New Gaming build from scratch, UK, ~£1,000

ancapailldorcha

Hi guys,

Looking for some help with maybe building my first gaming PC. I'm going to have to buy everything by the looks of things. I think I'm looking at a Ryzen R5 1600/6GB 1060 combo but it would be great to get your thoughts. I only have 2 sockets in my room so I don't think the homeplugs are an option so if anyone knows the best way to set up wifi, that'd be great.

I'm hoping to start purchasing the parts next week or shortly after depending on how delivery looks.

1. What is your budget? [€xxx]
About £1,200. I can go as high as £1,500 but I need to buy a monitor, keyboard, mouse & speakers as well.

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming] (If gaming include which games)
XCOM 2, The Witcher 3, GTA V, Crysis 3, etc…

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes/No]
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)
I have a Gigabyte M6900 mouse. It has a maximum DPI of about 3,200 I think so I don’t know if it’d be any good.

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

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [19'/20'/22'/24'/etc.]
About 24’ I think should be ok.

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No]
I don’t know what to aim for given my budget. 1080p might be best for now.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.]
I need to buy pretty much everything.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No]
Yes. I know sod all about it aside from the basic concept.

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

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days]
As soon as possible.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.]
London. Think I am out of luck on that front.

Alpha8

This will do great.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£178.50 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£34.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 GAMING PRO CARBON ATX AM4 Motherboard (£111.98 @ Box Limited)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£154.67 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£86.40 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£53.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB AORUS Video Card (£272.94 @ Aria PC)
Case: Phanteks - Eclipse P300 Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Case (£51.95 @ Aria PC)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home Full 32/64-bit (£100.37 @ More Computers)
Other: Corsair CP-9020102-UK CX Series CX550M ATX/EPS Semi-Modular 81 Plus Bronze 550 W Power Supply Unit (£58.99 @ Amazon UK)
Other: CRYORIG AM4 Upgrade Kit Type B for H7 (£0.00)
Total: £1104.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-15 14:07 BST+0100

ancapailldorcha

Thanks Alpha8. Is a second cooler necessary as I think the 1600 comes with one or is the stock cooler no good?

Alpha8

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Thanks Alpha8. Is a second cooler necessary as I think the 1600 comes with one or is the stock cooler no good?

Stock cooler is able to handle a minor OC (up to 3.7) if that's more than enough for you then drop the cooler

K.O.Kiki

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£178.50 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard (£79.37 @ BT Shop)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Elite 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£127.94 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£70.82 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.60 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Palit - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Super JetStream Video Card (£257.94 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT - Phantom 240 ATX Mid Tower Case (£69.90 @ Box Limited)
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£78.97 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: LG - 24GM79G-B 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz Monitor (£209.99 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Logitech - G610 Wired Gaming Keyboard (£78.00)
Mouse: Logitech - G403 Prodigy Wireless Optical Mouse (£73.00)
Total: £1264.03
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-15 17:53 BST+0100

Headphones: I suggest trying to find a cheap used pair of Kingston HyperX Cloud (any model).
Speakers: anything cheap, or get some decent studio monitors for ~€100.
Mouse/keyboard are subjective. For mouse reviews, check out RocketJumpNinja.
If you're only going to be gaming/browsing, feel free to drop to 8Gb RAM.

ancapailldorcha

Alpha8 wrote: »

Stock cooler is able to handle a minor OC (up to 3.7) if that's more than enough for you then drop the cooler

Cheers. I know sod all about overclocking and I'm under the impression that the GPU's probably going to need replacing before the processor needs overclocking.

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Headphones: I suggest trying to find a cheap used pair of Kingston HyperX Cloud (any model).
Speakers: anything cheap, or get some decent studio monitors for ~€100.
Mouse/keyboard are subjective. For mouse reviews, check out RocketJumpNinja.
If you're only going to be gaming/browsing, feel free to drop to 8Gb RAM.

Cheers K.

There's a compatibility note at the bottom:

PCPartPicker Compatibility note wrote:

The motherboard M.2 slot #2 shares bandwidth with a SATA 6.0 Gb/s port. When the M.2 slot is populated, one SATA 6.0 Gb/s port is disabled.

