Getting a new PC in a few months. Need advice.

[lordmissus]

I wrote all the components down when I was listing all the components I want and so I could calculate the total price. I'll be buying this in a few months when I've saved up the money.

So since I can't be bothered to type it all out, since I've already written it all out, I'll post a scan:


Anything here someone recommends changing? Anything missing that you think I should add to this list?
Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated. I just want to make absolute sure that I don't do anything wrong, since this will more or less be the first time I've ever built a PC myself.

These components will be from scan.co.uk (the prices listed on that bit of paper I scanned are the prices listed on scan.co.uk).

I've a few months to plan exactly which hardware I want to put in this machine, so I've plenty of time to make changes to this list.

PS:
I will using the onboard Audio chip provided by the motherboard, if you are wondering why I don't mention anything about a sound card.

[odditude]

don't be lazy when you're asking for help.

[Francis64]

- Add a printer to your list, obviously
- No need for thermal paste, it comes with the heatsink when you buy an Intel CPU
- You're in the UK. Do a price check on ebuyer.com and also overclockers.co.uk

[funkyass]

http://board.byuu.org/viewtopic.php?p=5082#p5082

[lordmissus]

I'm being lazy? I'm just asking for advice. I already know pretty much what I need, I just want to check if these components will work together, or if any of them can be less powerful (like the the PSU is overkill, I'll consider a cheaper one).


Also Francis64, I don't need a printer with this because I already have a printer (it's an Epson Stylus Photo R200). Thanks for the links, I'll check those.

[Gonzo]

I'm being lazy? I'm just asking for advice.

I think odditude called you lazy because you would rather scan a note in chicken scrawl and expect us to translate it, rather then take the time to neatly type it up.

[lordmissus]

My handwriting is "chicken scrawl"?
Well if it really is that bad then... anyway I have a revised list:

Code: Select all

Case:		Xclio CoolBox Black Midi Tower Case with Grill Front Panel -w/o PSU, £28.69 inc VAT
PSU: 		750W Powercool 80+ Dual 12V Rail V2.2, £46.00 inc VAT
Motherboard: 	Gigabyte GA-X48-Dq6, S775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 800/1066/1200, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX, £100.04 inc VAT
CPU: 		Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, S775, Yorkfield Core, 2.83GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 12MB Cache, 8.5x Ratio, 95W, Retail, £168.99 inc VAT
RAM: 		4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2, PC2-8500 (1066MHz), 240 Pin, Non-ECC, Unbuffered, CAS 5-6-6-18, £49.28 inc VAT
VPU: 		512MB Palit/XpertVision 9500 GT Super, 800MHz GDDR2, GPU 550MHz, Shader 1350MHz, 32 cores, £35.87 inc VAT
HDD: 		250GB Western Digital WD2500AVVS Cavier Green, SATA 3Gb/s, 8MB Cache, £32.76 inc VAT
Optical: 	Sony DRU-870s 24x DVD+/-R, 12xDVD+/-DL, DVD+RWx8, £20.11 inc VAT

Monitor:  	21.5" Asus VH222H Black, Widescreen Monitor, 5ms response, 1920x1080, 20000:1 contrast ratio, Speakers, HDMI, £160.87 inc VAT
Kbd/Mouse: 	Microsoft Basic White Value Pack 2.0 USB, English (UK), Keyboard and mouse, £10.34 inc VAT
Speakers: 	Logitech S220 Black 17W RMS £19.91 inc VAT


Total:		£672.86

The PSU is already quite cheap anyway. Might aswell have a bit more power. Though, if I can reduce the price of all these components by say £8 (£10-£20 for some of them), I'll probably save at least £100. As stated, I've a month or two to plan, so there's plenty of time to make changes to this list.

Also, http://www.scan.co.uk/products/Xclio-Co ... el-w-o-PSU
the motherboard I'm getting has an ATX form factor. So this case fits it, yes? Because the case is listed as both ATX and Micro ATX..



Btw I have the same thread as here on byuu.org aswell:
http://board.byuu.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=240

[Gonzo]

My handwriting is "chicken scrawl"?

Well, chicken scrawl compared to something that's typed up

[Francis64]

My handwriting is "chicken scrawl"?

It's fine to me.
It does not look like a typical British handwriting.

[lordmissus]

I'm thinking... right now I plan to get those speakers I listed... but the monitor has speakers built in.

Now, built-in speakers on many monitors are shite... if the research I'm about to do tells me the speakers on the monitor I'm getting are of good quality... I'll remove the external speakers from my list, to lower the price.

[franpa]

stick with external speakers, poor quality integrated speakers are also provided with LCD/Plasma TV's and you can't further separate them.

