€1000 PC build for a first time builder?

Gerard_Smith

Hello

I am looking to put together a €1000 (or there abouts) PC for gaming. The problem is I have never built a PC before and have no idea what I should buy and where I should buy it from. I don't even have a screw driver! Still I have basic compliance (I know my PSU from my Video card) and have put together enough lego so I feel building my own PC is right of passage I should finally embark upon.

As I say I'm looking for the best performance I can get for €1000 though I do need a 3TB HDD, which might drive the price up a bit. I'm a pack rat with a large game library so I need to room to expand.

Any advice on what to get and where to get it from? Any good PC building guides you can point me to? Also what kind of tools do I need apart from a Philips head (which I don't have)?

Thanks

BloodBath

Fill this out and we can recommend a build for you. Hardwareversand is the place to go. You won't need any tools depending on the parts you get.

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.]

Gerard_Smith

1. €1000

2. Gaming

3. Yes

4. No

5. No

6. Have mouse, keyboard, speakers and a USB card reader, would need a Wifi card.

7. Yes

8. Credit Card

9. Likely at some point over the next 8 weeks

10. I'm in Stillorgan county Dublin.

BloodBath

A little over budget as usual but you could save money in several areas. You could go for a cheaper slower ssd and save €30 but the 840 pros are the best you can get at the moment. You could go for a cheaper case but for a budget of 1k I wouldn't. Under that price point they really start cutting the features and quality.


Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€202.90
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Intel/AMD|€28.99
ASRock Z77 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€83.99
8GB-Kit A-DATA XPG G Series PC1600 CL9|€45.47
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€81.89
Samsung SSD 840 Pro 128GB SATA 6Gb/s|€113.99
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 7 500W|€54.00
Cooler Master Storm Scout II Midi-Tower - schwarz|€74.87
Samsung SH-224BB bare schwarz|€16.93
LogiLink Wireless LAN 300 Mbps PCI Karte 802.11n 2T2R|€14.64
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€83.51
Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT Boost, 2GB GDDR5, DVI, HDMI, 2x Mini DisplayPort, full retail|€215.15
2 x ARCTIC COOLING ARCTIC F12 PWM|€8.58
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1043.90

If you want a bit more graphics power you could make cuts to the ssd and case and get a 7950.

Gerard_Smith

Thanks! What kind extra tools would I need to put that together or should everything be provided?

Also is it possible to pay through amazon.de when you have a amazon.co.uk account?

BloodBath

Maybe just a phillps head to install the cpu cooler. Everything else is tool-less.

Throw in more 120mm fans if you want better cooling. I'd take 4-6.

I don't know about amazon. The site I linked is hardwareversand. You can pay by bank transfer through online banking.

declanfoleyirl

Hi

Due to your experience with hardwareversand, I was hoping you could point me in the right direction.

I recently purchased a full system and it performed very well for the first week or so and then I smelled a light burning smell. The system then died, no power, no fan movement no lights. I thought it was possibly a fuse or some joint. I tried the support forms on their website with no response so I called them.

I told them I suspected power supply unit and they advised to ship it, a brand new replacement arrived back within 10 days and I installed it however, there is still no life from the unit.

So now the question is do I ship the entire unit or would you recommend trying to find a locally approved repair shop.


Declan

BloodBath

That doesn't sound good. As much of a pain as it is I'd ship the whole thing back.

Another reason why it pays to build these things yourself. I don't trust people paid to build your pc for you and I don't trust the delivery guys to be gentle with your package. No pun intended

Is there nothing when you power on? Even for a second? Are you sure you connected all the power connections? The 2 mainboard connections, graphics connection/s and additional drives?

If not then the board is probably fried. May not have been an issue with the build or delivery and could have just been a defective part but it's rare enough.

If you really wanted to make sure you could rebuild the thing to make sure nothing is shorting out the mb. If it was though it should still give a bit of power before it shorts out.

