Self build advice
 

Hi

I'm looking at buying the following bit of kit
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/at...1&d=1282496408
I quiet like the idea of mhaving a modular PSU. Any there any good modular PSU for about £50-£60.

Whats the difference between the Asus 4670(quick code 181962) and the sapphire I've chosen? Which one would you choose?

Re: Self build advice
 

ones 512 meg the others a gig

Can you no afford a 5670 instead? so you get DX11

There is the 600 watt modxstream http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174182 couple of people do not like em but ive used loads and none have blew on me running one now in main machine and one in second machine both over a year old

DDR3s price is dropping on some sites ive seen Kingston down below £60 for 4 gig

I also think you are scimping a bit on the screen really to do justice you need a proper HD screen 22" +

Re: Self build advice
 

How about an SSD as a boot drive?

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lol sorry wrong code heres the 1gig version ( quick code178946).
I'll have a look into that PSU.

Which sites are you refering too? If I save on RAM maybe I can up the graphics card or the monitor.

I'm only scimping on the screen because I'm not really going to be watching HD content (for that I stream my content to my xbox to view on my 42 inch telly)and only looking on getting a bigger screen to replace my 17inch 4:3 Dell monitor. It 's not really going to be used for gaming and my space is quiet limited as my rig is under the stairs

---------- Post added at 18:59 ---------- Previous post was at 18:57 ----------

Neva thought of that but My budget is already stretched.

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Also as the new motherboard data not accept IDE data cables is there some sort of IDE to sata convertor so I can use my current dvd-rom or do i need to buy a new one.

Re: Self build advice
 

it does have IDE

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Never comes across PATA so my 4 year dvd-rom shoudl be able to connect to it.? what about the power cable? Its from an old dell dimension 3100

whcih sites are selling kingston 4gb for under £60?

Re: Self build advice
 

ive had a look and can not find the offers they may have been short term. The rom should work but dvd rw are chips cheap now

Re: Self build advice
 

thanks what about the sapphire vs asus 1 gig 4670 differences?

Do you think I should swap out the RAM I got on there for some Kingston 4GB (quick code:158711). I will be upgrading the ram in future or would it be better to get a single modulehttp://www.ebuyer.com/product/235776 (235776) and up the ram as I go I know the board can hold a max of 16gig.

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PATA=IDE same thing

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im theory the cooler on the Asus is better as there is no plastic surround imo

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Def get a 5000 series GFX card.... DX11 is excellent (well, Bad Company 2 looks AWESOME in DX11). I've only got a HD5770 but it's damn good, and like I say, Bad Company 2 looks stunning. My GFX card is an ASUS btw.

Re: Self build advice
 

If you can stretch a extra £60 how about this (see attached) better cpu, and better graphics's card and a better monitor.

If you are able to it is about £60 or £70 more to take it to a ATI 5770, and about a extra £20 for a sata dvd drive, and iirc if you register on the Bit-tech forum's and make 50 post's then you get free delivery from scan aswell as there is a code that you enter to get it, but you have to meet the condition's for it iirc.

Which ever you go for will be fine TBH, it just depend's on if you have maxed your limit or not.

Have you thought about buying a complete system see if that is the same or cheaper in price for around the same spec.

Re: Self build advice
 

most of that increase is in the overly expensive psu. The CPU is however cheaper so should be the one bought

the 5550 is certainly not a better GFX card either http://www.hwcompare.com/graphics/co...Radeon-HD-5550

---------- Post added at 09:56 ---------- Previous post was at 09:49 ----------

I would deffo bung a 5670 in there myself

---------- Post added at 10:02 ---------- Previous post was at 09:56 ----------

you do want the -E motherboard on Damiens list though as its sata 3 and usb3 ready

Re: Self build advice
 

What about my suggestion of using one 4gb ram DDR rather than 2 x 2gb modulars? Just that it would save me a bit and when I come to upgrade the ram I can bump it up by another 4gig without losing the 2 x 2gig

my budget is already stretched. scan's prices were quiet a bit cheaper but when you add delivery it bumps it up to ebuyers prices with 5 day free delivery.

I've not had a grpahic card before and also been content with onboad graphics but as this mobo doesn't have onboard i'm buying the graphics card. I have an xbox thats connected to my 42inch telly so I dont do PC gaming.

Re: Self build advice
 

well at the end of the day its upto you. The memory idea would work fine. But I am sticking to my guns with the suggestion of the 5670 mainly because it is a much newer card and you may have use for the extra power specially if you use its video encoding facility.

I always say the same thing and that is come up with the absolute maximum you can spend and spend it all do not cut any corners. But it is your money and if you are happy buying th 4670 then go for it. Incidentally you could opt for a 512 meg 5670 for only a tenner ish more than the 4670

Re: Self build advice
 

would there be any issues with using just one 4gig ram like bottlenecks in the system etc. because thats £20 savign that I could use towards 5670. Should it be a 1gig or 512mb? does it really matter?

