Advice for a new builder?

[gavinvin]

Hi,
I am new to the forums and am planning on making my first machine. I game quite allot but am finding my current machine just cant handle most high spec games that have been out in the past year because I don't have a good enough graphics card, and I really want to play Fallout 3! My current PC is a refurbished one I picked up on the cheap and it has been a really good buy but I would rather start from scratch than try and mess with this old thing.
I am looking for suggestions on how to start planning, and what I should be thinking of getting, I am planning to get it bought and made around the Christmas holidays and I have a budget of about £400 , but could stretch to £500 if it was really worth it. My two main worries are processor and Graphics card, I'm not sure whether to get a dual core or quad core, and I need a good graphics card that will work with all current games and should be good for most futures ones.
I'm a second year computer science student so I am very computer literate just have never made my own machine but want to finally give it a go!

 

[br3nd064]

I'm not sure what prices are like where you are, but I'd say go with a dual-core, such as the e7200, and maybe a 9800gt video card. Again, I don't really know what the prices are like over there.

 

[Proximon]

Right in my sig. Let me know if you need any further help.

 

[gavinvin]

Well the e7200 is £83 on dabs.com which is $135, oh and £400 is $650 at the exchange rates at the minute, but it used to be $800 , but then again in the credit crisis at the minute who really knows...

 

[gavinvin]

Ok after having looked at the guide I have decided on a P45 motherboard and saw this one on dabs,
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=542R&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=P45&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0
Also I am quite a multitasker so I should probably get a quad core but cant decide between the Q6600 and the Q9550, theres quite a price difference but it says the Q6600 isnt that good without overclocking and I am not a confident overclocker, anyone got any advice on these two processors?

 

[br3nd064]

For your budget, the q6600 is a much better option than the q9550. Overclocking isn't that hard; just research it to get familiar, then look at some instructions for your board.

 

[dirtmountain]

Agree about the Q6600 and the P45 board, for graphic card look at the HD4850. At U.S. prices that's about $450. The board you posted should be fine. Get DDR2 800 RAM 2x2 GB if you can, Vista Home Premium 64 bit operating system, SATA hard drive and SATA DVD burner.

 

[Proximon]

Better board same price:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-153-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1155&name=Gigabyte%20GA-EP45-UD3R%20Intel%20P45%20(Socket%20775)%20PCI-Express%20DDR2%20Motherboard


The P5Q you linked was a vanilla one, not real good for OC.

 

[gavinvin]

Morning all, thanks for all your comments and help, I have been looking at the graphics cards suggested and have saw these two,

Gigabyte Radeon 4850 1GB DDR3 CC 700MHz PCIE 2xDVI
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=57W8&SearchType=1&SearchTerms="hd+4850"&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0

Asustek Radeon HD 4850 512MB DDR3 CC 625MHz PCIE 2xDVI
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=57V1&SearchType=1&SearchTerms="hd+4850"&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0

I was wondering what the difference is between these two, the Gigabyte card has double the memory but only costs another £10's is this just a good deal or have I missed something?

 

[gavinvin]

Also I have been looking at last months graphics card review and it suggested the 4670, anyone know what its like compared to the 4850? I need a good graphics card but the 4850's seem a bit pricey.
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=58GN&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=4670&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0

 

[cow_moo]

get a e7200 and overclock it to 3.00 and you have a little less powerfull E8400 and get 9800Gt or lower or HD4850 or lower and go dual it's faster for today but go Q8200 now and overclock it to 3.00 and you will be set

 

[Proximon]

The Gigabyte card is just the better deal. That's about right for the price difference. Double memory hardly means double performance. In many games you'll see no difference because they don't address the extra memory. However, history shows that new games are always eager to take the added memory eventually. It was only a few years ago that people claimed 512MB was a waste.

Still, if you are not gaming on a large monitor (1680x1050 or higher) You likely don't need a 1GB card now, so you can save a bit.

A 4670 will be a lot less powerful.

If you need to save a bit more look at the 4830, and the 9800GT.