All ready to go - I hope?

Clacker

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Sep 23, 2007
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Hi there - first post so greetings first and foremost.

After trawling through forums and websites, I think I've settled upon a PC to build within the next couple of days. However, this is my first time ever building a desktop (only ever used laptops at home - I'm a student). Is there a decent write up on building a pc anywhere? I know there's one on tomshardware but it seems quite old and as such perhaps out of date?

As such, whilst I have the components all selected I just want to make sure if I order what I write below, I'll be able to build it. Am I missing any wires or such? Are the components below compatible? With regards to overclocking - I am interested in doing it but not immediately as I want to make sure I can build a stock desktop first!

Finally - and apologies for the same question as millions of other threads - are the components I have selected a good bunch? PC will mostly be used for gaming with perhaps some other minor app usage (Photoshop mainly); my monitor is a 23" 1920 max resolution. I am student so budget is quite small - 1400 GBP max! I will be ordering from overclockers.co.uk as that is the only website I or someone I know has had experience with.

Thanks for all the help!

CPU - E6750 125.71
The price of the Q6600 is attractive, however I doubt I will be using many applications that can utilise 4 cores effectively, and as a result it seems a bit like overkill. As such, the price of the E6750 makes it very attractive and with its overclocking potential, perhaps can hold me over for a year or so.

Mobo - GA-P35-DS3R 88.11
Only heard great things about this motherboard. Not planning on doing SLI as I don't have the funds and this MB seems quite future-proof.

Ram - Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400C4 800MHz 2x 70.49
4x1GB sticks. Planning on using 64bit Vista. Would it be better do get 2x2GB? It certainly seems more expensive though.

GFX - EVGA 8800GTX @ 575Mhz 358.36
Whilst if I wait for a bit I guess the next gen might come out - however I do need this computer asap and as such this card seems to give good performance right now and hopefully in the future too.

HDD - ?
To be honest I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do in this category. My original plan was to get a 74GB Raptor (96.34) and put the OS + games on it and then back that up with a 500GB WD drive (89.29). However, I hear that raptors aren't exactly that great anymore? Is that true? Should I just get a 500GB and use that as a solo drive? I have zero experience whatsoever with Raid arrays - are they advisable?

PSU - Corsair HX620W 93.99
Seems to be a good PSU - tier 2 if I remember correctly? I 'think' it has enough power? What if I overclock? The modular support seem particularly attractive.

Case - ?
Not quite sure here either 3 choices mainly. Looks are very important to me! =P
1. Coolermaster Stacker 832 (141GBP). Seems like a very high-end case. It looks quite nice and things look very easy to install on it. However it is very expensive here in the UK - 140.99GBP which is nearly 300USD!!

2. Thermaltake Kandalf (Silver 132GBP/Black 111GBP). Looks awesome and seems to have good reviews. Price is cheaper than the Stacker but significantly more than the final case.

3. Antec 900 (72.84GBP) - Seems to have good reviews although the fact that it attracts dust like a mother is a bit of a downer - I like things looking clean. However, its price does make it extremely attractive.

Anyone have any personal recommendations? Looking for a good looking case which is big and roomy and extremely noob friendly to work with.

DVD - some pioneer SATA one 21.14
One question - the version I will buy is an OEM edition. I think I read somewhere that as a result it doesn't come with any cables. So obviously then I need to buy one! If I find just a SATA cable on overclockers.co.uk will that suffice?

Floppy - needed?
Do I need one of these?

OS - Vista 64bit Home Premium 64.61
Keyboard and Mouse
Some combination that looks good. As I said - I really only ever used laptops :p

Cooling 35.24+12.91
If I learn how to overclock properly then I would consider a Thermalright Ultra120 and if from what I hear/read - a Scythe fan? Having said that I am a computer moron and really have no idea what I'm doing. Is overclocking hard?

Also, regardless of whether I overclock or not - should I get these cooling items anyway? Oh and some Arctic Silver thermal paste.


I think that's it! Are these a good match of compatible compononents and more importantly, am I missing anything? I have zero of anything deskptop related at home whatsoever, so what I order will be what I have to work with.

Also, does anyone feel like talking in particular about the intricacies of making a desktop PC/overclocking or point me to any good guides? Apologies for being a pain but this is my frist time with anything desktop related and would rather get everything right! (A bit sad for a 20year old hehe).

Thanks you very much!
 
looks good . well for CASE , do u really like the looks of KANDALF ? well i prefer ARMOR , it is more beautiful lol , but both have exactly same cooling and also the kandalf is more expensive too , so u might want to look @ ARMOR , but if u like the designg of kandalf , go for it , as i said its a solid case

for HDD, well RAPTORs are good HDDs for RAID , i dont think u will have problems with it

 

SolPC

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Sep 21, 2007
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Looks really good. I don't really see much performance gain from my raptor, so I would suggest you save some money and get a good 7200 RPM drive. If you want windows to load faster, you can get a 36GB raptor and a larger main drive. That would work really well I think.

The rest of the build is really nice. The case is really up to you. Whatever you like best, get.
 

akhilles

Splendid
I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. :)

It looks like your very first do-it-yourself build. The mobo comes with cables for a few drives & the case comes with all the screws for a full build. I wouldn't worry about extra accessories. You will need a basic toolbox, a flat surface & a lamp. Have a meal in advance. Then take a look at the manuals. & go ahead to build the pc.

Put the barebone together outside the case: mobo, cpu, cpu cooler, ram; i/o backplate in case; tidy up cables; install external & internal drives, put psu in then mobo in, insert video last, hook everything up.

Your select parts are compatible. I'm gonna comment on some of them.

You could go with this psu instead. An 8800 ULTRA PC needs a total of 35A & 500W. This has 520W & 50A combined. I would tell you the actual wattage range a high pc uses, but not without causing a flame war.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/productinfo.asp?WebProductID=446788

RAID isn't hard to set up. The mobo manual explains it in details usually at the end. Personally, I prefer a small OS drive & a large data drive. Both SATAII. Seagate is a good choice. I install os on the 1st drive, & move my documents (right-click it, move) to d: drive. I do regular backups of my os drive to data drive. My weapon of choice is Acronis True Image.

Floppy is needed for bios updates. Gigabyte's live update does the same thing, but may be risky. I use the floppy & the update program in the bios to update bios.

I suggest you get a pre-built hsf. Thermalright leans toward the experienced users. Tuniq Tower is one of the top coolers:

http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=487

Regardless of what case you get, make sure it has 1 120mm intake & 1 120mm exhaust fan at the very least. Antec 900 has a top 200mm blowhole fan. The top-rear of a case is a dead spot where heat builds up. Know that the more holes the case has, the more noises you'll hear. Antec P180+ is very quiet.

For overclocking, go there. The sticky is a must read. There's no shortcut to overclocking. There's risk involved in overclocking.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum-29.html

Even if you don't overclock, an aftermarket cpu cooler is a good investment/protection for the cpu against overheating.
 

Clacker

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Sep 23, 2007
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Allright thanks for all the advice everyone. I think the best option for me at the moment is to start off slowly - build a basic system that most importantly works and then after that further enhance by adding things such as RAID etc.

Regarding the case - I think I will go with the Thermaltake armour in black as for some reason that is a lot cheaper than the silver version (??)

One further question - if I want to add wireless capability will a usb adapter be good enough? (as in no noticeable lag when gaming online?)

I think I will order the parts today and hopefully be building the system on Tuesday/Wednesday.

I'll keep this post updated for how a complete computer neophyte fares when building a pc and also so future newbies like myself (hopefully) have something to refer to.

Let's hope it all works!
 

cptmac

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Jun 27, 2007
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When you go to Tom's home page, you can compare one hard drive against a second hard drive. Very educational. If you have the money, 400 USD, use the Raptor 150 for your OS and programs and the WD 750 for storage. I have three of each and they are my first. I was very concerned that each would be loud and run hot. They are very, very quiet and the exhaust is cool to the touch. Stay away from Vista. Next to leaving my fourth wife, Vista was only the second mistake I ever made!!
 