Re: Self build advice
 

it would only really matter in gaming. As for the memory you will lose a lot of bandwidth until you get it running in dual channel but in the real world it wouldnt be that noticable

Re: Self build advice
 

OK. I added 5670 but the 512MB version. When it says the ram needs to be in matched pairs does that mean brand etc.

example

say i bought 1 x Corsair 4GB DDR3 1333mhz now and then wanted to buy another 4gb module would have i have to buy another corsiair 4GB DDR3 1333mhz or could I buy say a kingston one?

Thank you very much for all the support that you've given me so far. This is my first build in a LONG time and I'm just tryingto get to grips with the new specs that come out.

Re: Self build advice
 

in thoery the kingston would be fine

Re: Self build advice
 

Slightly better i5 for cheaper at Aria http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/...roductId=40924

I`m thinking of getting one of these https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Comp...roductId=40619 but will only need a CPU, memory and maybe a graphics card so may well be asking similar things soon :)

Still can`t believe i only paid £45 for Windows 7 HP and £80 for Pro (retail versions), wish i`d had the forethought to buy half a dozen of each :dozey:

Good luck with whatever you go for ;)

Re: Self build advice
 

Thanks for the linky. Quiet a lot cheaper even with P&p

Wow, where did u get windows 7 for £45?

Re: Self build advice
 

No probs, looks like a good deal :)

I pre-ordered the windows 7 around June last year for delivery on October 22nd, if i remember rightly there was a postal strike and i got it ~19th. They where from Amazon with free p+p but a few places did em for that price, direct from Microsoft was only £50, just shows how much they rake in now :spin:

Wish i`d known 7 was going to be such a massive hit, hindsight is a wonderful thing!

Good luck with the build, you know we gonna wan`t pics don`t ya :p:

Re: Self build advice
 

Re: Self build advice
 

I just got the delivery from Aria.

1 x intel i5 760 2.8GHz
1 x 600W modXstem-pro modular PSU
1 x 1TB Western Digital HDD

Now just ebuyer to deliver. Pictures will follow :)

Re: Self build advice
 

you itching to build it now lol . Just be extra careful installing cpu as the pins are part of the socket and if you bend any you are screwed :)

Re: Self build advice
 

Bloody right I am...... :-)

Yeah I know about CPU pins when I was a techie for Acer(back in 1997/98 during school holidays) I remember seeing some really messed up CPUs.

I remember one customers machien had car oil all over the motherboard. The customer said the CPU fan was making a noise and thought it needed some oil. Lets just say a new PC was ordered.

The corparate customers where even worse RAM was always missing from the machines and the odd HDD removed as well.

Customer: Why wont my machine start up
Tech Support: Errrr. Your harddrive is missing?

Kodak moment when you tell them that. They really start wondering how RAM/HDD go missing.

I've not done a build in years so a bit nervous yet excited on getting back in the saddle.

---------- Post added at 10:42 ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 ----------

WTF!!!

I just openned the CPU box to find that my CPU does not have any pins at all not even one.

Re: Self build advice
 

exactlly my point thats the LGA design all the pins are now on the socket

Re: Self build advice
 

I'm looking forward to this weekend for my pc myself, sorting the cooling out going to order the waterblock's etc and then on sunday strip fit and rebuild ooo the excitement.

Just be carefull with your board as I bent a pin on 1 of mine and it cost me £20 to have it fixed, as I would have snapped it if I tried to do it myself.

Re: Self build advice
 

Oh yeah I see no more pins on CPU but on the board instead. Boy have things changed since I last built a machine.

Re: Self build advice
 

lol Damien

Re: Self build advice
 

It was better to let them do it than to break a £250 mobo, and it turned out that, that was the reason the board wasn't picking up a stick of ram.

Just a bit worried about fitting the waterblock to my graphic's card, but if it blow's it then I will just buy one that already has it on.

Re: Self build advice
 

I noticed that my Logitech Quickam Pro 5000 is not windows 7 compatible. Do you think it woudl work if i installed virtualbox and installed xp to use it?

Re: Self build advice
 

it will work in a virtual machine yes. If it has Vista drivers then may may well work anyway

Re: Self build advice
 

It does have vista drivers. I'll give that a go.
My belkin KVM switch also has issues with win7

they do have an update but only for 32bit windows7 not 64bit

Windows version, OS compatibility: Windows 2000, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows server 2003, Windows 7 32-bit size: 5 MB

If anything is incompatible I shoudl be able to whack it through the virtual machine right?

Re: Self build advice
 

should do

Re: Self build advice
 

OMG.

I just got one parcel from ebuyer. I only order it like yesterday at about 14:00. I now have the ASUS P7P55D-E LX busy having a look around it. Now I wish it did have the single snap on connector for the hdd activity/reset buton etc.

What quick service and I selected the free within 5 working days options.

Re: Self build advice
 

Yeah it has to be said eBuyer have got their act together over the last couple of years, both Asus boards I've bought came with the connector to slot everything into place before plugging it in, this one does not?