[lordmissus]

I actually chose the monitor due to the fact that it has speakers... it was only a little bit more expensive than the other monitors I found, but had speakers, higher contrast ratio, better response time..

Not a good reason, but,, it also looks nicer than the others I found.
So the inclusion of speakers is convenient. The monitor supports HDMI, albeit without HDCP which is easy to bypass anyway, and has support for 1080p resolution. So, I will also plug in my 360 and PS3 to this, in addition to the new PC.

Not only is it a good PC monitor, it will double up as an awesome TV. Then I can sell my old one. Better value all around, ya know?

EDIT:
I found a few comments, all saying that audio quality is "good". Meaning, not great, but not shite. Acceptable.
So, I will remove the speakers from my list, since the monitors built-in speakers are apparently "acceptable"... I will find that out when I get the monitor anyway, and if I don't like the quality myself, I'll just go back on scan and order the external speakers.

So, minus the external speakers, the price is now:
£652.95
I've yet to make a final decision on which PSU I would like. I know that I need to find a better, somewhat cheaper model (with less wattage though, since I don't need anywhere near 750W).

So, updated list:

Code: Select all

Case:		Xclio CoolBox Black Midi Tower Case with Grill Front Panel -w/o PSU, £28.69 inc VAT
PSU: 		750W Powercool 80+ Dual 12V Rail V2.2, £46.00 inc VAT
Motherboard: 	Gigabyte GA-X48-Dq6, S775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 800/1066/1200, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX, £100.04 inc VAT
CPU: 		Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, S775, Yorkfield Core, 2.83GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 12MB Cache, 8.5x Ratio, 95W, Retail, £168.99 inc VAT
RAM: 		4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2, PC2-8500 (1066MHz), 240 Pin, Non-ECC, Unbuffered, CAS 5-6-6-18, £49.28 inc VAT
VPU: 		512MB Palit/XpertVision 9500 GT Super, 800MHz GDDR2, GPU 550MHz, Shader 1350MHz, 32 cores, £35.87 inc VAT
HDD: 		250GB Western Digital WD2500AVVS Cavier Green, SATA 3Gb/s, 8MB Cache, £32.76 inc VAT
Optical: 	Sony DRU-870s 24x DVD+/-R, 12xDVD+/-DL, DVD+RWx8, £20.11 inc VAT

Monitor:  	21.5" Asus VH222H Black, Widescreen Monitor, 5ms response, 1920x1080, 20000:1 contrast ratio, Speakers, HDMI, £160.87 inc VAT
Kbd/Mouse: 	Microsoft Basic White Value Pack 2.0 USB, English (UK), Keyboard and mouse, £10.34 inc VAT



Speakers: 	Logitech S220 Black 17W RMS £19.91 inc VAT
	*DO NOT BUY THESE SPEAKERS YET* buy just the rest of it, and see how the monitors built in speakers are.
		if they are acceptable, do nothing, otherwise if the monitors speakers are shite, then go back online
		and order these external ones.


Total:		£652.95
prices based on the components listed at scan.co.uk

Comparing to the initial price for all the components I listed in my first post, I have theoretically saved £187.90 so far. I know I can do much better than this, without reducing the machine's usefulness and/or computational power.

Though, these prices aren't absolute, since I'll be buying the machine in 1 or 2 months from now; perhaps the prices might change by then. I'll also be looking on various sites to see if I can get any of these same components, but for less. I know scan offers good prices though; however, I will still try to find better alternatives regardless.

[odditude]

why are you getting an X48 board? it doesn't make sense that you have an enthusiast-class board with a midrange processor, mainstream memory, and a crap video card. either drop down to an p45 board OR bump up to a p55 + i5-750 + ddr3-1333. right now, for the cash, you're probably better off with an i5-750 anyway.

lcd monitor with built-in speakers: you're going to have no low-end to the sound whatsoever. if you want bass, you're going to need either a standalone sub or use separate speakers. if that doesn't bother you, then it's a convenient space-saver.

power supply: as you yourself have noted, 750W is absurd overkill. try 450W. just keep it 80 Plus certified and stick to good brands (Antec, SeaSonic, Corsair, Enermax, etc).

hard drive: that drive is overpriced and only intended for DVR usage (only an 8MB cache? riiiiight). try a WD5000AADS. bigger, faster, and cheaper.

the case is absurd overkill for cooling given the hardware you're putting in there, unless ambient temps are high to begin with. i'm not going to comment on the aesthetics, since they're objective anyway.

