Help for first time builders - What to expect.

[richieuk]

Guide to designing your own budget computer.

Tips :

-Look at pre-built systems.
Companies like Mesh, OCuk, Alienware and 3XS (Scan) are a great place to start.
Get yourself a feel for the technology available to you, and the prices you can expect to pay.

-Set yourself a budget!
Don't price yourself in over the top and check your finance options
and build costs aswell before purchasing anything.

-Be Patient
Never rush into things, always make sure you're happy 100% with the products your about to buy.

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Step 1/ Have an idea of your system.

Example, I based my system originally off the Elite Q9300 Pro (PCA) from Mesh.
Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q9450 Quad Core Processor(2.66GHz,12MB Cache,1333MHz) [upg £ 80.00]
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium Edition with SP 1
Aluminium ATX Midi Tower + 550W PSU [upg £ 30.00]
Performance Pack - OCZ Vendetta Heat pipe quiet cooling, Performance updates, specialist cabling [upg £ 59.00]
PCI-Express Mainboard - SLi nForce 750i SLi - Intel Core2Duo/Quad Core - ATX [upg £ 39.00]
4GB DDR2 800MHz Memory (2x 2GB)
500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive with 16MB Buffer
Blu-ray ROM Player Dual layer DVD Writer 24 x CD Writer
LightScribe Super Format 20x Dual Layer DVD Writer +R/-R/RW/RAM [upg £ 25.00]
512MB nVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX - Dual DVI, HDTV, TV-Out [upg £ 50.00]
22" Widescreen LCD TFT Digital Display (DVI, 5ms)
DVI connector Cable [upg £ 4.20]
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Sound Card [upg £ 49.00]
Logitech S220 - 2.1 Speakers with Subwoofer *dont worry about this, I have 5.1 surround sound system w/ 5.1 headphones at home*
Logitech Cordless Keyboard & Cordless Optical Mouse
Free Microsoft® Works® 8.5 + Limited Microsoft Office Trial
Free Cyberlink Video Editing Suite - 7 titles (oem)
Assassin's Creed - Ubisoft, PC, DVD-ROM Game *FREE OFFER*
Multi-format Memory Card Reader (ATX)
2 Year Hardware Warranty - Back to Base (UK Mainland only) [upg £ 48.99]

Would have cost £1200, yet with the help of everyone in the Hexus.net forums, I eventually knocked the price down to £850 for a system that would more than likely perform better that that!

Here is the Specification
Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor Overclocked(3.2GHz,8MB Cache) (Cooled with Arctic Silver 5)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium 64Bit Edition with SP 1
Akasa Zen ATX Tower + Corsair 520W Quiet Modular PSU
Xigmatek 120mm 3x Heatpipe Quiet Cooling
PCI-Express Mainboard - Crossfire Intel P5Q Pro iP45 - Intel Core2Duo/Quad Core - 2X PCI-Express16x - ATX
4GB DD2 Corsair 800MHz Memory (2x2GB)
400GB Serial ATA300 Hard Drive with 16MB Buffer + NCQ
Blu-ray ROM / HD-DVD ROM / Dual Layer DVD Lightscribe Writer RW+/-
512MB ATI Sapphire Radeon 4850 - DVI, HDTV
22" Neovo Widescreen LCD TFT Digital Display (DVI, 3ms, 2000:1 contrast, HDCP)
Sharkoon 2000dpi Gamer Rush USB 2.0 Mouse + Logitech Deluxe 250 Keyboard

Everything above is an improvement on the bits from Mesh, better quality parts with Manufacturers warranties.

People on Hexus forums will help you with your own build, they're able to suggest cheaper, higher quality and higher specification parts than you may have been offered. Best of all...

...you can have fun building it when it all arrives

Just to show you the sort of transition you shoud expect, here is what happened to me
http://forums.hexus.net/graphics-car...buying-pc.html (First post)
http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...gin-my-pc.html (Second post)
http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...-comments.html (Third post, nearly there)
http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...ts-please.html (Finally completed build design, even got the price down to £810 at one point with offers from scan and extras bundled )

Give it a go, you'll be suprised how much you'll learn and save with help from Hexus and SCAN

Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who helped me

[wzix]

Yeah I saved alot,

Although Im sure that Q6600 isn't much of an upgrade from a Q9450!

[TAKTAK]

Although Im sure that Q6600 isn't much of an upgrade from a Q9450!

yeah... it's not an upgrade... but it's alot cheaper... and it overclocks very, very well...

[wzix]

Well yeah I meant what he was getting, not its capabilities

[richieuk]

From what I've read, the Q9450 stocks slightly better than the Q6600. But the OC of a 65nm core over a 45nm like the Q9 series is much safer to overclock as the 45nm get hotter considerably quicker. The Q6600 safely clocks upto the equivalent of a highend extreme Q9 series core so this, alongside a nice wad of cash saved should put a smile on many a builders face