Building Your Own Computer

[Siamese Fighter05]

Hey guys

I'm looking to build myself a good computer sometime in the future and was after a basic list of the kind of equipment i need.
If you could help me out with the list then i can go out and check out the different brands.
I'll probably be buying the pc base off ebay and then i'll just buy the indivual parts and install them as money allows

Cheers
Dan

 

[Bloo]

Are you trying to do it to :

1) save money ?
2) do it as a project ?
3) have any wacky specs in mind ?

 

[Ginge]

-Case
-Motherboard
-Hard Drive
-CD/DVD Rom
-Floppy Drive(Optional)
-RAM
-Processor
-Graphics Card

Your best opion is to get a motherboard bundle or a barebone system. Heres a link to a good site:
http/www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/
They are very good and relaible, they also have a very good tech support.

 

[smurfyy_2k3]

you want to buy the best proccesser you can find then build the computer around that
lots of ram is good too

 

[Ginge]

Yes but if he gets the best possible you can bee looking at around £800 Upwards.
And there os not much point having a pc that good if all he does is come on tff use ebay and other websites etc.
Dan it would be helpfull if you tell us what you use your pc for.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Cheers for your replies guys

Are you trying to do it to :

1) save money ?
2) do it as a project ?
3) have any wacky specs in mind ?

Nah not save money. Yeah mainly to have a project to work on after my nano-reef. I'm after a kickass one

-Case
-Motherboard
-Hard Drive
-CD/DVD Rom
-Floppy Drive(Optional)
-RAM
-Processor
-Graphics Card

Your best opion is to get a motherboard bundle or a barebone system. Heres a link to a good site:
http/www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/
They are very good and relaible, they also have a very good tech support.

Thanks alot for that mate. I'll take a look now

Yes but if he gets the best possible you can bee looking at around £800 Upwards.
And there os not much point having a pc that good if all he does is come on tff use ebay and other websites etc.
Dan it would be helpfull if you tell us what you use your pc for.

I'm not to fussed about paying £1000+. I't will be over a period of months so i'll be buying things one by one.
I use my computer mainly for Msn, surfing the net and then sometimes if i'm not going out i'll play on rome:total war. I had AOE3 for christmas and i can hardly play the game as my computer isn't good enough for it. I want to be able to play basically any game with the best possible grahpics and speed.

Cheers
Dan

 

[demonmagus]

You will need anti static mats and anti static bands, people may not use any but I'd rather spend £5 then fry my £150 processor!

If it is a gaming machine then you don't need the latest, amazing processor, and should focus on high quality ram and an amazing graphics card. Also, go AMD for gaming, or any other purpose as AMD are the best (and cheapest! )

 

[Arfie]

Yeah, I use AMD processors for mine though I haven't built one for ages.

You need:

A Case
A motherboard
A processor & cooling
Ram
Hard drive (s)
DVD/CD
graphics card
sound card
Power supply Unit - get as much wattage as possible

any other gadgets you want to add like floppy drive, network card (wired or wireless), modem (do people still use them?) memory card readers, extra USB ports, cold cathode lighting (if you are a proper geek ).

Best advice I can give is obviously go for plently of ram and the best priced cpu you can reasonably afford for the spec, but to help it all run, get the best cpu cooling, the highest wattage PSU and a couple of extra fans doesn't hurt.

Suppiers:

Novatech are ok as mentioned above.
http/www.scan.co.uk are pretty good with bundles
ebuyer cheap, but shoddy service if things go wrong or missing.
Overclockers cheap for some things
Tekheads also cheap for some things

Good luck
Arfie

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

You will need anti static mats and anti static bands, people may not use any but I'd rather spend £5 then fry my £150 processor!

If it is a gaming machine then you don't need the latest, amazing processor, and should focus on high quality ram and an amazing graphics card. Also, go AMD for gaming, or any other purpose as AMD are the best (and cheapest! )

Cheers for the advice on the anti static. I'll diffently follow you up on that. I need 512mb RAM to play Aoe but higher is better. I heard Radoin is another good one for graphics. I'll check AMD out also.
Thanks

Yeah, I use AMD processors for mine though I haven't built one for ages.