Clacker

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Sep 23, 2007
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Quick question - when you actually build the pc do you install both drives at once? Or install one and the OS on it first and then add one later once you get everything up and running?
 
Both at once, and mess with the software at the end. In fact, with some versions of O/S it's risky to modify the hardware after installing the O/S. It may trigger the copy protection garbage and then you need to talk to Support...
 

Clacker

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Sep 23, 2007
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Another quick question - you said that the selected ram and mobo were compatible. I think the ds3r runs ram at 1.8V and the crucial ram is at 2.2V. To make the two compatible - where do I change the settings? In the mb BIOS? And which voltage am I actually changing?

I.e. Am I changing the ds3r to run at 2.2V or rather am I changing the settings of the ram to run at 1.8V?
 

akhilles

Splendid
If you hold off on things like cpu cooler until later, you will waste time removing the mobo from the case if the cpu cooler requires the removal of mobo. I hear it over & over that they say they will upgrade but never get around to it. They end up with the same first build until the next major overhaul.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/misc/picture/?src=/images/mainboards/ga-p35-ds3r/mit.jpg&1=1

Press CTRL F1 in bios, change the DDR2 voltage to 1.8 +0.4v. I would only suggest +0.1v to +0.2v unless you have 4 sticks of ram. The rated voltage is the maximum the ram will run at the rated speed & timings. 1.8v will boot up, but may not at full speed.
 

Clacker

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Sep 23, 2007
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Ah yes I plan on getting the Tuniq cooler straightaway. I think I will go with the armor case in silver and 4 sticks of 1gb ram.

Thanks for the help akihilles and everyone else!
 

ch0b0

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Sep 1, 2007
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where did you find a GA-P35-DS3R for only $88.11??
i'd like to know
 

ch0b0

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Sep 1, 2007
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aH, i was wondering why it was 'so' low. :kaola:
 

plguzman

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The Antec Nine Hundred attracts a lot of dust, that is true, but it won't stay in the case. As unbelievable it sounds, the dust enters and exists. I can tell you with first hand knowledge, because I own one and I have opened to clean it, and I'm stunned by that.

The only downside of the Nine Hundred (for some people) is that is a little noisy (fans in high). I absolutely LOVE my case and I have no problems with that. I prefer cooler components (and there the Nine Hundred is awesome).
 

tlmck

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If you can find one over there, a WD1600AAJS will do just as nicely as the Raptor without all the headaches IMO. Use it as the boot drive, then get a Seagate 7200.10 as the data drive.

Since you seem to have the budget, you might look at the GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0 motherboard. Even better than the DS3 IMO.
 

Clacker

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Sep 23, 2007
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Ah yea? I will definately look into the GA-P35-DS4 mobo then. At the moment I'm using an apple (yes sorry!) and my desire to have a pc has become too much :)
 

Clacker

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Sep 23, 2007
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Ah yea? I will definately look into the GA-P35-DS4 mobo then. At the moment I'm using an apple (yes sorry!) and my desire to have a pc has become too much :)
 

Clacker

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Sep 23, 2007
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Ok got the parts today but a small problem. I can't get the bloody I/O panel off from the termaltake armor case. It's really rather frustrating as I can't install my mobo. Any one else had this problem? There are 2 screws which seem to be sticking it to place but they are either glued in place or screwed on REALLY tight.

Any suggestions?
 

tlmck

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If the screws are round headed, use an appropriately sized pair of vice grips to clamp the screw head and turn it enough to get it started. In other words, you need a tool with more torque than a screw driver. I always keep standard and needle nose styles in my tool kit. You could try standard pliers, but they have a tendency to slip in such situations.

Another trick is to put the screw driver in place, and hit the screw with short blasts from a compressed air can. The cold will sometimes contract the metal enough to get the screw started.