Mainly because that seems to be the only card listed with a price that, even after adjusting for currency and taxes, wouldn't be way out of line with what it costs in the US.
You might want to see if you can find another site or two. Sometimes one site will charge a lot more than another for the same goods. In the US, for example, if you go to Best Buy, nearly all of the hardware components are seriously overpriced. That's because their business model is to advertise heavily on TV and attract people who are clueless, while basically assuming that people who know something about hardware won't buy anything from them.
It looks like after taxes, your $2000 NZ comes to about what you can get for $1200 US. That's still enough to get you something nice, but just not nearly as nice, especially when you still need peripherals.
Anyway, here's your power supply, since a lot of people have trouble picking that out:
a) go with a cheaper AMD processor, rather than an Intel Sandy Bridge quad core, or
b) skip the SSD
Option (a) probably won't make much of a noticeable difference for gaming in the near future, but may mean you're capped at perhaps 40 or 50 frames per second in some games a few years from now. Option (b) will rarely make a difference to frame rates in games, but will make everything else in the system more sluggish.
Also, you should probably look at either a GeForce GTX 560 Ti or Radeon HD 6950 for the video card, or maybe a Radeon HD 6870 if you want to save a bit of money there.
I'd say it would be better to wait on the GPU. March/April AMD and Nvidia are releasing their new batch which generally leads to price drops all around or better cards for almost the same amount of cash then rebates and promotions, etc. etc. etc. Newegg will generally have a good combo deal with the new releases.
Note that the list doesn't include an aftermarket CPU cooler.
Is that everything you need to make a running computer (minus the CPU cooler)?
I honestly know nothing about what I'm doing, but so far I've spotted this stuff from Ascent... only thing is the price, and I'm not sure if everything is compatible; Sorry the list is so long.
Note that the list doesn't include an aftermarket CPU cooler.
Is that everything you need to make a running computer (minus the CPU cooler)?
I honestly know nothing about what I'm doing, but so far I've spotted this stuff from Ascent... only thing is the price, and I'm not sure if everything is compatible; Sorry the list is so long.
This is essentially the brain of your computer. It is important but not as important for a gaming rig as it is a work station. You want something decent but you can cut corners if it means a better GPU (Graphics Card).
2) GPU - "Graphics Processing Unit"
This will have more effect on how your games look and play more than most things. You want to skimp out as little as possible here. You also need to know what you want. 3D? Eyfinity? Dual Screening for multitasking?
3) Mother Board - This decision is impacted a lot by the other components you choose and vice versa. It's like the central nervous system of your PC. It allows everything to work together. Mother board will be mainly decided by the CPU you pick. The motherboard you pick will determine what kind of graphics card you need and what type of ram you can use.
4) Case -
A good case can be important as well though this tends to be decided by 3 main factors. How does it look, Does it have enough room for what I need and did I need the ATX or BTX case. Mostly people use the ATX cases or the mini ATX cases. Airflow should be important in your decision as well as the fans it can accomidate. If you get a bottom mounted PSU case then make sure it has a vent and prefferably a filter at the bottom, trust me you'll thank me later. Last thing you need is for your PSU and GPU blowing the heat into each other and messing up your airflow.
5) Disk Drive -
This is pretty unimportant now days. You can get a decent one for a gaming rig for like $20 bucks or less. Many games are downloads from the internet now days others are simply installed from the disk. Rarely have I come across a game that requires the disk to be read from the drive. Want to burn dvds, get one that does it. Want to have a built in bluray player then get one that does it. Personal taste is the main factor here.
6) Storage - HDD, SSD, Etc.
This won't have a ton of impact on gaming, actually in most cases it doesn't really have any noticable impact on gaming. SSD's can speed up your system overall but it comes down to "is the cost per gig worth it to you?".
7) PSU - Power Supply Unit
Now that you have everythng else picked it's time to pick out the heart. This you DO NOT want to skimp on. Get one from a trusted reputable company. It makes all the difference. If that PSU goes .... well depending on how it goes.... it can lead to replacing a lot of crap you shouldn't have to.
It's okay to use a calculator to determine how big of a power supply you need but always get a bit bigger than you need because you don't want to have 100% load and you want to have plenty of room to upgrade.
A decent calc to give you an idea at least of what you need is
DDR3 is what you should shoot for. 4 gigs minimum, 8 gigs tends to be the new norm. With most mother boards your better off grabbing two 4gb sticks.
9) OS - this unless you already have one. You can get a system builders one for pretty cheap on sites that sell computer parts most of the time. It's basically the same version you will find on any computer you buy at a place like bestbuy or dell or w/e. 64 bit is preffereable as it will allow you to use more than 2-3gb's of ram.
For peripherals I'd focus first on monitor, then mouse, then keyboard, then headset, then lastly speakers.
Monitor should be decent, then you have to decide if you want 3D or multiple display setups.
Mouse is used for many things and the High DPI gaming mice can make a huge difference. Something like the Razer Naga can make a huge difference in MMO's.
Keyboards are well, theres to many good ones to say whats best but you can cut down the options by deciding on if you need macroing or not, mechanical or it doesn't matter, etc.
After Market Cooler - This is something to help keep the CPU cooler. The CPU you buy will come with a stock cooler and the stock ones don't tend to be the best but are generally fine if you don't over clock.
By the way DO NOT over clock. With your level of experience you don't want to mess around with over clocking. If you do decide to over clock make sure it won't hurt your wallet to replace things.
This is a reply to the question
"Is that everything you need to make a computer (Minus the CPU cooler)?"
As far as the graphics card goes......... get the GTX 560 ti if your going to get the GTX 560. You can get the 560 ti on Newegg for $100 less and it's better and it's still the Gigabyte one just the better one.
That comes to $1666.15, and you'll still need peripherals.
-----
Some comments on tomtom's build above:
First, there's no OS, and once you add that in, there won't still be room for peripherals.
Also, there's no hard drive, but only an SSD. That's fine for someone who doesn't need very much capacity, and if Akechta thinks 107 GB will be enough capacity, he could drop the hard drive from my build to save money. Some people can do that, and personally, I have an SSD only and no hard drive.
Finally, I don't trust Kingston SSDs, as I find their naming scheme incomprehensible. Incomprehensible naming schemes are all right if all of the products are good, but Kingston also sells some st-st-st-stuttering JMicron junk that you want to avoid. I'd still clear of Adata SSDs for the same reason.
-----
On Akechta's build:
In Intel's modern naming scheme, "Pentium" means "fairly low end", which isn't what you want. If you can't afford at least a Core i5 2500, then go with AMD on the processor.
The motherboard has the wrong socket for the processor.
The memory doesn't list the specs. From Kingston, it's likely rated at 1.65 V, which means you're essentially paying extra for them to overclock and overvolt it for you.
While the SSD is SATA 3, I think that one is JMicron's new controller that hasn't been reviewed at any meaningful tech site that I've found. Furthermore, as JMicron's previous SSD controllers were garbage, I'd assume that all future JMicron SSD controllers are garbage until proven otherwise. If you've got a good product, then you send it to every reputable review site that you can find, so that it will get glowing reviews. (Or at least that's what OCZ, Intel, Crucial, and Samsung do.) As Kingston isn't doing that, I'd assume the product is not good.
Do you really need a Blu-Ray burner? Hardly anyone does, and you're probably better off with a simple CD/DVD burner.
Your case is a low end case that includes a garbage power supply. If you're getting another power supply separately, then there's no need to get a case that includes one.
Just use the stock heatsink and fan that comes with the processor, not a separate one.
I'd try to get a laser mouse if you can, since they're not much more expensive than that one.
You don't necessarily need both speakers and a headset, as either one can make sound for you.
For what it's worth, that's a Bulldozer processor, and Windows 7 doesn't know what to do with AMD's new architecture just yet. For now, it will work, and be plenty fast enough for today. But Microsoft is working on a hotfix for it that will make the scheduler put threads on cores more intelligently, and may improve performance by as much as 10% in some cases. I'd assume that the hotfix will be sent through Windows Update, but make sure you get it.
If you have both an SSD and a hard drive, then the intended use is to install the OS and main programs on the SSD, and put everything else on the hard drive. Bulk data such as videos, music, or pictures especially goes on the hard drive, as the speed of an SSD doesn't help for those. The idea of putting "other stuff" on the hard drive is to conserve space on the SSD for real programs that can make use of the speed that an SSD offers.
What if I were go take all of your parts, take out the SSD and add periphials? That would take about $300 off and according to one of your posts, make little to no difference to my framerate in games but make everything else in the system more sluggish.
You could and it will work. But it will make your computer slow.
