Off Topic Anyone build PCs?

Long shot. I need a bit of guidance if anyone is available please. Need to put together a shopping list of parts to build my own. I'll have a budget and don't necessarily need top spec parts apart from the motherboard and sound card(I think). It only needs to support ps3/xbox360 quality graphics and HD programming. It's more for sound and entertainment than gaming.

I'll be using it for speakers and monitors around the house as well as being able to hook up decks or Amps. So software guidance would be plus too if anyone is in the know any advice would be much apreciated?

 

I could put you in touch with a lad who may be able to advise you Brian.
You too far away in Darlo for him to come see you like.

 

I would take a look at avforums - https://www.avforums.com/

There are some very knowledgable guys on that site who can help you out. It is a really good site cannot praise it enough - it has helped me out a lot. I used to build PCs but I am not up with the latest tech. Scan computers is a good site for parts - they also do motherboard/chip/ram combos. Whatever you do get an SSD drive as your boot drive - much faster than a normal hard drive the difference is night and day. You will also need at least 8 GB RAM. An i5 processor would probably do you - the latest versions apparently offer a large boost in speed.

 

Complete agree with ExSeahamLad about the SSD drive as my PC has the same setup running Windows10 and its unbelievable. I've got a i7 in my which runs very, very well. I think the difference in price between the i5 and i7 is around £80-£100 price. If you can afford it, buy an i7 but it's not the end of the world. But just having re-read your original post Brian it would be better to get the i5. Will you be running Windows10?

 

Agree with the chaps here I built a gaming pc a couple of years ago and I got the parts from scan computers - had to get replacement part later as there was an incompatibility issue with the motherboard and graphics card (which was obviously critical for a gaming PC) and had no problems getting an exchange after I had performed the tests that they asked me to do. Also if you want to have the speed of an SSD but want quite a bit of cheap non speed dependent storage you can get a hybrid disk like this one;

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/2tb...lc-nand-sata-iii-6gb-s-7200rpm-64mb-cache-oem

hope this helps

 

Cheers Bill. All I'd need is some kind of online correspondence. Problem is I don't know the gentleman and I don't have any money to pay for that advice yet.

I'l give those sites a look, I clearly need to get more savvy as I don't have a clue what you lads are on about SSD which I understand is a type of hard drive what sort of size? It's going to store a lot of MP4 and MP3s, I'm talking a digital Juke Box and video rental levels of files. Would it be better to run those files via some kind of external hard drive leaving the SSD for Software and my game files?

I should explain what I want from a gaming aspect. I'm going to run emulators for every console released up to ps3 level.

Do I want AMD or Intel System?

Graphics card is a blind area for me, so many and the specs make no sense so not a clue what to go for. I've got a grand budget on the base unit.

Cheers for the info lads.

 

And windows 10 yep

 

My mate wont charge you for advice mate.

 

That would be awesome than Bill thanks. See what he says. I have somebody to help me build it. Just need that shopping list so I'm priced ready to go.

 

I'll pm you his number fella.

 

Does he have an email address? I'm crap on phones. Got a bit of an anxiety going on with them.

 

I don't know it mate.

 

I can build one for you mate but it won't look anything like a PC or work.

 

Think I'm at that level now

 

You don’t need a big SSD - 256 GB or 512 GB should be enough (mainly for installing windows and programmes that take a long time to load) fairly cheap these days - try amazon they usually have deals on. You can then have a secondary hard drive for data storage - can be as big as you like they are fairly cheap. Might also want to get an external USB hard drive for backing up data you don’t want to lose.

 

I would go with Intel for processor and for graphics card a Nvidia GT1060 should do you if you are not wanting to play the latest games at the highest resolutions with all the bells and whistles. A grand should easily cover all of this. Don’t skimp on the power supply- need a decent amount of power to run everything reliably.

 

Cheers fella. Will these specs require extra cooling or hydro cooling? The system will rarely be turned off.

 

I don’t think it will need any special cooling but not certain on that. I would expect the stock coolers would be good enough. Check with the guys on avforums- they are good at answering questions quickly. Word of warning though you may be considerably poorer when you see all the shiny new tech on that site They do reliable reviews for all sorts of tech and encourage user reviews. A very useful site.

 

Cheers fella.

 

Built quite a few of the years.. some useful resources for you to price compare / accessible techie help etc:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/ (basically makes sure you have thought of everything you MIGHT need...plus best place to currently buy the bits ..buy the bits from whichever shop is offering the best price for a particular component)

Recommend https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/ ..loads of questions and help available there Plus check out the side bar for other resources / Links

you can post your final selection and ppl will give you the low down of if its a good choice / bottlenecked/ problems etc prior to buying
Also has links for ..top end - mid range- low end suggested builds


256 GB SSD is more than enough for windows and speed critical programmes (get a bigger one if good price and you intend to play games with large loading times) ..then get a regular Hard drive for storing your music /films /games etc on where load speed isn't critical ( I have a 128Gb and still isnt full ..Basically i just put windows on it..and some editing software..stuff that takes ages to load...cuts down boot time to 20 seconds from cold )

Intel I5 is a good ..'best bang for buck' choice ..will stand you in ..good ish..stead for 4/5/6/ yrs ..Good 'chassis' to upgrade in future ..giving longer longevity to the PC (ie pop in a new Graphics card in 3/4 yrs to boost your gaming if you needed it etc) ..depending on how cutting edge /speed freak you want to be...If (like me) you want a good solid reliable ..does the job pretty well for the cash

*Don't try and save a few quid on a power supply (its always really tempting too) ..Cheap ones are the killers of your expensive components when they go bang...get a good solid branded power supply ..and pay a little more for it *

Stock cooler should be fine..but can pop on a better air cooler if you want to be sure...usually about £20 -30 mark

personally I look to hit the sweet spot...around the 550 - 750 mark (not incl a monitor ..but that was based on pre brexit pricing ..not so sure at current prices) ..ie the best bang for buck point. At that price you should be well ahead of console graphics ..with a longer usability life span of a console too

(My last build 4.5 yrs ago cost 650 and is still streets ahead of current consoles ..has upgraded memory in it.. a new mother board when the last one stopped working (was still just under its 2 year warranty so got a nice new board free and more hard drive storage added)...but is beginning to hit the point of a serious upgrade (graphics card) in the next year of so..but still plays all games/ stuff i throw at it...really well ..just its beginning to creak around the edges ..very occasionally with certain graphic intensive games )

Finally..when close to pulling the trigger and buying ..post your suggested buy here..and we can all have a look at it and pull it apart..if you want