Part Build - possible?

gman

gman

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Graham
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Are there any sites which supply a part built PC? All I want is the case, motherboard, processor and PSU hooked up but nothing else.
 
Is this what companies call 'bare bones'?
If so various suppliers do these e.g. Novatech (haven't checked spec though).
 
Yes Google for barebones systems. Many firms supply them.
 
Cheers, didn't realise that was the term! lol

I can't really be bothered with all that thermal paste malarky and a little unsure about all the various cables that plug into the motherboard from the PSU etc. The rest of the components I already have in my current system so will transfer them over.

Will check out the links :)
 
I think I'm going to spend an age researching psu's and motherboards. Processors I'm ok with. Could anyone recommend a decent motherboard with PSU? Needs to take a Geforce 560Ti, have USB3 ports and SATA3 please. :)
 
Asus are the ones I have used for quite a wee while now.

Never been part of the expensive PSU camp (apart from when I built my i7 PC).

Cheap and cheerful always worked on all my builds (more than a few dozen over the years).



You have a PM, by ra way.
 
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Asus > Gigabyte.

+1 for not skimping on PSU, they never put out the rated power and can blow easily under load potentially wiping out all of your components. peace of mind is worth the ££.
 
A good deal then? (it will only cost me the net)


EDIT: just noticed the specs tab
 
Would that link be a good deal do you reckon?
 
gman said:
Cheers, didn't realise that was the term! lol

I can't really be bothered with all that thermal paste malarky and a little unsure about all the various cables that plug into the motherboard from the PSU etc. The rest of the components I already have in my current system so will transfer them over.

Will check out the links :)
Click to expand...

The great thing about computer components is if the component or cable fits in the hole it's the right hole.

There is basically no cable that will fit in the wrong hole, including PSU cables.:)

Also any particular reason you're looking at full towers? If you're not hardcore gaming then I would recommend looking at m-ATX or Mini ITX form factors. So much smaller and just as much power in most cases. Shuttle are a company that do some of these type of barebones kit, or you can make your own m-ITX computer. I'm planning on replacing my old computer with an ITX build instead.
 
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I was having a wee look at lifehacker and it's covered a part which I was most wary of, which is the plugging in of all the cables to the motherboard (i.e. front usb, firewire etc). I wasn't sure if motherboards came with manuals to show the locations of all these so I would have to search for the tiny printed text on the board! lol

I'm going to spec up the parts vs a barebones one and see what the difference is. If there's only £50 in it then I'd rather just get a barebones one and save me the hassle. I don't mind having a full size case as space isn't an issue for me but I'm thinking of the future with expansion and also airflow, I'd rather have larger quieter fans also :)
 
I'm looking at getting a completely silent computer at the moment using a Streacom FC8 EVO case although I may choose in the end to stick a very quiet 80mm fan in and go for the FC7

Add in an i5-3570k processor, 16GB of RAM, an ITX motherboard and a 128GB Crucial M4 SSD and probably a 3.5" storage drive and I'm looking at around £600 for a totally silent but powerful computer but with much less space. Have a look here for someone who did something similar.

I currently have a Midi tower with a full ATX system in and just find it a waste of space, even though I have plenty of space.
 
Amp34 said:
I'm looking at getting a completely silent computer at the moment using a Streacom FC8 EVO case although I may choose in the end to stick a very quiet 80mm fan in and go for the FC7

Add in an i5-3570k processor, 16GB of RAM, an ITX motherboard and a 128GB Crucial M4 SSD and probably a 3.5" storage drive and I'm looking at around £600 for a totally silent but powerful computer but with much less space. Have a look here for someone who did something similar.

I currently have a Midi tower with a full ATX system in and just find it a waste of space, even though I have plenty of space.
Click to expand...

the only thing to watch with an ITX is that they are a complete ball ache to work on, believe me ive had a few and even the top and cases are a pain. even microATX are a pain to an extent.
 