You know how a lot of times when you ask your computer to do something, you have to wait a while? You turn it on and wait. You enter your login password and wait. You try to launch a program and wait. You log into a game and wait. You try to load a saved game file and wait. You switch to a different zone in a game and wait. There are a lot of much shorter waits, too, where it takes 1/10 or 1/5 of a second for the computer to respond.
If you had an SSD, sometimes you wouldn't have to wait any perceptible amount of time at all. For some of the longer waiting times, you may still have to wait, but only perhaps 1/2 or 1/3 as long as with a hard drive. The first time you get an SSD, it's obvious that, aha, this is how computers are supposed to work! And it's hard to go back to computers with only a hard drive, kind of like once you're used to a stable OS (Windows XP or later), it's hard to go back to a blue screen a day from Windows 95/98/ME.
Now, some people need a computer on a tight budget and can't fit an SSD. But you can on your budget, so I'd recommend getting one. Depending on how much storage capacity you need, you may be able to just get an SSD and skip the hard drive.
Indeed, the reason Intel got into SSDs in the first place is that they realized that hard drives were such a bottleneck that many people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a faster Intel processor and a slower Intel processor if they're waiting on a slow hard drive either way. It can be hard to convince people to pay more for a faster processor (which is the core of Intel's business) if they can't tell the difference in performance.
The WD VelociRaptor that badly trails the SSDs is the fastest consumer hard drive on the market. And that's an old link, so modern SSDs are a lot faster than a lot of the ones in that list.
Would I be able to skip the HDD for now, get the SSD along with the rest of the computer, then add an HDD when I get round to it? Or should I just wait until I have that extra bit of money and get both SSD and HDD?
I think I'm being stupid here. But the 120 gigs from the SSD should last me quite a while, then I could get an HDD when I think I need it.
Would I be able to skip the HDD for now, get the SSD along with the rest of the computer, then add an HDD when I get round to it? Or should I just wait until I have that extra bit of money and get both SSD and HDD?
I think I'm being stupid here. But the 120 gigs from the SSD should last me quite a while, then I could get an HDD when I think I need it.
If you want to just get one and then add the other later, it's a lot easier to do an SSD now and hard drive later rather than the other way around. If you get an SSD now and later decide that you need more capacity, it's easy to add a hard drive. Put it in the system the same way you did the SSD (screws to mount it in a drive bay, plug in SATA cable and power connector) and you're likely ready to use it, or at most may have to format it first.
If you get a hard drive now and want to add an SSD later, that's a lot more work. You want your OS and main programs on the SSD, so the most straightforward way to do that would be to reinstall everything. There are some other complications that make moving your data to where you want it a mess, too.
Yeah, but don't necessarily get that particular hard drive later, as prices change. Flooding in Thailand last October shut down a considerable chunk of the world's hard drive production, but hit some companies harder than others. They're still trying to recover, but pricing may be very different by the time you decide to pick up a hard drive.
Comments
It seems all of their Radeon HD 6870 video cars are out of stock (typical).
Will this suffice? http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=8318750
Actually, they do have some 6870s in stock. But prices are rather high. I'd probably go with this:
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=396924
Mainly because that seems to be the only card listed with a price that, even after adjusting for currency and taxes, wouldn't be way out of line with what it costs in the US.
You might want to see if you can find another site or two. Sometimes one site will charge a lot more than another for the same goods. In the US, for example, if you go to Best Buy, nearly all of the hardware components are seriously overpriced. That's because their business model is to advertise heavily on TV and attract people who are clueless, while basically assuming that people who know something about hardware won't buy anything from them.
I'd say it would be better to wait on the GPU. March/April AMD and Nvidia are releasing their new batch which generally leads to price drops all around or better cards for almost the same amount of cash then rebates and promotions, etc. etc. etc. Newegg will generally have a good combo deal with the new releases.
