I seriously need help!!!!

ok......first of all i'd like to say hi to everyone........

umm....i need a hand as im currently thinking of buying parts and building my own pc for gaming.

i need to know what people think of the parts i have currently chosen, all comments are welcome on what i have chosen. Can u plz tell me if its a gd choice and can anyone reccomend other good parts for the bits im missing.

My budget is around 450-500 quid.

Graphics card
PowerColor ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro Extreme 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express)
Price- £88.11
Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 2.53GHz (1066FSB)
Price- £89.29
Hard Drive
Samsung SpinPoint F1 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502IJ)
Price- £46.99
Case
Apevia X-Telstar Junior Black Case No PSU
Price- £56.39
Memory
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663)
Price- £30.54
Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Sound Card - OEM (PCI-Express) (30SB082000000)
Price- £29.36
PSU
OcUK Huntkey 550W PSU
Price- £41.11

I am currently in need of a nice motherboard under 100 quid and a gd optical drive under 50

thx matt

there is no need to reccomend screens or mice and keyboards. :)

what about a case and what OS?

I would look at a better PSU as well.

9600GT is probably a better buy at that price, but if you'll be playing at over 1284x1068 then you should try to get an 8800GT for a bit more.

Never heard of the PSU, but a quick Google turned up the following comment, "...they're made by Shenzhen Chi Yuan who cuts almost as many corners as Deer and Powmax." I would say avoid and get a Corsair.

RAM - I'd get PC6400 given how little extra it costs.

Mobo - Abit Dark Raider is a favourite here.

Oh and I wouldn't bother with that Creative card, onboard will be just as good.

The new generation of ATI and Nvidia cards are coming out next month so you might as well wait for those.

Not too sure about the OcUK Huntkey 550W PSU, never heard of it before. Maybe for £40 something like this would be much better-

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

Looks OK. I wouldn't bother with the sound card until you have tried onboard.

I don't know what that case is but I would seriously take a look at either

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

or

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

or a combo

Antec NSK6580 Mid Tower Case - With 430W EarthWatts PSU - Ebuyer
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK
Antec Sonata III Piano Black Quiet Mid Tower Case - With 500W EarthWatts PSU - Ebuyer

All PSU's here are probably better than the OCUK one you picked which is a no no.

Get a decent PSU. If you go for one on its own then the Corsair 450 VX is a good buy at around £45

The CPU is OK.. but you planning on overclocking as you can get decent overclocking chips (3.0GHz ish once overclocked for around £40) I would also get a decent aftermarket HSF for it as the intel one is naff.

The graphics card is OK but there is better out there for gaming, and new cards coming next month..

thx everyone but seriously........links are wanted..........lots and lots of links lol

so what are u all tryin to tell me? im new.....seriously new to all of this!!

is it basicaly "your set up is crap???"

all gone.........no more "crack" mentioning........... lol

DVD: Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

Motherboard: Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

P.S. You might notice we tend to favour Scan here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ineedhelp!!!

the operating system....??

i mite just crack my windows xp pro cd lol



naughty me.....

---

:surprised:

[QUOTE=shadowmaster;1427537]The new generation of ATI and Nvidia cards are coming out next month so you might as well wait for those.

but will they be insanely expensive.....i have a pretty tight budget.....

u lot are insanely helpful INSANELY

like 8 posts in 10 mins

thx people......i realy appreciate it

dont worry i love scan, i got some of the parts for the cpu im usin now from there......

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ineedhelp!!!

the operating system....??

**********

---

I'd edit that out lol It will probably not be taken lightly by admin/mods.

As for the motherboard, the dark raider above is a cracking motherboard.

Your setup isn't that bad, but yeah.. pretty much change everything :p

What is your overall budget and what do you use this PC for?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ineedhelp!!!

but will they be insanely expensive.....i have a pretty tight budget.....

---

The supposition is that other prices will come down. Doesn't always work like that though. Sometimes the older cards become rare and the price actually goes up.

what does everyone think of the hard drive........

it was reccomended by a friend who got the link off this forum

shame its from overclockers tho......

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

scan is your friend :p

They are pretty good. Heard of a few recent faliures but win some lose some.

I prefer western digital. The new 640GB AAKS at around £60 is silent, seriously quick and they are a great manafacturer in my fairly extensive history with them, not had a faliure yet.

Quote:

---

Your setup isn't that bad, but yeah.. pretty much change everything :p

What is your overall budget and what do you use this PC for?

---

thank you.......lol......all is explained in the opening post by me....

my budget is around 450-500 quid and its gonna be a gaming specific pc.....i have no wish to overclock.......probably cos i dont know what that is..........

