Everything for a custom desktop build.

Ben:

Ben:

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Ben
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Hi,
Awhile back I was looking into buying a custom built desktop.
Well, I'm thinking about it again.
Waiting for a guy to come back with a couple of quotes for a custom build.

Was wondering how difficult it would be for ME to put together my own. (buy all the components separately)

So other than....
A case.
Processor (probably Intel i7)
Hard drive (1tb something. Suggestions?)
Motherboard (Suggestions?)
RAM (6GB+)
Graphics Card (Suggestions?)
Power Supply (Suggestions?)
Cooling fan (Suggestions?)
Windows 7 64bit.

What else would I need to build a complete system?
Wiring, something about thermal something :thinking:

Another option...upgrade my current Dell Dimension 9200 with Windows 7 and more RAM if possible.

Thanks a lot for your help.
 
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If you buy an intel boxed CPU it will come with a fan, you will need some sata cables one for each drive order these now from china less than fifty pence each so will be here for when u want to build
 
Ben don't be put off doing your own build. I did mine last year and was very suprised at how straightforward I was.
 
Tractor Boy said:
Ben don't be put off doing your own build. I did mine last year and was very suprised at how straightforward I was.
Click to expand...

Hmm the more I read the above thread and look into it it's not as scary as I first thought.
But I still wouldn't have a clue about wires/cables need and how to wire them and everything else :(

I think the first question should be 'Is building a system yourself much cheaper than buying a custom? If so, much cheaper? Are we talking hundreds?'
 
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Normally the savings in building your own come because a lot of people won't be paying for an operating system and progs - if you are buying these and don't have any really specific requirements you may find an off the shelf unit is cheaper if you're prepared to look about
 
a custom build may not work out much cheaper by the time you add operating system etc, however you will get much much better quality parts and you could argue reliability/longevity. plus you learn how to fix/upgrade it while you build it.

its just a big mechano set really, plugs will only go in the right sockets etc.

plenty of youtube vids to guide you on your way.. just make sure you get compatible parts (the issue i had), a lot of parts retailers will do packages of motherboard, cpu and memory that are designed to work with each other.
 
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I put up greenhouses for a living haha, they're also like a big mechano set.
The only program I'd need to buy is Windows 7 64bit. Anti virus, Lightroom etc I already have.

I think getting compatible parts is going to be the issue as I'm not familiar with them.
I'd love to know how it all works and be able to repair and upgrade it.

May I ask what you spent in total on your build Neil? Very useful thread btw!
 
tim_uk said:
If you buy an intel boxed CPU it will come with a fan, you will need some sata cables one for each drive order these now from china less than fifty pence each so will be here for when u want to build
Click to expand...

Usually get the cables as part of the Motherboard package.
 
Ok. I'm feeling MUCH more confident.

I've been watching this video - Here
And the related ones by Newegg. Very helpful.

I've written down the spec he has used for the i7 build and got some rough costs.
Is there anything in this list that I could exchange for lower cost/different parts?

CASE
Corsair Obsidian 650d
POWER SUPPLY
Seasonic 750W
MOTHERBOARD
ASUS P8 P67 PRO
PROCESSOR (CPU)
Intel i7 2600k LGA 1155Socket
CPU COOLER
Cooler Master Hyper 212 PLUS
MEMORY
Corsair Vengeance 8gb
VIDEO CARD
Msi n570gtx
STORAGE
Mechanical 1tb HD of some sort
OPTICAL DRIVE
Blue Ray Drive

The Video Card....I can't imagine I'll be gaming, so is there anything less I can get away with?
 
Ben: said:
Ok. I'm feeling MUCH more confident.

I've been watching this video - Here
And the related ones by Newegg. Very helpful.

I've written down the spec he has used for the i7 build and got some rough costs.
Is there anything in this list that I could exchange for lower cost/different parts?

CASE
Corsair Obsidian 650d
POWER SUPPLY
Seasonic 750W
MOTHERBOARD
ASUS P8 P67 PRO
PROCESSOR (CPU)
Intel i7 2600k LGA 1155Socket
CPU COOLER
Cooler Master Hyper 212 PLUS
MEMORY
Corsair Vengeance 8gb
VIDEO CARD
Msi n570gtx
STORAGE
Mechanical 1tb HD of some sort
OPTICAL DRIVE
Blue Ray Drive

The Video Card....I can't imagine I'll be gaming, so is there anything less I can get away with?
Click to expand...

Just for info, what would the above cost?
 
neil_g said:
Sounds about right for that spec, ill price mine up when I get home for you
Click to expand...

Thanks Neil.
To keep costs down and save wasting current parts. I would try and use current hard drives, optical drives and possibly graphic card (NVIDIA GeForce something), don't think my Dell case will take the Asus motherboard. Power supply is only 375w. But using some current parts could save a few pounds :)
 
Ben: said:
Thanks Neil.
To keep costs down and save wasting current parts. I would try and use current hard drives, optical drives and possibly graphic card (NVIDIA GeForce something), don't think my Dell case will take the Asus motherboard. Power supply is only 375w. But using some current parts could save a few pounds :)
Click to expand...

That's pretty much what I did, re used hard drives, power supply (luckily I already had a decent 480w) and graphics. Sold off the old bits on eBay after to regain about 300 quid..
 
neil_g said:
That's pretty much what I did, re used hard drives, power supply (luckily I already had a decent 480w) and graphics. Sold off the old bits on eBay after to regain about 300 quid..
Click to expand...

