Build or Buy

Tony Broke

Hi lads been looking on dell's outlet page on ebay today and was going to get one of the below pc's which I think I can get for €430 or so....

Inspiron 530 E6750 Core 2 Duo (2.66GHz, 1333Mhz) 

320GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive 

320GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive  
 
English - 530 Sys Docs (UK power cord) & English  
 
   Dell Quietkey Black Keyboard  
 
   Mouse Dell Wheel USB 2 Button Scroll Black  
 
   IEEE 1394 Adapter 
 
  2048MB (2x1024) 667MHz DDR2  
 
   256MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT  
   English Windows Vista Home Premium  

http://cgi.ebay.ie/DELL-PC-Desktop-Inspiron-530-GKM773J_W0QQitemZ250204851400QQihZ015QQcategoryZ179QQcmdZViewItem

But something stopped me,(comments on here on self builds lol),pc is for games as you might expect,world of warcraft and Tomb raider anniversary in particular....I now want to build it to myself but I am a bit worried as I have never built a pc from scartch before,I have changed graphics card,ram,hard drives and such but never a whole system....

I have max €600 to spend and want to get something that is fast and is user friendly to overclock....

So far from reading through dozens of posts today I have come up with.....

Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 S775 2.2GHz 1mb Cache 800FSB

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4MNF&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=E2180&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All

Gigabyte S775 Intel P31 DDR2

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4R91&CategorySelectedId=11137&PageMode=1

OCZ Technology 2x1GB 240DIMM PC2-6400 DDR2 Gold

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4KZC&CategorySelectedId=11137&PageMode=1

Samsung SpinPoint 320GB 7200RPM S300 16MB

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4LZJ&CategorySelectedId=11137&PageMode=1

CoolerMaster Centurion 5 Black/Silver Case

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=3SHJ&CategorySelectedId=11137&PageMode=1

Corsair Memory 450W ATX PS/2 SATA 12V

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4N14&CategorySelectedId=11137&PageMode=1

Pioneer 20X DVD+/-RW IDE black

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4TR5&CategorySelectedId=11137&PageMode=1

Sapphire Technology Radeon HD 3850 256MB GDDR3 PCIE Dula

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4SRY&CategorySelectedId=11137&PageMode=1

What do you think?

Tony Broke

I have a windows xp pro cd and all the other accessories (keyboard,mouse etc)....

But im not sure if I have all the correct components and cables listed above?

Like will all the hard drive cables,sata cables,video cables come with my build?

AlmightyCushion

I'd probably go with the system you've specced together yourself. The graphics card is a good deal better and you should be able to overclock the processor to the same speed as the processor in the dell.

The various parts you buy should come with all the necessary cables.

Tony Broke

Is it hard to put together?

And when I do manage to put it together what do I do then?

Install windows,then drivers or run some sort of compatabilty test?

Also what do you think of the power supply and mobo?

Will it have enough power to run a HD3850 or the new 8800gs?

Im interested in overclocking (main reason I dont want a dell) that ds3 mobo is suppose to be great but for €68 am I being too cheap or does it suit it my needs?

Sorry for all the questions,bit excited lol

Thanks

AlmightyCushion

It's fairly easy to setup if you know your way around a computer. I'd say there are plenty of guides on the internet as well in case you get stuck.

Once your done slapping it all together all you have to do is install windows and the drivers and any other software you need. That's pretty much it.

There's other people on here who know a hell of a lot more than me about ram, mobo and psus so I'll let them answer the rest of those questions. The psu does look fairly good and should have enough power to handle all that.

One thing you should do is buy decent fans for all the parts if you plan on overclocking. It will add to the cost but it will allow you to get much better overclocks. Again, I'll let the people who are more knowledgeable about these things give you advice on which fans to get.

Tony Broke

I have to change a few things as a few items are out of stock in dabs

OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision £34

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-072-OC

Intel Core 2 Duo E2200 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.20GHz £61

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-190-IN

OcUK ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro 512MB GDDR3 £106

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-085-OK

What exchange rate site will give you the exchange rate for mastercards?

Using http://www.xe.com/ it comes to €267.142 plus €25 or so postage...

Anyone know postage costs with overclockers?

Ive been hearing awful things on this board about dabs are they trusthworthy?

Also anyone know if instructions and such come in english on that german site Hardwareversand,they look by far the cheapest...

Fnz

Tony Broke wrote: »

Also anyone know if instructions and such come in english on that german site Hardwareversand,they look by far the cheapest...