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by staffsMike

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

scan is your friend :p

They are pretty good. Heard of a few recent faliures but win some lose some.

I prefer western digital. The new 640GB AAKS at around £60 is silent, seriously quick and they are a great manafacturer in my fairly extensive history with them, not had a faliure yet.

---

LINK LINK LINK LINK LINK LINK PLS........is it external?? sorry saw the link.....thx it looks amazing

Ok well I would build this

Intel Q6600 + Scythe Mine cooler ~£155 (could go dual core here and save around £40 - £80 depending on what you get but, why have 2 cores when you can have 4 eh :p)
Abit IP-35 Dark Raider ~£60
GB PC6400 RAM ~£30
Samsung F1 ~£45
Cooler Master CM690 ~£50 -(or an antec sonata plus with 550w modular psu)
Corsair 450W VX ~£40
Optical ~£15
8800GT ~£110 or wait and see.

Should come in around £500, be nice and quiet, run pretty cool and be easily overclockable to 3.0GHz or more (there are guide around on how to do it, at that sort of speed its pretty simple :))

some links to some nice graphics cards under 100 quid would be brilliant..........

if anyone is bothered to waste time on me.......

do i need a cooler, i heard that one comes with the processor.......

I think you should get the 8800GT then, it will still come in under £500. Probably better than spending any more on the CPU.

I'd go for something like this: Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK, slight factory OC and one of the better warranties.

This comes under the £100, but frankly the extra £15 is more than worth it IMO:
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

I think you are all in the right ball-park (i find myself agreeing with staffsMike on nearly every thread LOL), so here it what i would recommend in your situation:

Case: Antec Solo, understated, classy, quiet & quality. £58.
PSU: Corsair 450W. A quality brand, reliable. And you dont need more than 450W unless you know you do. £44.
Motherboard: Abit IP35-E. A great chipset, well implemented. £56.
CPU: C2D E7200. Your idea is a good one, overclocked or stock. But you want to overclock it.... :) £84.
CPU fan: AC Freezer 7 Pro. It's quiet and will help overclocking. Best value for £15.
RAM: 2 x 1 Gig of Corsair XMS2 6400 (room for overclocking, good brand, can't be sniffed at) silly money for £29.
Hard Drive: Samsung 500GB F1. Quiet, fast. £45.
DVD drive: Samsung Dual layer RW, SATA etc etc in black to match case £16.
OS: You can use Linux, but for gaming WinXP is the way. £53 (unless you know you want Vista).

That lot comes to £410, leaving £90ish for the graphics card.
A Radeon 3850 512MB is great for £88, the Geforce 9600GT being the other (slightly pricier) option. Pay more, get more.

Total = £500 and you get free delivery from scan.

You do not need to overclock as this will feel fast and fun, but a little overclocking goodness with help from your friends here will get you some extra magic for free. And it really is easy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by staffsMike

Ok well I would build this

Intel Q6600 + Scythe Mine cooler ~£155 (could go dual core here and save around £40 - £80

---

sorry bout this but wtf is that scythe mine cooler thingy

it looks weird and complicated........is it neccessary?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MSIC

I think you are all in the right ball-park (i find myself agreeing with staffsMike on nearly every thread LOL), so here it what i would recommend in your situation:

Case: Antec Solo, understated, classy, quiet & quality. £58.
PSU: Corsair 450W. A quality brand, reliable. And you dont need more than 450W unless you know you do. £44.
Motherboard: Abit IP35-E. A great chipset, well implemented. £56.
CPU: C2D E7200. Your idea is a good one, overclocked or stock. But you want to overclock it.... :) £84.
CPU fan: AC Freezer 7 Pro. It's quiet and will help overclocking. Best value for £15.
RAM: 2 x 1 Gig of Corsair XMS2 6400 (room for overclocking, good brand, can't be sniffed at) silly money for £29.
Hard Drive: Samsung 500GB F1. Quiet, fast. £45.
DVD drive: Samsung Dual layer RW, SATA etc etc in black to match case £16.
OS: You can use Linux, but for gaming WinXP is the way. £53 (unless you know you want Vista).

That lot comes to £410, leaving £90ish for the graphics card.
A Radeon 3850 512MB is great for £88, the Geforce 9600GT being the other (slightly pricier) option. Pay more, get more.

Total = £500 and you get free delivery from scan.

You do not need to overclock as this will feel fast and fun, but a little overclocking goodness with help from your friends here will get you some extra magic for free. And it really is easy.

---

u are ****in amazing

but ill need lotsa help puttin it together.........looks complicated..........apparently the dvd drive doesnt exist.........when will it be in.....do u know??

