Building My First Computer

[Deleted]

Hey all, so I've decided I'm going to build my own computer. I mainly just play wow and sc2 and hope to play Diablo 3 with propper gfx once that comes out. I'm also an architecture student so I use a lot of Photoshop and AutoCAD and other 3D Modeling packages.

I've been playing on a Dell Vostro 1500 laptop for the last 5/6 years (I know . . . ) so I'm looking to finally get a desktop that doesn't stall and overheat and only give me 30fps at the best of times

Unfortunately I live in Ireland so I believe my list of retailers is smaller than if I lived in the US or even the UK, so I've found Scan.co.uk which seems to ship to Ireland and the prices seem decent so i guess I'll post the specs here then.

Please keep in mind i know -nothing- about computers so any help at all would be great!

Coolermaster Elite 370, Black, Mid Tower Case w/o PSU
Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, 1155, Sandy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.3GHz, GPU 850Mhz, 6MB Cache, 95W, OEM
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Classic, DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333) Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.50V
600W Corsair CMPSU-600CXv2 Builder Series, 80 PLUS, 80% Eff', EPS 12V, 120mm Fan, Single 12V Rail
1GB EVGA GTX 460 SE, 3400MHz GDDR5, GPU 648MHz, Shader Clock 1296MHz, 288 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I/ mHDMI
500GB Seagate ST3500413AS Barracuda 7200.12, SATA 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.5ms, NCQ
Asus P8P67 Pro Rev3, Intel P67, S1155, PCI-E 2.0 x16, DDR3 2200(OC), SATA 6Gb/s, SATA RAID
23" Samsung SyncMaster 2333T Full HD DVI/VGA 1920x1080 300cd/m2 50000:1 8ms TFT Monitor

Total: £718.09

My budget is really anywhere around £700 pounds (monitor included)

Apologies for the long names, I don't really know what to leave in and leave out :P And I also can't post links yet so that's why, but if you just copy and paste the names into scan.co.uk you should be able to see it.

So if anyone can see of any reason why this isn't a decent set up if you could let me know it'd be great, i.e is the case really bad or the gfx card etc etc as I know NOTHING about computers and I'm looking to order this fairly soon.

Cheers guys, appreciate it

Tsu

[Deathguard]

hello Tsukimi, if you want your computer to cost less (thats what i understood you want), you could replace your CPU with an intel core i3 540, and your GPU (graphics card) with a GTS 450 (costs 75 euros less)... that would save you much money, and also it would be still a descent computer for the games you wanna play

[Deleted]

I think you need a monitor with a 5ms response time. That has 8
Not sure if this is just some nonsense just like "Human eye cannot see more than 30 fps" bullshit.

[Deleted]

Stolenberg could you please stop that fucking bullcrap on every single thread on this forum?..

[Skelly]

A monitor with 5ms or less response time would be good. But as far as components go, stay with the i5, its an amazing cpu. I'm not too sure about your HDD, the SATA 6Gb/s is useless for hard disks, so get something cheap if you can. RAM is fine.. Upgrade to a GTX560 if you can afford it, but if you can't, just stick with the 460, still an amazing card

[Djinni]

3ms isnt going to affect your gaming. not at standard level, at competition level you might make a case for it.

Overall fairly sounbd setup. although I dont see an optical drive.

[Deleted]

the 460, still an amazing car

I believe the SE version is crap. a normal 768mb 460 would be better than it.

[kailtas]

I see nothing wrong with this build.

Eccept that im a WD fan when it comes to HDDs. WD caviar black is the best 7200RPM HDD on the market if you ask me.

[Skelly]

I believe the SE version is crap. a normal 768mb 460 would be better than it.

Don't get a 768MB version.. The money you'll save isn't worth the performance difference in the two models

[Deleted]

Cheers lads really appreciate it, as for the hard drive could anyone recommend a decent one from that website that I linked? Again, really appreciate all the input!

[Skelly]

Cheers lads really appreciate it, as for the hard drive could anyone recommend a decent one from that website that I linked? Again, really appreciate all the input!

Sorry, didn't look at the website before. The drive you picked is definitely the best bang for your buck

[Darkelementz]

Maybe it is just me, but I've always seen 600 watt PSUs as being absolute bare minimum for machines concerned about having great performance, especially for graphics. 700-800 is where i'd aim, as it's a better place for longevity (if you plan to replace the GPU at some point in time)

[Deleted]

Do I need to buy a CPU cooler?

[kailtas]

Do I need to buy a CPU cooler?

If you wish to overclock. Otherwise, the stock cooler will be sufficient.

[Deleted]

Okay cool, I dunno if I'll be overclocking for now, but if I was to overclock in the future, I guess I can just get one then? Or should I just buy one now if I ever intend to overclock? Could you maybe point me in the direction of a cheap/decent one on scan.co.uk?

[Cudelty]

Get this http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coole...m2-am2plus-am3.

[Deleted]

And will the CPU come with a cooler itself if I don't buy one myself? And I've heard I need thermal paste or something too? Arrgh so confusing!!!

[Djinni]

And will the CPU come with a cooler itself if I don't buy one myself? And I've heard I need thermal paste or something too? Arrgh so confusing!!!

Only if you're using an aftermarket cooler, if you're using a stock cooler, paste is already pre-applied.

[Deleted]

Okay thanks a million. And that will come with my CPU ye?

[Djinni]

Okay thanks a million. And that will come with my CPU ye?

Yes, It's why its called a stock CPU cooler, its the one that comes with the CPU.

(Sorry had to pad out the message somehow...)