Re: Self build advice
 

Q connect its called isnt it?

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Nope it does not and its not missing as it does not mention the "Q-Connector"

Re: Self build advice
 

still I am sure you can cope lol Asus boards are easy to set up imo

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Yeah they are easy to connect everything to without the Q connect block, as I snapped a pin on my Q connector block so just did it the old fashion way of straight on to the board with no issue's as all thing's were labled anyway.

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Lol dude you a bit hand fisted or what??

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when it comes to those little stupid pins then yes sometimes, but normall it's not a problem just when I drop it or something and the pin bends and then I try to bend them back sometimes they snap.

Re: Self build advice
 

Put the hammer down and step away for the motherboard.

:LOL:


I recon you just trying to scare me off :)

Re: Self build advice
 

Well I managed to install a Blu-Ray Writer and 3x WD Cavier Green 2tb drive's :D lol and didn't break anything, now to sort out the folder's etc and then time to fill 6tb of space unless I get my other 1tb drive's back then it would be 10tb of storage :dozey::angel:

Re: Self build advice
 

I GOT IT!!!!

I GOT A FEELING....THAT TONIGHTS GONNA BE A GOOD NIGHT!!!! lol

Re: Self build advice
 

I need some help.

I got following in

CPU + Fan
RAM
Graphics Card
PSU

Is there suppose to be two cables attached from the PSU to the motherboard?

Re: Self build advice
 

Yes you should have a 24-pin ATX Connector and 4-Pin P4 Connector

Re: Self build advice
 

ok my 24pin is made up of two connector and then there should be another 4 pin. is this used for the cpu?

Re: Self build advice
 

or 2x4 pin Aux connectors. 8 pin is not unusual nowadays

---------- Post added at 20:56 ---------- Previous post was at 20:55 ----------

The is a second aux 12 volt 4 pin or 8 pin required yes

Re: Self build advice
 

The new machine was born last night.

I got Windows installed and installed the Graphic Card driver/software. I ran the "Rate this PC" and got 5.9 everything was 7.0 to 7.9 except the HDD transfer which was 5.9.

---------- Post added at 08:45 ---------- Previous post was at 08:43 ----------

Looks like I need to get a new wifi PCI card as well. I have a USB one at the moment and would like to get PCI one. Could you recomment a decent priced one? Possibly an N one?

Re: Self build advice
 

Should have got a SSD! ;)

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Think I get about 7.5 or 7.6 as my lowest can't remember and that is the hdd that is lowering it, but will have to re run it and see what happen's.

Re: Self build advice
 

Well I am looking at this from a philosophical viewpoint.

Do I pay £200+ more than my 1tb Samsung just so Windows installs ( although its already installed on the spinpoint) and boots the little bit quicker and programs installed on it load quicker also.

My personal answer to that is no. SSD drives are still way to expensive. My system is set up to be relatively efficient programs run of other drives than the OS and when I am working off one it writes to another so there is no read write bottleneck in my system at all. I have an extra 30 seconds to spare while waiting for windows to boot and I have an extra 5 seconds for Word and other programs to open.

For SSD to be any real benefit in my system I would need 6 of them with at least half a tb each so that would cost me what?( I do not even think they are available and 200 gig+ models are 300 to 500 quid)

If I was building a system and I had 250 quid left over before looking are hard drives I would buy 5 1tb samsungs over the 128 gig ssd (sata3) anyday myself :)

oh and as for WEI its just a bloody meaningless number always has been ;)

Re: Self build advice
 

I like my ssd's from pressing the power button to being in a game take's about a minute or so, iirc from the last lan when we timed it.

They are expensive but if you have just a 64gb for your window's install they are about £120 and load window's in about 15 second's where, as even with a velociraptor or f3 spinpoint it was about 45 - 60 second's just to load window's never mind the thing that my board, does at the start of checking the ram cpu and vga bios etc etc.

I would hate to see how long it would take for windows to boot on 1 of my 2tb drive's as they are only 5400rpm, so slow but large storage and not allot of room taken up.

Re: Self build advice
 

As I said I have a spare 30 seconds lol

Dont get me wrong I like the tech I am just not going to pay the price just yet

Re: Self build advice
 

Exactly my thought I would love to have one but not at that price and the size of them that puts me off. If I had an extra £250 or even £150 I would have bought i7 as opposed to i5.

Re: Self build advice
 

Had the machine on all night. CPU 26degree C and system 29degree C

Re: Self build advice
 

thats not stress tested is it? prime95 or similar?

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No, once I get online I'll try dl prime95 and run it. Thats just with playing some music while having the virtualbox open and me workign on it.

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A bit late I know but I found these pix of my build while I was clearing out some old images. I've since upgraded theCPU cooler to Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro http://www.ebuyer.com/product/176157

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LOL! That's the case I have!

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Not a bad case. A bit bigger than I thought it would be but loads of space. nice clean look