[Chris_K_93]

Hi there,

I'm looking to build mu own PC for university but I'm unsure of what components to pick and was wondering if somebody could help me out.

I want to use it for Minecraft, The Sims and maybe Skyrim. Also for internet browsing and word processing. I can spend about £800.

I've been looking at the overclocked bundles on scan.co.uk and also threads on here and came up with this:

Optimised - 4.3GHz Within wider safety margins for balanced thermal & acoustic characteristics.
Intel Core i5 3570k, Ivy Bridge, 3.4GHz, Quad Core, 6MB Cache
Corsair H60 Hydro Series - High Performance CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H, Intel Z77 Chipset
16GB (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance LP, DDR3, 1600 MHz
Microsoft Windows Home Premium 64 Bit - OEM
650W Corsair Enthusiast Series - Modular - 80 PLUS Bronze
1GB EVGA GTX 560 Ti SC, GPU 900 MHz, 384 Cores, 4212 MHz GDDR5

This comes to £740.21 but I would also need a case.

Is there anything that I should change? Also, what case should I get?

Thanks for any help in advance.

[Repressor]

I think the GTX 660 is out sometime in early-mid August. If you're buying it for a course that starts in September, you might as well wait? Also, Hard drives?

[mfaxford]

Possibly a graphics card with more memory. Disk drives, DVD/Bluray drive.

You probably don't need 16Gb Ram. 4G is likely to be good for most things, 8G is likely to be more than enough.

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Chris_K_93)
Hi there,

I'm looking to build mu own PC for university but I'm unsure of what components to pick and was wondering if somebody could help me out.

I want to use it for Minecraft, The Sims and maybe Skyrim. Also for internet browsing and word processing. I can spend about £800.

I've been looking at the overclocked bundles on scan.co.uk and also threads on here and came up with this:

Optimised - 4.3GHz Within wider safety margins for balanced thermal & acoustic characteristics.
Intel Core i5 3570k, Ivy Bridge, 3.4GHz, Quad Core, 6MB Cache fine
Corsair H60 Hydro Series - High Performance CPU Cooler fine
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H, Intel Z77 Chipset fine, normally we always recommend this good value
16GB (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance LP, DDR3, 1600 MHz overkill unless your gonna be doing some serious video editing
Microsoft Windows Home Premium 64 Bit - OEM fine, but remember you get no support and the serial is one time use only
650W Corsair Enthusiast Series - Modular - 80 PLUS Bronze fine
1GB EVGA GTX 560 Ti SC, GPU 900 MHz, 384 Cores, 4212 MHz GDDR5 for around a close price you can pick up a 7850 or 6950 which are better

This comes to £740.21 but I would also need a case.

Is there anything that I should change? Also, what case should I get?

Thanks for any help in advance.

Where are you getting everything from?

Depends on what you want from you case, Corsair 300r is about £50 and is good.

[Chris_K_93]

(Original post by Repressor)
I think the GTX 660 is out sometime in early-mid August. If you're buying it for a course that starts in September, you might as well wait? Also, Hard drives?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500gb...8mb-cache-12ms

Does that look ok for a hard drive? Or is there anything better you can recommend? I don't really understand the terms that they use.

(Original post by mfaxford)
Possibly a graphics card with more memory. Disk drives, DVD/Bluray drive.

You probably don't need 16Gb Ram. 4G is likely to be good for most things, 8G is likely to be more than enough.

So I'll not get the 4x4GB and instead get the 2x4GB Ram.

The 2GB XFX Radeon HD 7850 has more memory and is similar in price.


http://www.scan.co.uk/products/samsu...d-rom-sata-oem

Does this look alright or should I spend a little more than £11 on a disk drive?

(Original post by Iqbal007)
Where are you getting everything from?

Depends on what you want from you case, Corsair 300r is about £50 and is good.

I'm looking at getting it all from scan.co.uk.

For a case I'm not too sure what to look for. The one you posted looks quite good and affordable.

Thank you for all of the help so far. It is much appreciated.

[mfaxford]

(Original post by Chris_K_93)
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500gb...8mb-cache-12ms

Does that look ok for a hard drive? Or is there anything better you can recommend? I don't really understand the terms that they use.