Oh wow, so didn't end up costing you 'too' much then.
Hopefully I may be able to do the same and get the price down.
Hard drives and Optical drives are fairly universal fitting aren't they?
 
ha sorry didnt get a chance to price mine up last night, fell asleep on the sofa :lol:

anyway (approx prices as of today, if not available the next best priced)..

Intel Core i7 2600K OEM (no box/cooler) - £230
Alpenfohn Panorama Low Profile cooler - £20
Asus P8P67-M PRO Motherboard - £130
16GB RAM (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance Low Profile Black - £140
OCZ Vertex 60Gb SSD - £100
Samsung F1 1Tb HDD - £40
XFX HD 4650 1GB PCI-E Graphics - £40
LG BD-RE & DVD±RW - £65
Lian Li PC-V354B Case Black (includes 2 intake and 1 exhaust fans) - £130
BeQuiet 480w Modular BN121 Power Supply - £55

Total - £950

:gag: dont tell the missus.... :lol:

(OS, keyboard/mouse, monitors etc arent included)

obviously you can cut that price if you only want 8Gb memory, and you dont need the pro version of that board the LE version is £75. the optical drive, SSD and extra drive are optional.

i wouldnt skimp on power supply, when building a computer of this spec and cost a budget supply just isnt worth it, especially as cheap supplies very rarely output the stated power and potentially could fail and take out half your components. plus concider a modular supply in a smaller form factor such as M-ATX as you can remove the cables youre not using.

likewise case, id be inclined to spend a little more to get good build quality and handy features like removable hard drive bays for accessibility. some cases have cutouts on the motherboard tray to access the CPU backplate etc. also check if the case you choose has included fans, otherwise youll need some of those. again dont skimp, cheap = noisey (there are exceptions).

hopefully that helps.
 
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That is extremely helpful! Thanks a lot :D
Perhaps a little more than I would want to spend. So I'd probably go for 8GB RAM and maybe not an SSD and reuse my current drives. Any main advantages of having the pro MB over the LE version? Definitely go for a good modular power supply and decent case.
 
Hmm quite tempted by the LE then.

Can anyone tell me whether a GeForce 8600 GTS graphic card will fit a Asus P8P67 B3 Revision Motherboard?
 
Great ok, that means I can hopefully use my current card to fit the new build.

How does this spec look?

CASE & POWER SUPPLY
Cooler Master HAF X & Cooler Master GX 750W
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-233-CM
£155
MOTHERBOARD
Asus P8P67 LE
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-448-AS&tool=5
£75
PROCESSOR (CPU)
Intel Core i7 2600k 3.40GHz (Sandybridge)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-358-IN
£230
CPU COOLER
Cooler Master Hyper 212 PLUS
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-029-CM
£25
MEMORY
Corsair Vengeance 8gb (2x4GB)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-300-CS
£60
VIDEO CARD
Use Current
STORAGE
Use Current
OPTICAL DRIVE
Use Current

£545

All that leaves is a copy of Windows 7.

Still undecided about the processor...i5 is about £100 less. Question is whether the i7 is worth that extra money.
 
Ben: said:
Still undecided about the processor...i5 is about £100 less. Question is whether the i7 is worth that extra money.
Click to expand...

Assuming you are going to overclock, the P8P67 has better power supply control than the LE. Not sure what that translates to with respect to what you can achieve as an overclock.

i7 vs i5... The only real difference is that you have hyperthreading in the i7 which means each core can do 2 things at once - assuming the program you are running can do more than 1 thing at once AND the system can supply the CPU with data to work on.

Photoshop/lightroom can use all cores/threads at times, but you have to be pushing the processing to be using all 8 cores/threads on the i7 for a large proportion of the time. Whilst I love the i7, for most day to day tasks, an i5 that is overclocked to the same speed as an i7 will be just as fast. For Lightroom/Photoshop, you'd probably notice a 10-20% decrease in real world performance and typically this will appear as slower application of effects to images. For video encoding (where you can get all cores lit up for extended periods), the difference is going to be larger. Anandtech has a good comparative review of the i7 vs i5 (and i3) here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083
 
arad85 said:
Assuming you are going to overclock, the P8P67 has better power supply control than the LE. Not sure what that translates to with respect to what you can achieve as an overclock.

I wasn't necessarily going to overclock, hadn't given it much thought tbh.

i7 vs i5... The only real difference is that you have hyperthreading in the i7 which means each core can do 2 things at once - assuming the program you are running can do more than 1 thing at once AND the system can supply the CPU with data to work on.

Photoshop/lightroom can use all cores/threads at times, but you have to be pushing the processing to be using all 8 cores/threads on the i7 for a large proportion of the time. Whilst I love the i7, for most day to day tasks, an i5 that is overclocked to the same speed as an i7 will be just as fast. For Lightroom/Photoshop, you'd probably notice a 10-20% decrease in real world performance and typically this will appear as slower application of effects to images. For video encoding (where you can get all cores lit up for extended periods), the difference is going to be larger. Anandtech has a good comparative review of the i7 vs i5 (and i3) here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083

Hmm, whilst I know an i5 would be quick enough for what I want to use for. I guess the whole in me wanting to make a custom build is to get the best spec and have it somewhat 'future proof' (for a few years anyway)
Click to expand...
 
Post this on the overclockers forum. Those guys know there apples
 
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