I think it says that there are 6 SATA slots so I presume I can just avoid M.2.

I own a decent pair of headphones and can find a decent set of speakers. It's mostly for gaming/browsing and a bit of Netflix. I assume that any old wifi dongle via USB should be fine.

Lastly, are there any specific tools I'd need. I think I can ground myself by plugging in the PSU and switching off the socket. Stock coolers come with thermal paste pre-applied IIRC so I think I might just need a magnetic screwdriver. It'd be annoying to get all the bits and find out I need a £1 screw or something.

wotzgoingon

Regarding not having homeplugs. When I used to game online in Battlefield 4 I used wifi and never had any problems so you should be fine.

Also IMO it is pointless spending loads on headphones. I have these and never had any problems. Sound is excellent, mic is good as well. I dropped them loads of times and they are still perfect. I originally got them just to tie me over but have kept them as they are perfect.

ancapailldorcha

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Regarding not having homeplugs. When I used to game online in Battlefield 4 I used wifi and never had any problems so you should be fine.

Also IMO it is pointless spending loads on headphones. I have these and never had any problems. Sound is excellent, mic is good as well. I dropped them loads of times and they are still perfect. I originally got them just to tie me over but have kept them as they are perfect.

I seem to have atrocious luck finding accommodation with a decent internet connection so a lack of online multiplayer is something I can easily live with. I do enjoy streaming though so that'd be handy. Thanks for a tip on the headset though. Will keep that in mind.

Billy86

About damn time!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£178.50 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI - B350M BAZOOKA Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£72.94 @ Box Limited)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£74.47 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£52.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte - Radeon RX 580 8GB Gaming 8G Video Card (£269.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£34.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£73.72 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: AOC - E2460SH 24.0" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor (£104.98 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Logitech - K120 - UK Layout Wired Standard Keyboard (£9.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Other: EasySMX Comfortable LED 3.5mm Stereo Gaming LED Lighting Over-Ear Headphone Headset Headband with Mic for PC Computer Game With Noise Canelling & Volume (Blue) (£15.99)
Other: RAM - 4x4GB 3000mhz (£130.86)
Total: £1019.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-16 20:15 BST+0100

- Link to RAM: https://www.ntstore.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&view=productdetails&virtuemart_product_id=219298&virtuemart_category_id=735&Itemid=1

- I looked at Coffee Lake but it's not worth it, not sure what Intel are thinking with how competitive for price and performance Ryzen has been across the board. An i5 8400 is about identical to an overclocked 1600 but due to there only being '370' series motherboards you'll spend a good £30-40 more. An i5 8600K does outperform it but is about £100 dearer, needs it's own cooler which is a good £30+ at least again, and once you factor in the motherboard again you're looking at probably north of £400 vs £250 for Ryzen.

- I'd take the 580 8GB over the 1060. They're about identical in price, and there's not a world in terms of quality difference but it's good as unanimous that the 8GB 580 is a little better. Also the extra 2GB VRAM should help out a bit on those XCom/Total War type of games and if you're a Civlization fan will it will come in very, very handy and enable even mods for even bigger maps etc. If you ever upgrade I believe the 580 8GB also makes a decent fist of 1440p (but check it first if you do!).

- 16GB of DDR4 300mhz since Ryzen needs 2666+ to get the best from it will see you good probably for the full lifespan of the system. A 275GB SSD for the OS, programs etc and also some games. SSDs don't always make a worthwhile difference for game load times but the ones they do on are almost always open worlders (fast travel etc) like Witcher and the likes of Total War/Xcom when it comes to loading battles/missions/etc. Also a 2TB HDD to give you plenty of storage for other games, media etc.

- Supernova's are known to be among the very best PSUs out there, Gold+ and fully modular too, and 550W gives you tonnes of overhead for overclocking, adding extra storage, if you upgrade the CPU/GPU to something more demanding in future and so on.

- It's a decent looking case, but check around for an ATX/MATX you prefer, always the most subjective part of any build.

- 1080p 60hz monitor at 24" should do the trick nicely for now since the budget was tight.

