So I’m going to build a PC…
So I’m going to build a PC…
Building a Pc is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. Though I really enjoy my mac, I have missed one thing about switching. Games. I know, I can install BootCamp (which I have) and have a play there, but frankly the MacBook Pro isn’t the best gaming machine around.
So I thought I would join gaming and building a PC together and build an “average” gaming machine. I am not going to have a massive budget, and I don’t want what ars-technica would cool the “God Box” but I want a machine that will run games well for a while. My budget is £650 not including monitor which should be enough to build what I want.
Just so you know, I am a total n00b about building a PC so I need your help in getting it done and some recommendations. Luckily my IT teacher Mr Leigh is willing to help me, but it doesn't mean that you can’t too! So send an email you use the contact form or even comment!
So here are the specs that I’m looking at getting:
Motherboard: Gigabyte P35-DS3P socket 775 motherboard - £90
This seems like a reasonably priced motherboard, it supports Core 2 Duo and Quad chips and Vista. It has plenty of inputs and of course supports Vista.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 socket 775 processor 2.4GHz - £160
I was very impressed with the the price of this processor at only £160 it seems to be future-proof. It has a high clock speed and of course those powerful four cores. But… I could, for the same price, get a dual core 3GHz CPU. Which is better?
Case: Enlight EN-4102 ATX case - £42
The case looks pretty good and is screw-less so I can get at it easily. It has plenty of drive bays (5). And of course it meets the ATX standard.
GPU: XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320Mb PCI-Express graphics card £190
I think that this is one of the more important components for the PC as I am leaning towards gaming. I thought that the price was fair and the card should last me a fair amount of time.
The Other Stuff:
4×1GB sticks. It looks like I am going to be running Vista on the machine and I know that it is a RAM hog so I thought I would make good use of the cheap price of £56. I am going to start off with a 250GB hard drive and expand over time. That should set me back about £44. Then I am going to get a simple NEC optical drive for £20.
All in all that costs me about £600 that leaves me with a hundred odd quid to buy the OS keyboard and mouse and anti-virus software. I am going to be buying a 24” Dell monitor soon that I will use with the PC.
What do you think? Would you change any of the components? If so, why?
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How’s your maths? £650 budget minus £600 for the cpu etc leaves “a hundred odd quid”? - what OS are you getting - that could be expensive?
November 24th, 2007 at 8:23 amIndeed. I agree about the cost of Vista. It is very expensive, compared to Mac OS X as well
You should see if someone has a copy you could ‘borrow’. If you know what I mean.
Other than that it all sounds pretty darn good to me. It’s amazing, I built a PC a while back, AMD 64 X2 @2.2GHz, 2GB RAM, 200GB HDD nVidia 6800GS 512mb graphics card. That cost over a grand, and now you can get that ^^ for only £600. Crazy
http://free.avg.com/ I think is the url. Otherwise just try AVG.com.
Oh, and about Anti-Virus, buy? Have you ever used AVG Free, a perfectly good Anti-Virus, that has never failed me, (not that I use Windows anymore), but it was great, and it’s free
Hope you’re well,
Charlie -
November 24th, 2007 at 10:45 amChris -
Oops, I changed my budget in the middle of the post - sorry!
Charlie -
I am planning on buying an OEM of Vista Premieum for about £50 from amazon, it will only really cost be ten as I have a gift certifcate for it. I am probably going to get NOD32 or even Windows One Care.
Jonathan.
November 24th, 2007 at 12:21 pmGood luck Jonno!
If you need any help….I am here!
November 24th, 2007 at 6:20 pm