Opinions on New Build

[Lee476]

Hi,
I've been browsing Aria for some time looking at all the available components and learning about the component standards and decided to put together my first build. I'm hoping to build a system thats basic yet quite capable that can be later upgraded to a quad with a mid range graphics card.

I would be really greatful to know what you guys think of the spec or any issues I might have with some of the components and any advice you might want to give for a first build.

http://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pR21jExdS6pwQJdGYbFCkgF8MT5Tn3tOqtLPc6C4DwcCEZsf nq7S9EuRbAGjM5VjO66Forw7G6CzfxsX-l2pMO-YSPtmzRMFv

Thanks,
Lee

[mac124]

Hi Lee, welcome to the forum, it would appear the link to your picture isn't working :(

[Lee476]

Hey,
sorry about that. Don't have access to my laptop at the moment so I'll fix it as soon as possible.

Cheers,
Lee

EDIT: Sorry for that, think it should be working now - something to do with my live space permissions. Put the information in below as well:

Component ---------------------------- Price ------- Quick Code
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ATX Tower Case/Peripherals bundle --- £32.84 ----- 21034
Quad Core Ready AM2+ Motherboard -- £43.42 ----- 29711
AMD Athlon X2 2.2 Ghz ----------------- £46.35 ----- 24440
Asus AN6200 PCI-E -------------------- £17.57 ----- 29424
2 x 1gb Arianet DDR2-800 ------------- £22.33 ----- 29262
DVD +/- RW DL ------------------------ £16.56 ----- 29919
160GB SATA @ 2mb -------------------- £29.90 ----- 29038
Hanton 19" WS LCD -------------------- £93.94 ----- 28994
USB 2.0 9 in 1 MC Reader --------------- £8.17 ------ 28488
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total (Inc VAT): £311.07

(Having read one of the other recent topics, think I might need to purchase a separate PSU).

And thanks for the welcome

[coiler]

I would go for an Intel

[Lee476]

Thanks Coiler, I'll see what they've got in but I'm pretty hooked on that Motherboard and the AMD quads seem to be cheaper than the Intel ones.

Any particular reason for going with Intel?

Cheers,
Lee

[mac124]

The cpus, pound for pound, offer better performance.

[Lee476]

Thanks a lot, I'll see what they've got in

EDIT: The 2.0 Pentium Dual Cores start at around £60 inc VAT which is a little over what I wanted to spend. The Intel Quads are quite a bit dearer than the AMD ones so for the first build I'll probably stay with AMD. My Dads got an AMD X2/2GB/vista set up downstairs that works great so I'm aiming for something like that at half the cost.

Thanks a lot for the advice.

[alexnifty]

Thanks Coiler, I'll see what they've got in but I'm pretty hooked on that Motherboard and the AMD quads seem to be cheaper than the Intel ones.

Any particular reason for going with Intel?

Cheers,
Lee

Whats the features of that Mobo that make it the one for you? Might be able to find something in the Intel camp.

[coiler]

Thanks Coiler, I'll see what they've got in but I'm pretty hooked on that Motherboard and the AMD quads seem to be cheaper than the Intel ones.

Any particular reason for going with Intel?

Cheers,
Lee

The AMD one you are looking at is only a dual core. AMD quads are very unstable at the moment.

Intel will give you a faster cpu, for less cash.

[Lee476]

Yeah I was going for a Motherboard set up that I could later upgrade to quad core, but if the cheaper AMD quads are going up the wall, I might as well spend more on a faster intel dual core.

Thanks

Edit:
Foxconn Intel 946GZ 775 offers the same specs for less money, quad core ready too - £32.61
Core 2 Duo E4500 - 2.2Ghz - £75.49

[coiler]

Good board and good chip. You won't regret choosing intel (and this is coming from an ex AMD fanboy)

good choice on the Samsung dvdrw it is classed as the best drive in the industry at the moment.

[Lee476]

Thanks a lot for your advice. Think I'll be using a 32bit premium version of Vista for the 4gb RAM support (I don't mind vista, don't love it, don't hate it... works ok on my Dad's desktop) and a separate 450W psu, as I saw on another topic that the generic ones cause problems.

Thanks again,
Lee

[PeterStoba]

You need a 64bit OS for 4GB+

[Lee476]

I thought 32bit vista supported 4gb? Is there any great difference in price and compatibility between 32 and 64 bit? I

[coiler]

32bit vista wont give 4gb. 64 bit will.

For a good PSU I wouldn't go less than one of these

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products?search=ocz+stealth&x=0&y=0&searchCat=589

[Lee476]

Thanks very much, might consider staying with XP in that case then. Cheers for the advice on the PSU.

[coiler]

The cheap ones never run close to the wattage quoted and tend to blow up very easily and cause instability. The 550w would be a good choice for you :)

Xp as well will only support 3gb. Unless your playing DX10 games I would stick with XP for the time being too - or get vista and have a dual boot.

[Lee476]

Dual boot probably wouldn't be a bad idea, as I can hold of both quite easily. As far as wattage is concerned, is the PSU spec designed to meet the total power requirement or just the most demanding component?

I'm not a mad gamer, just wanted something that I can build on, that can run the C&C series, some of the older Novalogic games (BHD/TS) and the original CoD better than the GMA 915 on my laptop. The PC we paid over 600 quid for from staples has the Geforce 7300LE which runs C&C3 only just on low settings...

Thanks again mate

[coiler]

To be sure go for the 600 then

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies/500w+%2B/OCZ+600W+StealthXStream+PSU+?productId=26933

The OCZ's give what they state. Very solid PSUs.

I have two harddrives, one with all my old files as a backup drive but it still has XP on here, I press escape when PC turns on and choose that drive when I want to play games.

My other drive is Vista Home Premium 32 for general use and browsing. Games play worse in Vista my 7950Gx2 SLI card doesnt get on too well with it.