Newb Build - can you cast your eyes over it please?

[Lancashire_Lad]

Hi

This is my first post on this forum and my first build - so here goes! :)

My PC will be used for all the usual tasks, emails, surfing, word processing etc. I also design websites and use industry standard software such as Photoshop and Dreamweaver. I will also be doing some gaming ( well I have to have some fun don't I? ;) ). Although I will need a good graphics card, playing the lastest games on maximum settings is not a priority for me so a moderate card will do fine.

My budget is £500 (excluding graphics card).

Like I say this is my first build so I am open to any suggestions for improvement within my budget.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 (2.33GHz, 4MB) £150 Dabs.com

Crucial 4GB kit (2GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-6400 £34 Dabs.com

Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATAII 16MB Cache 3.5 inch Internal Hard Drive OEM £50 Amazon.co.uk

Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 - Motherboard - ATX - iX48 - LGA775 £163 Amazon.co.uk

Cooler Master Elite 335 All Black atx Case (No PSU) RC-335K-KKN1-GP £29 Ebuyer.com

Antec EarthWatts 500W 80%+ Efficiency PSU - 80mm Fan 4x SATA 2x PCI-E £60 Amazon.co.uk

I already have a monitor, keyboard/mouse, speakers and a DVD Writer.

For my graphics card I was thinking:

Sapphire - Radeon HD 4850 - Dual Slot - 512 MB GDDR3 - PCI-Express 2.0

So excluding the graphics card that about £500.

If anyone can give me any money saving suggestions without sacrificing too much performance that would be great.

Thanks! :)

[The Wise Monkey]

Welcome to the forums. :)

My first advice would be to avoid buying components from amazon - take a look at www.ebuyer.com, as they usually have cheaper prices and free shipping on most items.

Also, you might want to consider an AMD based build - the latest Phenom II CPUs perform consistently better than the Intel versions for the same price, especially when teamed up with an AM3 motherboard and DDR3 RAM, although this may be out of your price range.

[Lancashire_Lad]

Thanks for the reply Wise Monkey.

Do Phenom II processors compare favourably with Intel chipsets? I can see that price wise AMD's processors (and motherboards which support them) are on the whole cheaper than Intel, but how about performance wise?

Would this chip and board be compatible?

AMD Phenom II X4 940 3GHz Socket AM2+ 6MB L3 Cache
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/155714

Gigabyte GA-MA790X-DS4 790X Socket AM2+ 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140701

[The Wise Monkey]

The combination you chose is indeed compatible.

The Q8200 is comparable in terms of performance to the old Q6600, and the Phenom II 940 you chose there is about 10% faster than that.

It's really up to you what you go for. If you are willing to save a bit extra, you could go for the OEM Q9550 for £220, which is an excellent CPU. However, this will require more power to run and will therefore be more expensive in terms of electricity over the course of its lifetime.

Check out this review from Tom's Hardware:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/phenom-ii-940,review-31485.html

[Lancashire_Lad]

Hi

After taking your advice and spending way too much time browsing ebuyer.com I have come up with the following build.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz Socket 775 1333FSB 4MB Cache Retail Boxed http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148933

Asus P5Q PRO P45 Socket 775 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145751/show_product_specifications?spectype=extended

Crucial 4GB (2X2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Ballistix Memory
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143844

Antec 300 Case
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143854

Antec EarthWatts 500W 80%+ Efficiency PSU - 80mm Fan 4x SATA 2x PCI-E
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/120377

Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124228

It falls within budget (around £450) and this motherboard will hopefully give me some upgrade potential in the future.

Is there anything else I need to consider before I go ahead and order? Thanks for any comments/suggestions.

[The Wise Monkey]

Looks good. :)

What graphics card are you going to get?

[Lancashire_Lad]

I think it will be a Sapphire 4850
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148468

I think it's a good card for the price.

[The Wise Monkey]

Same one I've got, and it's very good. :D