The PC Building Thread

So in the end I'm not getting that Ebay one, guy refused to send it to Chris in the UK as he first refused to post it out to me in Sweden, think he was just pissed off I got a bargain :( Oh well, ended up getting a "KINGSTON SSDNOW V+200 120GB SSD SATA/600 MLC" for £80 from a Swedish store so at least I can get the tax back next year so it'll end up only being £64 also ordered a new router as we needed one with the internet change (new connection is straight from the wall no cable modem/router anymore), went with the D-LINK DIR-645 which had really good reviews especially in terms of Wan - Lan and Lan - throughput, that was £48 after tax rebate and I get a free digital copy of BF3, already completed the SP but will probably give it to someone :)
 
Jamezinho said:
SSD prices are falling like a stone, more so than HDD prices.

I'm waiting for the first 256gb drive to hit the sub £100 mark and then I will probably pick one up to put my games on.

At this rate it won't be long.
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same here. waiting on a 256gb ssd to fall into the £100 mark
 
Hi guys a quick q!! I can buy this pc for 150 or swap it for my 360?
Specs

galaxy pc case with side window and a 120mm blue led fan (new)
also a 80mm blue led case fan,2 blue led front bubble leds (new still with wrapper on)
windows xp home with service pack 3
intel 6750 2.66 ghz core 2 duo cpu
2 gb ocz ddr2 handle gaming ram
evo 775 heatsink and fan
sata dvd rw drive(new)
650gb sata hard drive
ati radeon 5400 hd 1gb video card with d sub and dvi and hdmi conections(new)
asus 775 p5q deluxe motherboard
software
asus epu-6 engine
avg free anti virus
advanced system care 5
adobe reader 9
c cleaner
microsoft office 2007 suite
nero 7 ultra
o and o defrag pro
power dvd 5
registry mechanic
windows movie maker
comes with keyboard,mouse,
Is it worth it and is it flexible to upgrade the CPU and the graphics card??
Thanks
 
Can anyone recommend a decent, but not too pricy 22-24 inch monitor that I could use for my PC but also hook up an Xbox 360 to?

I've got my 5.1 speakers hooked up to the TV so I would prefer if this monitor had some small speakers or headphone socket. I have USB powered speakers hooked up to my PC at the moment - if a monitor had USB inputs, would those USB speakers work? I think they needed a driver to work on my PC but not sure if that would apply plugged into a monitor.

Also, I have an old video card (6600GT) since my pc is a few years old now and I run Windows XP with 3gig ram fairly smoothly. Should I want to watch streaming video's in 1080p on this new monitor, would I need a new video card? Looking for something cheapish as I won't use the PC for gaming. But if I don't need to upgrade the card I won't :P
 
SSD arrived on Friday, installed Windows 8 over the weekend, liking it quite a lot, not sure how much is the SSD or Win8 but boot time to desktop is 5-10 seconds, very nice!
 
Yeah the mosaic thingy, you can't boot direct to desktop anymore, but as soon as you see mosaic you just click the desktop icon and you're at the desktop.
 
You can get fixes and patches to boot straight to desktop and bring back the start menu, but in the final release Microsoft will be removing the code so people cant do it.
 
Placebo said:
Yeah but undoubtedly in the final version there will be some app to let you add it (plus a start menu) if that's what you want :)
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I have not tested Windows 8 at home yet as will wait till we get the RTM at work at some point in July.

But have it running on a couple of test machines at work and not overly impressed seems alot like Windows 7 but runs slower on the test machines we have been using, but might change later on when they start removing all the crap code and finally get rid of Aero.
 
build1.jpg


basically paying for this tomorrow and i think may have wee bit extra, where should i upgrade for a bit extra? i'm pretty useless at this.
 
aitken said:
build1.jpg


basically paying for this tomorrow and i think may have wee bit extra, where should i upgrade for a bit extra? i'm pretty useless at this.
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I wouldn't get a 6870, seems overpriced for the performance.
Get a 5870 off ebay or a 560Ti. You can get a 5870 these days for about £80 and outperforms a 6870.

I would also change your motherboard and processor and make sure you get the ivybridge as the performance increase is easily worth the extra £30.

You will also need to check the measurements of the case as you will need a 12" clearence for the graphics card.
 
aitken said:
basically paying for this tomorrow and i think may have wee bit extra, where should i upgrade for a bit extra? i'm pretty useless at this.
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If you can spare another £50-60 then get a 64gb SSD. Install Windows on it and use it as a boot drive. You'll still have plenty of space spare for some programs and the odd game.

The system startup time is incredible with an SSD. From power on to being ready to launch a game, my system takes about 20 seconds. If you're coming from console gaming this will be a very noticeable upgrade.

Also, I have the Bitfenix Shinobi case which is another £25, but is a good quality case which looks more expensive than it is. I'm sure the Merc Alpha is pretty good too, but obviously it's going to be a bit basic.

You may also want to buy a couple more case fans to keep your system cool and a CPU cooler if you plan to overclock (otherwise don't bother).
 
Jamezinho is right in regards to getting an SSD nothing will make more of a difference.

This is the machine I would go for:





Is a higher spec machine at only £30 more + you also get an SSD.
 
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Maybe here's as good a place to ask as any!

I'm looking to Upgrade my motherboard seeing as I just bought a Sata3 SSD and my current mobo is only Sata2 (as well as having some other flaws such as onboard network adaptor and 1 usb no longer working, gfx card blocking the only other PCI slot etc), so looking for recommendations of a new mobo, must have the following:

Sata 3
AM3 compatible (CPU is AMD Phenom II X4 945 3ghz)
4 DIMM slots (I have 2x2gb and 2x1gb ram)
PCIE
At least 2 PCI slots (not blocked by gfx card)

Ideally no more than £100, not too bothered about brand but I am ware Gigabyte (my current board) have some big issues with AHCI performance so wouldn't mind avoiding that brand.
 
bsmaff said:
Jamezinho is right in regards to getting an SSD nothing will make more of a difference.

This is the machine I would go for:





Is a higher spec machine at only £30 more + you also get an SSD.
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think probably will go for that, which site is that?
 
yeah i got that, i thought i updated the post, sorted now anyway so should be delivered for friday, thanks for the help everyone
 
Just want peoples opinions on these parts I'm ordering.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-...c3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-150v

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/29-4...hz-5-gt-s-dmi-650mhz-gpu-6mb-smart-cache-34x-

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus...ta-raid-pcie-30-(x16)-dvi-d-hdmi-d-sub-(vga)-


I got a graphics card about 6 months ago which is a Nvidia GeForce GTX 560, I just want to upgrade other parts. I'd gladly take suggestions on the parts I'm considering, other parts, cases and even fans which is my next priority.
 
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Placebo said:
SSD arrived on Friday, installed Windows 8 over the weekend, liking it quite a lot, not sure how much is the SSD or Win8 but boot time to desktop is 5-10 seconds, very nice!
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Maybe because my SATA operatin mode is RAID so I can use a RAID0 on two other hard drives is why my SSD isnt performing all that well. I did a clean install of Win 8 Release Preview on my machine last night and it takes more like 30 seconds to get to the Lock/Login screen.....

Windows 7 would take like 15-20 to be ready at the desktop after first showing the "Starting Windows" Screen.
 
so ordered everything i said i was going to, paid for them to get delivered for friday, only novatech delivered, ebuyer hasn't even emailed me to say whats going on or nothing and went to the site to see order status, it says my order is still on security check.
 
@Jonney I ran MSI Kombustor and guess what happened literally as SOON as I clicked GPU Burn In....

Youve guessed it Machine turned itself off straight away. I then tested and did it again and got the machine to turn off again after a bit of messing around with other options in Kombustor.

Its either the Graphics Card which is screwed (allthough I doubt it as it works fine a lot of the time and with other games) or its my PSU as generally PC's will only instantly switch off if there is a power issue. If I had some kind of graphics card hardware issue surely it would BSOD and in Event Logs I would see that a Hardware fault caused an un-expected shutdown?
 
m.schumacher said:
@Jonney I ran MSI Kombustor and guess what happened literally as SOON as I clicked GPU Burn In....

Youve guessed it Machine turned itself off straight away. I then tested and did it again and got the machine to turn off again after a bit of messing around with other options in Kombustor.

Its either the Graphics Card which is screwed (allthough I doubt it as it works fine a lot of the time and with other games) or its my PSU as generally PC's will only instantly switch off if there is a power issue. If I had some kind of graphics card hardware issue surely it would BSOD and in Event Logs I would see that a Hardware fault caused an un-expected shutdown?
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What PSU do u have? maybe it is not outputting sufficiant power to your pc mate. this is why i never skimp on PSU and always go over budget/over kill on my psu's.
 
My PSU is a G7 Extreme 880W PSU which you would imagine puts out enough power but obviously doesnt seem to mate.
 
uksix said:
Just want peoples opinions on these parts I'm ordering.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-...c3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-150v

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/29-4...hz-5-gt-s-dmi-650mhz-gpu-6mb-smart-cache-34x-

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus...ta-raid-pcie-30-(x16)-dvi-d-hdmi-d-sub-(vga)-


I got a graphics card about 6 months ago which is a Nvidia GeForce GTX 560, I just want to upgrade other parts. I'd gladly take suggestions on the parts I'm considering, other parts, cases and even fans which is my next priority.
Click to expand...

Anyone?
 
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