I'm looking for RAM but I only see USB drvies. Also stuck on SSD. Not good at this. Help! :x
Akatchta, I found another NZ based company that seems to have better stock and selection - as well as free shipping.
http://www.elive.co.nz/
Just browsing through the site, and doing a quick configuration based on what's available there, here's what I came up with. Just to give you an idea.
i5 2500k - http://www.elive.co.nz/intel-core-i5-2500k-lga1155-cpu-sy3210.php
ASUS P8P67 - http://www.elive.co.nz/asus-p8p67-le-1155-motherboard-sy3396.php
Corsair Vengence 1600 8GB - http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-8gb-ddr3-cl9-memory-ac1969.php
Kingston 128GB SSD - http://www.elive.co.nz/kingston-128gb-ssdnow-sata-drive-sy3530.php
Antec EarthWatts 650w PSU - http://www.elive.co.nz/antec-650w-earthwatts-power-supply-ac2221.php
ASUS GTX 560 TI - http://www.elive.co.nz/asus-gtx-560-directxu-1gb-sy3317.php
Lite-On 24x DVD-R - http://www.elive.co.nz/liteon-ihas324-dvd-writer-24x-sy1846.php
Antec 300 Gaming Tower - http://www.elive.co.nz/antec-tower-gaming-case-ac0031.php
Total = $1703.06 NZD
Note that the list doesn't include an aftermarket CPU cooler.
Is that everything you need to make a running computer (minus the CPU cooler)?
I honestly know nothing about what I'm doing, but so far I've spotted this stuff from Ascent... only thing is the price, and I'm not sure if everything is compatible; Sorry the list is so long.
___
Pentium G620 Sandy Bridge 2.6GHz 2 x 256KB L2 Cache 3MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=8311368 $122.50
Asus M5A99X EVO Motherboard, Socket AM3+, AMD 990X, 4xDDR3, 2xPCIe-16, 2xPCIe-1, Firewire, RAID, ATX
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=397482 $258.00
DDR3 8GB 1600MHz Gaming +Performance HyperX Memory Kit (2x4GB) CL9 Non-ECC Dimm
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=8325145 $114.00
Kingston SSDNow V200 Solid State Drive, 128GB, SATA 6 Gb/s, 2.5", MLC, Desktop Kit
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=401165
Antec High Current Gamer HCG-520, 520W ATX PSU, Active PFC, Black
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=391405 $122.00
Gigabyte GV-N56GOC-1GI, GeForce GTX 560 Video Card, 1024MB, DDR5, PCIe-16, SLI ready
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=396924 $336.00
Blue BP06LU10 6X BD-R 2X BD-RE 8X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 6X BD-ROM 4MB Cache USB 2.0 Blu-ray Burner LightScribe Support
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=8321405 $297.00
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=390976 $150.00Cooler Master Elite 430 Mid Tower Case, 500W PSU, Side Window, Black
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=8325310 $10.00LGA775 CPU Cooler 92mm fan, 2800rpm, Airflow 55.75cfm Supports Intel LGA775 CPUs
ViewSonic VA2448m-LED Monitor, 24" LED, DVI, Speakers, Black
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=395824 $263.00
keyboard
A4Tech KR83 Keyboard, USB, Black
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=399178 $18.00
mouse
Microsoft Basic, Optical (LED) Mouse, USB, Black
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=345758 $24.00
speakers
Logitech LS11, 2.0 Speaker system, Black
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=373570 $30.00
headset
Logitech H330 Headset, USB, Black
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=377608 $44.00
ESTIMATE TOTAL COST $2122.50 NZD
What you NEED is simply the following
1) CPU - "Central Processing Unit"
This is essentially the brain of your computer. It is important but not as important for a gaming rig as it is a work station. You want something decent but you can cut corners if it means a better GPU (Graphics Card).
2) GPU - "Graphics Processing Unit"
This will have more effect on how your games look and play more than most things. You want to skimp out as little as possible here. You also need to know what you want. 3D? Eyfinity? Dual Screening for multitasking?
3) Mother Board - This decision is impacted a lot by the other components you choose and vice versa. It's like the central nervous system of your PC. It allows everything to work together. Mother board will be mainly decided by the CPU you pick. The motherboard you pick will determine what kind of graphics card you need and what type of ram you can use.
4) Case -
A good case can be important as well though this tends to be decided by 3 main factors. How does it look, Does it have enough room for what I need and did I need the ATX or BTX case. Mostly people use the ATX cases or the mini ATX cases. Airflow should be important in your decision as well as the fans it can accomidate. If you get a bottom mounted PSU case then make sure it has a vent and prefferably a filter at the bottom, trust me you'll thank me later. Last thing you need is for your PSU and GPU blowing the heat into each other and messing up your airflow.
5) Disk Drive -
This is pretty unimportant now days. You can get a decent one for a gaming rig for like $20 bucks or less. Many games are downloads from the internet now days others are simply installed from the disk. Rarely have I come across a game that requires the disk to be read from the drive. Want to burn dvds, get one that does it. Want to have a built in bluray player then get one that does it. Personal taste is the main factor here.
