Jump to content

Need Help On Buying A New Desktop..


Sam F

Recommended Posts

I've done little things like change over GFX cards, ram, sound cards, hard drive etc on my other desktop.. swapped it all over to another case and that, so, with a guide i reckon i could do it yeah, might give it a bash..

You're almost there then. Installing the CPU, power supply etc etc really isnt hard. Most parts comes with a manual anyway so you'll know what wire goes where and so on. You just gotta read up on each individual parts, make sure they are compatible with each other, which bits you'll need. Here's a pretty simple guide I first read when I built mine, there's loads of guides out there, have a search around and you'll definitely find what you are looking for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nah, i'm not up for building it myself..

You really, really, really should, you get a LOT more for your money.

The only tricky bit is getting the CPU cooler mounted to the CPU, you have to be very careful when applying the thermal paste.

If you want help with a spec though, get on over to forums.overclockers.co.uk, they really know their stuff on there. They helped me with my build and it's completely different to the one I first laid out, much better though. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, this is what i've got in mind as to what i want..

BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £269.99

(£234.77) £269.99

(£234.77)

Intel Core i7 860 2.80Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £226.99

(£197.38) £226.99

(£197.38)

XFX X58i Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £134.99

(£117.38) £134.99

(£117.38)

Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Triple Channel (TR3X6G1333C9) £109.99

(£95.64) £109.99

(£95.64)

Corsair TX 750W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-750TXUK) £95.99

(£83.47) £95.99

(£83.47)

Thermaltake VL10001W2Z Element G Gaming Case - Black (No PSU) £94.99

(£82.60) £94.99

(£82.60)

Hitachi Deskstar P7K500 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (0A35415) £37.98

(£33.03) £37.98

(£33.03)

Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99

(£14.77) £16.99

(£14.77)

Sub Total : £859.04

Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:

DPD Next Day Parcel

(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50

VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £130.43

Total : £999.97

Ovbiously with more research i should be able to get the prices abit cheaper than that..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You might want to look for a modular PSU, the ones where you just plug in the cables that you need. I have the same PSU and I have a chunk of wires I don't use clogging up space in my case.

Also maybe a bit bigger hard drive? 750GB or more? And if you're really into speeds you might want to consider velociraptors or SSD hard drives. But these do cost considerably more than normal hard drives though and you get less GB for money :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 860 is supposed to be better for gaming though? And the 860 uses the LGA 1156 socket, so you'll need a P55 motherboard. (I think, as far as I can remember they're not compatible with each other).

Theres no CPU cooler in there, I'd seriously recommend you don't use the standard one if you're thinking about overclocking it! (And it's be rediculous not to).

If you go i7 920, make sure you get D0 stepping, it's better for overclocking but I'm not certain why.

Definately get a modular PSU! I have a non-modular one and it's a right pain in the arse, I've used maybe 5 of the 20 cables it has hanging out of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is where i get mega-confused, whats the different if its d0 stepping or not?

I guess this is where you decide how deep you want to go. Some people (like myself) build machines and leave it every component at stock speeds where as some people want to squeeze every last drop of performance out of theirs. So some parts are better for overclocking where as some aren't. And you'll need to look into which part is good for what.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, this is what i've got in mind as to what i want..

BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £269.99

(£234.77) £269.99

(£234.77)

Intel Core i7 860 2.80Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £226.99

(£197.38) £226.99

(£197.38)

XFX X58i Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £134.99

(£117.38) £134.99

(£117.38)

Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Triple Channel (TR3X6G1333C9) £109.99

(£95.64) £109.99

(£95.64)

Corsair TX 750W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-750TXUK) £95.99

(£83.47) £95.99

(£83.47)

Thermaltake VL10001W2Z Element G Gaming Case - Black (No PSU) £94.99

(£82.60) £94.99

(£82.60)

Hitachi Deskstar P7K500 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (0A35415) £37.98

(£33.03) £37.98

(£33.03)

Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99

(£14.77) £16.99

(£14.77)

Sub Total : £859.04

Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:

DPD Next Day Parcel

(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50

VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £130.43

Total : £999.97

Ovbiously with more research i should be able to get the prices abit cheaper than that..

VAT going up to 17% in January, so buy before then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right, changed the motherboard round, found a nice CPU cooler, Thank you, another question, what PSU Wattage am i going to be needing?

Depends what you want it to run, as it is a 650 should be fine, but if you want to add another graphics card in the future it may struggle, and if you want to watercool it in the future, same again. If you want both at some point, get a 1000W, just one and a 750W should be fine.

Although those cards are very thirsty from what I hear, might be better to go for an 850w and be safe.

Definately a good idea to get on the Overclockers forum, they'll be able to tell you stuff that won't even cross your mind, like if that case is big enough to hold your big ass graphics card, and a big CPU cooler and the hard drives without them fouling on each other.

Also they'll be able to recommend how to sort your airflow out, which is very important if you're overclocking it. Depending on the case you go for, the path the air flows through can change quite a lot, and needs careful planning. Personally I built my computer first, then got it running and now I'm looking to mod the case to tidy the cables up better and I'm sorting the air flow out. On a stock clock you shouldn't have a problem with overheating really though, but it's still a good idea to have strong airflow, remember you're building it in winter, it might be fine now but in summer the air can be much warmer and more humid, which makes the computer run hotter.

Also I really recommend you get a case with holes for cable routing and a black inside, they look so much better, and now I'm going to have to cut holes in mine and spray it myself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah man, this is what i mean, it's going to take alot of time to get this sorted out nicely, i've registered to OCUK but the admins haven't validated me yet lol.

How am i going to do this with the CPU and thermal paste stuff? Ima f**k it up i bet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are several different methods, I made up my own because a few I tried didn't work, mine did. :P

Put a large amount in the centre of the CPU, about the size of a normal pea, then surround it with 4 smaller ones about the size of a small pea, then mount the heatsink to it by putting it on straight and twisting it slightly from side to side to help push any air bubbles out, then when you screw it down time you should find that a tiny bit of paste is pushed out all the way around the edge. Worked perfect for me anyway. Bare in mind you need to fit the CPU and heatsink before putting the motherboard into the case, it makes it far easier and a lot of moderm CPU coolers have mounting plates that go behind the motherboard that are different to the standard one.

It's tricky but it's not all that complicated, you just need to take your time and think through everything really carefully.

Best to get an anti-static wrist band by the way so you don't damage anything, and wash your hands to remove any oil from the skin. (Might sound overly anal, but apparantly it can make a big difference to the CPU temps if you get grease/oil on there, you want it completely clean so the paste can get maximum contact with the surface).

But honestly, apart from that it's a piece of piss, running all the cables so they'd not in the way is challeging, but no-where near as fiddly. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...