[snowchick7669]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm looking to build a new desktop computer in the next few months. I've just recently moved to the UK from NZ, so I don't know any decent  online stores to buy my components from.

 

Anyone have any favourites?

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Hello Snowchick and welcome to GeekU! I'm a freshman aswell.

 

I presume you live in England? PCpartpicker (http://uk.pcpartpick...parts/partlist/) is a very good site, and customized to UK as many sites are. (BBCode needs to be learned lol, and maybe I need to take typing again.) 

 

Also, what is the goal of the desktop? What will you be doing? Main goals? Gaming? Rendering? editing? Programming? Etc.

 

Edit Reason: Spelling Errors

Edited by Alan1998, 26 May 2014 - 04:20 AM.

[Alan1998]

Hello Snowchick and welcome to GeekU! I'm a freshman aswell.

 

I presume you live in England? PCpartpicker (http://uk.pcpartpick...parts/partlist/) is a very good site, and customized to UK as many sites are. (BBCode needs to be learned lol, and maybe I need to take typing again.) 

 

Also, what is the goal of the desktop? What will you be doing? Main goals? Gaming? Rendering? editing? Programming? Etc.

 

Edit Reason: Spelling Errors

Edited by Alan1998, 26 May 2014 - 04:20 AM.

[snowchick7669]

Hi Alan, 

 

Thanks! Yeah I live in England.

 

Well it will be more for my studies (outside of GeekU). I plan on running a few virtual machines on it. Ideally I'll be looking at running different OS at different times e.g. Windows Server 2012, Kali Linux etc. 

 

I've only ever built gaming machines, so I'm working out what components I'll need for this project. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[phillpower2]

Welcome to this side of the pond snowchick7669   

 

Logical Increments will also help you with some build suggestions.

 

Put your list together using the link provided by Alan and the post the url when you are done and we can take a look, colleague iammykyl is always good for recommending GPUs and storage options for such things as workstations etc.

 

Good luck to you both with GU   

[snowchick7669]

Thanks phillpower2!

 

I'm just having a look now, I'll be sure to post the URL in a bit.

 

Quick question - If I'm predominantly using the machine for running VM's, will I need a GPU?

[Alan1998]

My VM's don't use my Dedicated GPU, they use my intel graphics. (I'm using Virtual Box). If you're looking to do any gaming, you'll most likely need a GPU that isn't designed by Intel.

 

Thanks Phil for the words of wishing us luck!

 

Edit: Keep forgetting, max budget? 

Edited by Alan1998, 26 May 2014 - 04:49 AM.

[snowchick7669]

I haven't included a GPU in my build. I won't be doing any gaming on this machine, those days are a thing of the past unfortunately! ha.

 

To be honest, I'm not looking at spending a lot on it since it's not for gaming. I'd probably be looking around £500 - £600 (excluding the monitor)

[snowchick7669]

Okay this is what I've got at the moment http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/3R9mf

 

I wasn't 100% sure about the motherboard here, I prefer ASUS or MSI motherboards, but I'd welcome any other suggestions if you have any opinions on them. Also I suspect I'll have to buy additional fans for the case. I haven't included a monitor for now.

 

Let me know what you think. 

[paws]

I'll leave others to comment on the parts/spec, but two good online sources that I have used  and have been happy with are:

aria and ebuyer

http://www.aria.co.uk/

 

http://www.ebuyer.com/

 

Regards

paws

[iammykyl]

Gday.

Bit late to the party so bear with me.

I will suggest a AMD build for your consideration. The i5 only has four cores, limited video performance, no vt-d. support, > https://software.int...or-directed-io/ >  https://software.int...ualized-system/

 

AMD FX-8320 8 core better VM performance,  IOMMU-suppor, but requires a video card.

Ref.http://en.wikipedia....orting_hardware

MB  You don't need a high end one for this type of build.

RAM.  would prefer 16GB.

HDD.   the faster the better for loading/access to multiple VMs. Would be better iwth a SSD for OS.

Case will not need extra fans.

Over your budget but i believe will give better performance.   Which every system y6ou build, upgrade when possible with more RAM and a SSD. 

 

Snowchick AMD Build, >http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Hh3x23

 

Edit link 28/5/14

[Alan1998]

Hello IamMykyl, The link posted above is Intel and not AMD...

[phillpower2]

Two good merchants suggested by paws ​  I would try and avoid Dabs if possible though, this due to having ordered (and paid for) parts from them last year only to then receive emails saying that they were waiting on stock   

[iammykyl]

Sorry about that, picked up from my saved builds.

Snowchick AMD Build, > http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Hh3x23

[snowchick7669]

Thanks iammykyle!

 

I'll have to think about whether I can up my budget.

 

Quick question - Do I need a 2GB GPU for running a few VM's?

[iammykyl]

My understanding, (anyone, correct/confirm?) Switching between virtual machines on your computer, use the same monster so all VRAM is available.   If you have users on their own desktops/monitors, then VRAM has to be shared, how much depends on the resolutions they have set. I think, 2GB will support between 2 and 6 VMs.

I would not go below the 2GB.

Perhaps Alan1998 can give the amount his Virtual Box uses.