New computer - advice please.

[mpwardle]

I've decided to embark upon what first seemed like a colossal task. Building my own computer. After about 12 months of research and purchasing books, plus asking a local computer engineer many questions, it all seems to easy. Which is why I'm worried. Can it be that easy? Anyway, here is the specification (inc. prices, sites, names etc.) Please feel free to comment and make any improvements, and if quoting better sites to use, I would prefer them to be UK sites for 2 reasons:
1. Less p&p, if any
2. More reliable. If the component does not show up, it is easier to contact the retailer, whereas an overseas retailer will be harder to contact and get the component.

Motherboard: Asus P5Q-E iP45 Socket 775 Motherboard
£107.51 advancetec.co.uk

Memory: 3 Gb - 1x 2GB
1x 1GB
£28.73 crucial.com (DDR2)

Power supply:Corsair 650W TX Series PSU
£68.49 evilgaming.co.uk

CPU:Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz (Retail 775)
£232.34 aria.co.uk

Hard Drive: 500Gb Western Digital SATA2 - 16MB - 7200RPM
£44.79 aria.co.uk

Graphics card: Gigabyte ATI Radeon GV-R485-512H-B 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express 2.0
£137.94 awd-it.co.uk

DVD Drive: Samsung SH-S202N/BEBN 20x IDE DVD±R Black
£19.08 aria.co.uk

Sound Card: Creative X-Fi Extreme Audio Sound Card OEM
£34.49 advancetec.co.uk

Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit OEM
£109.93 lhdigital.co.uk

Cooling: Alphacool Xtreme Pro 240 (watercooling kit)
£73.39 aqua-pcs.co.uk (A fan will still be used as well)

Case:X-Case Viper Black Silver
£67.85 xcases.co.uk

TOTAL: £924.44

Hopefully you can help by firstly pointing out any problems, (I don't think there are any), and by telling me any sites that are better.

Thanks, all help is much appreciated.

 

[Calibound88]

uh its pretty easy, my first build I bought everything online

Man, sucks to be overseas. Cuz newegg has better prices than those

 

[rohan23]

I've decided to embark upon what first seemed like a colossal task. Building my own computer. After about 12 months of research and purchasing books, plus asking a local computer engineer many questions, it all seems to easy. Which is why I'm worried. Can it be that easy? Anyway, here is the specification (inc. prices, sites, names etc.) Please feel free to comment and make any improvements, and if quoting better sites to use, I would prefer them to be UK sites for 2 reasons:
1. Less p&p, if any
2. More reliable. If the component does not show up, it is easier to contact the retailer, whereas an overseas retailer will be harder to contact and get the component.

Motherboard: Asus P5Q-E iP45 Socket 775 Motherboard
£107.51 advancetec.co.uk

Memory: 3 Gb - 1x 2GB
1x 1GB
£28.73 crucial.com (DDR2)

Power supply:Corsair 650W TX Series PSU
£68.49 evilgaming.co.uk

CPU:Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz (Retail 775)
£232.34 aria.co.uk

Hard Drive: 500Gb Western Digital SATA2 - 16MB - 7200RPM
£44.79 aria.co.uk

Graphics card: Gigabyte ATI Radeon GV-R485-512H-B 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express 2.0
£137.94 awd-it.co.uk

DVD Drive: Samsung SH-S202N/BEBN 20x IDE DVD±R Black
£19.08 aria.co.uk

Sound Card: Creative X-Fi Extreme Audio Sound Card OEM
£34.49 advancetec.co.uk

Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit OEM
£109.93 lhdigital.co.uk

Cooling: Alphacool Xtreme Pro 240 (watercooling kit)
£73.39 aqua-pcs.co.uk (A fan will still be used as well)

Case:X-Case Viper Black Silver
£67.85 xcases.co.uk

TOTAL: £924.44

Hopefully you can help by firstly pointing out any problems, (I don't think there are any), and by telling me any sites that are better.

Thanks, all help is much appreciated.

You don't need watercooling unless you're going to be doing a lot of overclocking. You can skip out on that. You don't need 3GB of RAM. You won't see a difference between 2GB and 3GB in a 32-bit system. Downgrade to a 500 watt power supply. That should be more than enough to power your system.

 

[JogaBonito1502]

Kill the watercooling and go with an i7 build.

 

[worshipme]

Memory: 3 Gb - 1x 2GB
1x 1GB
£28.73 crucial.com (DDR2)

Go with 64 bit and get 4 gigs. If you're worried about compatibility issues etc, I can say from experience running 64 bit that there are none. Everything works as it should and all my 4 gigs are recognised perfectly.

Graphics card: Gigabyte ATI Radeon GV-R485-512H-B 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-Express 2.0
£137.94 awd-it.co.uk

Found you a cheaper one.

Cooling: Alphacool Xtreme Pro 240 (watercooling kit)
£73.39 aqua-pcs.co.uk (A fan will still be used as well)

WC'ing isn't needed unless:
- You really know what you are doing when it comes to OC'ing, WC'ing is a waste of money if you're new to all this.
- You've got money to burn
- There's something else but I can't think what it is.

If this build only just falls within your budget, i7 isn't going to be possible, it would mean a switch to DDR3, X58 mobo and it would cost an extra £100 or so.
What's your native res BTW?

 

[mpwardle]

Native Res, I presume is Native Residence which is Manchester. I was recommended Watercooling by a guy who works with computers saying it was more efficient, quieter etc. The computer is primarily for gaming and so any other feedback about recommendations will be handy.

Cheers, Matt

 

[J03]

Native Res, I presume is Native Residence which is Manchester. I was recommended Watercooling by a guy who works with computers saying it was more efficient, quieter etc. The computer is primarily for gaming and so any other feedback about recommendations will be handy.

Cheers, Matt

Hah, It means Native Resolution - The resolution that your monitor is designed to run at.

 

[mpwardle]

Ah, I'm not used to using abbreviations lol, so if people could please write out the whole word that would be appreciated. Also going back to overclocking, that's making the processor, graphics card etc. run at about 50% higher rate isn't it? It's done by changing the BIOS, I presume by changing the FSB. Dunno, I may do that because performance is increased by a lot, and my native resolution is currently 1024 x 768 and it's LCD, but I'm thinking of getting a CRT so frame rate is not and issue. Your thoughts?

 

[worshipme]

You probably don't even need a HD 4850 for that resolution, a 9800GT/8800GT/HD 4830 or even a 9600GT would be fine.

 

[rohan23]

Ah, I'm not used to using abbreviations lol, so if people could please write out the whole word that would be appreciated. Also going back to overclocking, that's making the processor, graphics card etc. run at about 50% higher rate isn't it? It's done by changing the BIOS, I presume by changing the FSB. Dunno, I may do that because performance is increased by a lot, and my native resolution is currently 1024 x 768 and it's LCD, but I'm thinking of getting a CRT so frame rate is not and issue. Your thoughts?

I would spend money on a new monitor, haha. You can get get 1080p ones for around $200 and up these days.