First Computer / Advice?

[babmmoore1996]

I am looking to build my first computer and I have v.little experience in the matter. I am looking to have a reasonable spec. gaming computer. My maximum budget is £400.


The parts I am currently looking at are:


- 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Classic, DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333) Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.50 V

- 500GB Samsung HD502HJ Spinpoint F3, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ, OEM

- AMS Athlon II X2 255, Regor, Dual Core, S AM3, 3.1GHz, 2MB Cache, HT 4000MHz, 65W, Retail

-530W Be Quiet BN106 Pure Power L7, 80 PLUS, SLI/CrossFire, 120mm Fan, Dual Rail, ATX12V v2.3

- 1GB XFX HD 5770, PCI-E 2.1 (x16), 4800MHz GDDR5, GPU 850MHz, 800 Cores, 2x DVI/ mini DP, Single Slot

- Collermaster Elite 334 Midi Tower Case w/o PSU

- Asus M4A78LT-M, AMD 760G, AM3, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR3 1600/1800, SATA 3Gb/s RAID, Micro ATX, VGA

- 22'' Digimate L-2280 Gloss Black BVI/VGA 1680x1050 700:1 250cd/m2 5ms Speakers

- I already have a DVD driver.


I cannot yet include links (sorry) but the Link No.s on Scan are as follows:

- LN27738
- LN28751
- LN32057
- LN33021
- LN35597
- LN27870
- LN35906
- LN38673

I am open to any advice. Pleace help

Many Thanks, babmmoore1996

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Do you have a copy of Windows??

[babmmoore1996]

I have an OS thanks

[babmmoore1996]

not 7 but Vista - it will do

[Will404]

Remember that if you get 20 usefull posts then you can regester for free scan shipping here (since you are using scan codes):

http://forums.hexus.net/scan-care-he...tup-guide.html

[babmmoore1996]

Sorry i didnt mean to thread (if thats what I mean) I just left out some info. How does thanking people work (Im pretty new to HEXUS.)

[Biscuit]

just keep the discussion about your specification going long enough to qualify

seems like an ok specification for a basic low end system, whats the budget, maybe we can do better?

[babmmoore1996]

The max. is £400

[Will404]

You mean double post, in future if you miss something off, then you can click on edit and put that in, instead of posting twice in a row. Also I think that you need to get a certain number of posts before you can thank people, I am not sure how many it is though.

With regard to your proposed computer, it looks OK, I am not sure if it may be a good idea getting a slightly lower powered PSU (but still a good brand, dont get a cheep one as that could kill your whole computer), thus saving about a tenner which could be put to more graphics power.

The GPU to CPU seems good for gaming, as having a powerfull GPU will make much more of a difference in games than the CPU.

I would comment on the rest of the system, but I am not 100% on AMD motherboards, atm, so someone else will have to clarify if it is a better idea to get a different chipset mobo, or a higher end one.

Edit: I am assuming the £400 budget is including the monitor, since it is included in the list of items. Does it also have to include things like keyboard, mouse, speckers or do you have some allready?

Edit 2: 1,111 posts

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The following computer uses parts from Ebuyer.



The motherboard has USB3.0 and SATA3.0 and the HD5830 1GB is a better choice for gaming than an HD5770 1GB. AFAIK,the case should be long enough for the HD5830 1GB.

I would consider increasing the budget by around £30 so you can get a better monitor and a DVI cable.

In the next few weeks AM3+ motherboards will be released which will work with Bulldozer.

[Will404]

XFX PSU? Who are they made by??

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

XFX PSU? Who are they made by??

Seasonic.

[Will404]

OK, thats interesting.

[babmmoore1996]

Will404, preferably the budget would include those, i have a pretty bad keyboard and mouse, some speakers which are okay but could be better.

Also how can i be sure all these parts will work togeter?

[Biscuit]

Apologies if im pointing out the obvious to you here but im unsure of your level of competency, no patronizing is intended. This is kind of an 'in a nutshell' approach.

The processor socket dictates which processors can be used in the motherboard (AM3 in this case). There is also usually a list of supported CPUs just so you can be extra sure although you usually dont need to check this unless there is restriction on the max power the socket can provide to the CPU.

The RAM (DDR3) in this case is a standard size. The only complication beyond that you hit with DDR3 is the voltages however this only usually affects intel Core ix architectures.

The hard drive is SATA II interface which is supported by the motherboard (you can check which interfaces are on the internal part of the motherboard by looking at the detailed description)

Fitting the motherboard into the case is checked by looking at the form factor, in this case the motherboard and case are both ATX. If the motherboard was a uATX/MATX/MITX then they would still work in a larger case however larger ATX board will not fit in an MATX or MITX case.

The graphics card fits into a PCI-E x16 slot. This is a standard size across all motherboards, there are smaller sized PCI-E sockets but they run slower and are usually used for network, sound or other interface boards.

The monitor will have DVI which connects to the back of the GPU, this is standard although you may come across display port or HDMI. HDMI is basically the same signal as DVI just on a different connector however display port is different and you need to check that it is capable of being converted to DVI with an adaptor.

Power supplies have standard connectors which will fit into all the other components in the system. These are part of the ATX (i think) standard and should be the same across all PSUs.

If you worried about the compatibility of these specific parts with each other, you shouldnt be. As explained above everything is designed around standards which ensure interoperability.

[babmmoore1996]

You wer completely right about my competence, in computer terms I am a complete amateur. This has really helped, thankyou.