Serephucus

You could try ripping everything out an connecting the bare essentials to the motherboard while it's sitting on a box (that way you also isolate the case as a problem - you might have a stand-off shorting something out. That's unlikely to develop over time though, that would almost always be a day-one thing), but that sort of defeats the purpose of getting them to build it for you in the first place.

(Side note for anyone reading: This is why I always advise people to build it themselves, even if HWVS have a €5 build special going or something - You're more comfortable doing this sort of thing if something does go wrong)

declanfoleyirl

Zero Power. Not even a flicker. I felt that when I sent back the PSU, they would check it and say, nope system board issue etc. Looks like I need to ship it.

KD11

+1 on what the lads said above. Find a nice big table and take everything out. Take your time, watch a view videos on building a pc and then put it back together again. Best case scenario it works, worst case you send it back to them but you learned how to build it yourself

declanfoleyirl

Thx. Here's el speco. Wonder if it's worth risky warranty voiding by stripping it down.

Items
Pos. Material Description Quantity Unit price Total value
10 HV20G325DE 8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9 1 36,62 € 36,62 €
20 HV20G325DE 8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9 1 36,62 € 36,62 €
30 HV1132RQDE ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP, Sockel 1155, ATX 1 75,59 € 75,59 €
40 HVR550SADE Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W 1 58,99 € 58,99 €
50 HV207A8DDE ASUS DRW-24B5ST bare 1 21,39 € 21,39 €
60 HV13SB71DE Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s 1 66,14 € 66,14 €
70 HV20Y345DE Intel Core i5-3450 Box, LGA1155 1 169,94 € 169,94 €
80 HV1025HYDE HIS HD 7850 GDDR5 1024MB DVI/HDMI/2xMini DP 1 159,59 € 159,59 €
90 HV203BMBDE BitFenix Merc Beta 1 32,86 € 32,86 €
100 HV2045SXDE Sharkoon 1337 XL Mat "Black" Mousepad 1 6,99 € 6,99 €
Sum

Gerard_Smith

Sorry to bump the thread but where would you recommend mounting the ARCTIC COOLING ARCTIC F12s? And should the be used as intakes or exhausts?

BloodBath

How many fans did you get?

1 front, 1 side intake for now if you got 2. Add more fans if you want better cooling.

Gerard_Smith

Still haven't made the purchase but I'm going with two. I'm just trying to get as much information before hand so the build goes as smoothly as possible.

Gerard_Smith

After a delay I'm finally getting around to buying all this. Is this build still the best option for the price? Is it worth paying more to go with nvidia? At this point should I wait for the new cards?

marco_polo

Gerard_Smith wrote: »

After a delay I'm finally getting around to buying all this. Is this build still the best option for the price? Is it worth paying more to go with nvidia? At this point should I wait for the new cards?

I think its still the best option, although NVidia have a few new cards coming out they will all be in the 400+ region so none are really at the price point of this build, there is a chance that prices may drop by a few percent across the board in response after launch but it hardly seems worth waiting another few weeks for the possible saving of a few quid.

Gerard_Smith

Finally I have the money together and I am buying this right now. Unfortunately the ram and the fans are not in stock. Is this a suitable replacement for the fans?

http://www.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=49249&agid=1989

Also any suggestions on alternative ram?

BloodBath

It's been a while since I did that build and I think you can do better for the same money now. That xeon is an 8 thread ivy. It's the same as an i7 3770 but running 100mhz slower and without an igp. It can still be overclocked to 4.1ghz. Games should be making use of more threads with both next gen consoles using 8 thread cpus. Upgraded the graphics card to a 7950 and went with a better case. You won't need the additional fans with that.

