Building a PC (Advice please)

LittleMc95

Going to build a PC and have selected components on http://www.custompc.ie/.
As this is my first build I am a little cautious, any feed back of This website?

But my main concern will my PC work?
I will be using it for a small bit of gaming, some photo editing (photoshop), Video editing and as a media centre.

(budget is very much 350-400...?)

here is a list of my components :

ANTEC MIDI CASE THREE HUNDRED BLK: http://www.custompc.ie/antec-midi-case-three-hundred-blk-63442-p.asp
ANTEC PSU VP350P 350W A/PFC: http://www.custompc.ie/antec-psu-vp350p-350w-apfc-64436-p.asp
ASUS SKT-AM3 M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 S/V/L 5200MT/s: http://www.custompc.ie/asus-skt-am3-m4a88td-v-evousb3-svl-5200mts-64240-p.asp
AMD PHENOM II X2 565 SKT-AM3 BLACK RET: http://www.custompc.ie/amd-phenom-ii-x2-565-skt-am3-black-ret-63502-p.asp
GSKILL 8GB DDR3 1333 CL9.0 D/KIT RET: http://www.custompc.ie/gskill-8gb-ddr3-1333-cl90-dkit-ret-63873-p.asp
VTX3D 1GB RADEON HD 5450 DDR3 PCI-E 2.0 w/LP: http://www.custompc.ie/vtx3d-1gb-radeon-hd-5450-ddr3-pci-e-20-wlp-64795-p.asp
ASUS DVD±RW 24x S-ATA DRW-24B3ST BLK RET: http://www.custompc.ie/asus-dvdrw-24x-s-ata-drw-24b3st-blk-ret-64393-p.asp

I already have a 1TB HDD so ill use that. I also have a copy of both Windows 7 ultimate 64bit and 32bit which would be better for this pc?

Open any feed back or advice?

Serephucus

Item|Price
Total build cost: €403.46 (inc delivery Free!)
Intel Core i5-2400 3.10GHz LGA1155 6MB|€167.37
Gigabyte S1155 Intel H61 DDR3 mATX|€49.01
XIGMATEK Asgard Micro Black Case|€31.35
Corsair 430 Watt CX430 V2 Builder Series 80 Plus Power Supply|€39.84
Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) HyperX DDR3 1333MHz DIMM 240-pin CL9 Blu|€46.07
Best Value LiteOn 24x Int. DVDRW Black SATA + S/W|€14.88
Gainward GeForce GT 430 700MHz 1GB PCI-Express HDMI|€54.94


Far better processor than the one you specced. The graphics card is twice as powerful too. Better PSU, and everything else very similar. I with a different case, but if you want the 300, that's an extra €20. Total as is comes to €403 with free delivery.

As a side-note: Stay the hell away from custompc.ie. They're very overpriced. Better sites are Amazon, Dabs, Komplett, and if you have an order of around €500+ Hardwareversand.de. They have €30 flat shipping, but for how tight your budget is, the €30 makes a difference.

LittleMc95

Thanks for the quick reply.

Why does everyone recommend the intel processors over the AMD?

And is there much difference in the mother board you chose over the one i did?
I saw that there was core unlocking on the asus board?

and I will keep the in mind about custompc.

Tea_Bag

core unlocking is limited to certain AMD motherboards and processors. it has no use on an Intel CPU.

Sereph's build would run circles around yours.

benchmarks of the 2 CPUs
the Intel chip would destroy the AMD one, even if it was unlocked to a quad core (no guarantee) AND you managed to get a big OC on it (less likely because you're already upping the chips voltage for the unlock.) simply put, there is no comparison.

and custom Pc is way way overpriced. ill throw up a build later when I'm not on my mobile.

LittleMc95

Well nice to see it be confirmed by someone else also

Any comment on the asus board against the gigabyte board?
and in general who would have the better boards?

Thats cool Cheers.

Also is there a higher end gigabyte mother board then that one stated above, i know it would be more expansive but I could Push it up to about 500.

