DigitalDarkness is here . . . . !!

[DigitalDarkness]

Hi guys and girls . .!! ( Glad to see there is a mix here. :D )

I've been long awaiting the first major pc build, now its dawning closer and closer.
Being my life ( well last year ) has been dedicated to work work and . . . . yup you guessed it more work, for my missus and our lil one :D
Now is my chance to break free from routine and the absolute awfulness of pre-built gaming consoles, ( xbox 360 ) and shall be selling all to do with it in order to build my first monster. :P
Its going to take its time as unfortunately for me money is rarely in my hands long enough to spend it, so its a case of siphoning it off . . . . . Shhhhhhhhh.!!

Anywhos,

My name is karl and im from Dover,kent.
Look forward to chatting and some help maybe.

[codemonkey]

Welcome. Recently converted back to PC gaming from console gaming myself. You're gonna love it

Enjoy the forums! :D

[DigitalDarkness]

Thanks,

Been awaiting this chance for ages, shame its gonna be a piece by piece build :(
Ive also noticed finance option has gone :( ( was going to be my main option buy a standard-ish pc then mod . . . . )

[codemonkey]

Thanks,

Been awaiting this chance for ages, shame its gonna be a piece by piece build :(
Ive also noticed finance option has gone :( ( was going to be my main option buy a standard-ish pc then mod . . . . )

The V12 finance is currently gone, but there will be new finance options coming in the following months :thumbs:

[DigitalDarkness]

Brill, still going to start buying parts now. :P

[Charlotte]

Welcome to the forum :)

[DigitalDarkness]

Thanks,!
Glad to become part of what seems a G-rrrrrreat comunity.

[Mamacita]

Don't forget to get yourself on Steam! :)

[vaio]

Greetings-enjoy your build :)

[DigitalDarkness]

Don't forget to get yourself on Steam! :)

I deffo shall do once the ol pc is built . . . . . gonna take ages. :P

[codemonkey]

I deffo shall do once the ol pc is built . . . . . gonna take ages. :P

Decided on an AMD or Intel platform yet? ATI or nVidia? Come on man, plans and details so we can overanalyse and discuss at length :D

[DigitalDarkness]

I would like to go amd and ati for the prices alsone its won me over, BUT my dream would be to go intel i5 . . . . . . . like i say i need sme help and guidance on the best parts for my budget so i can get the "best bang for my buck" :P

[codemonkey]

I would like to go amd and ati for the prices alsone its won me over, BUT my dream would be to go intel i5 . . . . . . . like i say i need sme help and guidance on the best parts for my budget so i can get the "best bang for my buck" :P

Definately recommend ATI on the GPU stakes for bang for buck at the moment. The 5770 is an awesome budget card that still rocks games like Bad Company 2 (and its DX11)

[Mechanics Fan]

I would like to go amd and ati for the prices alsone its won me over, BUT my dream would be to go intel i5 . . . . . . . like i say i need sme help and guidance on the best parts for my budget so i can get the "best bang for my buck" :P

If you have a look at the "Forum Built Computers" (http://forum.novatech.co.uk/showthread.php?t=21933) thread, opinion on best bang for buck leans towards an AMD/ATI combination.

[DigitalDarkness]

Lol thought s :P

I am going to buy myslef a barbonesystem to start with i have a MAXIMUM of 200 this week, any ideas?

[Jonny2Bad]

Are you not comfortable with putting the seperate parts together? As this would give you more choice and is better in the long run. In that price range the amd quad seems to be favourite but my advice would probably save a little more and buy seperate components for your true monster ;)

[Jonny2Bad]

Oh and welcome btw

[DigitalDarkness]

I would like to do so . . . . . but to start i dont know what to do . . . . :(

[codemonkey]

I would like to do so . . . . . but to start i dont know what to do . . . . :(

If your near Portsmouth we are running PC building workshops to teach you everything you need to know. The first one has just started and will run for the next few weeks. Once that's finished we should be running another one.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/workshops

[DigitalDarkness]

Ok i have 200 now and its itchng to be spent, i want amd, everything, what should i get to startwith?

[DigitalDarkness]

If your near Portsmouth we are running PC building workshops to teach you everything you need to know. The first one has just started and will run for the next few weeks. Once that's finished we should be running another one.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/workshops

I have "some" experiance with building pc's ive done one or two in the past but may need to catch up with the "latest" parts.

[DigitalDarkness]

So far i have chosen:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/Motherboards/AMDAM3AMDChipsetMotherboards/Gigabyte/GA-MA78LM-S2H.html

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/Processors/AMDAthlonX2AndX4/AMD/HDZ550WFGIBOX.html


http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/Memory-PCAndLaptop/DDR2-PC2-5300/667MHz/Novatech/ x 2

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/Cases/Cases/Novatech/FANTASY.html

so far this s all i can afford this time around well>?? is it ok to start with?

[DigitalDarkness]

Just ordered the above.

Looking forward to it, i shall post piccies when i get it tomorow. :P

[system7]

You were too quick there, my friend. You might as well have got DDR2-800 rather than DDR2-667 for a small performance boost, and maybe some overclock headroom. But it'll work!