An additional Heatsink & Fan (HSF) is not necessary. The standard CPUs that you buy come with HSF's.
It's just that a) they can be noisey b) they are not that efficient at keeping you CPU cool under load and c) can reduce the lifespan of an overclocked CPU if it's too hot for long.
So even my £15 AC F7 Pro will kick the standard Intel bundled one to touch - it's honestly worth it, even if you dont overclock.

Well its fits in exactly the same way the intel one does so it's not more complicated (as does the freezer 7 pro) that what you are doing to have to do anyway lol

I would say yes, It's silent (the intel one isn't), it cools properly (I would argue the intel one doesn't and especially not when overclocking which you should because its easy :))

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ineedhelp!!!

but ill need lotsa help puttin it together.........looks complicated..........

---

There are loads of online guides, and CustomPC magazine often has various guides if you want something to hold.
If you are looking for 1:1 help, you need to say what town you live in.

Comparative review of video cards discussed in thread:

Legion Hardware

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by staffsMike

Intel Q6600 + Scythe Mine cooler ~£155 (could go dual core here and save around £40 - £80 depending on what you get but, why have 2 cores when you can have 4 eh :p)

---

Well Dual cores are better for gaming :)

Quad cores are for multi tasking not for gaming. Games have only recently included dual cores into code so support for 4 cores is still a way off.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MSIC

OS: You can use Linux, but for gaming WinXP is the way. £53 (unless you know you want Vista).

---

XP isn't better for gaming... it doesn't support DX10 and never will therefore for any new games coming out in the near future you'd be either playing on crappy old DX9(if your lucky enough that companies support both) or not be able to play without getting Vista.

Vista is better than XP and its been an absolutely solid OS for the past 5 months for me. Actually with XP I needed to format every 4 weeks maximum and with Vista I have only reinstalled after 4 months and that was only because I needed to get rid of old apps I don't use anymore(they take up some space even after being uninstalled, its annoying)... far less problems in vista specially with viruses and spyware.

Other than that I recommend your choices as well but I'll still link my own anyway :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ineedhelp!!!

u are ****in amazing

but ill need lotsa help puttin it together.........looks complicated..........apparently the dvd drive doesnt exist.........when will it be in.....do u know??

---

Puting your PC together is pretty easy and is recomended even if your not sure what to do. Not only will you learn more about how the PC works but also have a sense of accomplishment at the end. My first build was amazing even though I got quite a few things wrong :D

Getting instructions through email or MSn would suffice for you to install the components properly.

Here are the components I recommend:
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/4599/basketct0.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MSIC

There are loads of online guides, and CustomPC magazine often has various guides if you want something to hold.
If you are looking for 1:1 help, you need to say what town you live in.

---

i live in london......near the west end....umm how do i change it.......


u'll be glad to know that ive gone with ur set up.......i still dont understand what overclocking is? a chip? a program?

im baffled

Unhappy

I feel obliged to put up my new specs.......thx to MSIC for his/her help lol

Operating system
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1* 64Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD)
Price - £68.49
Graphics card
PowerColor ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro Extreme 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express)
Price- £88.11
Motherboard
Abit IP35-E, iP35 Express, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 667/800, SATA II, ATX
Price- £56.15
Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo, E7200, Wolfdale Core, S775, 2.53 GHz, 1066MHz, Retail
Price- £84.59
Hard Drive
Samsung SpinPoint F1 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502IJ)
Price- £45.77
Case
Antec Solo Quiet Mini Tower ATX Case without PSU - Piano Black/Silver
Price- £58.69
Fan
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - P4 up to 4.4GHz - S775 Dual/Quad Core Ready –
Price - £14.91
Memory
2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-12
Price- £28.95
PSU
450W Corsair VX Series PSU, ATX, PS/2, UK Version, 80 PLUS ® Certified
Price- £44.05
Optical Drive
Samsung SH-S203D/BEBN 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Price- £16.44

i think the optical drive needs changing bcos it doesnt appear to be available.......

That's why I put up the lightscribe version. £3 extra, but it is in stock.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Thorsson

That's why I put up the lightscribe version. £3 extra, but it is in stock.

---

yep, thx for that.....im usin that one now

i still dont understand what overclockin is.......

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ineedhelp!!!

y

i still dont understand what overclockin is.......

---

Overclocking is making your CPU and RAM run at higher frequencies than they do out of the box (go faster lol) so a 2.5GHz processor as you have picked can probably run at 3.5GHz with very little effort. This does have draw backs of course such as increased power draw and more heat generated, hence the aftermarket coolers which can quietly and effectively cool overclocked chips :)

As long as you don't increase the volts to the chip over the stock amount your warranty will remain in tact also.

