PC Building thread

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Steve*

Steve*

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As FM 14 is on its way out soon and with a large amount of people planning on getting a PC instead of next gen console I thought it would be useful to have a thread like this. If you are interested in building your own PC(its not rocket science) please fill out this template:

1. What is your budget?

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? If gaming say what kind of games

3. Do you need a copy of Windows?

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer?

5. Do you need a monitor?

5. If yes, what size do you need.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Keyboard/ Mouse/ Speakers/ Headset/ Wifi card/ Card reader etc?

7. Are you willing to try overclocking?

8. Pre built or will build yourself? Generally a surcharge on prebuilt of €20

9. When are you purchasing?

10. Any other considerations?
 
Just one set of questions, though I'm not yet planning to do it.

What is the hardest part to set in from A) nimbleness and B) strength?. Would it be possible without bending the wrist (or rather, barely, say 2º backwards and 30º-40º forwards)?

How long does it take for the average person?
 
Death Ball said:
Just one set of questions, though I'm not yet planning to do it.

What is the hardest part to set in from A) nimbleness and B) strength?. Would it be possible without bending the wrist (or rather, barely, say 2º backwards and 30º-40º forwards)?

How long does it take for the average person?
Click to expand...

The hardest part is generally fitting the CPU cooler if you use an aftermarket one(this is done best by fitting it before fitting the motherboard). All parts can be fitted in without bending the wrist. (strange question).

Well it takes me on average about 3 hours to set a pc up fully and about another half an hour to install windows/linux. But in the beginning it may take almost double that. Easily set up and running inside a day
 
Death Ball said:
Just one set of questions, though I'm not yet planning to do it.

What is the hardest part to set in from A) nimbleness and B) strength?. Would it be possible without bending the wrist (or rather, barely, say 2º backwards and 30º-40º forwards)?

How long does it take for the average person?
Click to expand...

Any non-stock CPU cooler is generally going to be the hardest thing, like Steve said fitting it before fitting the mobo is usually better unless you have a very open tower allowing you easy access inside.
Near everything else is a very straight forward, plug into a certain port/slot deal.

Depending on the setup and what needs to be put in I can get on fully set up within two hours, first time I'd leave a good 5-6 hours just to make sure everything is right and you can take a bit more time with getting things running.
 
Death Ball said:
Just one set of questions, though I'm not yet planning to do it.

What is the hardest part to set in from A) nimbleness and B) strength?. Would it be possible without bending the wrist (or rather, barely, say 2º backwards and 30º-40º forwards)?

How long does it take for the average person?
Click to expand...

You may need to bend your wrist to fit the motherboard in the case.

Also, there will be some screwdriver use. Which will require some rotational movements.
 
Thank you guys.

One last question, please, would you dare to direct someone who knows 0 of computers to fit the motherboard or that'd be too much?

Thanks in advance.
 
Death Ball said:
Thank you guys.

One last question, please, would you dare to direct someone who knows 0 of computers to fit the motherboard or that'd be too much?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
If you mean fitting the motherboard into the tower it's just line it up and fit the screws. A slightly steady hand is all you need so you don't stab the mobo with a screwdriver but they're only small screws and don't need much force.

RAM cards and your GPU are a very straight forward push in, may have a clip that needs to be pushed in but unlikely.
Things like your drive and HDD/SSD are again fairly straight forward, fit them into their own housings and usually just plug in the sata cable from the mobo.

Power supply can be a little tricky if you're installing numerous fans and other types of cooling but for the most part everything is very straight forward and obvious in where it needs to go.


You can find a large number of guides online which although may not apply directly to what you're installing they're of great general use as a guideline on what needs to be done if you're stuck.
 
I am not sure which keyboard I should get. I have narrowed it down to these two:

Razer DeathStalker Ultimate Elite Keyboard [RZ03-00790100-R3M1]

Saitek Cyborg Strike 7 Gaming Keyboard with Touchscreen LCD Screen [CCB43109U002/02/1]

I am more tempted by the Razer one, but only because I have a Razer mouse an I like things to match. But the Cyborg one just looks awesomely crazy! Both has slightly different functionality, so im not too sure.