Your Gigabyte GA-MA78LM-S2H AM2+ motherboard looks OK:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3373#ov

Should be alright. Seems to have most of the goodies! :)

[DigitalDarkness]

I knew would be shooting myself in the foot, with the memory but it was ALL i could afford :(
i like the idea of "unlocking" the fourth core . . . . . . ii have a 120gb hdd for the moment only niggle is its 2.5 inch but, itll do for the moment.

[system7]

Performance differences will be minimal with the memory, and any 80W Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition overclock will mainly be done by changing the multiplier and CPU voltage. So that should be fine. Don't be overambitious on a cheapish motherboard. CPU Power regulators are fairly limited, so you'll want to keep the CPU below 125W for sure for reliability and remember that unlocking cores will bump power up too.

In other words, take your time in getting to know the motherboard and its bios. :cool:

[Martini1991]

A 760G having a SB710 since when :S?

[Mechanics Fan]

From the spec of the Gigabyte GA-MA78LM-S2H AM3 DDR2 Motherboard:

Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer AMD
Chipset Type North Bridge: AMD 760G
South Bridge: AMD SB710

This is confirmed on the Gigabyte website: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3193#sp

[Martini1991]

I never said it didn't lol, I was unaware when they released new 760G boards.

[Mechanics Fan]

I never said it didn't lol, I was unaware when they released new 760G boards.

Martin, I had to google to find out that SB710 related to the South Bridge as I have only had Intel boards. So I'm glad that you posed the question, yet another small step in my long quest for a sembance of technical know-how!

John

[DigitalDarkness]

Hi guys ive just notice i have bought the micro atx will it be ok with the case u=i have bought?? its only for a while untill i can purchase a much better one?

[Mechanics Fan]

Hi guys ive just notice i have bought the micro atx will it be ok with the case u=i have bought?? its only for a while untill i can purchase a much better one?

I shouldn't worry as in the spec for the case it states "ATX Form Factor 12" x 10.5 " or smaller". One thing you may want to check with a more tech-savvy forum member is the 400W PSU that comes with the case.

[DigitalDarkness]

Yeah, i know it may not be great, . . . .
Will do untill i spend more. :P
Now all i need is a decent Hdd,monitor and then better memory.
I will be having a gfx card but ill save for a decent one. :P

[Martini1991]

You'll need a branded PSU before you're able to use a GFX card.

And believe me, that PC's better than the first I built, only over half a year ago lol.

[DigitalDarkness]

i think the cpu is a steal lol, i will be going to be using it for gaming soon so i will be needing t get "branded" psu,gfx card, better ram, better board and eventualy better case lol.
im going to run it via my tv for a bit. . . . . .should be ok.

[Martini1991]

It's a good CPU, I've worked with and unlocked 2 or 3, not sure.

[A Ginger Sheep]

i think you have been a bit hasty with your buying. personally i would have bought a case, psu, hdd and odd with the 200 and then bought the rest with your next paycheck. but looks ok for a low cost build :)

[DigitalDarkness]

Me to i know it was rushed, but need something asap, kinda impatiant. lol.

[system7]

You'll be alright, mate. If it was complete poo, I would have suggested you phoned Nova and changed the order. :D

Should work pretty well as it goes. Way better than anything you'd buy in the High Street. I expect you'll be going to Maplin to find a few Molex to SATA power adaptors, because the PSU looks a bit cheap and cheerful, but if it works, that's all there is to it. You can add stuff as you go along. :thumbs:

Don't know what you are doing for an Operating System, but Ubuntu will work just fine in the short term. It's a free download.

[DigitalDarkness]

Yeah,

Ive got ubuntu lucid linx ( 10.4 ) and a few copies of LEGITIMATE windows 7.
do they./you deliver on saturdays??
Only if i can wangle some more pennies i will order a cheap 19" monitor also.

[DigitalDarkness]

As for the case i believe it has all of around . . . . 1 sata power cable. . . . lmao.
thats what the reviews lead me to believe.

[system7]

You might put your location in your details. Some one might PM you with a cheap monitor you can pick up locally. We're like that here. ;)

People are often throwing out the older stuff, even though it's quite serviceable. The upgrade bug. :D

[DigitalDarkness]

You might put your location in your details. Some one might PM you with a cheap monitor you can pick up locally. We're like that here. ;)

People are often throwing out the older stuff, even though it's quite serviceable. The upgrade bug. :D


Thanks mate!! Will do. :P

You guys have been so great.

[waba]

wat games were u plannin to play karl?

[DigitalDarkness]

wat games were u plannin to play karl?

I enjoy my Racing games, but i will also be playing ( eventualy ) c.o.d franchise and some gta :P I do have a steam account but gotta remember the logon details.

May ask as to why that question popped up?

[waba]

i thought i saw somewhere on the thread u were plannin on playin games with ur new purchase - just wonderin which....and have been lookin for someone to play on cod5 for a long time.... :(

[DigitalDarkness]

lol i will be eventualy, more bits to get though lol, i have cod 5, just no good on my lappy :(

[waba]

excellent. it means u will just be startin out...which is good cos im a total newbie at it :D

[DigitalDarkness]

Lmao.

Good good.
Where are you Located?

[waba]

south london, near croydon. wonderful place :S it is usally in the newspaper for all the 'antics' that happen here....