says that it is a Coolermaster Elite 500W, so should still be a pretty good right? Or are you saying that this wouldn't have the right connectors for the rest of my bits?

    Or am i best off playing it safe and buying the case and the 430W Corsair separately and spending an extra £15?


    I'll just used Scan for everything purely because of Scansure i think. Is Scansure a free service?
     
  14. IronDoc

    IronDoc What's a Dremel?

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    The corsair would be better but, as Sponge said, FSP make some fairly well reviewed but lower end PSUs. The fact that it only has 1 pci-e connector just means you need to make sure your graphics card only needs 1. You wouldn't wanna sli/crossfire at this wattage anyway.

    Scansure isn't free but it's only few quid I think.
     
  15. crosshair

    crosshair It's life Jim but not as we know it

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    The Corsair CX430 isn't really enough for a gaming PC if you have any plans to add components or upgrades in the future; which you surely will once the bug has bitten. You don't wanna build your pride and joy and then find it has boot problems through lack of "beans". Honestly, the bare minimum you should be considering is 500w. The CX500 comes with 2x6+2 PCI-E cables, so it's an ideal PSU for your budget and is reasonably "futureproof."
     
  16. knarF

    knarF Noob

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    Is it not easy to change the power supply in the future?
     
  17. IronDoc

    IronDoc What's a Dremel?

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    But surely the natural upgrade path is sli? In which case 500W wouldn't be enough anyway. Seems like the range between 430 and 500 isn't gonna contain a large amount of systems.

    I think a 570 (which I assume OP is still going for) needs 2 connectors though anyway, so it's a moot point.
     
  18. jasonst888

    jasonst888 What's a Dremel?

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    First off, you would be amazed what can run off a 500w/430w - recommendations are stupid as its not the wattage but the amps on the 12v rail that make the difference for the gfx card, most people scare themselves into getting a psu far more powerful than they need - sli - depends on the cards though

    Change the psu - yes easiest part to swap out, but its a waste as you wont get much for selling it - most ppl wont trust a second hand psu....with gd reason.
     
  19. crosshair

    crosshair It's life Jim but not as we know it

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    Not necessarily. I discussed this on another thread some time ago, and without wanting to go into too many details; the right motherboard, bandwidth, PSU cables, heat, space, and driver issues notwithstanding, a X2GPU is a better bet than a 2XGPU. Especially when you consider that any high end single GPU today is capable of impressive FPS on a 22"/23"/24" monitor. Not many of us can afford 27"/30" never mind about multi-display.
    Another thing to consider is the refresh rate of most monitors. No matter how fast the FPS is on a game, if your monitor only outputs 60Hz refresh rate, then any extra frames the GPU is producing above this are discarded. Benchmarks harp on about a GPU producing 120 FPS in game whatever, but most of us will only see ever 60!
    The topic of Sli & Crossfire is a subjective issue and out of place on this thread. In knarF's case, a 500W PSU and a GTX570 is all that he needs for the next two years. The rest, as you say, is moot.
     
  20. knarF

    knarF Noob

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    I put in my details to a calculator on the Coolermaster site and it recommended a PSU of 487 Watts. So should i be thinking of getting a 600Watt to be on the safe side in case i decide to upgrade RAM or put some fans in in the future?

    At the moment, i'm still thinking of getting the bundle with the case because this is getting over £700, which i'm not sure i can afford.

    Although, looking at the GTX570 on Scan and the 500W Coolermaster PSU, the graphics card needs a PCI-E 2.0 (x16) but the PSU only has a PSC-E 6 Pin, would this mean they aren't compatible anyway?

    I'm sure i'll get the hang of all these different leads and such one day, sorry for asking all these questions, lol.
    I'm also thinking of cutting the motherboard down, i can save like £40 there if i lose the RAID capability, and with a 1TB HDD i'm never going to need it. This has gotten too expensive now, so something has to be cut down, i might be able to salvage an old DVD drive from an old PC, but that's only saving me £15.

    This is what i'm currently thinking btw (all prices from Scan);
    • Intel i5 2500k - £163.40
    • MSI GTX 570 - £233.48
    • Asus P8P67-M Rev 3 - £118.40
    • Coolermaster 430 Elite w/ Cooermaster Elite 500W PSU - £56.38
    • Samsung Spinpoint 1TB - £39.72
    • 4GB Corsair RAM - £35.29
    • Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit - £70.88
    • Total = £717.55

    I need to cut that down to below £700 i think since i'm going to want to buy a 22" HD screen after. That's also taking into account me salvaging a DVD drive from an old PC. What would you suggest i change?
    Like i said, i'm thinking the motherboard could be downgraded. Either that or do you think that in a couple of months when i come to buy some of this will be cheaper anyway? I'm also planning on watching the Today Only deals closer to the time.
     
    Last edited: 3 Jun 2011

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