[grinvader]

aesthetics

objective

Did you mean: subjective


@lordmister
the psu is suspiciously high wattage for the price

i cannot accept that course of action



wait, wrong quote

[lordmissus]

Alright, changed some things:

Code: Select all

Case:		Xclio CoolBox Black Midi Tower Case with Grill Front Panel -w/o PSU, £28.69 inc VAT
PSU:		500W Ezcool PSU Silent 80mm Fan 24pin+4pin ATX, £14.89 inc VAT
Motherboard: 	MSI P43 Neo-F, iP43, S 775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 1066/667/800, SATA II, ATX, £52.69 inc VAT
CPU: 		Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, S775, Yorkfield Core, 2.83GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 12MB Cache, 8.5x Ratio, 95W, Retail, £168.99 inc VAT
RAM: 		4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2, PC2-8500 (1066MHz), 240 Pin, Non-ECC, Unbuffered, CAS 5-6-6-18, £49.28 inc VAT
VPU: 		1GB MSI 9500 GT, 1360MHz GDDR3, GPU 650MHz, 32 cores, D-Sub/HDMI/Dual Link DVI-I, £39.66 inc VAT
HDD: 		250GB Western Digital WD2500AVVS Cavier Green, SATA 3Gb/s, 8MB Cache, £32.76 inc VAT
Optical: 	Sony DRU-870s 24x DVD+/-R, 12xDVD+/-DL, DVD+RWx8, £20.11 inc VAT

Monitor:	22" Viewsonic VX2260WM Black Wide HD LCD, £137.98 inc VAT
Kbd/Mouse: 	Microsoft Basic White Value Pack 2.0 USB, English (UK), Keyboard and mouse, £10.34 inc VAT
Speakers: 	Logitech S220 Black 17W RMS £19.91 inc VAT


Total:		£575.30
prices based on the components listed at scan.co.uk

- Different monitor
- The speakers on this monitor are shite, so I am getting those Logitech speakers again. They are stereo 2.1 speakers with a subwoofer.
- Different VPU. Twice as much VRAM, the VRAM itself is quite a bit faster aswell. The VPU's core clockspeed is higher aswell. It's the same VPU as last tiem really, just much improved/tweaked/optimized. And it only costs ~£4 extra.
- Cheaper motherboard; still offers all the same features I need, but for half the price.
- Cheaper PSU (a 500W one, which seems more appropriate).


I will still be trying to drive the price down as much as I can without making it a less powerful machine. In fact, the current machine I list in this post is much, much cheaper, and yet it's somewhat more powerful than before...

In addition to finding cheaper components that are still just as good, I will be looking at the prices on other websites to compare. scan.co.uk is already quite cheap, but if I can find every component from scan.co.uk about £5 cheaper elsewhere... I would save about £80.


As compared to the system listed in the first post, I currently save £265.55. I save that amount... and the parts I currently plan on buying will make for a more powerful computer than I originally planned.

EDIT:
Ah, yes

Code: Select all

Case:			Xclio CoolBox Black Midi Tower Case with Grill Front Panel -w/o PSU, £28.69 inc VAT
PSU:			500W Ezcool PSU Silent 80mm Fan 24pin+4pin ATX, £14.89 inc VAT
Motherboard: 	MSI P43 Neo-F, iP43, S 775, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 1066/667/800, SATA II, ATX, £52.69 inc VAT
CPU: 			Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, S775, Yorkfield Core, 2.83GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 12MB Cache, 8.5x Ratio, 95W, Retail, £168.99 inc VAT
RAM: 		4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2, PC2-8500 (1066MHz), 240 Pin, Non-ECC, Unbuffered, CAS 5-6-6-18, £49.28 inc VAT
VPU: 			1GB MSI 9500 GT, 1360MHz GDDR3, GPU 650MHz, 32 cores, D-Sub/HDMI/Dual Link DVI-I, £39.66 inc VAT
HDD: 			500 GB Western Digital WD5000AADS Caviar Green, SATA 3Gb/s, IntelliPower, 32MB Cache, NCQ, £37.54 inc VAT
Optical: 		Sony DRU-870s 24x DVD+/-R, 12xDVD+/-DL, DVD+RWx8, £20.11 inc VAT

Monitor:		22" Viewsonic VX2260WM Black Wide HD LCD, £137.98 inc VAT
Kbd/Mouse: 		Microsoft Basic White Value Pack 2.0 USB, English (UK), Keyboard and mouse, £10.34 inc VAT
Speakers: 		Logitech S220 Black 17W RMS £19.91 inc VAT


Total:		£580.08
prices based on the components listed at scan.co.uk

Thanks for the HDD advice odditude. This one is about £5 more expensive, but has twice the storage, and 4 times the amount of cache memory. Talk about value for money.

