Gaming/general use computer build

gaius c

1. What is your budget? 900-ish

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming and general desktop, home officey stuff. Doesn't need to be bleeding edge but my 6.5 year old Dell is limited in what it can do and it needs replacing.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes. Only have an old XP copy floating about.

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? It's a 6.5 years old Dell so I'm going to guess no.

5. Do you need a monitor? Not now. Hope to re-use 19" monitor. Also have a HD screen knocking about that I could use.

5a. If yes, what size do you need. N/A

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? Hmm not sure.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? (Keyboard,Mouse,Wireless card etc) Wireless card if not too expensive. Have a usb dongle of dubious quality that takes up a valuable usb slot. Bluetooth would be a nice to have but I could live without it.
Have keyboard & mouse.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Not by myself.

8. How can you pay? hardwareversand is my plan

9. When are you purchasing? Thinking of a month or two, definitely before xmas anyway.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? D12

gaius c

Anyone?
Also, if I want to change my screen later, what should I be looking at connection-wise? Think my current screen is VGS but there's some sort of an adaptor between the cable and the graphics card connection.

BloodBath

Come back closer to ordering.

There are plenty of recent examples here if you want an idea of what specs you can get for your money.

Just have a look through some of the threads.

You should replace your old 19" monitor with a new 22" 1080p ips panel. The difference will be huge.

Here's a sample build for €800 including a nice monitor. You have enough left over to add a wireless card and upgrade some of the parts.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=85906563

gaius c

BloodBath wrote: »

Come back closer to ordering.

There are plenty of recent examples here if you want an idea of what specs you can get for your money.

Just have a look through some of the threads.

You should replace your old 19" monitor with a new 22" 1080p ips panel. The difference will be huge.

Here's a sample build for €800 including a nice monitor. You have enough left over to add a wireless card and upgrade some of the parts.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=85906563

Finally ready to look at ordering.
Any pointers?
Should have been clearer. I have a 28" HDTV with HDMI, scart and VGA connection that I'm using as a comp screen at the moment. Old 19" is a backup that I'm considering using as a second screen for a new build.

And yes, I know that there's a similar budget (but slightly different spec) on the front page but I'm the kind of person who needs to be told these things in extra slow single syllable words. For starters, I need Win8 and they don't.

For clarity:
1. What is your budget? 950-ish

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming and general desktop, home officey stuff. Doesn't need to be bleeding edge but my 6.5 year old Dell is limited in what it can do and it needs replacing.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes. Only have an old XP copy floating about.

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? It's a 6.5 years old Dell so I'm going to guess no.

5. Do you need a monitor? Not now. 28" HDTV with HDMI, scart and VGA conns. Hope to re-use old 19" monitor as a second monitor.

5a. If yes, what size do you need. N/A

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? Hmm not sure.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? (Keyboard,Mouse,Wireless card etc) Wireless card if not too expensive. Have a usb dongle of dubious quality that takes up a valuable usb slot. Bluetooth would be a nice to have but I could live without it.
Have keyboard & mouse so don't need those.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Not by myself.

8. How can you pay? hardwareversand bank transfer is my plan

9. When are you purchasing? This week hopefully

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? D12

Thanks in advance for your patience

justsomebloke

do you know what resolution the TV is (or do you have a model number) also what games would you be looking to play?

gaius c

1080p I think. I'll check the make & model later.

Games. The latest ones at reasonable to high-ish resolution (RTW2) and slightly older ones (NTW1, STW2, Mass Effect 2/3) at max res. Basically I'd like to still be able to play new games in a few years time and turn down the graphics as necessary.

Got nearly 7 years out of my old Dell doing that.

gaius c

Screen is a Mirai 720p HD TV.
Just after winning the club lotto so in a position to maybe stretch the budget a little bit.
Thoughts appreciated.

Edit: bugger. Can't seem to edit my earlier posts to make that note re the budget.

The Golden Teapot

I'd go for something along the lines of this:
Item|Price
Intel Core i5-4670K Box, LGA1150|€204.92
8GB-Kit Team Group Elite Series, DDR3-1600, CL11|€62.91
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse Arc R2 Mini, mit Seitenfenster|€72.85
Kingston SSD V300 120GB SATA III|€69.99
WD Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€52.43
ASUS PCE-N10|€14.90
2 x LogiLink SATA Anschlusskabel mit Sicherungslasche, 0.75m|€1.76
ASRock Z87M Extreme4, Sockel 1150, mATX|€105.93
MSI N760 TwinFrozr 2GD5/OC, 2GB DDR5|€219.00
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 650W|€74.19
Alpenföhn Sella - 92mm, AMD/Intel|€17.55
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€915.42Windows
Would be pretty damn overkill for 720p you could cut back and fit a 1080p monitor in there. But with this you have the options for sli there if you feel the need for 1440p in the future. Which you should! Just a Suggestion.

justsomebloke

had a feeling it was only a 720p TV. If you are happy using that the benefit will be that you can get away with a cheaper machine as you won't need to spend as much on it.

A standard 4570 (non k version), a 270x (there is a lack of 7950 now), a non overclocking board and a good 500W power supply will save you money on the above build yet you shouldn't see any difference in performance while you use that TV.

gaius c

Thanks guys.
Went ahead and bought this last night. The items are either the same or better spec. Looks like I'll be pretty well covered in terms of specs and can upgrade the screen early next year.
Now just to wait for all the parts to come into stock.

What are the two SATA cables for? The hard drive?
Any other cables that I need?

gaius c

Also, the Windoze link above is to a license key? How do I go about using that on a brand new self-build machine?

The Golden Teapot

gaius c wrote: »

Thanks guys.
Went ahead and bought this last night. The items are either the same or better spec. Looks like I'll be pretty well covered in terms of specs and can upgrade the screen early next year.
Now just to wait for all the parts to come into stock.

What are the two SATA cables for? The hard drive?
Any other cables that I need?

Really nice build that 280x will absolutely destroy 720p!! A monitor should definitely be your next upgrade. You won't regret it.

I would be a little concerned about the parts coming back into stock before Xmas. That's why I had to pick the parts I had they were all in stock.

The sata cables are for the hdd and ssd as I'm not sure if the motherboard will come with any. You will also need another sata for a dvd drive if you have one. The cable for the psu will be a German one unfortunately but a cord from a kettle should cost ~€5.

Finally with the licence you would have to download the trial of windows 7 home premium, install from a USB and enter your key.

gaius c

Hmmm DVD drive. I'd need one of those really. And a wifi router.
Suggestions?
I'll get 3 SATA cables then and sure, the power cable on my current PC should do the job for the new one.

Not too bothered re the lead time. If they are here before xmas, well and good.

Thanks for the help!

gaius c

Was just thinking...I have a DVD/CD drive on the old machine.
Could I re-use that in the new machine?

gaius c

gaius c wrote: »

Was just thinking...I have a DVD/CD drive on the old machine.
Could I re-use that in the new machine?

Anyone?

The Golden Teapot

Should work no problem just check if it's sata!

gaius c

Santa came by the office this morning...

gaius c

The machine is extremely sweet. Played Skyrim on "ultra high settings" and it doesn't even pause.
Starts up in the blink of an eye too!
Thanks to all who helped.

Used the tv as a screen and my old 21" as a dual-monitor setup. It's fair to say that the screen setup is less than optimum. Any suggestions on what I could do with this for a reasonable budget?