The freezer 7 pro (as I'm using right now, is a noisey thing when its at full whack (which it pretty much has to be to cool effectively) which is why spending the extra £8 on the scythe mine is money well spent. I'm running my freezer 7 at 75% fan speed and it's still bugging the hell out of me and not doing that good a job of cooling lol

Other than that (graphics card dependent) you have a damn near silent computer there :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ineedhelp!!!

yep, thx for that.....im usin that one now

i still dont understand what overclockin is.......

---

Overclocking is changing BIOS(Basic Input Output System) frequency to make your system work faster.

Your BIOS is what contains all the info that controls the hardware of your PC. So when you see that a CPU runs at 3.0Ghz it is the BIOS that allocates those figures for components to use so that every component on the motherboard may be synchronised.

So for my system my BIOS central clock is at 475Mhz. The motherboard then multiplies that clock by 4 to get the rated speed at which the FSB runs so for my system it would be 1900Mhz. My Ram uses that same clock and multiplies it by 2 to make the memory run at 950Mhz. My CPU uses the clock and multiplies it by 7 to get its current speed at 3325Mhz. Now normally my system should have a central clock of 333Mhz which would then have my motherboard FSB at 1332Mhz, CPU 2331Mhz and my RAM at only 800Mhz(that's because I lowered the default ratio to allow the clock to go higher so my CPU may be further overclocked)

So overclocking is raising the speed of your BIOS central clock in order for your other components to run considerably faster.

ExHails description is nearly true, although the BIOS doesnt have a clock or a frequency. Your motherboard has a BIOS that controls the basic hardware. It's fairly dumb, but says "we have some sort of device at IRQ so-and-so. I dont know what it is, i dont care, but it's there". Then on top of that sit layers that get progressively more intelligent, until you have your Operating system.

If you go into the BIOS (when the machine is just turning on but before Windows boots up), you can then change the settings of your motherboard, such as frequencies, voltages etc, which affect how fast different chips run at. Your RAM is designed to run at a certain speed, the CPU is, certain parts of the motherboard chipset, etc etc.

Overclocking is, as described, when you ask a part to run a bit faster than it was sold to do. This is quite fine within certain limits as any modern CPU will have a good 25 to 50% spare (well, this is where you have to pick and chose carefully). In effect this gives you 'free' performance, and when you consider that with otherwise identical CPUs, a 2.5Ghz chip can cost £80 but a 3.2Ghz chip can cost £300, overclocking has its merits. As well as giving us all some smug personal satisfaction.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by staffsMike

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

scan is your friend :p

They are pretty good. Heard of a few recent faliures but win some lose some.

I prefer western digital. The new 640GB AAKS at around £60 is silent, seriously quick and they are a great manafacturer in my fairly extensive history with them, not had a faliure yet.

---

Stick with the Samsung.
Its every bit as good as the WD drives and its also quieter an cheaper.

thx everyone.....but i am now being told that the graphics card i chose isnt worth getting...........is this true?

i saw a bfg tech one but i cant find any under 100 quid....wtf?

It runs a bit like this for games:

8800GTS>HD3870>8800GT>9600GT>HD3850 providing that we're looking at 512Mb variants of all boards and given that with regard to NV vs. ATI it does somewhat depend on which game and what settings. The NV cards tend to OC a bit better, and in fact often a factory OC version can be had for little more than a plain vanilla one.

All of these can be had from £80 at the bottom end to £140 at the top if you shop around. IMO it's worth spending the extra and getting the 8800GTS unless you are certain you are never going to play at higher resolutions than 1284x1024 with the card.

OMG.....i just noticed that most of the graphics cards i would like to get are not vga........is it worth finding a vga one or just buying a dvi one.....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ineedhelp!!!

OMG.....i just noticed that most of the graphics cards i would like to get are not vga........is it worth finding a vga one or just buying a dvi one.....

---

Use a vga to dvi adaptor, they come with almost every graphics card you can buy

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Thorsson

8800GTS>HD3870>8800GT>9600GT>HD3850

---

I would say the 8800GT is ahead of the Ati 3870. In almost all games it is better by about 5 to 10%

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by shadowmaster

Use a vga to dvi adaptor, they come with almost every graphics card you can buy



I would say the 8800GT is ahead of the Ati 3870. In almost all games it is better by about 5 to 10%

---

I would probably get the 3870 over the GT mostly down to not trusting that single slot cooler. Performance wise I don't think there is much if anything between them.