- I skimped on the peripherals to keep close to budget and because they're much easier than upgrading the stuff inside the computer. The Logitech one has good reviews/feedback and I used those same headphones for my first 9 months or so and was delighted with them for that price. If you're able to spend £25 more I moved to these which are better again, stupidly comfortable and wireless with a detachable mic which helps with tidiness/space - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01EAF3AK2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

- As for Windows, I'd say use the free/evaluation version in the mean time, it's the same but just has a tiny watermark in the bottom corner.

ancapailldorcha

Much appreciated, Billy. I'm not too fussed about staying within the budget and can happily find a few hundred more for peripherals and the like. I'd say £1,500 would have to be the absolute limit for the whole shebang.

-I'd settled on the Ryzen. I figure that if I wait for every generation of CPU's, I'll never get started on this and the Ryzen R5 1600 looks like the best compromise between size and performance.

- Hadn't considered the extra 2GB as being significant. I saw a video from AdoredTV where he explained that AMD were falling behind nVidia with the GPU's and the RX 580 seemed to be like goldust with the mining carry on. I wanted a 1070 but figured that the market is currently too distorted for it to be affordable.

-The RAM seems to be an odd one. K.O.Kiki kindly did me a build but the RAM wasn't too easy to find. Amazon were out of stock. Speed does seem to affect Ryzen more than the Intel processors.

-I wasn't sure whether to aim for 1080p or 1440p with the budget but I don't mind throwing an extra few hundred for decent peripherals, especially if there's a 144Hz monitor going.

wotzgoingon

If you want the best RAM for Ryzen then it has to be 3200 CL14 which is Samsung B die and it's the best RAM currently available to the general public. It's expensive but it will help you get the most out of Ryzen.

ancapailldorcha

I've had a bit of a play with it and change a few bits based on the above. I only just copped that it can generate the whole post for you without you spending ages text wrapping! I think I'm at the upper end of my budget now though!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£178.50 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard (£79.37 @ BT Shop)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£158.38 @ Novatech)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£74.47 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£197.87 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte - Radeon RX 580 8GB Gaming 8G Video Card (£269.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT - Phantom 240 ATX Mid Tower Case (£64.84 @ Eclipse Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£73.72 @ CCL Computers)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus - USB-N13 USB 2.0 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter (£14.94 @ Box Limited)
Monitor: LG - 24GM79G-B 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz Monitor (£209.99 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Logitech - G610 Wired Gaming Keyboard (£78.00)
Mouse: Logitech - G403 Prodigy Wireless Optical Mouse (£73.00)
Speakers: Logitech - Z130 5W 2ch Speakers (£26.79 @ Kustom PCs)
Total: £1499.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-17 21:06 BST+0100

Billy86

Looks solid from what I can see! Only think I would look at is the HDD; you can get a 2TB one for about £55-70 (I think the Hitachi one was at that price but must have jumped by a lot which sometimes happens when using PCPP!).

Also because I'm blind as a bat for spotting them despite having had it pointed out to me on a few occasions I would just double check that the motherboard has the heatsinks required for overclocking. I would assume it does because the ones that don't are typically in the £60 range but best to get confirmation off someone not useless at spotting them first.

ancapailldorcha

Billy86 wrote: »

Looks solid from what I can see! Only think I would look at is the HDD; you can get a 2TB one for about £55-70 (I think the Hitachi one was at that price but must have jumped by a lot which sometimes happens when using PCPP!).

Also because I'm blind as a bat for spotting them despite having had it pointed out to me on a few occasions I would just double check that the motherboard has the heatsinks required for overclocking. I would assume it does because the ones that don't are typically in the £60 range but best to get confirmation off someone not useless at spotting them first.

Thanks Billy. I'm baffled that Windows 10 is basically free. Might see if I can knock off a few bob off on the Hitachi. I doubt my poor old mouse will handle 1080p gaming and I'd say that I can't make any savings anywhere else without compromising quality.

Where would you check about the motherboard? I'm happy enough to stick with the R5 1600 stock cooler for now.

