PC build

Ratzo Rizzo

My PC suddenly passed away yesterday although I was prepared for the inevitable as it had been ill for some time. It was a Dell Dimension 9150 and I'm thinking of building a new PC using some of the parts from it. I have the following bits which I'll keep...

SoundBlaster Audigy SB1394 sound card
ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics card
600w OCZ PSU

I'm not a gamer so it doesn't have to be terribly high spec. Can I put an ATX mobo in the case I have? I guess all I need is a new motherboard, cpu and OS.
Any suggestions welcome!

Sholden

Ratzo Rizzo wrote: »

My PC suddenly passed away yesterday although I was prepared for the inevitable as it had been ill for some time. It was a Dell Dimension 9150 and I'm thinking of building a new PC using some of the parts from it. I have the following bits which I'll keep...

SoundBlaster Audigy SB1394 sound card
ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics card
600w OCZ PSU

I'm not a gamer so it doesn't have to be terribly high spec. Can I put an ATX mobo in the case I have? I guess all I need is a new motherboard, cpu and OS.
Any suggestions welcome!

How much are you willing to spend?
And are you planning on overclocking?

Eboggles

Fill this out and we'll help you get the best build:

1. What is your budget? [€xxx]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Video editing/3D Modelling/HTPC/Internet] (If gaming include which games)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes/No]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility)

5. Do you need a monitor? [Yes/No]

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [19'/20'/22'/24'/etc.]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No]

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser]

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.]

Ratzo Rizzo

I'm just looking for suggestions right now and would hope to do it as cheaply as possible due to the failure of our government to regulate our economy. I saw that a copy of Windows 7 Home Edition works out at €85 so that's just for a start. 4Gb of DDR3 RAM would be sufficient so I reckon if I could do it for under €400 I'd be a happy man...

Eboggles

What will you be doing on it though? Photo editing? Just fb and web?

For light stuff this is as low as I could get it (excluding Win7)

Item|Price
LiteOn iHAS124-19 schwarz SATA|€18.89
Samsung SSD 830 64GB SATA 6GB's Paper Box|€71.19
ASRock H61M/U3S3 (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX|€55.07
4GB Patriot AMD Entertainment Edition PC3-10600 1333MHz|€19.77
Intel Celeron G530 Box, LGA1155|€37.50
Antec BasiQ VP350|€33.98
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€31.75
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€287.14

That is going to be damn fast with the Samsung 830. I wouldn't bother with Win7 on that, slap on Ubuntu 12.04 and it'll be a demon. The celeron is a ridiculously good for €35, that motherboard has USB 3.0 and SATA3.

I wouldn't use your graphics card if you're not gaming, it will just use up power. I threw in a new PSU as your one might be of dubious quality. You can reuse your own soundcard, but onboard sound has really progressed to a point there's no reason to buy a <€30 sound card.

Actually, if you feel you'll be doing something more stressful, just up the CPU to a pentium g860 or i3 2120.

Ratzo Rizzo

Eboggles wrote: »

Fill this out and we'll help you get the best build:

1. What is your budget? [€400]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Internet, some photo editing, running sw for Ham Radio applications)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility) As stated in first post...

5. Do you need a monitor? [No]

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [19'/20'/22'/24'/etc.]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080] [No]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] [No]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No] Do I need to??

8. How can you pay? [Any]

9. When are you purchasing? [ASAP]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [I'll build it meself]

That's it in a nutshell, doesn't need to be real high spec but nice to have something that'll last...!

Ratzo Rizzo

Can I install and run Adobe Photoshop on Ubuntu? And the reason for keeping the graphics card is that it's dual DVI and I run two monitors.

Eboggles

For photoshop a FX 8120 (octo-core baby) might be better. You can run Photoshop through Windows emulators such as Wine, or just run it in a virtual box. It might be less hassle for you to use Win7, but I've heard bulldozer benefits from using Linux. Anyway, here's the build.

Item|Price
LiteOn iHAS124-19 schwarz SATA|€18.89
Antec BasiQ VP350|€33.98
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€31.75
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€35.93
AMD FX-8120 Prozessor, Boxed, Sockel AM3+|€145.66
ASRock 970DE3/U3S3, AM3+, ATX|€55.82
Seagate Barracuda 7200 500GB SATA 6GB's|€62.72
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€403.74

Ratzo Rizzo

Thanks for the replies.
I've had a look around and decided on the following...

BitFenix Merc Alpha €31.75
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9 €35.93
Seagate Barracuda 7200 500GB SATA 6GB's €62.72
Intel Core i3-550 Box 4096Kb, LGA1156 €79.72
ASRock Z68 Pro3 Gen3, Sockel 1155, ATX €82.61

Total €292.73 excluding delivery...

Eboggles

You better cancel that order, because that CPU isn't compatible! Change it to an i3 2120.

Ratzo Rizzo

I haven't placed an order yet, still sussing out the best options. But thanks for pointing that out for me, I'll have another look and see if I can spot what I missed!

Ratzo Rizzo

And can you explain why the CPU isn't compatible?

Eboggles

It is meant for socket 1156 motherboards, whereas the i3 2120 is made for the newer socket 1155 motherboards.

Ix 2xxx - Sandy Bridge (1155)
Ix 3xxx - Ivy Bridge (1155)
Ix xxx - Clarkdale (1156)
I7 9xx - Nehalem (1156)

Ratzo Rizzo

Yep, see that now... thanks!