New PC

xtal191

I'm looking to upgrade from my old Dell Dimension 8300 and after reading through some of the budget gaming thread it seems that hardwareversand.de would be my best bet. Now I've never built a PC before but from what I've read they will do it for me.

The comp will be used mostly for the internet, downloading, music, movies and the odd bit of gaming. I dont want to spend too much on it so €500 would be the most I'd be willing to spend, even cheaper than that would be great!!

How does the following look?? Is there any adjustments I could make or anything I've missed out on??

I'm a complete novice on this so any help would be much appreciated!!! Thanks in advance!!!

Intel Pentium Dualcore E5200 "Box", LGA775 56,88 €

MSI G41M-FD, Intel G41, mATX 49,89 €

4096MB-KIT A-DATA PC6400/800,CL 5 39,77 €

Coolermaster Elite 330 ohne Netzteil schwarz 30,46 €

Super-Flower ATLAS Design 450W 33,46 €

XFX RADEON HD 4850 512 MB DDR3 PCI-E 2.0 100,70 €

Samsung HD322HJ, 320GB, 16MB 35,30 €

LG GH22NS40/NS30 bare schwarz SATA II 21,43

I'm thinking of keeping my monitor and speakers from the Dell or would it be worth upgrading them too???? As i said the cheaper I can get this for the better!!

Solitaire

Great, but some of those parts are currently out of stock. The Sapphire HD4850 is a shade cheaper and is a bit better for cooling and OC (runs a lot cooler when not gaming too!). Other than that a good build.

xtal191

So instead of ordering from Hardwareversand I think I'll be ordering from Komplett as it seems to easier. I'm just looking for advice on the following parts any compatabiity issues or recommendations etc!!!

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=434415

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=404491

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=439036

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=342738

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=404885

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=355538

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=439020

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=479592

Also looking to get a monitor which would you recommend between the following two????

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=428484

or

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=347360

Thanks again for your help!!!

xtal191

So I've been doing more messing about and swapped the motherboard and ram with the following!!

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=477897

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=363359

Again any help at all would be welcome, thanks in advance!!!

xtal191

So I've come up with the following...

http://www.gelizle.net/show-image.php?id=64f099802fec774a30dfc2b740fbdcfb

Sorry im crap on forums no idea how to post an image!!

Can somebody recommend a power supply that would do the job and thats preferably in stock!!

Would I be better off going with an Intel Processor??? And finally is there any compatability issues!!

Solitaire

I'm not sure if that mobo is compatible with that AM3 CPU; the 8200LE onboard graphics are the giveaway. That's a nVidia chipset there, and I'm not sure if they currently have a BIOS update to cover any Phenom2s. Stick with AMD chipsets if you can; something with at least an SB700 (preferably SB750) southbridge. And models with 7.1 sound (double-width audio out block at the back) tend to have slightly better onboard sound. But a half-decent one might be almost as expensive as its AM3 equivalent (although the memory will still be cheaper)

What monitor do you have? If its 1080p (1920*1080) or higher you might want a slightly stronger graphics card.

And off the top of my head you're most likely looking at a 500W+ PSU, which will set you back around €80 for a decent one, such as the Cosair VX550W.

xtal191

The max resolution I'd be playing at would be 1680x1050.

How about the following motherboard??

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=404491&view=detailed#ProductTabs

Solitaire

Better, but it'll need a BIOS update to work with a Phenom2. Almost anything that uses DDR2 will

Alternatively, while the latency is a bit slow you can use this with this and not break the bank or need a BIOS update

xtal191

Ok I'll go with those two instead, how about this PSU

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=339898

Or can you recommend any others on Komplett!!

Thanks for your help anyway!!

xtal191

Ok so after ages of looking for parts etc I've finally come up with the following!!



How does that look, will everything work together??

Do i really need to spend that much on a PSU or is there any other cheaper one i could get. I'm hoping to order all this at some stage tomorrow so just looking for someone to confirm all will work together before i do!!

Solitaire

That's a fine build you have going on there!

Yeah, the PSU thing is sucky. You have one killer budget model (CX400) and then by the time you get to the killer low-mid-range models (VX550W, Neo HE550 etc.) the price has suddenly doubled! The problem is that the gulf between the two is filled with dross. Cheapie SFCs, FSPs, Sirtecs and AcBels that you just don't want to trust a mid-range gaming rig with regardless of the pretty (and irrelevent) brand-name stickers that get slapped on. In reality that rig only consumes 250-300W running flat-out but you don't want to exceed 60-70% of your PSUs output either as the Law Of Diminishing Returns kicks in violently and the quality of the power worsens on top of lower overall efficiency.

Sure, you could run that entire rig on a CX400 (just), and as its really a decent budget Seasonic under the Corsair stickers you could get away with it without teh explosions. But just because you can stick three large adults in the back of a Corsa doesn't make it practical or comfortable for anyone involved, and while the whole car won't violently explode in response (like it would if you tried that trick in a Fiat Seicento!) leaving said adults in there while driving over a bumpy road for several hours may well wind up with one of them chinning you at some point after you let them out :P

marco_polo

Solitaire wrote: »

But just because you can stick three large adults in the back of a Corsa doesn't make it practical or comfortable for anyone involved, and while the whole car won't violently explode in response (like it would if you tried that trick in a Fiat Seicento!) leaving said adults in there while driving over a bumpy road for several hours may well wind up with one of them chinning you at some point after you let them out :P

LOL

xtal191

Thanks for your help Solitaire!

Before I order everything, do I need to buy thermal paste??? What about an Antistatic Wrist Band??

StopNotWorking

You wont need a wristband. Just make sure you are wearing shoes when you are working. You just need to ground yourself to something(kettle,radiator pipe etc etc) to remove any current from your body. Thermal paste is a good purchase and its not expensive. I used artic silver 5 on my last two cpu swaps and its worked fine. They probably have better ones out now though.

xtal191

Cheers again for all your help, just after ordering everything there!!

I may revive this thread though if I need help putting it all together!!

xtal191

I'll be picking up the parts probably tomorrow and finally attempting my first build.
So I'm going to be downloading an OS tonight, what would you recommend out of the following;

xp 64
vista 64
windows 7 RC
or windows 7 RTM

Unregistered.

xtal191 wrote: »

I'll be picking up the parts probably tomorrow and finally attempting my first build.
So I'm going to be downloading an OS tonight, what would you recommend out of the following;

xp 64
vista 64
windows 7 RC
or windows 7 RTM

With none of the criterion being price, then Windows 7 RTM.

Otherwise, prob Windows 7 RC (with some provisos).