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[tigers_gonads]

As above really.

Used to build them for friends, family but haven't built one up for a good 10 years so I am out of the loop so to speak.
I have a tower with a decent power supply so now looking at a motherboard (c/w HDMI or DVI so I don't have to fanny about with a separate graphics board).

It will be used for general tossing it off on t'internet, Photoshop type playing with graphics / high res pictures, possibly streaming music across to the Hifi and general pishing about with the od flight sim / mindless violence game. 

Not got stupid amounts of wonga to play with but I will be looking to keep this pc for quite a few years so it needs to be able to be maybe upgraded the od board in the future.

I've got my own copy of Win 7 Ultimate and intend on using this because I already have a nice selection of scanner / laser jet / photo printers which will not run on Win 8

Any advise from those in the know would be appreciated 

Oh and a happy new year to all 

[Varche]

As above really.

Used to build them for friends, family but haven't built one up for a good 10 years so I am out of the loop so to speak.
I have a tower with a decent power supply so now looking at a motherboard (c/w HDMI or DVI so I don't have to fanny about with a separate graphics board).

It will be used for general tossing it off on t'internet, Photoshop type playing with graphics / high res pictures, possibly streaming music across to the Hifi and general pishing about with the od flight sim / mindless violence game. 

Not got stupid amounts of wonga to play with but I will be looking to keep this pc for quite a few years so it needs to be able to be maybe upgraded the od board in the future.

I've got my own copy of Win 7 Ultimate and intend on using this because I already have a nice selection of scanner / laser jet / photo printers which will not run on Win 8

Any advise from those in the know would be appreciated 

Oh and a happy new year to all 

Say what?

I am no expert but suspect the replies will come back that it is cheaper to buy off the shelf. You at least have a guarantee then. Again I suspect that ten years ago it might have been cheaper to build your own.

[tigers_gonads]

"tossing it off on the internet" is Hull speak for general internet browsing 
Tissues are optional  not normally needed 

TBH, as said ............ funds are scarce and i've got various hard drives / dvd drives scattered about the house so I quite fancy getting the small screwdrivers out and building one for myself over the next few months as funds allow 

[Magwheels]

Ebuyer is generally a good place to start for new stuff, Ebay for used, you can get some good used stuff on Ebay as people upgrade far to often looking for that last bit of performance they will rarely/never use.........Now where have I seen that before.

At least with PC's you don't get your hands dirty!!!

[Rods2]

Have a look at the AMD bundles on Ebuyer and Ebay, where AMD based machines tend to be cheaper, for the same performance than Intel CPU based PCs.

I always go the building your own route as it means standard components and lower long term ownership costs, where you can replace or upgrade different parts, as and when necessary.

It is always worth using one of the CPU test sites to see what the benchmarks are and also if available benchmarks and reviews for the CPU, Mobo, memory combinations as some mobo chipsets and internal graphics are much better than others.

[TheBoy]

where AMD based machines tend to be cheaper, for the same performance than Intel CPU based PCs.

Dream on

AMD are quite good at benchmark tests, but in day to day use are noticeably more sluggish than Intel equivalents.  That's why Intel can command a premium.  Its also why AMD really only do well at the budget end.

[Broomies Mate]

If it's for a bit of gaming, and you aren't that concerned about whacking the resolution up, Integrated Graphics will be ok, but if you want performance graphics, then a dedicated Graphics Card is always preferential.

I too am out of the loop so to speak.  In my teens and early 20's I built thousands of computers.

Varche is right though, it would be more cost effective to buy something ready-built.... you can always use your Hard Drives in it (if compatible).  10 yr old HDD's will possibly be IDE, so chances are not compatible with newer Motherboards.  Is your PSU even compatible with the modern stuff?

When you think about the cost;

Cheap Components: Motherboard, Hard Drives, Optical Drives, PSU/Chassis
Expensive Components:  CPU, Decent RAM, Decent Graphics Card, SSD (if you so wish).

Depending on the performance you are after, don't skimp on the cooling... the Chassis and PSU are often things which people overlook when building and end up with an unreliable computer.

Personally speaking I'd always plump for Intel over AMD, but that's the same as the Holden/Ford, iOS/Android, Daddy/Chips argument.

[TheBoy]

Modern PCs are plenty faster enough for general purpose use, so you will get far better value with a premium branded desktop.  Its only worth doing self build if you need something unique...  ...and most people aren't really up to the job of dealing with the thermal requirements (partly because 99.999% of generic cases are not up to the job).


The 2 PCs I use at home as general purpose desktops, one is a Dell Dimension 9200, Core2 quad with 2Gb RAM, 965 integrated graphics and 240Gb Crucial m4 SSD, circa summer 2007 (so over 7 years old) and cost around £450 at the time, the other is a HP 6720s Core2, 965 integrated graphics, 2Gb ans 120Gb Crucial m4 SSD, circa Nov/Dec 2007 (so 7 years old) and cost around £350.  They are both plenty fast enough, so as much as I quite fancy the idea of a nice new shiny one, its difficult to justify.  I'd also hazard a guess that both are faster than anything I could buy for under £500


Absolutely no point in trying to use "old bits lying around", as these will cripple performance of a newer system. Trying to save money in this way is false economy IMHO.


If I was looking to replace one of mine, and run 32bit Windows 7 on one (not worth using 64bit Win7 unless you really do have to access lots of RAM), for general purpose use I'd be looking at 4th gen Core i3 (i5 and i7 not really worth the extra for general use), 2 - 4 Gb RAM (32 bit Windows will struggle to see more than about 3-3.5Gb), use the i3's onboard video, and tie it together on a Series 7 or later chipset.

[tidla]

Ebuyer is generally a good place to start for new stuff, Ebay for used, you can get some good used stuff on Ebay as people upgrade far to often looking for that last bit of performance they will rarely/never use.........Now where have I seen that before.

At least with PC's you don't get your hands dirty!!!

They do a pc with no operating system which saves a few quid.

[TheBoy]

Ebuyer is generally a good place to start for new stuff, Ebay for used, you can get some good used stuff on Ebay as people upgrade far to often looking for that last bit of performance they will rarely/never use.........Now where have I seen that before.

At least with PC's you don't get your hands dirty!!!

They do a pc with no operating system which saves a few quid.

Whilst better than some, I'd avoid their Zoom stuff...

[bigboykarl]

i'd build something around amd fx8350 ..it's a great processor and can be overclocked easily ..can be picked up around £130 ..good mboard is asus formula v 

[tigers_gonads]

Thanks for the info lads
I'll bear it all in mind when I decide what i'm going to do 

[Mr Gav]

A mate of mine has just built a gaming rig based around a Intel G3258 Pentium K Anniversary Socket 1150 Dual Core Processor (Haswell) which can be overclocked to 4.5Ghz, seems a popular CPU on Scan and at around £55 is cheap too. Scan do a bundle with this chip, mobo, 8Gb ram and a arctic freezer cooler for £275 looky looky
If you`re after a graphics card I have a passively cooled Gigagyte HD4850 collecting dust at the moment 

[steve6367]

Take a look at Novatech, you can PC's in various levels of completeness or just the bits.

Steve

[hawke113a]

cclonline usually have clearance stuff...i got a reasonable case for 13 quid......good mobo and apu processor for 100 which i was able to crossfire(dual graphics) with a graphics card(20)....i already had hdd and various other bits....ccl anr based on leeds/bradistan border..just off the m62