Building PC feedback needed!

Dacads · 07-07-2009, 02:33 PM

Hi all

Basically I'm building my own pc for the first time and need some feedback/advice from you guys/girls on whether it's good, bad, what could be improved ect.
Oh and I'm from UK so please don't post links to US sites such as newegg

anyway I'm saving at least £100 because my brothers friend kindly gave his whole PC to us for free, so we got the case, dvd drive and fans so I decided to updgrade it because it sux it's amd athlon 1700@1.49GHz, 512mb ram so yea u get the drift.

So yeah i'm keeping the case as it has 2 ideal fans and a 80gb hdd which will do for now:p

anyway few days ago I got a 580W PSU for £30 which is brilliant price!
Comes with PCI-e connectors and so on. Did have a good think about it as it's £30 but it was £50 before and it is from maplin so it isn't going to be a pile of poop!
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=223827

The processor will be an AMD CPU due to my budget so I am getting this foxconn socket am2+ mobo! - £34.99
http://misco.co.uk/applications/Sear...377&Sku=138944

Processor/CPU will be AMD Athlon x2 7850 BE @ 2.8GHz - £50.99
They provide such good prices compared to Intel, I guess this is due to the quality but I wouldn't know as never tried compared the two, but yeah i'm happy with this 2.8GHz black edition CPU which I should be able to OC!
http://misco.co.uk/applications/Sear...836&CatId=2964

RAM will be 4GB Kingston PC2-6400 800MHz - £33.99
Will probably change it though, I usually look at the PC2-6400 part and MHz but then I've seen people talking about some kind of timings which i need to learn about.
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/858220...t/Product.html

And last but not least the GPU will be a sapphire ati radeon 4670 512mb DDR3 - £59.99
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/976987...d/Product.html

final price will be around £210, so I think this is a brilliant price for what will be a decent gaming pc.
I was gonna go for a more low end gfx card to save money but I thought it wouldn't be worth having dual core processor and 4gb ram with a low end gfx card.

So yeah I've done my research and i'm hoping to buy all these parts(PSU already brought) soon. Please post your opinions/views on whether this build and suggestions on what could be improved ect..!

Dacads

**koala** · 07-07-2009, 07:25 PM

Looks good to me. The PSU will be ok for the HD4670, and the CPU can be overclocked (don't push it too far though). You might need to upgrade the cooling system and replace the CPU thermal pad with some higher quality Arctic Silver paste if you decide to overclock, to prevent overheating.

You'll need a 64bit operating system to fully utilise the 4GB RAM. If you're using a 32bit OS, 2GB should be enough, depending on what kind of programs you'll be running. I have 2GB PC2-6400 and multitask heavily with no problems and minimal use of the swap file.

Kingston is a good make, so you shouldn't need to change your selection.

**Tyree** · 07-08-2009, 08:41 AM

I would go with the 2x2 GB of RAM. It's cheap and it doesn't hurt a thing to have it.

Dacads · 07-15-2009, 12:57 PM

hi again, about the gfx card do I go with the sapphire, msi or asus for radeon 4670 because they all have the same price :s

Oh and could you also recommend a motherboard for overclocking the listed processor.

Thanks

**Tyree** · 07-15-2009, 04:22 PM

I prefer Sapphire and PowerColor brands for ATI chipped graphics cards MSI and Asus are good also. Go with the best price.

Dacads · 08-03-2009, 10:48 AM

hello again people

anyway lucky I ain't bought these parts yet as I still got to sell my 360

anyway luckily i've been doing some more research and found better amd x2 socket am3 CPU's for £50!
http://www.scan.co.uk/Index.aspx?NT=1-0-10-626-0
The x2 245 is 2.9GHz so faster than x2 7850 I was gonna get and also cheaper!
So I really need help on deciding now, so much choices to pick

Dacads

**wrench97** · 08-03-2009, 04:54 PM

The X2 245 is a AM3 Socket only CPU so you need a AM3 board and DDR3 ram.

Dacads · 08-04-2009, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrench97

The X2 245 is a AM3 Socket only CPU so you need a AM3 board and DDR3 ram.

oh damn, thanks for informing me!

I'll have to see if I can find some DDR3 ram for good price then

Dacads · 08-04-2009, 10:06 AM

Sorry for double post but you know can't delete/edit.
Anyway I was wondering will overall speed of these am3 cpu's be affected if I run them on an am2+ mobo. I've seen a few am2+ mobos it says that the bus speed will be downgraded from ht 3.0 to ht 1.0, does this mean the GHz will change?

