Newbie Build help

Penn

Hey folks,

Never really gave much thought to building a PC before, but might just get some general ideas and advice to see if it's something worth pursuing.

1. What is your budget? €800-900
2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? HTPC/Internet. Some AutoCad work too. Some light gaming but would like to possibly futureproof for more gaming further down the line
3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes
4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No
5. Do you need a monitor? No. As it's HTPC will have it plugged via HDMI into 42" Samsung.
5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? 1920x1080 I think. Will have to check.
6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Keyboard & mouse? Probably not, have a set of wireless USB ones. Should do fine for now, unless there's some cheap HTPC remotes you could get too
7. Are you willing to try overclocking? If recommended, yeah.
8. How can you pay? Debit card
9. When are you purchasing? Maybe September
10. If you need help building it, where are you based? North Dublin

shamelessidiot

I assume you'll want a lot of storage if it's for a HTPC? 3TB or more would you guess?

Penn

I mostly just stream through XBMC. I'd say maybe 2TB should be fine enough. Have a 2TB external hard drive already if required.

shamelessidiot

Was thinking cheap with this one, it's about half of your budget, but it will do all you want:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/myDPQ7

Penn

Ha, definitely won't complain about it being half the budget.

Have added in Windows 8.1 and upgraded the storage to 2TB (since it's well under budget) which brings it to £469.30.

Only questions would be the note at the bottom about compatibility (BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight MicroATX Mini Tower Case has front panel USB 3.0 ports, but the Gigabyte GA-AM1M-S2P Micro ATX AM1 Motherboard does not have onboard USB 3.0 headers.). Is this an issue?

Also, would I not need an optical drive, wireless network adapter or cooling system? Even though I likely won't be playing dvds or the like on it, I'd still like a disk drive for installing stuff or games if required.

shamelessidiot

Penn wrote: »

Ha, definitely won't complain about it being half the budget.

Have added in Windows 8.1 and upgraded the storage to 2TB (since it's well under budget) which brings it to £469.30.

Only questions would be the note at the bottom about compatibility (BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight MicroATX Mini Tower Case has front panel USB 3.0 ports, but the Gigabyte GA-AM1M-S2P Micro ATX AM1 Motherboard does not have onboard USB 3.0 headers.). Is this an issue?

Also, would I not need an optical drive, wireless network adapter or cooling system? Even though I likely won't be playing dvds or the like on it, I'd still like a disk drive for installing stuff or games if required.

Definitely not an issue. The motherboard has some USB 3.0 ports on it, so if you require USB 3.0 you can just use the ports on the back.

The case comes with some fans, which should do the job. You only really need additional cooling if you're going to be pushing the system at max for long periods and if you're overclocking. If you want an optical then I guess you could buy one, the case is compatible with 5 1/4" optical drives. The mATX motherboard is quite small, so it might be better to opt for a wireless USB dongle, will do the same job.