How to build a new pc? advice welcome!

danmanchester

Hello everyone, I want to buy a new pc but not from one of the High Street "fantastic package deal" type of retailers Tiny/PC World etc...as I made that mistake when I bought my first pc from Time!
Although I am not an advanced techie..I do feel sufficiently confident enough to assemble/build my own PC as I've made various upgrades/modifications on this machine I'm using now. I want to end up with something top-end high spec 64 bit etc and can handle latest gaming requirements. Would it be better to self-build or have made or "off the shelf"?
Can anyone point me in the direction of some websites that give advice/tutorials on this and maybe links to sellers of components etc?
Any ideas/suggestions much appreciated.

italiastar

I think you'd be better off buying a built one - avoiding makes whos name begin with the letter T!, high street retailers starting with D, C or P - that leave Dell or Aldi. I you want top eng, Aldi should still have theirs for £750 - you can't get more top end than that - match it up with a samsung 19" flat screen from eBuyer for £138 and your away. Dell have got deals from £350. People will say you can build you own, but it will probably cost you a bit more, you have no warranty and Mr gates will not supply software to you for the same price that he supplies Micheal Dell and co. Don't let you experience with Time put you off - in my experience that is what is to be expected.

MiserlyMartin

I second the post above, a few months ago I spent a long time researching specs, picking my components and pricing up my new pc build. Then I compared it with what I could get from Dell. I essentially wanted a quiet pc and picked quiet fans and case. A Dell was a few hundred pounds cheaper (with a legit copy of windows!). Even a 'non-quiet' one was cheaper to buy than build and I did build my last two pcs. I read that the Dell Dimension 5000 is a very quiet pc so i took the risk and ordered one of those. I figured that if it was too noisy I could modify it. But it is whisper quiet and I am very pleased with it.

If you do decide to buy pre-built I would avoid the big high street shops eg pc world and dixons, you can get cheaper from companies such as Mesh or Watford electronics. Though of course I would recommend a Dell. The only downside from Dell is that they have Indian call centres and the components are made in China. They are assembled in Ireland though. Though its difficult to buy British anything these days.

Joe_Bloggs

If you want to get into building PCs then I suggest you practice taking them apart and re-assembling the components. If you make your own system you get the choice of case, fans, heatsink, power supply, processor, motherboard, mouse, memory, keyboard, sound card, DVD rom etc. You can build in an upgrade path by avoiding manufacturer specific components. You also get the oppertunity to overclock if you spent more on the PSU, memory and heatsinks.
A common difficulty is when you get a high end case and have to put the spacers in to support the motherboard. A spacer in the wrong place will create a short under the motherboard. Use some antistatic foam to create a template using a felt tip through the motherboard holes onto the anti static foam. One scratch by a screwdriver or other sharp object and the motherboard is dead !
Get an anti-static wrist strap and research anti-static proceedures.
J_B.

apintofstella

https://www.buildyourown.org.uk

Go down the self-build road - it's much nicer knowing EXACTLY what's in your PC. Plus if you get stuck there's plenty folk here you can ask
I saved over £250 going down this route on my latest SLI beast ... Now nicely earning me interest in my ISA.

Good luck

HeMan_3

Buliding a PC is like lego once you have all the PC compnents, when I first built mine, I did'nt have a clue what I was doing but it worked out just fine. Just make sure you get compnents that work togethier.

danmanchester

Thanks for all the advice and ideas guys, plenty of food for thought. I'll definitely be spending some time on that "buildyourown" website - thanks apintofstella ! Just what I was looking for.

apintofstella

Just one more thing - if you decide to how can i say it 'crank it up a notch' and go for an SLI system there's info at http://www.slizone.com/content/slizone/build.html about exactly which components are certified to be compatible.

Best of luck

dccarm

I built my first PC recently, also with the aid of https://www.buildyourown.org.uk. I can highly recommend the experience. As I was a bit nervous of wasting money, I offered to replace my Dad's ancient PII PC with a budget model and then only charged him for the parts. In the end I built a decent PC with respectable brand name parts (other than the case and power supply) for only £140 and had a ball doing it.

One thing though, is to make sure your parts are all compatible before you start. It's very easy to buy memory that doesn't match your motherboard or processor, or to buy the wrong type of graphics card. That's where the buildyourown.org.uk forums are brilliant, as you can post your proposed spec and people will point out any possible clashes.

culpepper

our first self build was a kit from Maplins.Since then Ive built others and realised Maplins was not really that cheap but it did give me a lot of confidence as I knew all the parts were compatible and there was someone to answer any questions should they arise.I start off by looking at which processor I want to get and then finding a motherboard that supports it and has the other features I want.The one I have now was chosen because I could have more than 2 memory modules in it,I can upgrade the processor later on,it had AGPX8 for a graphics card and it has ethernet and USB.

wolfman

Use

https://www.anandtech.com
https://www.tomshardware.com
https://www.sharkeyextreme.com
https://www.pcpro.co.uk

For reviews etc... on components. That way you'll get the best for your money.