First Build Attempt

[etrodai]

Hi everyone, this is my first attempt at building a pc. It's going to be used for gaming mostly, with some use for audio recording too (but i have an external sound card for that so it's not really an issue)

 

I am really new to this and i'm not sure that everything is compatible, so if anyone could give me any help with this it would be greatly appreciated. I am open to changing this list if anyone has better suggestions, as long as the price doesn't go too high

 

CPU: Intel E8500

[Comp Dude2]

Looks pretty good. I've bought from eclipse computers once before and wont be going back. It was a dvd drive, and despite charging an extoriate ammount for p&p it more than two weeks to get to me. Mainly because they ran out of that particular drive and didnt bother to do anything about it until i phoned to ask what the deal was, it arrived the next day..... was pretty cheesed off because it prevented me from installing an operating system on my new rig, which was otherwise fully functional.

 

Of course they could be fine for you.

[Error 404]

The only thing that I'd change is the OS: go with 64-bit, there is no reason not to, and make sure you buy OEM, its about half of the retail box price

 

 

~Error 404

Edited September 5, 2008 by Error 404

[s0rd3z]

Looks good honestly. I would recommend vista home premium 64bit, cause you won't get to use all four gb's of memory. Other than that I can't think of to much else to change. Vista x64 is getting pretty good support compared to xp x64.

 

IIRC the e8500 is a 3.16? The e8400 is cheaper and a 3.0, so to save a couple dollars you could go with that cpu. Though your savings there would be nominal, the biggest reason I mention it is if you are going to OC. The extra .16 won't matter if you plan to OC anyway seeing that they are at the core really the same cpu as far as I know.

[ARandomOWL]

I would get a 64-bit OS otherwise u r missing out on ~500MB of ur memory. There is no reason why not to these days.

 

I have the same PSU & have never had any problems with it. Seems pretty solid, just like the rest of ur system.

 

Also if u were looking for another retailer I would suggest dabs.com. All the times I have order them I chose the 'Within 5 working days' delivery option & they always delivered within 2 days of placing my order. They have decent prices & brilliant customer service.

[etrodai]

thanks guys. Comp Dude2, I'll have a look about for other sites, see where's cheapest.

 

the reason i was going to go for 32 bit is that i use a lot of recording software too and i wasn't sure if i'd have any bother running it on 64 bit. If i thought that it would work i'd be happy to go for 64 bit.

 

I'll look into it and see if i can find anything out

[etrodai]

It seems all my software should run fine in 64bit so 64 bit it is.

 

thanks AJW256, i'm having a look on DABS just now

[paulktreg]

It seems all my software should run fine in 64bit so 64 bit it is.

 

thanks AJW256, i'm having a look on DABS just now

 

Have a look at Scan

 

Similar prices and great service.

 

Regards

 

Paul

[martian_aphid]

I have used dabs, aria.co.uk and overclockers.co.uk. The latter are usually better for more higher end items.

 

I would definitely recommend the ATI HD4870 for two reasons:

 

1) Its cheaper than the 260 at least the one you are showing, I have seen 260s in the 170 price range but I got my 4870 for a shade over 170 and notice that in most reviews it edges the 260.

 

2) It makes more sense on a P45 to go with the ATI cards since you instantly have the option of improving your graphics performance by adding an additional card at a later date. With the 260 you don't have that option. Of course if you want maximum performance from a crossfire setup I do recommend the intel boards with 2 16x pcie slots, ie. X38/48