Again, the Razer one would probably be more useful day to day, but the child within me just says the Cyborg will be awesome. What do you guys think?
 
iamauser said:
I am not sure which keyboard I should get. I have narrowed it down to these two:

Razer DeathStalker Ultimate Elite Keyboard [RZ03-00790100-R3M1]

Saitek Cyborg Strike 7 Gaming Keyboard with Touchscreen LCD Screen [CCB43109U002/02/1]

I am more tempted by the Razer one, but only because I have a Razer mouse an I like things to match. But the Cyborg one just looks awesomely crazy! Both has slightly different functionality, so im not too sure.

Again, the Razer one would probably be more useful day to day, but the child within me just says the Cyborg will be awesome. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
I'd go with the razer, love my blackwidow ultimate.
 
I wont tell you how much I spent on the rest of it then >_<
 
Most important thing when fitting a motherboard.... Don't screw it in too tight! As soon as you feel resistance on the screws, stop ********. You don't want to snap anything or have the motherboard bending so that's it touching the case as that can short the motherboard.

It's all pretty straightforward though, the better the case the easier it is too. My first build was a bit of a pain due to the small case but my second one was very easy due to being able to fit the CPU fan after I'd put the motherboard in. Hurray for the Corsair Obsidian 550D.
 
Personally, I'd go for the Saitek. But, seeing I'm outnumbered... ^^
 
1. What is your budget?
£350 Max

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? If gaming say what kind of games
Decent for FM and Scribblenauts, and then just web surfing, aren't a heavy pc gamer

3. Do you need a copy of Windows?
Yeah

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer?
No

5. Do you need a monitor?
No


6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Keyboard/ Mouse/ Speakers/ Headset/ Wifi card/ Card reader etc?
Yep Yep Yep Nope Yep Mabye.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking?
Nah

8. Pre built or will build yourself? Generally a surcharge on prebuilt of €20
Pre Built :)

9. When are you purchasing?
Xmas
10. Any other considerations?
 
Okay, it's finally come the time to think in build or buy. So here I go, if there's anyone kind enough to help. Please.

For buying I've got to these two choices:

A. Intel i7 4770

B. AMD Fx-8350

With A I would add the DVD-RW drive from my current PC, the ATI Radeon HD7750 1GB GDDR5 I currently use, add the 500GB HDD of my current computer. And any video card upgrade would be left pending for the future. Amd buy Windows 8.1 64-bit

With B I would just add the DVD-RW drive and the HDD from my current PC. And buy Windows 8.1 64-bit.

Right now A is cheaper than B, and from a review on which I'd have to investigate more, the AMD consumes more than the Intel and is a little less powerful. So it may be worth buying A and be with weaker graphic card for the moment.

I'm hoping they deliver to Spain, that's an important point: deliver to Spain. I buy in Amazon England because prices are generally lower there, even with delivery and currency conversion.

1. What is your budget?

I'd like to keep it under 900 euros/ 750 pounds

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? If gaming say what kind of games

Gaming, Star Wars: the Old Republic is the most demanding game I currently play. The main purpose is upgradability of motherboard and long life of processor so I can update other things before changing those two parts for the longer time possible. Other demanding are Dragon Age I and II.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows?

Yes. Windows 8.1 64 bit preferably.

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer?

A DVD-R, DVD-RW, ATI Radeon HD 7750 1GB GDDR5, one 500GB HDD (I'd like to get one new of at least 1TB for the new, would it be good idea using my current for the OS?), 4x1GB RAM sticks (I'd like to have 8GB at least, with room to upgrade to at least 16GB). The PSU is a 300W, but I rather have a new one. It's an Inspiron 531 bought in 2008.

5. Do you need a monitor?

No.
5. If yes, what size do you need.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Keyboard/ Mouse/ Speakers/ Headset/ Wifi card/ Card reader etc?
None. I have a router so I assume no wifi card either.

Minimum six USB ports. Eight prefered. At least two frontal.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking?

Nope, I don't want risks and I want long lasting processor + motherboard.

8. Pre built or will build yourself? Generally a surcharge on prebuilt of ?‚?20

Prebuilt is preferred. Building myself is something I'm considering, but the part of placing the processor and the motherboard on the case are two I don't feel all that confident about. So if a build myself option is cheaper and much stronger than a prebuilt I would consider it. I think in order to build one I should first practice, once I have a new one, rebuilding my current a few times to get required confidence.