Not sure what you mean by "instructions"... but there's a language option (Meine Sprache) on the right - denoted by flags. [Link]

yoyo

I'd deffo go for the one your speccing together yourself, looks to be much better spec, I also have that Coolermaster Centurian 5 case and its great

Nick

white_falcon

i knew nothing about building PC's before I bought all my parts and put it together. its just like lego. its really really easy. it can be a bitch if you're anyway stupid during the putting it together stage, but once its built its well worth the fun of putting it together.

all you do is stick all the pieces together, put in your windows cd, install windows, load up windows, put in your driver cd's for all your hardware and install them, and ur done

just like lego

yoyo

That sums up how easy computer building is You'll also get good satisfaction outta building your own, and be better at troubleshooting it if a problem arises

Nick

Tony Broke

Thanks for all your help fellas,here is my final build here,going to order in the morning.....

Intel Core 2 Duo E2200 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.20GHz €81

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-190-IN

OcUK ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro 512MB GDDR3 €143

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-085-OK

OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision €46

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-072-OC

Shipping €30

Gigabyte S775 Intel P31 DDR2 ATX Audio Lan €68

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4R91&CategorySelectedId=11147&PageMode=1

Corsair Memory 450W ATX PS/2 SATA 12V €59

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4N14&SearchType=1&CategorySelectedId=11023&SearchTerms=corsair&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=11023

CoolerMaster Centurion 5 Black/Silver Case €51

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=3SHJ&SearchType=1&CategorySelectedId=11023&SearchTerms=corsair&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All

Samsung SpinPoint 320GB 7200RPM S300 16MB €68.43

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4LZJ&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=corsair&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All

Pioneer 20X DVD+/-RW IDE black €23.93

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4TR5&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=corsair&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All
Shipping €24.27

Total cost for everything including shipping comes under my €600 budget by €5.37

Total €594.63

So what do you think?

Anything I should change,like is the psu good enough to power a HD3850
or a new single 9800gt/HD4850 when they come out?

Can I get it cheaper somewhere else (Irish or uk based) with the euro being so strong at the minute or have I got a good deal as it is?

Thanks

Tony

Sqaull20

Nice build Tony,you should be able to get great performance out of that....

Board is a great overclocker as is the cpu,corsiar make great quality power supplies and you should have no problem putting a 8800gtx wattage type card into that system.....

Tony Broke

white_falcon wrote: »

i knew nothing about building PC's before I bought all my parts and put it together. its just like lego. its really really easy. it can be a bitch if you're anyway stupid during the putting it together stage, but once its built its well worth the fun of putting it together.

all you do is stick all the pieces together, put in your windows cd, install windows, load up windows, put in your driver cd's for all your hardware and install them, and ur done

just like lego

Thanks for that falcon,been watching a few build your own videos on the tube and I feel much more confident now

One question thought what do I do with bios before I load windows?

I know that, at a minimum, I need to set date and time and adjust the boot priority so that I can load Xp.Anything else?

yoyo

You may not even have to set the bios these days, most of the time its actually factory set so you prob wont need to change it, also I didnt even need to change boot settings to CD Rom first with 2 boards ive used, I boot up, get "No operating system found", put in windows disc and hit enter, that booted off cd for me, of course if your mobos different it only takes 2 secs to change boot priority to CD first in the bios (Usually under Advanced options iirc), its very straight forward though, you wont have a issiue

Nick

gamer

The most common mistake is not fitting mobo properly, you have to align mobo holes with the metal plillars,screw 3 or 4 screws thru mobo holes into the metal pillars,about 2mm wide,you may have to move some pillars around or remove some. ,be careful re static elecricity,eart yourself,touch a water tap,then pc case power supply,IF YOU JUST DROP A MOBO INTO CASE,it,ll just short out,it will burn out,if it touchs the metal case underneath,its supposed to gently rest on 4,5 holding pillars,WHICH ARE ALIGNED WITH the mobo holes.THE problem is,if you get case x,and MOBO Y,chances are these pillars are not gonna exactly line up with mobo mounting holes.THE pillars go thru mobo holes and then you screw in supplied screws to secure mobo.IF YOU REST mobo onto a metal pillar,or the metal case ,MOBO AND CPU WILL BE DESTROYED,SHORTED OUT ,WHEN YOU TURN ON POWER.
wHEN I GOT MY FIRST asus dual core mobo ,it took me 15mins to move round 4metal pillars to align go thru my mobo.I removed 2 pillars as i couldnt match em up.
lt took me 20mins to install a heatsink 7inch by 5inch,on the 4400amdx2 cpu.When i got the mobo,the cpu was installed already.
Theres video s on dltv lloyd case how to build a pc.
I DIDNT HAVE TO INSTALL any drivers,just installed winxp,and then installed an amd patch for winxp, AMDX2dual cpu driver/patch FOR WINDOWS xp.BE CAREFUL RE MAKE SURE ALL POWER CABLES ARE CONNECTED FOR CPU FAN,graphics card fan and mobo fan.Grahics card may need 2 power cables.
FITTING THE CPU,and cpu heatsink is the most delicate job,as too much force will bend the pins, watch a few videos first be4 you start on the cpu install.you could put 2mm cardboard in case underneatch motherboard to prevent electrical short between mobo and metal underneath,since this is your first pc build.

heffo9

Looks like a decent build for the money, let us know how you get on Tony.