Edit:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£178.50 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard (£79.37 @ BT Shop)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£158.38 @ Novatech)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£74.47 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£53.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - Radeon RX 580 8GB Gaming 8G Video Card (£269.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT - Phantom 240 ATX Mid Tower Case (£64.84 @ Eclipse Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£73.72 @ CCL Computers)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus - USB-N13 USB 2.0 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter (£14.94 @ Box Limited)
Monitor: LG - 24GM79G-B 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz Monitor (£209.99 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Logitech - G610 Wired Gaming Keyboard (£78.00)
Mouse: Logitech - G403 Prodigy Wireless Optical Mouse (£73.00)
Speakers: Logitech - Z130 5W 2ch Speakers (£26.79 @ Kustom PCs)
Total: £1355.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-17 21:32 BST+0100

Looks like I've knocked off about £100 from changing the HDD.

Billy86

Most posters on here could tell you about the motherboard at a glance, I think the grey row of bits beside the CPU slot (top right) should be it but better safe than sorry all the same.

As for the keyboard/mouse, I guess it depends. On games like Witcher, Doom etc I use an Xbox 360 controller so I'm not much use there in terms of how your current one would do. Because I use the projector and couch since I basically double it as a HTPC I wanted the most wireless setup possible and a smaller keyboard to avoid sitting room clutter. For the likes of XCom, Civ, Total War etc I'm on the keyboard and mouse but just use a €10 wireless mouse I got in Argos that's a surprising nice feel and this wireless keyboard. But how something like that would fare in faster paced games I really can't tell you.

ancapailldorcha

I'm trapped in a London houseshare so luxuries like a projector (Seriously? A projector?) and a sofa are out of the question. I do have an Xbox 360 controller the guy who caused the scales to fall from my eyes in 60fps kindly gave me though.

My current mouse is about 2,400 DPI I think. It's grand and a bit hateful to have to set it aside but I want the rig to work properly and if it's hobbling me then it's no good.

I was planning to go with the stock cooler which will hopefully fit. I was hoping that this was the sort of thing that PCPP would flag up like that alert about the M.2 slot overriding a SATA slot which I hope just means that I lose the one SATA port and keep the other 5.

K.O.Kiki

@Billy86
Thread
https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/69p299/amd_b350_chipset_vrm_crash_course_by_buildzoid/

Billy86

Cheers, but for some reason there's just a ridiculous mental block when it comes to heat sinks for some reason! I'm guessing it's my dyspraxia playing up but it literally floats in one ear and straight out the other on that one specific thing no matter how much I look at it.


--

And yep, a projector! It's largely to do with moving off to Canada because it's about as easy to move as a games console (same reason I got the smallest ITX case I could find) and has replaced any need for a TV (right b****rds to move between apartments etc) but also been something I've wanted to do for a good decade along with a HTPC so I used the opportunity of being stuck in limbo for a few months while the visa is getting processed to get this out of the way once and for all. What sealed it was that it's fully HD, is great for gaming with a 15ms response time, and is short throw meaning it can shoot a 150" picture from about 5-6ft back on the coffee table (or bring it in closer to the call for a 50" screen if needs be).

A mate of mine who lives in Vancouver was back briefly over the summer, he got an 'old' i7 computer (fecking 4XXX series so not so old!) for free that his workplace were getting rid of. Long story short after me trying to convince him to get a 1050 TI on the relatively cheap for ages, after playing a bit of Doom and then watching the Game of Thrones episode where they truly 'unleashed the dragons' this season he went straight back, bought a 1050 TI and bought the same projector within a fortnight. :pac:

Quick photo I took just now, approx 5'6 x 9.5-ish ft screen. Don't know if I'll ever get the chance but it's supposed to keep focus up to something like 13 x 21ft!


It wasn't cheap, but along with the PC is the best purchase I've made in... well probably that I can remember.

Anyway sorry for the mini hijacking!

ancapailldorcha

VRM?

K.O.Kiki

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

VRM?

Voltage regulator module.

But colloquially "those bits to the top-left of the motherboard which get hot once you start overclocking the CPU".

Billy86

"Dem yolkies" is also acceptable nomenclature.

ancapailldorcha

Sounds like something not for amateurs to tamper with.

I've swapped out the case as the while might just get dirty....

