Building a PC

[katashy]

Well, recently I've been looking for things to put on my CV when I'm older, and I got this idea to build a PC. Not only will it be a good thing to have on a CV, it'll be good for me as my laptop is getting old and can't handle new games, so this is an ideal opportunity to upgrade my battlestation.

 

Sadly, I have NO idea where to start and what to do. So, that's where you guys (hopefully) come in.

 

I need to know:

Where to start off - CPU, Graphics card or anything else.

Best places to buy these things for the lowest price.

Are all the parts compatible?

How to hook these all up and get it started.

 

I already have:

A case from an old desktop.

USB ports

Monitor

Wires for the mains

 

 

I'm not expecting to build anything amazing, I have a £550 budget from my dads account, but I get £40 a month so I'm saving up.

The main game I really want to play on it is Arma 2, so I need to build something that can run it smoothly on medium to high settings.

 

So, thanks in advance.

[Illiad86]

Hmm well a UKer would have to tell ya a cheap place to get parts, newegg doesn't ship over there :sad: They so cheap >.<

 

Hmm...well with the money you got there, you could get yourself something pretty decent. It depends if you want to go Intel or AMD. If you go Intel, the motherboards and CPUs are more expensive, but they are better than AMD (in some ways). But, you probably wouldn't be able to spend too much on a graphics card.

 

I'm an AMD person myself. I just like that their parts are of good quality and they are affordable.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128431 -nice motherboard :smile:

Don't go cheap on motherboards either, oh you will pay so dearly :tongue: I'd go with Gigabyte, they are very reliable motherboards. ASUS makes good ones too.

 

As far as a CPU, do you want a quad core or a dual core?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103687 -dual core, bought this one many times for family's computers, very nice chip.

 

Quad cores for AMD run around $100USD

 

As far as HDDs, I've only used Seagate and Western Digital. The "green" series are a no no IMO if you want to play games, they run at lower RPMs (5100 RPM vs 7100RPM), which means they are a bit slower. But HDDs are cheap now. $70USD for a 1TB drive now :smile:

 

RAM is about $100USD for 2x2GB (4GB) of the RAM that will be compatible with that motherboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231190&cm_re=ddr3_ram-_-20-231-190-_-Product-never had a problem with Gskill :smile:

 

As far as a graphics card...well for me I buy mid-range. I never buy the most expensive crazy omg card. If you spend around $150USD, you can get a dang good card. I got a 5770:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161317&cm_re=5770-_-14-161-317-_-Product

I got it for $150 with a promo code. Arma 2 would run quite nice on that :smile: Game "requires" an 8800GT which is ages old now so that would run that game on very high no problem.

 

Nvidia's cards seem to process a bit better, but you do pay for it. A good Nvidia card would be more like $200. I'm not too sure, I haven't been keeping up with the new cards lately. I really like ATi cards :smile:

 

Ah and a PSU. You really would only have to get a 500W...but a 650-700W would be nice. Antec, Thermaltake, FSP Group are good brands.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371021

 

As far as your case, how old is it? Is it a small case? If it is, you would have to get the small version (MicroATX) of a motherboard. If you want to get a new case, I recommend something by Coolermaster, Thermaltake, or Antec. Those can go anywhere from $50 to way too much lol. But something like this is nice:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119047

hehe, that's my case actually (except the bands on mine are silver). I like it :smile:

 

or something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

 

or:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133046

got this one for my aunt, it's rather cool looking heh.

 

Well there's a nice computer there huh? :wink: If you went Intel motherboard and CPU it would be a bit more. A decent Intel chip would be $150 and the same for the motherboard.

 

There should be some sort of store like newegg for ya guys I'd hope. All of this would go together no problem.

 

Oh, I hope you have Windows :smile: Otherwise...$109 for Windows 7 Home Premium OEM. Don't buy the upgrade or retail. Upgrade is just lame to me...and retail...you're paying $125 extra for MS's crappy support. OEM just means you are the system builder and you are the support.

 

Hope this gives you an idea :smile:

[katashy]

Thanks for the reply! I'm thinking I'll build one according to this guide thingy. You seem like you know what you're talking about. :thumbsup:

 

One little thing though... Arma 2 is very CPU reliant, and having a good one is more important than a good graphics card... will that duel core be able to handle it?

 

Thanks again!

 

EDIT:

 

Here's a list of the components I'm thinking of buying:

 

 

Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 AMD 870A (Socket AM3) ATX DDR3 Motherboard

 

AMD Athlon II X4 630 Quad Core 2.8GHz Socket AM3 - Retail

 

G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C8 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit

 

HIS ATI Radeon 5770 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/DVI/HDMI PCI-Express Graphics Card - Retail

 

Antec TruePower New Modular 650W Power Supply

 

Novatech Galaxy III Case With 450w PSU.

 

Are all of these compatible with each other?

 

Oh, and do you know of a good guide for actually putting the thing together?

[Nexus Set]

Here you go. System Requirements for Arma 2:

Minimal PC System Requirements

 

* Dual Core CPU (Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, Intel Core 2.0 GHz, AMD Athlon 3200+ or faster)

* 1 GB RAM

* GPU (Nvidia Geforce 7800 / ATI Radeon 1800 or faster) with Shader Model 3 and 256 MB VRAM

* Windows XP

* DVD (Dual Layer compatible), 10 GB free HDD space

 

Optimal PC System Requirements

 

* Quad Core CPU or fast Dual Core CPU (Intel Core 2.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or faster)

* 2 GB RAM

* Fast GPU (Nvidia Geforce 8800GT or ATI Radeon 4850 or faster) with Shader Model 3 and 512 or more MB VRAM

* Windows XP or Windows Vista

* DVD (Dual Layer compatible), 10 GB free HDD space

SOURCE

 

I think your specs should run it. :)

[Illiad86]

Thanks for the reply! I'm thinking I'll build one according to this guide thingy. You seem like you know what you're talking about. :thumbsup:

 

One little thing though... Arma 2 is very CPU reliant, and having a good one is more important than a good graphics card... will that duel core be able to handle it?