I've done a couple of microATX builds before and they can be a pain. I'm hoping with a picoPSU and using 15cm SATA cables it should make it a little easier. It's not too difficult if you don't intend on touching the machine after you built it though.
 
Amp34 said:
I've done a couple of microATX builds before and they can be a pain. I'm hoping with a picoPSU and using 15cm SATA cables it should make it a little easier.
Click to expand...

that would yes, its the ATX power supplies and length of cables that are the bulk of the issue most of the time.

It's not too difficult if you don't intend on touching the machine after you built it though.
Click to expand...

true.. i have upgrade-itis though :D
 
Only be fair to mention 'Aria' as a good, reasonably priced pc components. That's where I buy most of my stuff from.
 
Hmm.. small, passively cooled Ivy-Bridge machine. Do I need it? No. Do I want it............
 
Cheers for the replies.

After a bit of research I spec'd up this:

Case: CoolerMaster Elite 430 @ £37.98
PSU: Thermaltake Smart Power 650w modular @ £81.98
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G41 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) @ £69.98
Processor: 3rd Gen Intel Core i7 3770 3.4GHz Sock LGA1155 (RETAIL) @ £242.99
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3 PC3-10600 C9 1333MHz £38.99

Total Price excluding the vodka and tonic: £393.26


The barebones one I linked to was net £324.99 for

•Intel Core i5 3570K Processor
•2 x 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz Memory
•Novatech Gaming Tower Case
•Novatech PowerStation Production 500W PSU
•Intel Z77 Express Chipset

I don't know the brand of the memory or motherboard in the barebones one although I'm assuming it's their own brand so I'm thinking for the sake of an extra £70 I can get a much better processor, branded Ram, decent PSU? and a fairly decent motherboard? Hope I'm not missing anything here?

Then I'll need an SSD but the rest I'm pulling from my current system. Although there's nothing wrong with my current system it is getting a little old now especially in the hard drive area so I'm wondering if £393 + SSD and the hassle of building it is worth it or not?
 
neil_g said:
that would yes, its the ATX power supplies and length of cables that are the bulk of the issue most of the time.



true.. i have upgrade-itis though :D
Click to expand...

I got bored of upgradeitis a while ago, now I just want things that work without fiddling. I'm almost tempted to wait and get the new Dell AIO. i5, 16GB RAM, 27" 2560x1440 touchscreen. With the touchscreen actually being useful as you can adjust the screen to be horizontal with a quick pull!

arad85 said:
Hmm.. small, passively cooled Ivy-Bridge machine. Do I need it? No. Do I want it............
Click to expand...

Oh yes...;)

I think I've made my mind up on that today TBH, just need to decide whether that or the new 27" monitor is first...
 
gman said:
Cheers for the replies.

After a bit of research I spec'd up this:

Case: CoolerMaster Elite 430 @ £37.98
PSU: Thermaltake Smart Power 650w modular @ £81.98
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G41 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) @ £69.98
Processor: 3rd Gen Intel Core i7 3770 3.4GHz Sock LGA1155 (RETAIL) @ £242.99
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3 PC3-10600 C9 1333MHz £38.99

Total Price excluding the vodka and tonic: £393.26


The barebones one I linked to was net £324.99 for

•Intel Core i5 3570K Processor
•2 x 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz Memory
•Novatech Gaming Tower Case
•Novatech PowerStation Production 500W PSU
•Intel Z77 Express Chipset

I don't know the brand of the memory or motherboard in the barebones one although I'm assuming it's their own brand so I'm thinking for the sake of an extra £70 I can get a much better processor, branded Ram, decent PSU? and a fairly decent motherboard? Hope I'm not missing anything here?

Then I'll need an SSD but the rest I'm pulling from my current system. Although there's nothing wrong with my current system it is getting a little old now especially in the hard drive area so I'm wondering if £393 + SSD and the hassle of building it is worth it or not?
Click to expand...