Yeah, so basically for a while I will be making as much effort as possible to reduce the price of the machine I buy... all while making sure it doesn't get less powerful, and perhaps sometimes more powerful. Or trying to find components that are much more powerful, and only a little bit more expensive. "Price/Performance ratio" as they call it, is what I want. A really good one.

the case is absurd overkill for cooling given the hardware you're putting in there, unless ambient temps are high to begin with. i'm not going to comment on the aesthetics, since they're objective anyway.

Yeah, well the case is still quite cheap, and it's always better to play things safe. Not only is the cooling very decent, the case itself looks really nice.
Large enough to fit all the components + more than adequate cooling + really awesome looking + cheap = ideal choice

Also what grin said, the aesthetics are subjective, not objective.

[odditude]

subjective

yeah, temporary lapse of mental function. fortunately, the important stuff was all correct.

EZcool

generic PSUs scare me.

still curious as to why you're going p43+q9550+ddr2 when p55+i5-750+ddr3 is only slightly more expensive and in most cases noticeably faster (exceptions being apps that can take significant advantage of penryn's larger cache; anything else will be faster on lynnfield due to standard architectural improvements + faster access to main memory due to on-die memory controller + possibly clock speed benefit due to turbo mode if cooling is sufficient).

also, what are you planning on doing with that video card? 1gb on a 9500gt is pointless - polishing a turd gives you nothing more than an expensive, pretty turd that still stinks. either stick with a vanilla 9500gt (or lower) if you're not doing any gaming, or get a real card (9800gt/hd4770 minimum, gtx260/hd4870 or better if you actually want to run at native resolution). you're only a few bucks away from a 9800gt anyway.

[I.S.T.]

That PSU is utter shit. Here's a good one for the same exact wattage: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817151034

hell, just look at the recommended PSU list at www.silentpcreview.com They'll do right by you. It was updated a few days ago in fact.

[kode54]

Also, you may want to consider the economics of buying one of Intel's new Lynnfield processors, either the Core i5 or one of the newer Core i7 processors. Possibly the best quad core money can buy right now.

It's worth reading up on them. According to their benchmarks, even the Core i5 750 has the Core 2 Quad Q9650 beat, if only slightly. Still a good advantage, considering that the Q9650 costs $110 more than the Core i5 750.

[Gil_Hamilton]

aesthetics

objective

Did you mean: subjective

Or perhaps he meant: paramount.

[lordmissus]

Ok then, the PSU I chose is shit. How about this one:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/520W-Cor ... r-warranty
Is that ok?

[I.S.T.]

Yeah, that one's good.

[odditude]

much better PSU, but now what about

lynnfield

Lynnfield

[lordmissus]

Yes, I have been reading about the i7/i5, and for the money it does indeed seem to be a much better choice than a Q9550. I have chosen an i5 processor: http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=1065487

I am in the process of choosing the right motherboard + DDR3 RAM.


I've also decided that I will be spending a little bit more (and thus saving up for an extra few weeks) so I can put a GTX 260 video card in thsi machine:
1792MB MSI GTX 260 Lightning Black, 2100MHz GDDR3, GPU 680 MHz, Shader 1400 MHz, 216 Cores , £169.04 inc VAT

So I expect now to pay 700-800 GBP for this machine.
I'll post an updated hardware list when I've fully made my mind up.

Originally I just wanted something a little bit more powerful than my current setup. But since I don't mind saving up for another month, I am considering building a gaming PC so I can play all the latest PC games (so unlike before where this was going to be purely a Linux-based programming machine for myself to use, I will be waiting for Windows 7 to be released... in the mean time I'll dual-boot Xubuntu with WinXP, and I'll replace XP with Win7 when that is released)... new games still support DX9, right? I know you really should have DX10, but if most/all games still support XP, I can easily settle with XP for the time being. I've been meaning to turn my current machine into a Hackintosh (dualbooted with Xbuntu), so I'll remove XP from thsi machine, and use the license for it to install it on the new machine... then install HackOS X on (what will then be my old) machine, aka the one I'm sitting at right now.

I want decent Linux support, so NVidia it is. I hear AMD released to the Xorg cummunity the specs for their radeonHD cards, though I am still skeptical as to the quality of those open-source radeonhd drivers.. NVidia has binary drivers for Linux, and there are no decent open-source ones as far as I know, but I'd rather have good performance as opposed to "ethical" shite, so..

[I.S.T.]

You'll find less DX10 support than DX9 support. Vista adoption was slow.

[lordmissus]

So until Win7 is released, I'll still be fine on XP for even the latest of the latest games?

I wouldn't know... haven't touched PC gaming for about 8 years now, been mostly playing on consoles. Since I'm buying powerful enough components to build a gaming PC of current standards, it's only expected that I use it for that purpose