Hi, i'm new here and this is my first build for a long time.

I'm looking to spend around €700 and get a PC which will be mainly used for Internet/EMail/Office/Picture Editing/CD ripping. (I use a PS3 to play games)

The motherboard was chosen on the basis that the onboard graphics are probably good enough for what i want to do now and if i need anything more then i can always buy a graphics card later. It'll also let me upgrade to a better CPU and more RAM in a year or so..

The prices are in euros because i'm based in germany but i've stuck an approx value in dollars and GBP as well. (assuming €1 is $1.57 and £0.79)

MB: GigaByte GA-M78SM-S2H NVIDIA GeForce 8200,AM2+ € 74 $117 £58
CPU: Athlon X2 AMD Athlon64 X2 EE 4600+ € 54 $85 £43
Kingston ValueRAM DIMM 2 GB DDR2-800 Kit € 40 $63 £32
DVD: SATA Sony NEC Optiarc AD-5200S € 31 $49 £24
SATA Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500 GB € 59 $93 £47

Case: Cooler Master Centurion 590 € 64 $100 £51
Power: Cooler Master RealPower M 620W € 84 $132 £66


I'm also looking at getting Windows Vista. I can get Vista Ultimate for € 144 or the Home Premium for €77. Any thoughts on whether it's worth paying extra for the Ultimate version? Any opinions on whether i should take the 32bit or 64bit version?

Thanks in advance for the tips/advice!

ps i know i could just buy a PC from Dell or HP but..
1) i like the idea of choosing my own parts and building it
2) i like knowing what parts are in the PC
3) i prefer to have a real installation CD instead of a backup partition
4) ...

yeah, for all you're going to be doing with this computer I see nothing wrong with the build, you could cut down on money by getting a cheaper case and smaller psu because you're not going to be pulling alot of power with this build I honestly don't think you'd need anymore than this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817171028
I could be wrong though, It does happen every now and then

As far as windows vista goes, you won't need the 64-bit version. Save yourself some money. You won't ever have over 4gb of ram, so you will be fine with the 32 bit version.

Thanks for the quick replies!

With regard to the 32-bit and 64-bit and saving money - both versions (32bit & 64bit) are quoted at the same price at the store i was looking at. Is that not normal?

They usually sell for the same price

I agree that the power supply is an overkill

windows ultimate wont have any features that you'll need over premium, so dont bother with that

You may want to price out a cheap dell instead of doing the build. It might save you money (though I hate dells)



Spunks

Get a newer and faster HDD, like WD6400AAKS.

PSU: something like Cprsair 450VX, maybe.

You have budgeted $232 for the case and PSU. Coolermaster PSU is a tier 5 unit on this list: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forum [...] p?t=108088 I think you can do better.

Antec makes good cases, and they are the only one that includes a PSU that I would trust. Look at something like the Antec NSK6850 for $90 whick includes a good psu for $90. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129033
My favorite case is the Antec Designer500 which looks sharp, and is also very quiet for $160. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129036

You only have 2 memory slots, so I would populate them up front with a 4gb kit made up of 2 2gb sticks. Memory is cheap, and more is better with Vista.

Shopping tips for Vista:
1) Do you qualify for an academic license?
If so, you can get Vista at a discounted price.
2) Look for an upgrade version of home premium instead of OEM.
Upgrade is a retail version which gives you support from microsoft, unlike OEM(AKA system builder),
and allows a more hassel-free ability to transfer the os to a different pc(motherboard).
For $10, microsoft will send you the 64 bit DVD if you want, but with a max of 4gb, the 32 bit version should be fine.
I saw Vista home premium upgrade recently at amazon for $89.
There is a legitimate two step instalation process to install an upgrade version
You install vista from the cd, but do not initially enter the product code.

Just tell the install which version you bought, and do not activate.
After it installs, you have a fully functional vista for 30 days.
Step 2 is to insert the cd again, while running vista and then do an upgrade.
This time, enter your product code, and activate.
After activation. you may delete the initial version which is named windows.old.

3) Do you really need Ultimate? There are very few features that the home user would want.
Check out the differences on the microsoft Vista web site.
If you get a retail or upgrade version, you will still be able to upgrade to ultimate later

---good luck---

You should buy a discrete graphics card if your going for vista ultimate, since your buying a X2 4600+. Besides, a nice 8600GT which retails for about 70 dollars would do u good. And buy a cheaper case. Although i see no reason to change the power supply. Or If u need to, a 500 watt one would be nice, like the Corsair VX520.

Hi,

thanks again for the tips & advice..

HDD: I've changed the hard drive to a WD6400AAKS.

PSU: I agree a smaller PSU would make sense. At present i'm looking at the Cooler Master Real Master M 520W which costs 66€. The Corsair 550VX would cost 79€. Is it worth paying the extra money for the Corsair? Are the Cooler Master PSUs so bad? (I noticed the entries on the webpage given by geofelt are from 2006) An alternative would be the Corsair 450VX for 64€ ? (Here are my options.. http://www.alternate.de/html/pcbui [...] 1#Corsair)

Case: I know it's a bit of an overkill but i've not really seen a case which is cheaper and which i like the look of, so i'll stick with my original case here. The Antec cases are sold without PSUs here in germany and are all more expensive.

Motherboard: I originally chose the nVidea chipset because i liked the fact that the discrete graphics card is switched off when 3d acceleration isn't required ("hybrid power" ). However, i've since read on this forum that the ATI chipsets are preferred to the Nvidea chipsets. These are the motherboards which i'm considering:

Gigabyte GA-M78SM-S2H, NVIDEA GeForce 8200, €74
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, AMD 780G, €69
Gigabyte GA-MA78G-DS3H, AMD 780G, €69
Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H, AMD 780G, 84€

(Here is a comparison of the 780G boards from Gigabyte http://www.gigabyte.de/Products/Mo [...] 2705,2731)

Which motherboard would you recommend? At present i'm tempted by the GA-MA78GPM-DS2H ...

(I've not got a graphics card in the build at the moment but will probably add one later. It's pretty unlikely that i'll ever use SLI or Crossfire.)


Thanks in advance,
Dave

(ps with regards to OS i think i'll go for the Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit)