PC Build

[tiler65]

Having had some good advice from this forum and looking retail costs, I was wondering about building my own set up. I have watched a few YouTube videos and it doesn't look daunting.

1. How easy is it to do?

2. Will I really save anything from buying a retail version?

3. Is it easy to pick the correct components from somewhere like Scan? (scan also do a guarantee for self builds)

4. When I buy all the parts, do they come with all the relevant cables?

Any help would be advantageous for me.

 

[johnnypanic]

Here are my answers -

1. Pretty easy as long as you're not intending to get into overclocking, etc.

2. Probably not a lot, but you will be able to put in the components you want, rather than being what the pc builder thinks you need.

3. Not that difficult. Just make sure, whatever motherboard you choose, you select the correct type of processor, memory, etc.

4. No & Yes You can get oem versions of some components, e.g. cpu, which will bot come with the necessary parts, in this case a cpu cooler, but you can also buy retail versions, which mostly do. Hard drives, for example, do not usually come with sata or ide cables.

One last piece of advice, if you do decide to self build, don't buy a cheap power supply. The number of times I've had to "sort out" pc builds, due to a poor power suppy :bonk:

Any more info, just ask.

 

[tiler65]

Thanks John but what is not a cheap power supply?

I am looking to spend no more than £600 for an i5 type machine.

 

[arad85]

i5-2500k is incredibly easy to overclock. Just a couple of tweaks in the BIOS and that's it as long as you have the right motherboard.

Decent power supply is normally something by a known brand - I tend to use Corsair. I found this page: http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page447.htm (and the ones you can get to it from) incredibly useful as it rounds up all the PSU reviews and tells you who manufactures the PSU if it is rebranded. I'd also invest in an after market CPU cooler as you can go a lot quieter than the stock cooler. I tend to look around £40 for mine.

I tend to put 650W PSUs in my PCs (they take less than that, but they are on 24/7).

Get a list of what you're proposing and post back here and we'll let you know if it is a good setup.

 

[tiler65]

I just tried this config with an online seller..... £627 inc VAT and del

But this is built, can I buy the sameish spec separately for less?

Computer Case Cooler Master Elite 335
CPU Intel i5 2500K Unlocked (4 x 3.3GHz) 6MB (Includes Free Order Of War Game)
CPU Heatsink Intel Heatsink & Fan - Low Noise
Memory Corsair 8GB XMS3 PC3-12800 1600MHz (2x4GB) - Lifetime Warranty (DDR3)
Graphics Card None or Motherboard Integrated Graphics
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H (Intel Z77)
Sound Card Motherboard Integrated HD Sound
Networking Motherboard Integrated Ethernet Lan (Broadband Ready)
Power Supply Cooler Master 500W PSU - Low Noise
Hard Drive #1 1TB Western Digital WD10EZRX Caviar Green, SATA III - 6Gb/s, IntelliPower, 64MB Cache, 8ms
Optical Drive #1 Samsung 22x DVD Re-Writer/Reader /- RW- Black - (SATA)
Operating System #1 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 BIT (Genuine DVD & COA Included)
Security Software FREE - PANDA Anti Virus Pro 2012 - FREE FOR ORDERS PLACED BEFORE 14/05/12 RRP £25
Backup Software FREE - Windows 7 Backup
DVD Playback Software FREE - CyberLink PowerDVD 9
DVD/CD Burning Software FREE - Nero V10 Essentials Suite 2
Free Gift FREE - 4 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive
Monitor Cables & Adapters FREE - DVI Port to VGA Monitor Port Adapter

 

[arad85]

You should always be able to build it for cheaper as places like ebuyer, scan and the such are effectively trade prices. Depends if you want the hassle though.

An i5 is about £165 (inc. heatsink), the mobo about £80, I suspect the power supply is a cheapish one (GX-Lite) but there don't seem to be many reviews. The OS is £60-£70 from memory. £70 for HDD, £35 for memory, £40 for case, £10 for DVD £10 for cables. Total to buy from somewhere like ebuyer would be around £525 (if my maths is right). £15 for next day delivery or possibly free if you can wait 4-5 days.

Just google the part numbers and click on shopping to see what the street prices are...

 

[tiler65]

Thanks Andy...I am trying to do the configure with Scan as they seem to be a lot cheaper than eBuyer.

I will post my results later.

 

[tiler65]

LN27173
Xclio Godspeed Two Advanced Black Mid Tower Case with 2 x180mm Side Fans, w/o PSU £32.38

LN35910
Akasa Intel Performance 3x Heat Pipe mini-ITX Low Profile/Height Multimedia CPU Cooler S775/1155/1156/1366 £23.96

LN43828
1TB Western Digital WD10EZRX Caviar Green, 3.5" HDD, SATA III - 6Gb/s, IntelliPower, 64MB Cache, 8ms, OEM £76.92

LN33670
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3, PC3-10600 (1333), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.50V £38.16

LN41657
550W PSU, OCZ Technology ZS Series OCZ-ZS550W-UK, 86% Eff', 80 PLUS Bronze, SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, Quiet Fan, ATX £43.86

LN29161
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP1, Operating System, Single, - OEM £72.08

LN36726
Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, S1155, Sandy Bridge, Quad, 3.3GHz, HD3000 IGP 850Mhz, 6MB Cache 95W Retail
FREE Anti-static wrist band offer £166.98

LN43230
Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 Gen 3, Intel Z68, 1155, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, RAID, PCIe 3.0, D-Sub/DVI/ HDMI, ATX £96.82


Net Total £560.75

 

[CHPhotography]

I ordered a 3xs system from scan. The parts were reasonably priced but it wasn't a great deal more to get it built. The build came with a 2yr warranty and a bunch of stability tests before they sent the system out. Took the hassle of doing it all myself, worth while imo.

 

[tiler65]

All this inc del and vat....any better?

LN44183 Motherboard -- Asus P8Z77-V LX, Intel Z77, S 1155, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, SATA RAID, PCIe 3.0 (x16), DVI-D/ HDMI/ D-Sub (VGA), ATX
LN42829 CPU -- Intel Core i5 3570K,1155, Ivy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.4GHz, 5 GT/s DMI, 650MHz GPU, 6MB Smart Cache, 34x Ratio, 77W, Retail
£245.99


LN42410 1TB Seagate ST1000DM003 Barracuda 7200.14 SATA 6Gb/s 7200rpm 64mb Cache 8ms NCQ OEM
£65.98

LN41809
Xclio Nighthawk Mid Tower Case Full Black with Side Window & 3 x 120mm Silent Blase Fans & Fan Controller w/o PSU
£37.42

LN40775
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3 PC3-12800 (1600), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.5V
£39.36

LN44440
600W Coolermaster GX Lite RS-600-ASAB, 86% Eff', Uncertified, Quiet Fan, ATX v2.3
£49.44

LN42541
Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 CPU DT 4 Heat Pipe Cooler with 120mm Silent Fan for Intel Socket LGA 2011/1155/1156
£29.16

LN29161
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP1, Operating System, Single, - OEM
£70.88


Net Total

£547.82

 

[arad85]

Without looking in detail at the specs, that looks good - assuming you're after a "standard" overclock (i.e. 4.3-4.5GHz) amd not extreme overclock. The Ivy Bridge processors seem to be suffering thermal runaway (i.e. you increase the clock a little, the temps increase a lot) when you're pushing it...

 

[danolive1]

Get an ssd as well, well worth the money.

 

[danmon_81]

really interested to see how this goes Tom as i'm in a similar position!!
Keep us posted.

 

[tiler65]

really interested to see how this goes Tom as i'm in a similar position!!
Keep us posted.

I bought a Chillblast system in the end.

http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Elixir.html

I upgraded a few of the components and it was built and shipped within 10 working days.

The main reason for going with Chillblast was that it was built and tested instead of me trying to do it. It has a 2 year collect and return warranty which the others did not.

It flies, overclocked up to 4.5 (I don't know about that stuff) but my processing coming from my old machine is about 4 times faster what it used to be. An incredible time saver.

Ask away if you need anymore info.

 

[danmon_81]

i did notice your other post and had a gander at chillblast....i am tempted, although i need a new monitor which up's the budget.

 

[tiler65]

i did notice your other post and had a gander at chillblast....i am tempted, although i need a new monitor which up's the budget.

They do some systems with monitors too, just pick one of the complete systems and hi the reconfigure button. I thought I would buy a better monitor when I need it so that is why I did not buy one.

 

[danmon_81]

its like being a kid in a sweet shop!!

 

[The23rdman]

What did you upgrade, Tom? My RAM has just died on me so I'm planning 16gigs as it's so cheap now and a 120gig SSD to make her fly.

 

[tiler65]

I upgraded the ram, to a faster one too, new heatsink and power supply and case.

and went for the ivybridge too as the techie said it had much improved since they were first released.

 

[The23rdman]

Good upgrades. How is it?

 

[tiler65]

Good upgrades. How is it?

With my last PC (intel 2 core duo 2.1 htz (?) and 3gb ram on XP ) to import a wedding, say 1200 5d2 raw files it would take 3 hours (without rendering) just to get them off my card.

I loaded them again for a speed trial and it took less than 30mins with rendering!

 

[The23rdman]

Spare time for golf!

 

[tiler65]

Not played golf since the end of March

 

[danmon_81]

as soon as the account hits the magic number i'll be investing in ones of these me's thinks!

 

[FlyTVR]

SSD is the key if you ask me. The main drive in my new machine is SSD.

From bios screen to booted takes 10 seconds (about the same time it would take Tom to tile a bathroom ;-) )

The other thing that I've always had a problem with, is the time it takes to download images from CF cards. Now, an 8GB card (using a USB 3.0 reader) takes about a minute and a half.

With regards to memory, I've always praised 'the more the better'. I have to say that 8GB seems plenty!

Cheers.

Dav

 

[arad85]

Have to say I've been toying with the idea of asking for one of these for Christmas and using it as my "current data" drive:

http://www.ebuyer.com/278525-ocz-240gb-revodrive-3-ssd-rvd3-fhpx4-240g

Specs are: read 1000MB/s Write 900MB/s, Max Random Write 4KB (Aligned): 130,000 IOPS

They also do a 1TB server version (http://www.storagereview.com/ocz_zdrive_r4_ssd_review), which can do: read/write 2,800MB/s, random 4k write: 410,000 IOPS but at <£5k, it's probably a bit of overkill...

 

[Bambi72]

Ooh, now they look a bit tasty thats about twice as fast as a normal SSD isn't it?

 

[arad85]

It certainly is

 

[neil_g]

not bad for 350..

(says to self: need the milage expenses for bills, need the milage expenses for bills, need the milage expenses for bills, need the milage expenses for bills, need the milage expenses for bills, need the milage expenses for bills, need the milage expenses for bills, need the milage expenses for bills)

 

[arad85]

not bad for 350..

The problem for me is I've just installed an HP dual server NIC in my last x4 slot so it's another new motherboard as well for me (or drop back to the old NIC ).

I've just got teaming working too. It's quite cool copying 2 files at 100MB/s each at the same time to two different machines (although I'm not sure how often I'll use it but...).

Lesson to self: if you want to play with the big boys on bandwidth, buy a motherboard designed with lots of PCI-e x4/x8/x16 slots in in the first place.

 

[neil_g]

Hehe..

I need a new switch for the teaming on my symbology to be supported :|

 

[arad85]

Hehe..

I need a new switch for the teaming on my symbology to be supported :|

Have one from me...

The only problem with teaming is that you don't get 2Gbps throughput, but a max of 2x1 GBit....

 

[neil_g]

yeah its a bit odd, win server reports a max adapter speed of the combined (obviously depending on what mode) but yes youre right its not a speed increase only an available bandwidth incresae.

 

[neil_g]

damn you andy i keep looking at the revodrive.

have you seen the OCUK build that uses one? http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18412482&highlight=revodrive lol

 

[arad85]

damn you andy i keep looking at the revodrive.

have you seen the OCUK build that uses one? http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18412482&highlight=revodrive lol

Hahahahaha... Therte's another Revodrive which is the same sort of price and has even higher specs...

It's off my list of things for the moment - too much other fun stuff to play with (and the price). I'm currently doing some dev work and having to run a Fedora VM. The networking doesn't play nice with the HP NC380T NIC - the virtualport bridge turns off all the lovely acceleration

 

[neil_g]

ive just got an itch to buy something.. lol

some debate whether it actually supports trim though as its technically a scsi/raid. plus apparently it has to initialise at boot (meh).

 

[arad85]

Yup.. my boot time is getting longer and longer the more complex cards I plug into the machine (not to mention the onboard controllers that have their own BIOS'). I only boot every now and again though...