I'm not sure that's the best drive for what you're building.

The things worth looking at are:
Data Size: How much data you can store. I'd say 500G is probably the minumum to go for these days. What you need really depends on how much software you'll be installing and what movies/music etc. you want to store on it.

RPM: This is how fast the disk spins. This will imact how quickly it can move to a different bit of data. It also affects the noise, heat and power usage. Higher RPM is a bit faster but runs hotter and can be more noisy. For most usage a 5400RPM drive is likely to be adequate.

Physical Size: 2.5" or 3.5" this is the physical size of the drive. Generally 3.5" is for desktops and 2.5" is for laptops. 3.5" drives are usually cheaper for a given Data size, they can also have faster speeds.

The only other type of drive to potentially consider is an SSD, these are solid state drives instead of using a spinning disk. They're usually much faster but cost a lot more per GB.

(Original post by Chris_K_93)
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/samsu...d-rom-sata-oem

Does this look alright or should I spend a little more than £11 on a disk drive?

It's pretty basic but it'll do the job. The only things to consider is if you want a drive that can burn CD/DVD's instead or a bluray drive instead - but both of these are likely to cost more.

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Chris_K_93)
I'm looking at getting it all from scan.co.uk.

For a case I'm not too sure what to look for. The one you posted looks quite good and affordable.

Thank you for all of the help so far. It is much appreciated.

well the xfx 6950 is about £164 from scan and the 7850 is about £10+ more.

For the same price the HDD you pointed out before, you get a 1tb for a similar price from Seagate.

That case is supposed to be very good value for money, comes with 2 fans, got cable management, option for 5 more fans, usb 3.0....its £60 from scan

[Chris_K_93]

(Original post by mfaxford)
I'm not sure that's the best drive for what you're building.

The things worth looking at are:
Data Size: How much data you can store. I'd say 500G is probably the minumum to go for these days. What you need really depends on how much software you'll be installing and what movies/music etc. you want to store on it.

RPM: This is how fast the disk spins. This will imact how quickly it can move to a different bit of data. It also affects the noise, heat and power usage. Higher RPM is a bit faster but runs hotter and can be more noisy. For most usage a 5400RPM drive is likely to be adequate.

Physical Size: 2.5" or 3.5" this is the physical size of the drive. Generally 3.5" is for desktops and 2.5" is for laptops. 3.5" drives are usually cheaper for a given Data size, they can also have faster speeds.

The only other type of drive to potentially consider is an SSD, these are solid state drives instead of using a spinning disk. They're usually much faster but cost a lot more per GB.



It's pretty basic but it'll do the job. The only things to consider is if you want a drive that can burn CD/DVD's instead or a bluray drive instead - but both of these are likely to cost more.

Thanks for all the info. I've looked at the SSD but they do seem a little more pricier and I'm already pushing my budget a little.

About a disk drive I think I'll just stick with the £11 one. As long as it plays games and DVDs its all I need.

(Original post by Iqbal007)
well the xfx 6950 is about £164 from scan and the 7850 is about £10+ more.

For the same price the HDD you pointed out before, you get a 1tb for a similar price from Seagate.

That case is supposed to be very good value for money, comes with 2 fans, got cable management, option for 5 more fans, usb 3.0....its £60 from scan

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-s...cache-12ms-ncq

Would this be a good choice? I think it may be the one you're referring to.

Thanks again.

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Chris_K_93)
Thanks for all the info. I've looked at the SSD but they do seem a little more pricier and I'm already pushing my budget a little.

About a disk drive I think I'll just stick with the £11 one. As long as it plays games and DVDs its all I need.




http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-s...cache-12ms-ncq

Would this be a good choice? I think it may be the one you're referring to.

Thanks again.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-s...he-8ms-ncq-oem

talking about this one.

[Chris_K_93]

(Original post by Iqbal007)
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-s...he-8ms-ncq-oem

talking about this one.

Ah ok thanks.

