Building a new gaming PC

First off fill this out and we can better assist you: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advic...

Approximate Purchase Date: 28th-30th January

Budget Range: £1000-£1200

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Parts Not Required: need everything, maybe not monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Anywhere that delivers in the UK

Country: (e.g.: India) England, London

Parts Preferences: by brand or type (e.g.: I would like to use an AMD CPU & Biostar mobo with a 24" LCD and full tower case)

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I need everything, i'm rubbish at research  

OK based off your requirements here's a rough build. I'm in the US so I don't really know how the products stack up in the UK but based off what I use here is what I would recommend:

Case: Fractal Design Arc - £71.79
PSU: Corsair TX 650 - £69.99
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 - £85.40
CPU: 3.30GHz Intel Core i5-2500K - £172.55
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12B - £48.89
RAM: Kingston 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz HyperX Blu Memory Kit CL9 1.5V - £33.18
SSD: 64GB Crucial M4 - £81.71
HD: Samsung Spinpoint F4 2TB - £104.99
Optical: Samsung 22X DVD Burner - £11.98
Video Card: PNY Optima Geforce GTX 570 1280MB - £262.35
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium - £71.14
Keyboard / Mouse: Microsoft Cordless Desktop 2000 - £24.99

Total: £1038.96

I like your suggestion very much, even though the OP indicated a preference for amd and msi.

I also note that you use a amd X6 cpu. Do you have any particular insight on the difference?

I think he just copied that part over without editing it.  

But to answer your question - I have two systems - one runs off an X6-1055 and a 990FX motherboard and it's been great so far, but I am actually preferring my work PC right now which is running off an i3-2120 and a Z68 motherboard. The i3 system is blazing fast for a dual core CPU and I can get things done in about 1/10 the time my old Core 2 Duo system used to.

I really like what the Phenom II can do for media and anything else like video editing and streaming, but for the most part I still like the i3 system better. I liked my old X58 build as well but it wasn't really doing what I needed it to do.

yes Op,I am not really sure why with a budget like you have you are looking into amd and biostar. Is there a reason in particular for your choices?

If not then G-unit 1111's build makes better sense for your build as the products listed are much better quality.

Yeah, he copied it over without editing.

Hi All, Thanks for the suggestions, the

" Parts Preferences: by brand or type (e.g.: I would like to use an AMD CPU & Biostar mobo with a 24" LCD and full tower case) " was copied over i didn't notice it  

This build looks pretty good except for the keyboard and mouse  

Thanks <3

Hi All,

Perhaps i am being stupid here, Do i need to buy cables also?
Or do they come with?

thanks

A motherboard will normally come with a couple of sata cables. nothing else is needed.

If a hard drive, ssd, or dvd drive is a oem package, it will not include sata cables. If it is a retail package, it will include a sata cable.

You will need one sata cable for each sata device.

The psu will come with all of the connectors you need.

Look at the photos of the box contents to verify what you are getting.
If the motherboard only has two cables, you might need to pick up another one to handle three devices. They are cheap and can be pickid up locally.

No you don't need to buy cables as most of what you need is built into your PSU (or comes with it if you get a modular one).

As was said the SATA cables come with your motherboard so you should be good there.

Yeah, just make sure that your psu has sata cables and not just the 4 pin molex. some of the older models will not have sata or only have 1 or two and then you would need molex to sata adaptors to connect your dvd and hdd and ssd if applicable. Most of the newer models will have sata.
Also if you have a extremely large case , sometimes it may be necessary to get a 24pin power cable extention. Usually the one from the psu will reach the mobo ,but it doesn't always give enough length to hide the cable. Even if it reaches, you may want an extention if you are interested in hiding the cable.

Tried to edit my last post and it would not let me.

I also wanted to mention... You may run into an issue with fan plugs as follows. Some mobo's have 3pin connectors and some have 4pin for your chassis fans. If your mobo features fan control and you want to make use of it,you will need to plug your fans into yur mobo.

The problem only arises when your chassis fans have a different plug than your mobo. your chassis fans may have either the 4pin,3pin, or even molex plugs. If they dont match your mobo, you can get adaptors from your fav. vendor. If the fan control is not a feature you care about then you can plug your chassis fans direct to a psu cable.

Either way, the adaptors are cheap and you can usually find what you need from your online vendor under the heading"cables and adaptors".

Drives running off MOLEX power adapters are a thing of the past. Only if you're reusing an existing hard drive would you need that type of adapter. All new PSUs have two or three strands of SATA connectors



I've only run into this issue a couple of times. Most only have about 3 or 4 connectors plus the CPU fan connector and that's pretty typical for most Z68 and AM3 boards. The only time you'd need any extra cables is if you attach a second fan to your heat sink (that should already be supplied by your heat sink manufacturer) or if your case has more fans than your motherboard allows for. A lot of people will recommend a fan controller but I've found those to be pretty useless and a lot of times they are a huge pain to hook up.

Yeh well I build pc's on a regular basis and most of the time the case fans are either molex or 4 pin while the mobo's are 3pin. even if you use a a\m fan controller you may need some adaptors. I keep a box of various adaptors around just in case.

Your right about the psu as long as it is a newer product, I have customers come to me with psu's they bought retail and because they were new to building , they didn't know not to get molex ,so they bought a cheaper older psu. This happens to some guys when they are new to building and it doesn't mean their psu won't work with the proper adaptors, that is all I was saying.