So as the title suggests I've decided to build my own Gaming PC from the remnants of my old desktop PC (HP Pavilion P6-2260). I'm going to initially upgrade some of the components (PSU, GPU and PC Case) and then gradually over time upgrade all the original components. I've never done this before and only have limited knowledge of the process most of which has come of the way of Youtube videos and information available on the Internet. I've created this topic as a platform to discuss possible upgrades and to discuss any problems I may encounter along the way.
Components I've bought so far ASUS Geforce GTX 560 ti DIRECTCUII Graphics Card £79 Corsair 600w CX Builder Series PSU £61 Zalman Z11 Plus PC Case £60 Zalman Fan Controller £37 ASUS P8Z77-V LX Motherboard £80 TP LINK 300Mbps Wireless PCI Card £13 Windows 7 Professional Full £45 Spend to date £375
The first stage of upgrading is now complete I took my two and a half year old HP Pavilion P6-2260 PC exchanged the 300w Power Supply for a 600w Power Supply, exchanged the Geforce GT 440 Graphics Card for a Geforce GTX 560 ti Graphics and put it all in a new PC case. The PC case I went for was the Zalman Z11 Plus which looks fantastic and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a case that looks the part but has a reasonable price tag.There's also plenty of room for expansion within the case where you can add up to six HDD's seven case fans and five 5.25 Bay devices. I added the Zalman Fan Controller to the case which is a nice little feature, it allows you to control up to four fans and also allows you to put temperature sensors inside your PC case. It isn't really necessary but having the display on the front of the PC is a nice finishing touch.
The second stage of upgrading will come this weekend when I replace the Motherboard with the ASUS P8Z77-V LX Motherboard and install a wireless PCI Card. These two upgrades will be the last for a short while until I upgrade my processor from an i3 to an i7.
Last edited by PurplePenguin on Mon Jan 13, 2014 4:54 pm, edited 13 times in total.
Cancel that order and post your budget in the hardware thread in Ask The Forum so we can give you a complete build. That graphics card is massively overpriced; you could get a 770 for about £250 with three free games only a month ago.
Dark Dragon 64 wrote:Cancel that order and post your budget in the hardware thread in Ask The Forum so we can give you a complete build. That graphics card is massively overpriced; you could get a 770 for about £250 with three free games only a month ago.
I only paid £79 for the graphics card that was just a link to show more details about the card. I'd never buy anything from Maplins it's grossly overpriced.
I'm not really going into this with a budget it's more something to be done over time. I really need to know about some of the connections and where they need to go.
That's exactly what I plan to do on Tuesday when I actually do the re-build I haven't got everything I want for the PC right now for example I'll probably pick up new Motherboard at the end of the month and a new Processor in a couple of months so I want to setup what I have now in my new case and then replace when and where I can.
If you go an i5 processor that came out in 2013 (i.e. the i5 4670), you won't be able to use your motherboard until you get your processor so I'd recommend saving up your money until you can buy both at the same time. Something like the following would serve you well:
Anyway, good luck with your build. Be sure to post in the Hardware Thread in Ask The Forum if you run into trouble and when you're ready to look for more parts.
PurplePenguin wrote:I really need to know about some of the connections and where they need to go.
Motherboards come with a manual that tells you where everything goes - plus everything nowadays has unique connectors which means they can only go in one place anyway. Plus stuff like zero insertion force cpus mean you can't break stuff unless you really force something.
I'm putting it together now it's mostly been straight forward. I'll be doing this all again at the weekend though because I've picked up a new motherboard (I went wit the Asus one mentioned above in my initial post) It's actually really satisfying putting your own together I don't know why I've waited this long.