So the final build will be:

Intel Core i5 3570k, Ivy Bridge, 3.4GHz, Quad Core, 6MB Cache
Corsair H60 Hydro Series - High Performance CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H, Intel Z77 Chipset
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance LP, DDR3, 1600MHz
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
650W Corsair Enthusiast Series - Modular - 80 PLUS Bronze
2GB XFX Radeon HD 7850
Corsair Carbide 300R Mid-Tower Gaming Case
Samsung DVD-ROM, SH-D163B/BEBE, SATA, OEM
Seagate 1TB SATA 3 Performance Hard Drive OEM ST1000DM003

I think then all I'll need is a mouse, keyboard and monitor.

Many thanks to everyone who helped me.

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Chris_K_93)
Ah ok thanks.

So the final build will be:

Intel Core i5 3570k, Ivy Bridge, 3.4GHz, Quad Core, 6MB Cache
Corsair H60 Hydro Series - High Performance CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H, Intel Z77 Chipset
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance LP, DDR3, 1600MHz
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
650W Corsair Enthusiast Series - Modular - 80 PLUS Bronze
2GB XFX Radeon HD 7850
Corsair Carbide 300R Mid-Tower Gaming Case
Samsung DVD-ROM, SH-D163B/BEBE, SATA, OEM
Seagate 1TB SATA 3 Performance Hard Drive OEM ST1000DM003

I think then all I'll need is a mouse, keyboard and monitor.

Many thanks to everyone who helped me.

everything looks fine, hope you have built one before, some fits can be trickery, i only recently did the cable management after a few months

[Chris_K_93]

(Original post by Iqbal007)
everything looks fine, hope you have built one before, some fits can be trickery, i only recently did the cable management after a few months

Nope I've never built one before. I've watched the video by newegg on building and I'll probably re-watch it as I go through with my dad to help. If that doesn't work I'll pester my sister for help as a couple of years ago she built a PC from a build posted on here.

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Chris_K_93)
Nope I've never built one before. I've watched the video by newegg on building and I'll probably re-watch it as I go through with my dad to help. If that doesn't work I'll pester my sister for help as a couple of years ago she built a PC from a build posted on here.

The issues are trying to fit the I/O Shield in place.............. also before putting the motherboard in, insert the ram and put the cpu and cooler in, before screwing it down, before than obviously have the power supply in.

Once you put in all the things like HDD, optical drive, than begin to wire the data connections through the cable management and than the power supply cables

[amanda65]

I'm not sure about the disk drive but those recommendations sound about right for you.

I'm thinking about building my own because my current one is useless but don't think mine will be as advance as yours! Think there are some student sites you can get your software from - www.software4students.co.uk have cheap Microsoft Windows and Office 2010 if you need that too....

[Chris_K_93]

(Original post by Iqbal007)
The issues are trying to fit the I/O Shield in place.............. also before putting the motherboard in, insert the ram and put the cpu and cooler in, before screwing it down, before than obviously have the power supply in.

Once you put in all the things like HDD, optical drive, than begin to wire the data connections through the cable management and than the power supply cables

Thanks for the advice, I think that is exactly the same order that they did it on the video. I've just ordered all the parts and they should be here tomorrow.

(Original post by amanda65)
I'm not sure about the disk drive but those recommendations sound about right for you.

I'm thinking about building my own because my current one is useless but don't think mine will be as advance as yours! Think there are some student sites you can get your software from - www.software4students.co.uk have cheap Microsoft Windows and Office 2010 if you need that too....

Thanks I'll definitely check it out. We have a copy of Office but I don't know if we have any uses left on it.

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Chris_K_93)
Thanks for the advice, I think that is exactly the same order that they did it on the video. I've just ordered all the parts and they should be here tomorrow.

Yeah, it's really easy their way, make sure you don't tighten the screws o the motherboard to the case down too hard, just enough.
And that video is right, cos I put the motherboard in first, it made the cpu cooler hard to put in

[Daviant]

(Original post by Chris_K_93)
Hi there,

I'm looking to build mu own PC for university but I'm unsure of what components to pick and was wondering if somebody could help me out.

I want to use it for Minecraft, The Sims and maybe Skyrim. Also for internet browsing and word processing. I can spend about £800.