 

Thanks again!

 

EDIT:

 

Here's a list of the components I'm thinking of buying:

 

 

Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 AMD 870A (Socket AM3) ATX DDR3 Motherboard

 

AMD Athlon II X4 630 Quad Core 2.8GHz Socket AM3 - Retail

 

G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C8 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit

 

HIS ATI Radeon 5770 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/DVI/HDMI PCI-Express Graphics Card - Retail

 

Antec TruePower New Modular 650W Power Supply

 

Novatech Galaxy III Case With 450w PSU.

 

Are all of these compatible with each other?

 

Oh, and do you know of a good guide for actually putting the thing together?

 

Oh ya, that's not a problem there :smile: What type of PSU comes with that case? Try to find it without the PSU would be $10-20 less. Most ones that come with cases are absolute junk. I got a case for my cousin once with a 450W PSU. Plug it all in, and *pooof* PSU sizzled and that was the end of it lol. They put the most super cheap piles of crap in them half the time lol.

 

Very nice setup there :smile: The Athlon II quad cores are pretty nice from what heard :smile: 5770 hehe good good :wink: I'm very happy with this card. Nvidia's cards are nice too...the equivalent for this card was the GTX 260...but Nvidia always goes around and changes their crap...so I have no idea what card it is now. Prolly the 200 dollar-ish 400 series one...not sure anymore lol.

 

As far as putting it all together. I don't know of many guides for it, but it's very simple. Everything only goes in one way, so there's no worry of installing something wrong.

 

The motherboard or case comes with brass stands. There are screw holes in the motherboard and holes in the case. You install the brass stands in the case to match up with the motherboard's holes. Make sure you tighten them down with a pliers but not too tight. Rest the motherboard on the stands and screw it in...also making sure they are nice and snug but not too tight. Lol I have a stripped out stand because of that :tongue:

 

I normally then install the CPU and heatsink. The CPU fits into the socket one way, so don't force it in there lol. Clipping the heatsink on, I'd say is the biggest pain.

Here we go...this shows it...lol it's hard to explain. The CPU heatsink already has thermal compound on it, you can use that fine. If you want to spend $20 and get a thing of Arctic Silver you can.

 

Check around on youtube, there's plenty of videos that show how things are installed :smile: The manual that comes with your motherboard will explain it too :smile:

 

Do you need a new optical drive or HDD? Make sure you get SATA type not IDE.

[katashy]

Don't really know the difference between the two to be honest :tongue:

 

I found a quite cheap "Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 32MB Cache Hard Disk Drive SATAII 300MB/s <8.9ms 7200rpm - OEM ".

 

As for the case, it does come with a psu, but can I take it out and replace it or am I stuck with it?

 

EDIT: Of, I get ya. Optical drive to read discs... I have one in my old desktop but I'm not sure what make it is or if it's any good...

[Illiad86]

Yeah, 500GB are so cheap now...I payed $65 for my 250GB a few years ago...now they are like $40 lol. Caviar Blacks are nice :smile: Good choice :thumbsup:

 

Yeah, you can take it out. The PSU is connected to the case by 4 screws. Just take that one out and put the new one in :smile:

 

How old of a desktop are we talking? Does the drive at least read DVDs? Is it SATA:

 

http://www.pcstats.com/articleimages/200708/LGGSAH62N_sata2.jpg

 

or IDE?

 

http://img.tomshardware.com/us/2005/11/23/pc_interfaces_101/cdrom_conn.jpg

[katashy]

It does read DVDs. I can install games from a disk onto it like Oblivion... Not sure if it's SATA, but I can't take it apart just yet. Me and my dad have a deal, that if I use his old desktop for some parts, I have to give him my laptop once my new PC is built, but we're a bit hard up right now with some bills so we can't actually buy the things until August... :confused: So he still needs the desktop for a while.

[Paxan_1]

Hi,

with the parts katashy told you a 450W PSU is enough. You can check that yourself with a PSU calculator (BeQuiet has one).

The optical drive is another question. If you can't use your old one there are really cheap DVD/CD combos for sata out there. In Germany you have them for around 20€, don't know UK-prices.

 

For having a look out there yourself i would suggest www.geizhals.at. It is german but i think you can handle it. Set the search for EU you will have UK based dealers. There is also a uk based link: http://skinflint.co.uk/ .

 

So have fun finding a good price out there :smile:

 

Paxan

[Illiad86]

It does read DVDs. I can install games from a disk onto it like Oblivion... Not sure if it's SATA, but I can't take it apart just yet. Me and my dad have a deal, that if I use his old desktop for some parts, I have to give him my laptop once my new PC is built, but we're a bit hard up right now with some bills so we can't actually buy the things until August... :confused: So he still needs the desktop for a while.

 

Ah really all you have to do is take the side of the case off and see what cables are connected to the DVD drive :smile: No taking apart necessary :biggrin: Normally there are two thumbscrews on the back of the case that holds the side panel on. It's the side that has vents or fans on it that you want to remove. See what you got and put the side back on :smile: Easy :biggrin: If you have some canned air, turn off the PC, and give it a good spray down. Ya wouldn't imagine what kinda gunk gets in those things lol.