[The Master]

I'm looking at replacing my PC and I think I'm ready for the challenge of building my own.

The drives (hard and optical) and graphics cards in my current PC are all fine so I'm planning on keeping those, and I've no need for an OS (I get Windows 7 free through my university), keyboard, mouse etc. In other words, all I need is a motherboard, processor+heatsink/fan, RAM and case+PSU (my case is a bit mangled and current [chortle] PSU is a bit low on wattage in this day and age).

My budget is around £300, give or take, and this is what I've put together on eBuyer:

Motherboard - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/270702
RAM - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/264750 (recommended by eBuyer for with the above)
Processor - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/287683
HS/Fan - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/253477
Case+PSU - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167439

Including next day delivery, that comes to £309.02.

Basically...how does that look for the money? Is there anything anyone thinks would be better?

Ta in advance

[Mr X]

The Master, on 05 January 2012 - 22:02, said:

I'm looking at replacing my PC and I think I'm ready for the challenge of building my own.

The drives (hard and optical) and graphics cards in my current PC are all fine so I'm planning on keeping those, and I've no need for an OS (I get Windows 7 free through my university), keyboard, mouse etc. In other words, all I need is a motherboard, processor+heatsink/fan, RAM and case+PSU (my case is a bit mangled and current [chortle] PSU is a bit low on wattage in this day and age).

My budget is around £300, give or take, and this is what I've put together on eBuyer:

Motherboard - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/270702
RAM - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/264750 (recommended by eBuyer for with the above)
Processor - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/287683
HS/Fan - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/253477
Case+PSU - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167439

Including next day delivery, that comes to £309.02.

Basically...how does that look for the money? Is there anything anyone thinks would be better?

Ta in advance

Looks pretty good - although the case is a tad expensive, you could probably save yourself a little there.

e-buyer also do bundles which sometimes can be better value. Their current AMD ones are here. Dont think theres anything better than what you've selected though.

I cant believe how cheap DDR3 memory is! Especially annoying as my mb will only take DDR2 and its mega expensive in comparison

[The Master]

Thanks.

On the subject of the case (and this may seem a stupid question) - how do I know the case I choose has enough space on the back for all the PCI(e) slots on the motherboard?

EDIT: scratch that. It tells me in the description the number of expansion slots

This post has been edited by The Master: 06 January 2012 - 00:44

[Gaz]

This isn't really anything to do with this topic, but it's amazing how much you can get for money these days. My first PC was a treat from my Grandparents and was £1300ish for what was at the time a mid-range computer.

Pentium 150MHz, 16MB Ram, 1.6GB Hard Drive, 14.5" CRT Monitor. Blimey.

[Mr X]

Gaz, on 06 January 2012 - 00:23, said:

This isn't really anything to do with this topic, but it's amazing how much you can get for money these days. My first PC was a treat from my Grandparents and was £1300ish for what was at the time a mid-range computer.

Pentium 150MHz, 16MB Ram, 1.6GB Hard Drive, 14.5" CRT Monitor. Blimey.

Same. My first PC was a similar spec, maybe a 100MHz pentium. Cost about £1000.

I think my phone has better specs than that

[Loki]

My First PC was a 32mb 200Mhz Pentium with a huge 3gb hard drive. Really was a beast! Heroes of Might and Magic was lightning fast. It is in my shed, I don't think I have the heart to fire it up. It cost three times as much as my latest laptop.

[welshbairn]

Showing my age here, but my first computer was an Olivetti, around £500 I think. Total memory...512k...

[Ad Lib]

My dad's first computer (as opposed to a ZX Spectrum) was an Apricot with 32MB hard disk drive. It cost £500 at the time.

[Mr X]

My first computer was a Commodore 16. That post was just my first PC.

I have no idea how much the C16 cost, it was a Christmas present when I was about 9

[Gaz]

Mr X, on 06 January 2012 - 15:22, said:

My first computer was a Commodore 16. That post was just my first PC.

I have no idea how much the C16 cost, it was a Christmas present when I was about 9

I had a C16 too!

[RiG]

First computer I had (i.e. my parents) was a Pentium 75 MHz monster, 16 Mb of RAM and a 1Gb hard drive. Woof!

This was one of the first games I played on it:

[Loki]

Mr X, on 06 January 2012 - 15:22, said:

My first computer was a Commodore 16. That post was just my first PC.

I have no idea how much the C16 cost, it was a Christmas present when I was about 9

C16s ruled. Although they were pretty shite. I just remember that god awful platform game Punchy that took forever to load and I thought was amazing at the time. I bought a tape Indoor Soccer and played it relentlessly one Sunday so much that the transformer power pack that powered the C16 melted. I had such a cry that day.

[Mr X]

Loki, on 06 January 2012 - 16:11, said:

C16s ruled. Although they were pretty shite. I just remember that god awful platform game Punchy that took forever to load and I thought was amazing at the time. I bought a tape Indoor Soccer and played it relentlessly one Sunday so much that the transformer power pack that powered the C16 melted. I had such a cry that day.

I too remember Punchy as being amazing at the time. I have no desire to realise that it wasnt.

[53_and_counting]

zx spectrum for me, remember being able to buy tapes of games for about 3 quid in the local asian shops

nothing worse than waiting 10-20mins for a fucking game to load, only for it to be fucked

[The Master]

Our first family PC was a Packard Bell, bought a week or so before my 12th birthday (October 1999). It had a huge 6.4GB hard disk, whopping 64MB of RAM and lightning-fast 800MHz processor.

I can confirm that my phone definitely is better specified than that!

(And OK, those specs aren't quite as bad as those posted by others, but it's still scary that less than 13 years later something smaller than my hand has a better spec.)

[The Master]

53_and_counting, on 06 January 2012 - 19:12, said:

zx spectrum for me, remember being able to buy tapes of games for about 3 quid in the local asian shops

nothing worse than waiting 10-20mins for a fucking game to load, only for it to be fucked

A sound that will mean nothing to anyone born after, what, 1990-ish?

[Drooper]

On the subject of getting good PCs for not a lot of poppy, I've just ordered a new machine from Chillblast.

Core i5 2500K 3.3Ghz processor
8Gb Ram
1TB hard drive
21.5 inch monitor (admittedly pretty basic but HD ready)

The rest (motherboard, PSU etc) is pretty capable if basic fare, and it includes two USB3 ports and some other nice features.

I upgraded the PSU cooling fan and case, and the lot comes in at £530 with a 2 year return to base warranty.

I have to say, this is a lot more than I expected for the money.

[Tonsilitis]

re the original post, I would generally buy memory from crucial.co.uk. Its a major brand and its cheaper for 8GB than the site you have. The case is fine and my present computer is in one. I know it adds a bit to cost but generally intel is ahead of AMD in the processor stakes. An i5 would cost maybe £70 more but outperform the AMD. Depends what you want the computer for of course and if its web surfing and basic office applications, you will not notice the difference but if you want to play latest games or do video editing etc, the i5 is more capable.

My first computer was as a young accountant and I was put in charge of ordering a computer for work. It cost circa £120k in the mid seventies and was an ICL 2903. It was lifted in by crane and lived in an air conditioned sealed room measuring circa 30 x 20 ft. It had 16k memory and two ICL EDS60 disk drives which were standalone and about the size of a washing machine. They had removable disk cartridges that had maybe 8 disk platters stacked one above the other and had a remarkable for the day 60mb of storage each.