6) Storage - HDD, SSD, Etc.
This won't have a ton of impact on gaming, actually in most cases it doesn't really have any noticable impact on gaming. SSD's can speed up your system overall but it comes down to "is the cost per gig worth it to you?".
7) PSU - Power Supply Unit
Now that you have everythng else picked it's time to pick out the heart. This you DO NOT want to skimp on. Get one from a trusted reputable company. It makes all the difference. If that PSU goes .... well depending on how it goes.... it can lead to replacing a lot of crap you shouldn't have to.
It's okay to use a calculator to determine how big of a power supply you need but always get a bit bigger than you need because you don't want to have 100% load and you want to have plenty of room to upgrade.
A decent calc to give you an idea at least of what you need is
http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/index.jsp
8) RAM -
DDR3 is what you should shoot for. 4 gigs minimum, 8 gigs tends to be the new norm. With most mother boards your better off grabbing two 4gb sticks.
9) OS - this unless you already have one. You can get a system builders one for pretty cheap on sites that sell computer parts most of the time. It's basically the same version you will find on any computer you buy at a place like bestbuy or dell or w/e. 64 bit is preffereable as it will allow you to use more than 2-3gb's of ram.
For peripherals I'd focus first on monitor, then mouse, then keyboard, then headset, then lastly speakers.
Monitor should be decent, then you have to decide if you want 3D or multiple display setups.
Mouse is used for many things and the High DPI gaming mice can make a huge difference. Something like the Razer Naga can make a huge difference in MMO's.
Keyboards are well, theres to many good ones to say whats best but you can cut down the options by deciding on if you need macroing or not, mechanical or it doesn't matter, etc.
After Market Cooler - This is something to help keep the CPU cooler. The CPU you buy will come with a stock cooler and the stock ones don't tend to be the best but are generally fine if you don't over clock.
By the way DO NOT over clock. With your level of experience you don't want to mess around with over clocking. If you do decide to over clock make sure it won't hurt your wallet to replace things.
This is a reply to the question
"Is that everything you need to make a computer (Minus the CPU cooler)?"
As far as the graphics card goes......... get the GTX 560 ti if your going to get the GTX 560. You can get the 560 ti on Newegg for $100 less and it's better and it's still the Gigabyte one just the better one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125363
It's too hard to navigate Elive's site, and the prices don't seem meaningfully different from Ascent. Anyway, to cut back some:
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=400101
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=397938
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=396924
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=391405
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=367426
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=395919
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=400187
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=399382
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=390344
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=378886
That comes to $1666.15, and you'll still need peripherals.
-----
Some comments on tomtom's build above:
First, there's no OS, and once you add that in, there won't still be room for peripherals.
Also, there's no hard drive, but only an SSD. That's fine for someone who doesn't need very much capacity, and if Akechta thinks 107 GB will be enough capacity, he could drop the hard drive from my build to save money. Some people can do that, and personally, I have an SSD only and no hard drive.
Finally, I don't trust Kingston SSDs, as I find their naming scheme incomprehensible. Incomprehensible naming schemes are all right if all of the products are good, but Kingston also sells some st-st-st-stuttering JMicron junk that you want to avoid. I'd still clear of Adata SSDs for the same reason.
-----
On Akechta's build:
In Intel's modern naming scheme, "Pentium" means "fairly low end", which isn't what you want. If you can't afford at least a Core i5 2500, then go with AMD on the processor.
The motherboard has the wrong socket for the processor.
The memory doesn't list the specs. From Kingston, it's likely rated at 1.65 V, which means you're essentially paying extra for them to overclock and overvolt it for you.
While the SSD is SATA 3, I think that one is JMicron's new controller that hasn't been reviewed at any meaningful tech site that I've found. Furthermore, as JMicron's previous SSD controllers were garbage, I'd assume that all future JMicron SSD controllers are garbage until proven otherwise. If you've got a good product, then you send it to every reputable review site that you can find, so that it will get glowing reviews. (Or at least that's what OCZ, Intel, Crucial, and Samsung do.) As Kingston isn't doing that, I'd assume the product is not good.
Do you really need a Blu-Ray burner? Hardly anyone does, and you're probably better off with a simple CD/DVD burner.