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£178.50 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard (£79.37 @ BT Shop)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£158.38 @ Novatech)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£70.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£53.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - Radeon RX 580 8GB Gaming 8G Video Card (£269.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT - S340 Elite (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case (£70.13 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£73.72 @ CCL Computers)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus - USB-N13 USB 2.0 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter (£14.94 @ Box Limited)
Monitor: LG - 24GM79G-B 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz Monitor (£209.99 @ Amazon UK)
Keyboard: Logitech - G610 Wired Gaming Keyboard (£78.00)
Mouse: Logitech - G403 Prodigy Wireless Optical Mouse (£73.00)
Speakers: Logitech - Z130 5W 2ch Speakers (£26.79 @ Kustom PCs)
Total: £1357.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-18 08:31 BST+0100

Thanks guys. I think this should be fit-for-purpose.

ancapailldorcha

Sorry for another bump. I think I can just download Windows 10 and set up a bootable USB drive completely legit for free and just buy a key for whatever. This'd save a fortune.

TerrorFirmer

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Sounds like something not for amateurs to tamper with.

Basically the VRM's on the motherboard will dictate if, or how high, you can overclock. Ryzen benefits strongly from overclocking which can be done easily and with the stock cooler and it will make a difference on a 144hz monitor.

Don't know much about the individual AM4 boards and VRM quality myself but the video above that K.O.Kiki linked to just basically explains the differences between the boards available in this regard.

ancapailldorcha

Billy86 wrote: »

Cheers, but for some reason there's just a ridiculous mental block when it comes to heat sinks for some reason! I'm guessing it's my dyspraxia playing up but it literally floats in one ear and straight out the other on that one specific thing no matter how much I look at it.

Well, having met you in real life it isn't noticeable. Thanks again.

Think I just need to add a magnetic Philips screwdriver and some sort of anti-static measure to my list and I'm ready!

ancapailldorcha

Placing orders now. Thanks again gents.

Billy86

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Placing orders now. Thanks again gents.

Get ready for the torture of waiting for the parts to arrive... hopefully you don't get everything in one delivery except the RAM which took an extra week for me! :pac:

And on the dyspraxia, I've not got it too bad at all - I'm just hopeless at precision sports like golf or tennis, a mobile disaster when trying to dance, and if you ever need to give me a to-do list, you had better be 100% certain I write it down or it's not happening or even being remembered!

ancapailldorcha

Billy86 wrote: »

Get ready for the torture of waiting for the parts to arrive... hopefully you don't get everything in one delivery except the RAM which took an extra week for me! :pac:

And on the dyspraxia, I've not got it too bad at all - I'm just hopeless at precision sports like golf or tennis, a mobile disaster when trying to dance, and if you ever need to give me a to-do list, you had better be 100% certain I write it down or it's not happening or even being remembered!

I naively thought I could order the lot and get it this weekend. Blast. I think all the bases with that list. Did you use any sort of anti-static measure at all?

You seem pretty lucid to me. I'd read a post of yours about it before I met you but it wasn't really noticeable.

ancapailldorcha

Gents,

My case arrived today but it has no front fans, just one on the top and one at the back. Is this is big issue?

wotzgoingon

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Gents,

My case arrived today but it has no front fans, just one on the top and one at the back. Is this is big issue?

It could be as you have no intake as usually the top and back are out puts. But tbh I'd say you will be fine.

ancapailldorcha

wotzgoingon wrote: »

It could be as you have no intake as usually the top and back are out puts. But tbh I'd say you will be fine.

Thanks! You think it'd be ok? Most build videos I've watched have had fans at the front and the back of the case for airflow presumably.

wotzgoingon

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Thanks! You think it'd be ok? Most build videos I've watched have had fans at the front and the back of the case for airflow presumably.

Well I say you will fine relatively as the front fans are usually intakes for air flow and then exhausts out the back and top.

What case did you get out of curiosity?

ancapailldorcha

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Well I say you will fine relatively as the front fans are usually intakes for air flow and then exhausts out the back and top.

What case did you get out of curiosity?

Thanks W. If they're pumping air out the back and top, where is it being drawn in from?