Serephucus

Why do you want a good motherboard? You'd be better off putting the money into an SSD or something.

LittleMc95

Would a mother board not give a better performance?
it seems very entry level?

And would the SSD's have a greater advantage over a higher end motherboard?

Serephucus

Motherboards can have certain features - SLI support, USB3, etc. - but the performance gains from one to the other (they do exist) are negligible. It is an entry level board, but for that budget, that's all you would need.

An SSD basically speeds up everything - bootup time, shutdown time, application opening/closing, etc. What you'd be doing is buying a 30GB (maybe 60GB) one, and installing Windows to it, along with your most-used applications (depending on space). and everything else would go on the 1TB drive.

With mine, I have my OS, media players, and browsers on the SSD, all my games and apps on 1TB drive, and my media on a 2TB one. This makes the computer very snappy, while not compromising on space.

LittleMc95

I suppose yeah. If I was to upgrade the mobo later on would the components still be compatible?
hmm i might look into an SSD so.

Serephucus

Assuming you pick the right one, yes.

Seriously though, there's no point. If you have a motherboard with p, x and y, upgrading to a more expensive "better" board with p, x and y will give you, maybe a .5% improvement in performance?

LittleMc95

Ahh I get you, basically they are all the same? the components( graphics card, cpu etc) give them better performance, and you can only gain extra usb ports or usb 3 etc? am i right in saying that?

Serephucus

You can gain:
Multi-GPU support - not relevant to a small build like this.
Extra SATA ports - relevant, though you might end up paying a lot for it, and you can always buy a €20 add-in card to do the same.
Better cooling - Meh. Only useful for overclocking.
Extra USB headers - same as SATA, though probably less useful.

But yes, basically they're the same. What you mostly pay for in motherboards is better quality components that only really come into play when you're heavily overclocking.

Tea_Bag

on a tight budget I wouldn't get an SSD. I love mine I do but an extra €100 spent on the gpu would go a long way.

Serephucus

Well, this isn't a gaming build primarily; it's editing and media centre, so I think it might be a better investment. Having said that...

@OP, what type of games will you be playing with this?

LittleMc95

Yeah editing and media. Eh a good bit of mine craft and the odd bit of sims for my little sister but that would be the height of it.

How can you gain better cooling from a mother board? do heatsinks and fans do that?

sausagehead

[QUOTE
GSKILL 8GB DDR3 1333 CL9.0 D/KIT

I already have a 1TB HDD so ill use that. I also have a copy of both Windows 7 ultimate 64bit and 32bit which would be better for this pc?

Open any feed back or advice?[/QUOTE]

it would be 64bit with that amount of memory! i think these days 64 is standard with most modern computers!

LittleMc95

Yeah I read that just a while ago i needed it for anything over 4gb?

LittleMc95

If I was to push my budget up a good bit say 550-600 what build would you recommend?

and what would i gain by this??

Serephucus

I'd say maybe a better graphics card (GT 550 Ti, maybe?) and an SSD, and that'd be all I'd do to it really, you wouldn't need anything more for what you'll be doing with it.

LittleMc95

Yeah Im liking the idea of an SSD in it.

And I duno about the graphics card, as i dont think i would be doing anything requiring an amazing card.

Serephucus

Yeah, I figured that. Just had a quick look, and I think the 430 would be alright for the Sims 3 and Minecraft, but I'm not sure how it'll handle them at 1080p (if this is a media centre PC I assume that's the resolution you're using) so maybe something with a bit more power would be something to consider.

As for the SSD, the Crucial M4 64GB is your best bet, I think.

LittleMc95

Hmmm yeah i suppose, sure ill look into it see how much money ill have for it.

also why are the SSDs so expensive.?

Serephucus

Because they're bloody fast. :P

The Crucial one will boot a PC in about ten seconds or so. It's generally anywhere from three to five times as fast as HDD with general stuff, and it's extremely durable, completely silent, and uses less power.