I've been looking at the overclocked bundles on scan.co.uk and also threads on here and came up with this:

Optimised - 4.3GHz Within wider safety margins for balanced thermal & acoustic characteristics.
Intel Core i5 3570k, Ivy Bridge, 3.4GHz, Quad Core, 6MB Cache
Corsair H60 Hydro Series - High Performance CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H, Intel Z77 Chipset
16GB (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance LP, DDR3, 1600 MHz
Microsoft Windows Home Premium 64 Bit - OEM
650W Corsair Enthusiast Series - Modular - 80 PLUS Bronze
1GB EVGA GTX 560 Ti SC, GPU 900 MHz, 384 Cores, 4212 MHz GDDR5

This comes to £740.21 but I would also need a case.

Is there anything that I should change? Also, what case should I get?

Thanks for any help in advance.

(Original post by Chris_K_93)
Ah ok thanks.

So the final build will be:

Intel Core i5 3570k, Ivy Bridge, 3.4GHz, Quad Core, 6MB Cache
Corsair H60 Hydro Series - High Performance CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H, Intel Z77 Chipset
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance LP, DDR3, 1600MHz
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
650W Corsair Enthusiast Series - Modular - 80 PLUS Bronze
2GB XFX Radeon HD 7850
Corsair Carbide 300R Mid-Tower Gaming Case
Samsung DVD-ROM, SH-D163B/BEBE, SATA, OEM
Seagate 1TB SATA 3 Performance Hard Drive OEM ST1000DM003

I think then all I'll need is a mouse, keyboard and monitor.

Many thanks to everyone who helped me.

I would personally wait for the 660ti - should be better than the 7850 for a similar price.
The hard drive is crap, get a f3 spinpoint or WD black, and I would recommend adding an SSD.
You have literally no need for water cooling, so get rid of it.
Apart from that it seems OK.

[Chris_K_93]

(Original post by Daviant)
I would personally wait for the 660ti - should be better than the 7850 for a similar price.
The hard drive is crap, get a f3 spinpoint or WD black, and I would recommend adding an SSD.
You have literally no need for water cooling, so get rid of it.
Apart from that it seems OK.

Thanks for the advice but I've already ordered all the parts.

(Original post by Iqbal007)
Yeah, it's really easy their way, make sure you don't tighten the screws o the motherboard to the case down too hard, just enough.
And that video is right, cos I put the motherboard in first, it made the cpu cooler hard to put in

After about 4 hours and much stress I think I've finished it. Just need to put the sides on and re-plug one of the fans in (I got the wire caught in the fan accidentally and it pulled it out )

The cables need a bit of a tidy but it looks pretty good.

One question, on the back of the motherboard there is a connection that fits the wire connected to my monitor. There is also 2 of these same connections on the back of the graphics card. Should I plug it into the motherboard or the graphics card?

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Chris_K_93)
Thanks for the advice but I've already ordered all the parts.




After about 4 hours and much stress I think I've finished it. Just need to put the sides on and re-plug one of the fans in (I got the wire caught in the fan accidentally and it pulled it out )

The cables need a bit of a tidy but it looks pretty good.

One question, on the back of the motherboard there is a connection that fits the wire connected to my monitor. There is also 2 of these same connections on the back of the graphics card. Should I plug it into the motherboard or the graphics card?

Did you use the holes in the case to do the cable management with? As your supposed to send all the wires through the other side and connect them up and tighten it down to make everything inside look nice

Did you get the 300r case? How many fans did you put in it?

Basically the reason why the motherboard has one, is because well all Intel based motherboards do have these days, its the integrated graphics. So plug the monitor wire into the graphics card one as it's the dedicated one you want to use.

[Chris_K_93]

(Original post by Iqbal007)
Did you use the holes in the case to do the cable management with? As your supposed to send all the wires through the other side and connect them up and tighten it down to make everything inside look nice

Did you get the 300r case? How many fans did you put in it?

Basically the reason why the motherboard has one, is because well all Intel based motherboards do have these days, its the integrated graphics. So plug the monitor wire into the graphics card one as it's the dedicated one you want to use.

Yep I got the 300r. There is a fan on the back and the front, then another attached to the top which is part of the cooler.

I just noticed that the cable from the monitor only fits the motherboard. The 2 connections on the back of the graphics card are bigger. Also, my graphics card apparently doesn't exist. I've put the driver install disk in but it says "We were unable to detect an xfx product at this time". Any idea what to do? Thanks