Item|Price
Intel Xeon E3-1230v2, boxed, LGA1155|€203.22
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Intel/AMD|€29.54
ASRock ZH77 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€69.18
Club 3D Radeon HD 7950 13Series, 3GB GDDR5, AMD Radeon HD 7950, PCI- Express|€267.63
8GB-Kit G.Skill Sniper PC3-14900U CL9-10-9-28|€61.08
Cooltek Antiphon Black, ohne Netzteil|€63.00
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 7 500W|€53.80
LiteOn iHAS124-04 schwarz SATA|€16.37
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€80.84
Samsung SSD 840 120GB SATA 6Gb/s|€85.52
MS Windows 8 64bit (SB-Version) Englisch|€84.89
TP-Link TL-WN781N, 150Mbps, PCIe x1|€9.44
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1043.50

Gerard_Smith

Thanks for the new built. Here is my question, right now I'm using a 2011 27 inch imac as my primary machine. Not cutting edge but it will play most games at 1080p with everything on high apart from DX11 post processing. I also have a PS4 pre-order on Amazon. I have a nasty feeling I'll pay €1043.50 on this only for the €399 PS4 to outperform it. Right at the start of a console generation never seems to be the best time to buy a medium range gaming PC.

Building this PC is very very appealing to me but what are the odds of it turning out to be a waste of money?

Ichirau

Gerard_Smith wrote: »

Thanks for the new built. Here is my question, right now I'm using a 2011 27 inch imac as my primary machine. Not cutting edge but it will play most games at 1080p with everything on high apart from DX11 post processing. I also have a PS4 pre-order on Amazon. I have a nasty feeling I'll pay €1043.50 on this only for the €399 PS4 to outperform it. Right at the start of a console generation never seems to be the best time to buy a medium range gaming PC.

Building this PC is very very appealing to me but what are the odds of it turning out to be a waste of money?

Next gen consoles have the equivalent of a 7790. So your new PC would easily destroy the Ps4/Xbox One. Also you wont need to pay €50/€60 to play online like with consoles, and with Steam games will always be cheaper :P

But don't build it though if you think it's a waste of money. Wait until your iMac becomes too out of a date to play the newer games then build.

Gumbi

Any build worth over 900 euro is a really good build that will be safe for a few years. Any build worth that kind of money will be able to play 1080p games for a while at max/near max settings (7870 plus power).

Does anybody know if the new consoles will reset true high res properly this generation? Many games couldn't even manage true 720p and cheated quite a bit :P

jonno208

Gerard_Smith wrote: »

Thanks for the new built. Here is my question, right now I'm using a 2011 27 inch imac as my primary machine. Not cutting edge but it will play most games at 1080p with everything on high apart from DX11 post processing. I also have a PS4 pre-order on Amazon. I have a nasty feeling I'll pay €1043.50 on this only for the €399 PS4 to outperform it. Right at the start of a console generation never seems to be the best time to buy a medium range gaming PC.

Building this PC is very very appealing to me but what are the odds of it turning out to be a waste of money?

A console can never out preform a €1000 build. The only reason that a console handles games well with the low end hardware compared to a high end pc is that most games are optimised for consoles. The only thing to watch out for is the fact that consoles now have 8 core cpus so games will start being made to max out on them but saying that a 3570k is still #1 or maybe #2 since the 4gen came out(In games).

Gumbi

What's also worth considering is the fact that the new generation is comparatively less "high-end" systems than their third generation counterparts.

Gerard_Smith

Gumbi wrote: »

Any build worth over 900 euro is a really good build that will be safe for a few years. Any build worth that kind of money will be able to play 1080p games for a while at max/near max settings (7870 plus power).

Does anybody know if the new consoles will reset true high res properly this generation? Many games couldn't even manage true 720p and cheated quite a bit :P

Yep they will all be 1080p. The target is 1080 at 30fps I believe.

Gumbi

Gerard_Smith wrote: »

Yep they will all be 1080p. The target is 1080 at 30fps I believe.

Well 360 was supposed to be 720 and lots of games weren't :P

beno619

Gerard_Smith wrote: »

Yep they will all be 1080p. The target is 1080 at 30fps I believe.

Doubt it, there's no way BF4 I'll run at 1080p at 60fps, a good few will still be stuck at 720p.

BloodBath

A ps4 definitely would not outperform that rig. My advice would be to cancel the ps4 pre order. The majority of games come out on all systems and are usually a fair bit cheaper on pc. Not to mention all the high quality free and cheap games + steam and origin sales.