Graham, I'd advice that you go ahead and build it yourself. It honestly is easy to do, may take you a few hours for your first build, but it is very much so worth doing. If you run into any trouble at all, just post the problem on here, I know there has been a lot of people who have built their own systems on here who will be happy to help (including myself). I built my first one at just 14, so can't be too difficult! :)

If you wanted to buy a system with that kind of spec, you'll be looking at paying twice that, whilst not knowing exactly what you are getting.
The setup you have there sounds good. Only thing I'd say is you might want to say what else you are putting in it from your current system, just to make sure everything is compatible (I'm sure it is).
 
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gman said:
Cheers for the replies.

After a bit of research I spec'd up this:

Case: CoolerMaster Elite 430 @ £37.98
PSU: Thermaltake Smart Power 650w modular @ £81.98
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G41 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) @ £69.98
Processor: 3rd Gen Intel Core i7 3770 3.4GHz Sock LGA1155 (RETAIL) @ £242.99
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3 PC3-10600 C9 1333MHz £38.99

Total Price excluding the vodka and tonic: £393.26

The barebones one I linked to was net £324.99 for

•Intel Core i5 3570K Processor
•2 x 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz Memory
•Novatech Gaming Tower Case
•Novatech PowerStation Production 500W PSU
•Intel Z77 Express Chipset

I don't know the brand of the memory or motherboard in the barebones one although I'm assuming it's their own brand so I'm thinking for the sake of an extra £70 I can get a much better processor, branded Ram, decent PSU? and a fairly decent motherboard? Hope I'm not missing anything here?

Then I'll need an SSD but the rest I'm pulling from my current system. Although there's nothing wrong with my current system it is getting a little old now especially in the hard drive area so I'm wondering if £393 + SSD and the hassle of building it is worth it or not?
Click to expand...

I'd be looking at at least 12 gigs of ram on that top self build mate. 8 gigs is the weak link there.
 
joesmith said:
Only thing I'd say is you might want to say what else you are putting in it from your current system, just to make sure everything is compatible (I'm sure it is).
Click to expand...

It's just the graphics card Nvidia Geforce GTX 560Ti, the Creative Labs Soundcard (can't remember what one), the non-SSD hard drives as internal storage and the internal card reader I recently bought. I can't think of anything else that I'd be transferring over so hopefully the above will all work!


The23rdman said:
I'd be looking at at least 12 gigs of ram on that top self build mate. 8 gigs is the weak link there.
Click to expand...

neil_g said:
the MSI Z77A-G41 being dual channel you may as well get 16gb for a few extra quid
Click to expand...

Cheers, I'll look into the extra ram. When you say Dual Channel, I'm a little lost?
 
gman said:
When you say Dual Channel, I'm a little lost?
Click to expand...
The memory system has 2 channels so it can read 2 memory devices at once. This is why you buy 2 memory DIMMs at a time - one for each channel. To get 12G you need 2 x 4G paired and 2 x 2G paired. The cost differential is minimal between 2x 4G and 2 x 2G so if you are going to get 4 DIMMs you might asw well get 4 x 4G.

12G memory systems are more common in the first generation i7 platforms where there was one class of processor that had a triple channel memory system. This was/is socket 1366 and typically you'd buy 6 DIMMs 6 x 2G = 12G there. The performance boost was quite minimal though which is why we're back to dual channel systems now.
 
Nice one, thanks for explaining. 12GB it is!
 
Sorry, I meant 16GB. Head up my arse this morning from destroyed sleep pattern :(
 
I'm really not sure who to use here as I'm seeing a lot of negative reviews for:

Novatech
Ebuyer
Aria Technology
CCL Computers
Overclockers (surprised at this)
Scan

There seems to be a trend of customer service being poor following incorrect parts being sent. I'm leaning toward Novatech or Overclockers but has anyone got some solid regular experience with any of them?

Cheers
 
I think you will get negative reviews with most companies at some point... I've used ebuyer, scan and CCL. I've only had to return stuff to ebuyer (I think I've spent £6000+ with them over the years) and the system generally works quite well although it is best done by their notes system.
 
I've used all of them and can't fault delivery or cost from any of them. I've never had to return anything though.
 
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