Your case is a low end case that includes a garbage power supply. If you're getting another power supply separately, then there's no need to get a case that includes one.
Just use the stock heatsink and fan that comes with the processor, not a separate one.
I'd try to get a laser mouse if you can, since they're not much more expensive than that one.
You don't necessarily need both speakers and a headset, as either one can make sound for you.
You'll also need a surge protector.
I'll pull it safe and go with Quizzicals build - thanks everyone for all the advice you have given me, I really appreciate the help.
Including periphials Quizzicals build comes to $2033.68 NZD incl. GST which is a tiny bit over budget but that's alright
For what it's worth, that's a Bulldozer processor, and Windows 7 doesn't know what to do with AMD's new architecture just yet. For now, it will work, and be plenty fast enough for today. But Microsoft is working on a hotfix for it that will make the scheduler put threads on cores more intelligently, and may improve performance by as much as 10% in some cases. I'd assume that the hotfix will be sent through Windows Update, but make sure you get it.
If you have both an SSD and a hard drive, then the intended use is to install the OS and main programs on the SSD, and put everything else on the hard drive. Bulk data such as videos, music, or pictures especially goes on the hard drive, as the speed of an SSD doesn't help for those. The idea of putting "other stuff" on the hard drive is to conserve space on the SSD for real programs that can make use of the speed that an SSD offers.
What if I were go take all of your parts, take out the SSD and add periphials? That would take about $300 off and according to one of your posts, make little to no difference to my framerate in games but make everything else in the system more sluggish.
You could and it will work. But it will make your computer slow.
You know how a lot of times when you ask your computer to do something, you have to wait a while? You turn it on and wait. You enter your login password and wait. You try to launch a program and wait. You log into a game and wait. You try to load a saved game file and wait. You switch to a different zone in a game and wait. There are a lot of much shorter waits, too, where it takes 1/10 or 1/5 of a second for the computer to respond.
If you had an SSD, sometimes you wouldn't have to wait any perceptible amount of time at all. For some of the longer waiting times, you may still have to wait, but only perhaps 1/2 or 1/3 as long as with a hard drive. The first time you get an SSD, it's obvious that, aha, this is how computers are supposed to work! And it's hard to go back to computers with only a hard drive, kind of like once you're used to a stable OS (Windows XP or later), it's hard to go back to a blue screen a day from Windows 95/98/ME.
Now, some people need a computer on a tight budget and can't fit an SSD. But you can on your budget, so I'd recommend getting one. Depending on how much storage capacity you need, you may be able to just get an SSD and skip the hard drive.
Indeed, the reason Intel got into SSDs in the first place is that they realized that hard drives were such a bottleneck that many people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a faster Intel processor and a slower Intel processor if they're waiting on a slow hard drive either way. It can be hard to convince people to pay more for a faster processor (which is the core of Intel's business) if they can't tell the difference in performance.
My standard link on why you need an SSD is here:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3681/oczs-vertex-2-special-sauce-sf1200-reviewed/6
The WD VelociRaptor that badly trails the SSDs is the fastest consumer hard drive on the market. And that's an old link, so modern SSDs are a lot faster than a lot of the ones in that list.
Would I be able to skip the HDD for now, get the SSD along with the rest of the computer, then add an HDD when I get round to it? Or should I just wait until I have that extra bit of money and get both SSD and HDD?
I think I'm being stupid here. But the 120 gigs from the SSD should last me quite a while, then I could get an HDD when I think I need it.
If you want to just get one and then add the other later, it's a lot easier to do an SSD now and hard drive later rather than the other way around. If you get an SSD now and later decide that you need more capacity, it's easy to add a hard drive. Put it in the system the same way you did the SSD (screws to mount it in a drive bay, plug in SATA cable and power connector) and you're likely ready to use it, or at most may have to format it first.
If you get a hard drive now and want to add an SSD later, that's a lot more work. You want your OS and main programs on the SSD, so the most straightforward way to do that would be to reinstall everything. There are some other complications that make moving your data to where you want it a mess, too.
So it's finished then?
The parts you've suggested but get the HDD later, add my periphials and I'm done?
Yeah, but don't necessarily get that particular hard drive later, as prices change. Flooding in Thailand last October shut down a considerable chunk of the world's hard drive production, but hit some companies harder than others. They're still trying to recover, but pricing may be very different by the time you decide to pick up a hard drive.
Ok, thanks a tonne for all your help.