You can always get a ps4 in a year or 2 for the exclusives. Pc has many many exclusives of it's own and a massive back catalog.

Gerard_Smith

Parts are ordered. Now hopefully I don't bugger anything up while I'm putting it together!

BloodBath

Come back if you need help with anything.

Take some pics of the build as well

Gerard_Smith

Thanks for all the help BloodBath (and everyone else).

Here is my first question post purchase, what sort of numbers should I be shooting for when I'm overlocking?

BloodBath

If you went with the Xeon then 4.1ghz is the max safe overclock. There are ways of going higher though.

About 1200/6000 are good clocks for the card.

Gerard_Smith

I did indeed go with the Xeon. What software would you recommend? Third party or CCC and IDCC?

Gumbi

Gerard_Smith wrote: »

I did indeed go with the Xeon. What software would you recommend? Third party or CCC and IDCC?

MSI Afterburner is what I like to use.

I'd say you're guaranteed 1100mhz core pretty handily, you might have to fight for 1200 (both voltage and heat-wise).

Gerard_Smith

Ehh I just checked my order with hardwareversand, the summary reads

*time* Online-Order

*time* The order was cancelled.

*same time as above* Your payment conclusion via PayPal was confirmed us

So the order was canceled at the exact same time they took payment? Is this a bug? I got no emails informing me of any cancellations.

Gerard_Smith

Never mind, its shipped. No problems just a confusion status update.

Gerard_Smith

Am I going to need the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVOs backplate for the ASRock ZH77 Pro3?

Serephucus

Yes.

Gerard_Smith

First big hurdle I have no idea who to install the optical drive!

Gumbi

Gerard_Smith wrote: »

First big hurdle I have no idea who to install the optical drive!

There should be slots on the top of your case for 3/4 DVD drives.

Gerard_Smith

There is but there is a metal grate blocking the whole and there are no instructions for removing it.

Gumbi

Gerard_Smith wrote: »

There is but there is a metal grate blocking the whole and there are no instructions for removing it.

The grate should be removed easily enough. Are there no instructions with the case? Can you pop/push them out fro the inside perhaps?

Lu Tze

Gumbi wrote: »

The grate should be removed easily enough. Are there no instructions with the case? Can you pop/push them out fro the inside perhaps?

Twist it, and pull it out once connections to the case weaken

Gerard_Smith

Now I have run into a larger issue. I need 3 esata cables and I was on provided two.

Gumbi

Gerard_Smith wrote: »

Now I have run into a larger issue. I need 3 esata cables and I was on provided two.

You need 3? HDD, SSD and disk drive yeah? You can get them for 2 quid at Maplon or something.

BloodBath

My bad. I always forget to add a sata cable to 3 drive builds.

For the short term you could just use the 2 for ssd and dvd drive to get windows installed then swap the disk one over to the hdd. You won't need the dvd drive after that.

Gerard_Smith

It took me four hours, I literally bleed to put this thing together and the bottom case fan rattles, I am gutted. I honestly feel like crying. I honestly don't think I have it in me to take it apart again and RMA it.

BloodBath

It's not a huge deal. Are you sure there are no wires or anything hitting off the fan blades?

If it's a faulty fan it can be easily and cheaply replaced.

Definitely not worth RMAing over.

Some pics of the build would be nice

Gerard_Smith

When I say rattles I mean it sounds like a machinegun when I have the fans set to high.

BloodBath

It's just the 1 fan causing it? How does it sound on the low setting? The bearings might be shot on it.

You could just unplug it for now and get a replacement. It's not going to stop you running the pc.

Gumbi

Gerard_Smith wrote: »

It took me four hours, I literally bleed to put this thing together and the bottom case fan rattles, I am gutted. I honestly feel like crying. I honestly don't think I have it in me to take it apart again and RMA it.

Bottom case fan? Is it a front intake? Make sure it's attached correctly.

If its broken, no biggie, can be replaced very handily.