Uk new build ideas plz

[Deband]

Hiya, I am looking for some ideas for a new build PC. I have around £800-£1000 to spend. What i need is a motherboard, graphics card, PSU, RAM and HDD. Think that's all. Hmm maybe a new case aswell.

Also should I get Vista or just stick with XP?

[The Stig]

First, tell us what you intend to build it for (although this should be obvious if you're asking, but still better to know than to waste money)

[Blabj]

Go down to the shops and buy an issue of CustomPC, they have a section for the best buys in £500, £1000, £1500 and £2500+ computers, their advice is usually really good.

Also, shop around a few sites, particularly:

Overclockers UK
Cheap Laptops, Hard Drives, LCD Monitors, TVs and more at Ebuyer
Computer Hardware - All - Scan.co.uk
Microdirect.co.uk is the UK leading retailer of quality computer components and electronics

There will also be advertisements in the magazine and they will tell you where they found whatever component for the cheapest in reveiws, which is useful since it saves you having to shop around also (though it's worth having a look since you could save some money).

[Blabj]

Oh and in terms of XP vs. Vista, I wouldn't be too worried. Just install XP for the meantime, till Windows 7 comes out. 7 is far better than Vista.

[Deband]

First, tell us what you intend to build it for (although this should be obvious if you're asking, but still better to know than to waste money)

Browsing and games mostly FFXI and an occasional shooter.

[fishstix]

I'm not too in tune with UK pricing, but looking through one of the sites making a build, I made a sub-£1k i7 build. Although an i7 is totally overkill for what you plan on using it for, it is more future proof than building something cheap to just fit those needs. Conversely, I made a quick £600 build that's perfectly fine for your needs.

There's really a lot of room for picking parts without more specifics. Are you planning on upgrading down the line and how soon? Thinking about playing any future games?

[Deband]

This would probably be my PC for the next 3 years or so. The only game i might play is FFXIV, but i wouldn't mind having a PC that could play HL2 EP 3 at higher settings when it arrives I'd be interested to see any ideas you have.

[Olo401]

Oh and in terms of XP vs. Vista, I wouldn't be too worried. Just install XP for the meantime, till Windows 7 comes out. 7 is far better than Vista.

Do they have the offer going over there where if you buy a discounted copy of Vista ($50 in some places here) you now get the Win7 upgrade for free?

[The Stig]

Do they have the offer going over there where if you buy a discounted copy of Vista ($50 in some places here) you now get the Win7 upgrade for free?

Yeh most if not all retailers are doing "free windows 7 upgrade" deals, although the only thing I find suspicious is that I cannot see a retailer explaining which version of 7 you get on top.

[fishstix]

OK! with the idea that this will be your pc for the next 3 years, here's what I came up with for £897.07 after tax:
CPU - £190 Intel CPU Core i7 920 2.66GHz ( Stepping SLBEJ ) (3 Year Manufacturer Warranty)- microdirect.co.uk
mobo - £157 Gigabyte motherboard EX58-UD4P- microdirect.co.uk
ram - £97 OCZ Memory 6GB DDR3 PC3-10666 RAM Intel i7 Triple Channel kit (3x2GB)- microdirect.co.uk
power supply - £77 Corsair PSU 750W CMPSU-750TX ATX12V v2.2 5 year manufacturer's warranty- microdirect.co.uk
video card - £161 BFG GTX 260 OC2 MAXCORE 896MB PCI-E + Terminator Salvation Game Voucher- microdirect.co.uk
heatsink - £39 Zalman CNPS9700-LED Super Aero Flower Cooler Skt LGA775,AM2,754,939 and 940- microdirect.co.uk
hard drive - £54 Seagate 1TB hard disk drive SATA II 300 7200rpm 32MB cache oem with manufacturer's 5yr warranty- microdirect.co.uk

I don't really know if these prices are competitive with other online sites for the UK, but it looked ok. The motherboard has 2 extra PCIe slots for 2x or 3x SLI if you wanted and BFG also has a trade-in program. Within 100 days if you wanted to upgrade the card, you can send it in and receive a coupon so you only have to pay the difference from the newer card. There's room in your budget for the case/accessories/shipping, you can also downgrade the ram/harddrive/heatsink to something cheaper.

[Blabj]

My only fault with that build is that I'm an ATI kinda guy so I'd probably swap that nvidia card for an ATI equivalent, but apart from that it looks decent!

Overclockers.co.uk usually have deals on graphics cards and CPUs if you're wanting to look for some better deals/choice. For example, I'd be swayed to go with this card instead: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...tid=56&subcat=

The CPU and Mobo really shouldn't be changed in that build. The CPU he's chosen is ridiculously overclockable, reports of being able to go up to 4ghz just on air is insane. RAM is up to you how much you want, but I wouldn't go for less than 4gb if you want this thing to last more an a couple years for gaming. Remember that because it's an I7 CPU you'll have to plumb for slightly pricier DDR3 RAM, but the trade off is that it's faster than previous revisions so should make an impact on your games!

I would also seriously consider this cooler Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366) if you're interested in overclocking as far as you can go with this machine. If not, the Zalman will do an outstanding job.

Don't forget you still have to buy a nice case, though this is all personal preference in this part, I would suggest getting a larger case to fit everything in and have a bit of room in there for adding things later should you need to. Don't forget to buy a pack of cable ties (velcro ties are the best!) and a few extra fans if the case doesn't come with them already installed.

[Deband]

That's exactly what i was looking for. Thanks

Would this case be ok? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CA-101-AN

[Vigilia]

That's exactly what i was looking for. Thanks

Would this case be ok? Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU)

Hey I have that case. Got it as a ready-built PC from Overclockers last winter, my husband initially wanted to build me a new PC from scratch but we spotted one ready made to almost exactly to the spec we wanted so figured would save the hassle and just go with it. Should be fine for the stuffs Fishstix listed. My only pet peeve about that case are the big ventilation openings on top and side and front and all over it... you see dust build up at record speed compared to my previous much more closed Dell case. On the other hand, not had any problems with overheating.

[fishstix]

Yeah tbh, I dont really know much about heatsinks lol. The ATI 4980 is a great card too, if you like overclocking things, it can hit clock speeds to 1ghz and wow that's priced really well in comparison. I guess I picked an overpriced gtx260 lol.