Making a home brew

[The red barron 41]

Hi guys

I am going to build my own system in the new year, I know that I am going to require a power unit, motherboard, is it better to get one with an intergrated GFX or not? processor, cooling and a moniter and anything else that my small brain has missed.

My budget is going to roughly be £250 but I will upgrade as i go along but I just wanted to know what the best componantes are as some of you have built your own.

Cheers

TRB

[needles 1,013]

Hi Red'

I would recommend a separate graphics card and as fast a processor as you can afford. I am an Intel guy myself but just go for what your wallet lets you. I would also recommend you get quite a high spec PSU as everything you plug in will be drawing from it.

Good luck and don't forget to post some pics when you have finished your build.

Regards

Needles

[The red barron 41]

thanks Brian I will be sure to let you know how it goes, but I won't be starting until after xmas.

[The red barron 41]

Right it is time to awake this up and get ordering! once the bank finally puts the money into the account, the budget is about £300 and £70 of extra not tied to the £300 is in Amazon vouchers.

But I am stuck on what components to be using with in the machine. I intend to use the machine with FSX, however I am starting to look at components, would I be fine with a pentium or go with the I3? I have a feeling that the i3 is the way forward.

Also is it better to get an AMD or an intel motherboard or someone else's? And also which board would be the best?

I am however using the same TV that I use for the Xbox for the PC as there is the port on the back, so I will have a 32" monitor. Audio also no problem as we have spare speakers lying around.

I have found this case on scan however I feel that this is to much money, would it be better to get this case or get the case and power separately as this power supply may be a bit to weak? http://www.scan.co.uk/products/cit-s001-micro-atx-desktop-tower-combo-450w

I also saw that Joe posted a link to a site that place in certain components and you have to get the rest.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/barebones.html

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

cheers Edward

[mutley 4,498]

Hi TRB

Usually the motherboard , ram and cpu would be ok with a 450W PSU but the GPU *may* recommend a higher current so check that out first..

Try and get at least a quad core CPU. I would say 50% of your budget on the fastest CPU you can afford and the rest on other components

I'm looking forward to what the others advise.

Joe

[ddavid 149]

Hi Edward

Sorry to disagree with you, Boss, but 450 Watts is a bit low - 750 Watts might be a better bet? Also, take a look at what Dell puts into their offerings (i.e. processor, amount of RAM, etc) at around the price you want to pay - that'll give you an idea of what you should be getting for your £370 odd. Oh, and don't forget that the O.S. could take out the £70 at one stroke!

Cheers - Dai.

[mutley 4,498]

I agree Dai, 450w would be no good for FSX as the GPU you would need to run it would be demanding a lot more.I wouldn't get a micro case either TRB as the ventilation would not be very good.Cheers

[needles 1,013]

Hi Ed'

I used to be an AMD user but since moving over to Intel, I would not go back especially for FSX.

Reading several forum sites, there is a lot of discussion as to which is better for FSX and I think Intel come out on top.

Again though, it's all down to what £££s you want to spend.

As Joe says 'spend as much as you can on the fastest cpu you can get'.

Hope this helps and good luck with the build.

Regards

Needles

[The red barron 41]

Thanks guys I am aware of the micro case issues so I won't be looking at them. Any who I think that this maybe my processor and mother board bundle. I know about spending as much as on the processor but I want to have some left for the rest of the build.

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-intel-value-bundle--includes-p7h55-m-si-motherboard---core-i3-530-2-93ghz-processor--7401.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product+search

What do you think?

[The red barron 41]

Resurrection time below are the links to what I intend to buy. is this a decent spec for FSX and more importantly have I missed anything.

PC COMPONENTS

CASE

http://www.dabs.com/products/best-value-ew07-midi-atx-black-500w-psu-79RJ.html

RAM

http://www.dabs.com/products/corsair-memory-xms3-4gb--2-x-2gb--ddr3-pc3-12800-c9-1600mhz--cmx4gx3m2a1600c9--6ZPH.html

COOLING

http://www.dabs.com/products/arctic-cooling-freezer-7-pro-rev-2-cpu-cooler-73WG.html

GPU

http://www.dabs.com/products/xfx-ati-radeon-5770-hd-1gb-pci-express-2-0-x16-dual-dvi-hdmi-eyefinity-6Z1S.html

AUDIO

http://www.dabs.com/products/creative-soundblaster-audigy-se-7-1-oem-3W44.html

HDD

http://www.dabs.com/products/samsung-2tb-spinpoint-ecogreen-f4eg-sata3-32mb-hard-drive-74TD.html

MOTHER AND CPU

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-intel-2nd-generation-h67-bundle--includes-p8h67-m-pro-motherboard---core-i5-2300-2-8ghz-processor--79RD.html

OR

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-intel-value-bundle--includes-p7h55-m-si-motherboard---core-i3-530-2-93ghz-processor--7401.html

[The red barron 41]

Oh and the DVD drive

http://www.dabs.com/products/samsung-sh-d162d-16x-dvd-rom-ide-ret-78CR.html?refs=4294953231-4294959720

[MartinW 0]

Sandy Bridge is the way to go for sure. The i5 2500K is the best bet, coupled with the Asus P8P67 it's a superb choice. The 2500K even knocks the socks off the £790 i7 980X Extreme.

With Sandy Bridge we are talking cheap and very powerful indeed.

And sandy Bridge will set you up for future upgrades.

[MartinW 0]

Pick up this months issue of Custom PC to read about Sandy Bridge. Or visit bit-tech.

http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2011/01/19/pc-hardware-buyers-guide-january-2010/

[The red barron 41]

UPDATE!

First off I have to appolagise I forgot to take picture!

The PC is built! Running both civilsation5 (at max settings) and FSX very nicley spec below.

Processor

AMD Phenom II x6 @ 3.2 GHZ (yet to overclock)

graphics

Ati Raddion HD 5770

HDD

x2 250 GB that just happened to be around

Ram

only 4GB @ 1600MHZ for now But I will add another 4 in a couple of months

As for the Board I will get back to you on this

TRB

[mutley 4,498]

UPDATE!

First off I have to appolagise I forgot to take picture!

The PC is built! Running both civilsation5 (at max settings) and FSX very nicley spec below.

Processor

AMD Phenom II x6 @ 3.2 GHZ (yet to overclock)

graphics

Ati Raddion HD 5770

HDD

x2 250 GB that just happened to be around

Ram

only 4GB @ 1600MHZ for now But I will add another 4 in a couple of months

As for the Board I will get back to you on this

TRB

Great new Red

Hope to see shots soon and maybe some FSX shots too? :001_th_smiles89:

[The red barron 41]

I hope to be able to get some case shots on Tuesday and posted that night to, and of course FSX to! finally I can get in and out of Heathrow with more then 2FPS with Traffic X on ridculse slider length.