Dacads

**wrench97** · 08-04-2009, 11:49 AM

The AM3 only CPU's will only work on a AM3 socket.

predat0r · 08-05-2009, 01:59 PM

Couldn't you use this motherboard?
GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128387

it supports am3 and uses ddr2 ram

Dacads · 08-05-2009, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by predat0r

Couldn't you use this motherboard?
GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128387

it supports am3 and uses ddr2 ram

thanks for suggestion but that board is over budget for me

Not to worry though I've decided to go with an amd athlon x2 7750 @ 2.7GHz.
Nothing final but hopefully I will be placing order soon:

07-07-2009, 02:33 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dacads Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: UK Posts: 225 OS: XP SP2 My System	Building PC feedback needed! Hi all Basically I'm building my own pc for the first time and need some feedback/advice from you guys/girls on whether it's good, bad, what could be improved ect. Oh and I'm from UK so please don't post links to US sites such as newegg anyway I'm saving at least £100 because my brothers friend kindly gave his whole PC to us for free, so we got the case, dvd drive and fans so I decided to updgrade it because it sux it's amd athlon 1700@1.49GHz, 512mb ram so yea u get the drift. So yeah i'm keeping the case as it has 2 ideal fans and a 80gb hdd which will do for now:p anyway few days ago I got a 580W PSU for £30 which is brilliant price! Comes with PCI-e connectors and so on. Did have a good think about it as it's £30 but it was £50 before and it is from maplin so it isn't going to be a pile of poop! http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=223827 The processor will be an AMD CPU due to my budget so I am getting this foxconn socket am2+ mobo! - £34.99 http://misco.co.uk/applications/Sear...377&Sku=138944 Processor/CPU will be AMD Athlon x2 7850 BE @ 2.8GHz - £50.99 They provide such good prices compared to Intel, I guess this is due to the quality but I wouldn't know as never tried compared the two, but yeah i'm happy with this 2.8GHz black edition CPU which I should be able to OC! http://misco.co.uk/applications/Sear...836&CatId=2964 RAM will be 4GB Kingston PC2-6400 800MHz - £33.99 Will probably change it though, I usually look at the PC2-6400 part and MHz but then I've seen people talking about some kind of timings which i need to learn about. http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/858220...t/Product.html And last but not least the GPU will be a sapphire ati radeon 4670 512mb DDR3 - £59.99 http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/976987...d/Product.html final price will be around £210, so I think this is a brilliant price for what will be a decent gaming pc. I was gonna go for a more low end gfx card to save money but I thought it wouldn't be worth having dual core processor and 4gb ram with a low end gfx card. So yeah I've done my research and i'm hoping to buy all these parts(PSU already brought) soon. Please post your opinions/views on whether this build and suggestions on what could be improved ect..! Dacads Last edited by Dacads; 07-07-2009 at 02:47 PM.

07-07-2009, 07:25 PM	#2 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 13,046 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: Building PC feedback needed! Looks good to me. The PSU will be ok for the HD4670, and the CPU can be overclocked (don't push it too far though). You might need to upgrade the cooling system and replace the CPU thermal pad with some higher quality Arctic Silver paste if you decide to overclock, to prevent overheating. You'll need a 64bit operating system to fully utilise the 4GB RAM. If you're using a 32bit OS, 2GB should be enough, depending on what kind of programs you'll be running. I have 2GB PC2-6400 and multitask heavily with no problems and minimal use of the swap file. Kingston is a good make, so you shouldn't need to change your selection. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here TSF Articles - Tech Handbook

07-08-2009, 08:41 AM	#3 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 8,957 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: Building PC feedback needed! I would go with the 2x2 GB of RAM. It's cheap and it doesn't hurt a thing to have it. __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

07-15-2009, 12:57 PM	#4 (permalink)
Dacads Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: UK Posts: 225 OS: XP SP2 My System	Re: Building PC feedback needed! hi again, about the gfx card do I go with the sapphire, msi or asus for radeon 4670 because they all have the same price :s Oh and could you also recommend a motherboard for overclocking the listed processor. Thanks

07-15-2009, 04:22 PM	#5 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 8,957 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: Building PC feedback needed! I prefer Sapphire and PowerColor brands for ATI chipped graphics cards MSI and Asus are good also. Go with the best price. __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

08-03-2009, 10:48 AM	#6 (permalink)
Dacads Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: UK Posts: 225 OS: XP SP2 My System	Re: Building PC feedback needed! hello again people anyway lucky I ain't bought these parts yet as I still got to sell my 360 anyway luckily i've been doing some more research and found better amd x2 socket am3 CPU's for £50! http://www.scan.co.uk/Index.aspx?NT=1-0-10-626-0 The x2 245 is 2.9GHz so faster than x2 7850 I was gonna get and also cheaper! So I really need help on deciding now, so much choices to pick Dacads

08-03-2009, 04:54 PM	#7 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 21,212 OS: Win7	Re: Building PC feedback needed! The X2 245 is a AM3 Socket only CPU so you need a AM3 board and DDR3 ram. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

08-04-2009, 10:06 AM	#9 (permalink)
Dacads Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: UK Posts: 225 OS: XP SP2 My System	Re: Building PC feedback needed! Sorry for double post but you know can't delete/edit. Anyway I was wondering will overall speed of these am3 cpu's be affected if I run them on an am2+ mobo. I've seen a few am2+ mobos it says that the bus speed will be downgraded from ht 3.0 to ht 1.0, does this mean the GHz will change? Dacads

08-04-2009, 11:49 AM	#10 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 21,212 OS: Win7	Re: Building PC feedback needed! The AM3 only CPU's will only work on a AM3 socket. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

08-05-2009, 01:59 PM	#11 (permalink)
predat0r Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 53 OS: windows vista 32bit	Re: Building PC feedback needed! Couldn't you use this motherboard? GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128387 it supports am3 and uses ddr2 ram