You need:

A Case
A motherboard
A processor & cooling
Ram
Hard drive (s)
DVD/CD
graphics card
sound card
Power supply Unit - get as much wattage as possible

any other gadgets you want to add like floppy drive, network card (wired or wireless), modem (do people still use them?) memory card readers, extra USB ports, cold cathode lighting (if you are a proper geek ).

Best advice I can give is obviously go for plently of ram and the best priced cpu you can reasonably afford for the spec, but to help it all run, get the best cpu cooling, the highest wattage PSU and a couple of extra fans doesn't hurt.

Suppiers:

Novatech are ok as mentioned above.
http/www.scan.co.uk are pretty good with bundles
ebuyer cheap, but shoddy service if things go wrong or missing.
Overclockers cheap for some things
Tekheads also cheap for some things

Good luck
Arfie

Cheers for that Arfie (Too bad you support Scousers )
I'm going to go read about what parts do what so i can speak on the same wavelength as you. I don't know too much about computers and all this PSU CPU business is making me feel weird

I must be a geek because i'm after a pc box with the neons on

Cheers *Off to research*

Dan

 

[BigIan]

http/www.cclonline.com/

they are usualy good for prices, aswell as advice

 

[Teelie]

I just upgraded mine for the second time and my girlfriends was custom built too. I use AMD and Radeon graphics cards though I'm tempted to give nVidia a try. I haven't used one of theirs since the Voodoo3 cards... those were the days.

1 gig of RAM is a minimum IMO and it's dirt cheap now compared to what it was and still going down. I'm going to upgrade to 2 gigs soon as I can get around to it. I already spent $1000 doing this latest round including a $300 512 meg graphics card. It's overkill but I still like it.

Definitely do not skimp on the power supply. Remember too that heavier weight is better. A light weight power supply might be cheaper but it will also be more likely to burn out compared to a similar wattage but heavier weight unit. To avoid getting over anyone's head, a heavier unit can hold a charge better without blowing out because the parts tend to be thicker and more durable. The transisters are thicker is what I'm trying to think of.

Also, do not get a cheap motherboard. You don't have to go for the latest and greatest but a quality motherboard is far less likely to short out than a cheap-o one is. Same goes for the heatsink or CPU fan.

Going custom can be more expensive compared to prebuilt machines but the quality far outweighs the costs.

Oh, I almost forgot. Get a motherboard with at least 4 PCI slots and either an AGP or PCI-e slot for graphics cards if you intend to use an external card. PCI cards are okay for gaming but AGP and PCI-e are much better with PCI-e being the latest.

 

[demonmagus]

about the PSU, usually, it is better if it is more expensive, a 400 watt for £30 will not equal a 400 watt for £50

 

[catxx]

my computer is a home build. but my dad did it so i don't know the techy specs. mine is internet based, my brother has a gaming based one (complete with see-through LED case). i got a really cool fan for my computer (which has a habit of over-heating) it looks like a jet engine, shame i can't see it!

get as many USB ports as possible, can never have too many USB ports. i use mine for Ipod, camera (which needs 2), printer, scanner.......everything

and a nice big screen, 17 inch+
theres a lot of nice flatscreens out there now
i just got a new one, was about £250, by Belina.

 

[pieman]

Clearly you need to set up a three screen system and have the latest liquid cooling

 

[soggyhome]

To play all the new games coming out and if you want to play multiplayer you will need something like this

- AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core FX60 (Socket 939) CPU
- AMD Approved cooler
- Asus A8R32-MVP DELUXE ATi Crossfire Dual Channel PCI-Express Motherboard
- Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3500LL Pro TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 Dual Channel Kit
- 2 x 150GB Western Digital Raptor 16MB Cache SATA Hard Drive (RAID 0 Configured)
- ATI Radeon X1900 Crossfire Edition 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
- ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
- Plextor PX-755A 16x16 Dual Layer DVD±RW ReWriter (Black)
- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Sound Card
- Black floppy drive
- Coolermaster Wavemaster Black Case
- FSP Sparkle FX700-GLN Epsilon 700W ATX2.0 PSU


that's if you really want the best, or you could go for an AMD SLi CPU with just 1 graphics card and add another when you need it. Just make sure everything is compatable