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Building Your Own PC?



Geddes

ClioSport Club Member
  Fiesta Mk8 ST-3
First PC about 4 years ago got that from PC World lasted about 3 years, and now got a decent spec PC 'in my eyes' that my ISP built for me about 8 month ago.

I'm a Novice at PC's and never attempted, how hard is it do Build/Upgrade yourself?
 
  Mazda 3 MPS
Piece of p*** as long as you don't have it plugged into the 'lectrics and your just careful with things.
 
Putting it together is easy, Its just making sure you have the right Hardware to match the other hardware...

I.e the right socket processor for the right motherboard...

The right ram for the motherboard etc...

But all it is is matching up figures... Pretty simple...
 
  DCi
^^ yup i've always found the shopping & matching bit to be tedious. I quite like overclockers.co.uk because they do bundles (motherboard/processor/ram) so you can be sure everything matches up.
 

Geddes

ClioSport Club Member
  Fiesta Mk8 ST-3
i was thinking of getting a (Haynes) manuel or something, but dont think it will be nessesary. aye i knew you might have to match stuff up but the wiring and where things go is what putting me off
 
  Evo 8 MR
Matching things up is all part of the fun, looking at different websites comparing prices deciding on a board then looking at ram and whether the board supports its speed, choosing a processor, being careful not to go over budget, I love it, it's exciting buying new bits for the pc. lol
 
  Turbo'd MX-5 MK4
I wouldn't use overclockers personally, Scan.co.uk are far better and tend to be cheaper on pretty much everything, you can also get free delivery pretty easily.

I've been building my own PCs for years (more lately watercooled ones) and its a great hobby/interest.
 
How much would it cost to build your own PC from scratch, just a good, all rounder? (not worried about mega graphics etc.)
 

Darren S

ClioSport Club Member
How much would it cost to build your own PC from scratch, just a good, all rounder? (not worried about mega graphics etc.)

It's difficult to say really. A bit like asking for an all-rounder car. You might find a 10-year-old Audi would do you just as well as a brand new Mondeo. Yet the cost of each will be massively different.

My last upgrade cost around £900 - and that was principally a new motherboard, memory and i7 CPU - together with another ATi 4890 off eBay. I used a LOT of components from my previous build - the case, power supply, DVD drive, keyboard & mouse, monitor, etc. That said, my PC is 99.9% used for gaming, so there is a premium to pay in order to get things moving fast onscreen.

You're best off identifying what you want the PC to do first and then start from there. Even posting back on here will help.

D.
 
It's difficult to say really. A bit like asking for an all-rounder car. You might find a 10-year-old Audi would do you just as well as a brand new Mondeo. Yet the cost of each will be massively different.

My last upgrade cost around £900 - and that was principally a new motherboard, memory and i7 CPU - together with another ATi 4890 off eBay. I used a LOT of components from my previous build - the case, power supply, DVD drive, keyboard & mouse, monitor, etc. That said, my PC is 99.9% used for gaming, so there is a premium to pay in order to get things moving fast onscreen.

You're best off identifying what you want the PC to do first and then start from there. Even posting back on here will help.

D.

Thanks for the response!

Could you build the equivelant desktop that you've seen in PC World for example, cheaper?
 

J-J

ClioSport Club Member
I'd be careful asking for a certain computer TBH, you need to get an idea of your budget first. If you just want something for internet and the odd game then you'll get a decent machine for £500 with a monitor.

As for building them, they're easy to build, usually come with all the cables but no doubt if you post each item you want on here then someone will look through it for you. As mentioned it's the matching that takes time, but you'll need;

Motherboard - AMD or Intel, What RAM speed/type you want
CPU - AMD or Intel (Depending on motherboard and number of pins)
Case - Size, style.
Power Supply - Depends on the other hardware, for dual core ~600 watt
RAM - Depending on the speeds and types your motherboard can cope with, ie DDR2 667, 800 or DDR3 1333, 1800
Graphics Card - Depending on what you want to use it for depends on what sort of card to get.
Wifi Card - If you want it to be wireless
Hard Drive - How many and what size, today ~750gb seems to be the norm
Fans - Coloured, lit up, quiet, size, number you can have/need etc
Card Reader - If you want to read memory cards.

Monitor - How many, size, spec etc

Think that's everything. Have a look on scan and see what you want, also if you order something that isn't in stock/unsure on despatch date and wait a few days, ring and cancel the whole order and tell them you're not happy with not knowing when it'll arrive they'll offer you free postage on your next order, so order it all again and replace the thing that wasn't in stock with something that is.

@AR90 - Yes, or you can build to the same price with more scope for urpgrading, so get a MoBo capable of say 8gb or RAM and only put 4gb in as the PC world spec and have the option of upgrading later.
 
