Page 1 of Building a PC from Scratch

Looking to build a PC from scratch (so I can get a bit at a time), recommended specs anyone?
Want to play games on it (currently have an old K6-II machine) (neverwinter nights), graphics card?
P4 or AMD?
Motherboard / Motherboard kit?
Suppliers?

Any advice or links appreciated.

Rory

I(personally) don`t think it is worth the bother because you take more of a risk on the components and suchlike. If you must have a computer now then the Aldis PC(look in bargain buckets) is a good bet with a top spec for £750(I guaruntee you won`t be able to build it cheaper with the same components).

If you insist on building a new computer for yourself, here`s what I would build...

P4 3 Ghz(W/ 800Mhz FSB)(£160 makes this good value)
512MB PC2700 Ram(333Mhz DDR)(£50 for one stick of it)
IC7 Motherboard(£80, but its the best you can get apparently, also from overclockers.co.uk)
Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB(now as cheap as £160 including delivery(from overclockers.co.uk)
160GB HDD(£70 so dirt cheap)
I don`t care about sound, but a SB Audiligy can`t be more than £100.

Actually this is looking quite good... add a case(£40)

I make that £660, just looking at www.overclockers.co.uk and www.watford.co.uk.

Thats not what you`d call a bad spec. Although I`ve forgotten CD/DVD Drives. Ah well, add another £60 and you are there.

As always the thing that usually bumps the price up on home builds is William Gates III. ;)

"Great chunks of my past detaching themselves like melting icebergs"


Bigger on the inside

Go for 2 sticks of 256MB instead of 1 stick of 512MB.

It lets you enable a dual-channel mode, which is more effecient at something or other (sorry, don`t know a lot about it)

Quote:
I (personally) don`t think it is worth the bother because you take more of a risk on the components and suchlike. If you must have a computer now then the Aldis PC(look in bargain buckets) is a good bet with a top spec for £750(I guaruntee you won`t be able to build it cheaper with the same components).

There are potential pitfalls with off-the-peg PCs, though - like this for example. I`m not saying the Aldi PC is like that, but it is worth pointing out that a ready-made PC may not be as upgradeable as one you`ve built yourself from industry-standard parts.

Mike

This item was edited on Monday, 29th March 2004, 16:49

Quote:
As always the thing that usually bumps the price up on home builds is William Gates III.

I know a guy who builds and sells systems as sort of a side job/Hobby.

He`s started doing his machines with an version of Linux. Its free and his buyers seem to love the idea of at least having an option.


VROOM VROOM!!

This item was edited on Monday, 29th March 2004, 16:53

Even though my computer came from Time, and their customer support was crappy it worked out cheaper than buying everything new and self-assembly.

I`ll also never forget how well all of the components in it performed(i.e. quicker than I expected).

My computer, brought the beginning of march last year was:

Athlon XP 2700+(running at 2.1GHz)
512MB DDR Ram(yes it is paired but this only has a marginal impact on performance - you want an Nforce motherboard for the best performance with 2 sticks of RAM)
120GB HDD(7200rpm)
Geforce 4MX 440 128MB VIVO (trust me this played better than I thought)
On-board sound, LAN and whatnot.

This garnered about 8000 3dMarks in 3DMark2001 - so I think it was pretty good.
Then the graphics card failed. It was no end of hassle sorting it out but eventually they replaced it, at the same time giving me a sound card with a Game port, as I requested(basically the MB was supposed to have a gameport built in and didn`t). Although they decided the best way to proceed would be to wipe my hard disk containing my A-level Physics coursework that hadn`t been backed up anywhere else... which kind of defeated the purpose of getting it repaired in the first place - I was going to get a refund if not for my work on the Hard Disk.

Despite that, I did eventually get it sorted out and got a Hercules Muse XL soundcard out of it. But since then, there have been no problems that weren`t of my own making(you know, accidental reloading of windows, that kind of thing).

I have since added a TV card(it conflicted with the GF VIVO functions but otherwise works fine) and a Radeon 9800 Pro(which has totally underwhelmed me considering internet scores). Both have so far worked fine.

But the point is, if you buy it made from a retailer you are covered under the sale of goods act for the whole computer, and if you don`t touch the insides they are obligated to replace it should it go wrong. You do have some protection when buying components but the blame is more likely to fall on you than if you buy the computer pre-built. To make matters worse, it is more expensive to buy the components seperately and assemble yourself than it would be to have someone else build it(and take the risk).

The reasoning behind this at the moment is that I can buy a bit at a time, don`t want any more loans/credit got plenty already. Maybe I`ll just have to try saving.

Oh right, why didn`t you say so?

There is no good place to start really, you should try and save up because stuff will be getting cheaper all the time. I would save up and upgrade everything at the same time, or just buy a new computer because there is nothing you would really be able to keep from it. But post your spec here and maybe we can see whats worth keeping from it.

Quote:
Oh right, why didn`t you say so?

Er... he did. :D

"Looking to build a PC from scratch (so I can get a bit at a time)..."

Mike