EDIT: After making some tests, prebuilt is a very strong preference.

9. When are you purchasing?

Now, without hurry.

10. Any other considerations?

- Switch on button is preferred to be in the front panel rather than on top.

Thank you everyone in advance for the replies.

And thanks for offering the help and the help provided in the past, not only for me but for all who asked.
 
Last edited:
I've kept on my research and I'm close to get a PC built from Ankermann PC

A cooler master? case that looks alike a vantage one, an intel i5 4670 which is marginally slower than the i7 4770 but clearly cheaper, 1TB HDD. Doubting between going for a Gigabye Radeon r9 270X 2GB or a Gigabyte radeon r9 270X 4GB or a PNY GeForce GTX 760 2GB and then a 64GB or 128GB SSD or no SSD (leaving it for a future update transplanting the OS from HDD partition to the new SSD on account of not increasing the price, which is already above 900 euros). Windows 8.1 64-bit. Price range depending on choices 921-974 euros.

That's good? A strong recommendation regarding choices? Is Ankermann known for good or bad service?.
 
So, I'm close to settle with a build, these are the specifications at the moment

CPU (Prozessor):
Intel Core i7-4770 4x 3.40GHz, boxed (BX80646I74770)

Mainboard:
MSI B85M-G43 (Sound7.1 G-LAN SATA3 USB 3.0)

Grafikkarte (VGA Card):
Gigabyte Radeon R9 270X WindForce 3X OC 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI,

System Memory (RAM):
8 GB RAM ELIXIR/ G-Skill/ Crucial DDR-3 PC1600 (M2X8G64CB8HB5

SSD:
Keine SSD

more SSD:
Keine 2. SSD

2. Hard Disc (HDD 2):
2TB Toshiba HDD DT01ACA 2TB, SATA 6Gb/s (DT01ACA200)

2. Hard Disc (HDD 2):
Keine 2. Festplatte

2. Disc Drive (Drive 2):
24x DVD-RW Writer Samsung SH-224BB Black, SATA, (SH-224BB/BESE)

2. Disc Drive (Drive 2):
Kein 2. Laufwerk

Power Supply Unit (PSU):
650W 80+ Bronze NT Cooler Master GX RS-650-ACAA-D3 (RS-650-ACAA-

Case (Case):
Cooler Master K380 Case Window Front USB3 (BxHxT: 180x450x470mm)

CPU Cooler (Cooler):
Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Rev. 2 Super Silent CPU cooler (INTEL C

Operating System (Ready to use installed):
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64Bit, DSP/SB (PC) (WN7-00619)

Cardreader intern:
no / kein Cardreader

W-LAN Adapter intern:
Keine WLAN-Karte

Initially I was with a Cooler Master GX Lite 500W that's the requirement of the graphics cards considered. Would it be better to stay with the chosen here or go back to the GX Lite?. Is it to be expected 500W becoming too little for any medium-high graphic card within the next ten years?.

Picked back the intel i7 4770. What's more worth?. the higher i7 4770 performance or the lower i5 4670 price?.

If I were to take down the price I would consider a 64GB SSD drive for the OS and slower starting programs. Worth goign back to i5 4670 and 500W PSU?.

Would a better CPU cooling device be a strong recommendation or that should be enough?

Again thanks in advance.

And thanks even if I get to buy it before you see this.
 
Got my gaming PC in November spent a total of ?616 and it outperforms the Xbox 1 and Ps4

Processor - AMD FX 8350
GPU - AMD Radeon 7950
RAM - 8 GB Corsair DDR3
HD - Seagate 500GB SATA
PSU - 750 W 80+ Powercool
CPU Cooler Phanteks PH-TC14Cs

I done a bit of buying prebuilt and upgraded some myself. I bought the tower with the AMD FX8350, Motherboard included.
I then upgraded the other parts myself.

Anyway ?616 is not that much more than Ps4 or Xbox 1, when you consider the savings on games as they are much cheaper.
I also stuck with all AMD as the consoles are all AMD systems so games are more likely to be optimized for AMD in the future.
 
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