I got an NZT S340 elite.

wotzgoingon

I'd say you will be fine. It is from a decent company and a lower-mid price range case. Bit of an odd one not to include a intake but I'd say they done testing and it is fine. The graphics card will generate it's own air with the fans and the same for the CPU cooler and the exhaust fans will get rid of the hot air which you do not want so...

ancapailldorcha

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I'd say you will be fine. It is from a decent company and a lower-mid price range case. Bit of an odd one not to include a intake but I'd say they done testing and it is fine. The graphics card will generate it's own air with the fans and the same for the CPU cooler and the exhaust fans will get rid of the hot air which you do not want so...

Cheers. Feels a little grubby though. I'd have happily paid a bit more for the fans. It was well reviewed on PCPartPicker which is one of the reasons why I swapped it in.

Metric Tensor

Skimmed the thread so apologies if this was mentioned:

You can buy passthrough homeplugs that allow you to use the plug as normal along with the homplug. Far superior to WiFi in my opinion.

ancapailldorcha

It's going poorly. I'm pretty sure I've ****ed the heatsink, the RAM and the processor plus I've bled on the I/O shield.

Cuddlesworth

I like more intake fans, creates positive air pressure.

ancapailldorcha

I pansied out and bought 2 AF120's. Just waiting on a splitter but I'm assembling the rest now. Badly. The I/O shield is in and most of my blood is off it.

Lu Tze

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I pansied out and bought 2 AF120's. Just waiting on a splitter but I'm assembling the rest now. Badly. The I/O shield is in and most of my blood is off it.

Blood sweat and tears should all come off easily with some IPA spray!

Redfox25

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I pansied out and bought 2 AF120's. Just waiting on a splitter but I'm assembling the rest now. Badly. The I/O shield is in and most of my blood is off it.

Its not a good self build until you bleed on it.
So many sharp metal edges that one of them is bound to take some bit of skin or blood.

Welcome to the pc builders gang !

ancapailldorcha

I stayed up until midnight but I had to stop when I couldn't find a SATA cable so I'll have to grab one today and hopefully finish.

ancapailldorcha

Gents, I think I've managed to get all up and running. However, I cannot see my M.2 drive to install Windows on. Any thoughts?

wotzgoingon

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Gents, I think I've managed to get all up and running. However, I cannot see my M.2 drive to install Windows on. Any thoughts?

I do not have a M2 drive so I do not know what you can try but I will say can you see it in the bios?

ancapailldorcha

Well, it turns out that the M.2 drive was slightly bent. I removed the GPU to try to redo it to no avail and managed to dislodge the retaining latch on my PCI-E slot to boot. I'm terrified that I've wrecked the whole thing. The tower is connected by HDMI via the GPU to my monitor. I can still see the BIOS so I guess that the GPU is ok. The slot might not be workable in future though... Might pop to Maplin and get a new SATA SSD tomorrow or just install Windows on the 2TB HD.

I thought that this would be fairly easy but I just seem to have made a string of errors.

wotzgoingon

You should really take your time if it is your first time building in order to minimize errors.

ancapailldorcha

wotzgoingon wrote: »

You should really take your time if it is your first time building in order to minimize errors.

Thought I had. Took the last evening to do the motherboard. Took today for the case and PSU connections.

wotzgoingon

About the M2 is it badly bent or is it the connection piece that is bent?

I'd say it should slot in and work unless of course you put extreme pressure on it and dislodged a solder connection on the chips.

ancapailldorcha

wotzgoingon wrote: »

About the M2 is it badly bent or is it the connection piece that is bent?

I'd say it should slot in and work unless of course you put extreme pressure on it and dislodged a solder connection on the chips.

It doesn't look too bad but the BIOS couldn't see it. I updated the BIOS to no avail.

wotzgoingon

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

It doesn't look too bad but the BIOS couldn't see it. I updated the BIOS to no avail.

No it should be seen in bios without any updates.

I see you live in the London so bricks and mortor shops should have more stock. See if you can pick up a M2 to PCIe adaptor rather than a new SSD to see if it is working and if it is then the M2 slot on motherboard is broken and if not then the m2 SSD is broke and you should return it.

A M2 PCIe adaptor should be less than £20 and a lot less than buying another SSD. You can always sell it on ebay again when you are finished with it.

Cuddlesworth

Which M2 slot are you using? The top is for PCE-EX M2 drives, the bottom is for Sata based cards. Your post on the first page implies you should be using the bottom Sata port.