I built mine a few years ago now.

Looking in the usual places like PC World etc and something of decent spec to me was about £7-800

I built a full PC for about £400 all in so it can be done for a lot less than what the shops are selling for
 
  Turbo'd MX-5 MK4
I'd be careful asking for a certain computer TBH, you need to get an idea of your budget first. If you just want something for internet and the odd game then you'll get a decent machine for £500 with a monitor.

As for building them, they're easy to build, usually come with all the cables but no doubt if you post each item you want on here then someone will look through it for you. As mentioned it's the matching that takes time, but you'll need;

Motherboard - AMD or Intel, What RAM speed/type you want
CPU - AMD or Intel (Depending on motherboard and number of pins)
Case - Size, style.
Power Supply - Depends on the other hardware, for dual core ~600 watt
RAM - Depending on the speeds and types your motherboard can cope with, ie DDR2 667, 800 or DDR3 1333, 1800
Graphics Card - Depending on what you want to use it for depends on what sort of card to get.
Wifi Card - If you want it to be wireless
Hard Drive - How many and what size, today ~750gb seems to be the norm
Fans - Coloured, lit up, quiet, size, number you can have/need etc
Card Reader - If you want to read memory cards.

Monitor - How many, size, spec etc

Think that's everything. Have a look on scan and see what you want, also if you order something that isn't in stock/unsure on despatch date and wait a few days, ring and cancel the whole order and tell them you're not happy with not knowing when it'll arrive they'll offer you free postage on your next order, so order it all again and replace the thing that wasn't in stock with something that is.

@AR90 - Yes, or you can build to the same price with more scope for urpgrading, so get a MoBo capable of say 8gb or RAM and only put 4gb in as the PC world spec and have the option of upgrading later.

Optical Drive (CD/DVD/Blu-Ray)

Free delivery with Scan is easy to obtain, just google 'Scan Free Delivery'

As said it's very difficult to give a guidance on cost, I've just spent circa £700 on 1 graphics card.
 
  mx5 & 172
I used to be a devout self-builder but experience has taught me that unless you have very specific requirements you're better off buying a dell.

In fact, most of the time you're better off buying a Dell anyway and then maybe upgrading a couple of odds n sods.

It'll be cheaper, it'll have a warranty and best of all it won't have a power supply that's too small and hence will blow up in 2 years taking your motherboard and probably all your data with it (the number of times I've seen it happen is amazing).


but yeah - decide on a budget and buy the most awesome machine you can with that budget
 
  DCi
I wouldn't use overclockers personally, Scan.co.uk are far better and tend to be cheaper on pretty much everything, you can also get free delivery pretty easily.

I've been building my own PCs for years (more lately watercooled ones) and its a great hobby/interest.
to be fair i wouldnt either as they have fucked me about in the past but their bundles make life easier for new people - i suppose you could find a bundle you liked and google the products for the best prices
 
  DCi
Shopping is part of the fun. f**k bundles.
im lazy, sue me :rasp:



overclockers sent me a duff mobo that wouldn't do anything. i sort of got bits of it working after i somehow managed to get it to boot and flash the bios but it was ghey so i said something must be wrong can you either take it back or warranty it. They said well lets do the warranty thing, go through the RMA proceedure etc. I happened to be in Stoke at the time so I said I'd drop it off where they told me a few days later I had bent the pins on the processor socket and therefore I'd lost my money and wouldnt be getting another mobo.

had i fook the crooked b*****ds.
 
  Monaro VXR
The customer service from them is appalling.

If you complain on the forums as well, you basically get banned.

Not used them in years, as I had problems last time I ordered from them.
 
  Turbo'd MX-5 MK4
I've used them several times in the past without problem, but these days Scan are cheaper on price with everything and you can easily get free delivery.
 
  Evo 5 RS
Overclockers are ok until something goes tits up. Their returns department are definitely crooked. I remember (although under yee old management) I sent a BRAND new AM2 motherboard back as a few bits were missing and they declined because there was a knick in the inner cardboard. Pricks!

Also stay away from their pre-overclocked systems. Total joke and not soak tested enough


www.scan.co.uk for the bloody spiffing win?

Building it is all part of the fun, and it 's not rocket science! Although I've seen some cobbled s**t in my time
 
Overclockers are ok until something goes tits up. Their returns department are definitely crooked. I remember (although under yee old management) I sent a BRAND new AM2 motherboard back as a few bits were missing and they declined because there was a knick in the inner cardboard. Pricks!

Also stay away from their pre-overclocked systems. Total joke and not soak tested enough


www.scan.co.uk for the bloody spiffing win?

Building it is all part of the fun, and it 's not rocket science! Although I've seen some cobbled s**t in my time

Know any decent guides to building one for a complete beginner like myself? :)
 


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