Tony Broke

Thanks for all your help lads....

Ordered it yesterday evening from dabs (8800gt on ebay)......

Gigabyte S775 Intel P35 DS3L DDR2 ATX Audio Lan €82
Pioneer 20X DVD+/-RW IDE black €24
Samsung SpinPoint 320GB 7200RPM S300 16MB €68
OCZ Technology 2x1GB 240DIMM PC2-6400 DDR2 Platinum €50
CoolerMaster Centurion 5 Black/Silver Case €51
Corsair Memory 450W ATX PS/2 SATA 12V €59
Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz €68
Xpertvision 512mb 8800gt €199

Including delivery it came to €616.43

What do you think?

I got the P35 DS3L, not the P31 as I was told, that it will clock my CPU higher.I got the E2160 instead of the E2200 which payed for it.

The E2160 should clock higher in the P35 than the E2200 in the P31?

Doesnt really matter if it is does or not,as I intend to get a 45nm Quad Core when I have more cash in the spring/summer

yoyo

Nice build man and great price Thats a good board alrite and should be no problem overclocking with it, you'd probably want an aftermarket cooler to get more overclock out of the chip though, not sure how overclock would differ with the intel boards, but the higher spec one you get should be better suited to overclocking,

Nick

Tony Broke

Problem

Everything is in the right places I think, but there is no power coming from the psu....

I have used a digitalmultimeter device to check power and no power is coming out of any of the connections.....I mean this device can find power out of any thing, but it cant find power out of the corsair psu...

Any ideas?

Leman_Russ

When In doubt just unplug everything and try again

Also doublecheck any guie youve used. Maybe youve missed a cable?

And a bt of redundant advice, make sure its plugged in
Ive made that mistake before

duridian

Most important thing is DON'T PANIC!
Are you certain that you have the power switch from the front of the case connected to the proper place on your motherboard? The motherboard won't turn on the power supply if you haven't connected this properly, and since on most motherboards the front panel lights and switches are connected near each other it is easy to make a mistake when you are new to building.
Check page 25 of your motherboard manual, it looks like pins no. 6 and 8 are the ones you need to connect to the power switch.

Tony Broke

lol thanks lads....

Took your advice and went out to get a bite, came back and checked the fuse on the plug, changed it and wholla it powered up

Its very strange looking at windows with no shortcuts,programs or anything, I have avg,call of duty 4 and firefox and thats the way its staying

Only thing bugging me now is the fans on the case are not spinning, should they be?

Or does it have to reach a certain temperature or something?

Dont want to get into overclocking, until im sure...

duridian

Well it depends on how the case fans are being powered.
If your case fans are 3pin, and are plugged into the motherboard, then it is probably because the motherboard won't make them spin until it feels the temperature rise on some of its temp. sensors. If you go into the BIOS settings at startup there is usually a section called "Hardware Monitoring" or words to that effect. In this section most motherboards will let you set the fan control to auto or manual speed control. They possibly will have some other name for these terms, for example on my Asus board the auto mode is called "Q-fan" and the manual setting is called "Duty cycle". Not sure what Gigabyte call them, but I'm sure you'll know what it is when you see it.
If instead they are plugged into a molex they probably should be spinning all the time, unless your power supply has a dedicated fan controlling molex as some power supplies do. (I have seen it in some Antec models, don't know if the Corsair PSU has this feature or not.)

yoyo

The case fans in that cooler master case are powered by a single molex connector, they should spin up with the system, ensure there connected properly, mine spin up all the time

Nick

Tony Broke

yoyo wrote: »

The case fans in that cooler master case are powered by a single molex connector, they should spin up with the system, ensure there connected properly, mine spin up all the time

Nick

Thanks yoyo, I had them plugged into each other

Have the molex connectors from the fans plugged into the matching sockets on the power supply now, working fine....

I have the cpu clocked to 2.84 ghz and the 512mb 8800gt clocked to 734mhz core/1020mhz memory, my 3d mark score

Tony Broke

Very happy with that....

Took me about 3 hours in all, plus a few minutes this morning getting the fans working, well worth it imo...

Thanks fellas, for giving me the confidence

Sqaull20

Very nice build, bargain at €600,you couldnt get that performance/build quality anywhere at those prices

yoyo

Sqaull20 wrote: »

Very nice build, bargain at €600,you couldnt get that performance/build quality anywhere at those prices

Great build man enjoy the new pc

Nick