A different new guy, building his first PC. (could use advice!)

[SchaibleTech]

so this is what i picked out, i need a power supply and a heatsink/fan combo. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/4043/comppw.jpg

here is the power supply someone reccomended to me.

http://www.svc.com/ocz700gxssli-b.html

my budget is around 700ish. give or take.

thanks guys!



ps: also, if you interested in a little back story, check my first post out.

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showpost.php?p=280098&postcount=458

also, i had a window on my computer...
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs106.snc3/15335_195518718088_709388088_2921146_6022270_n.jpg


but i cracked it when drilling the hole for the fan. where should i place the fan in regards to the mother board? over the ram?

thanks :)

[dr.walrus]

All looks fine, you don't need a 700w power supply (a 400 would be fine for a single GPU system) but $50?! Go for it!

Fan should be positioned over the GPU.

[x88x]

Looks good. Only thing I would do for that is change to the 1TB Samsung F3 for better performance.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=F3-_-22-152-185-_-Product

[chaksq]

also, i had a window on my computer...

[IMG]

but i cracked it when drilling the hole for the fan. where should i place the fan in regards to the mother board? over the ram?

thanks :)

Fan placement varies, there are no set rules for where/how you put fans. In fact if you have enough airflow you don't even need a fan on the side panel. I usually see side fans over CPU or expansion slots. In general you want to intake fans on front/bottom/side and exhaust fans out the top and rear.

[x88x]

In general you want to intake fans on front/bottom/side and exhaust fans out the top and rear.

Yup. Though, one tip I got from my boss several years back; if the user smokes in the room with the computer in it, reserve the flow. That way, instead of drawing the smoke into the computer and clogging up stuff, it just pulls dust from behind (a lot easier to clean).

[SchaibleTech]

thanks for all of the input guys.

i decided on going with a different power supply, i didnt see that the one i chose was re certified. no thanks.

so i tried not spending to much, but still getting a quality psu. since i plan on buying another video card in the near future to crossfire, im prob going to get this 750w.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121045

and i am prob going to go with that Samsung F3 tb drive that you suggested. would love to have a tb HDD.

getting to be pricey, but it will all be worth it!

[x88x]

Looks like a decent PSU; my only concern with it is the 72% minumum efficiency. I always make sure that any PSU I get has an '80 PLUS' rating, meaning that it has at least an 80% minimum efficiency. Unfortunately, the cheapest PSUs I can find in the 700W+ range that fit my personal requirements are these:
Antec EarthWatts 750W: $110 ($95 after MIR) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371026)
Corsair 750W: $120 ($100 after MIR) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006)

In addition to having a higher capacity, the Samsung F3 will also outperform the WD Blue that you had lined up, probably by a significant amount. The 1TB F3 has actually been consistently outperforming the 300GB WD Velociraptor, largely because of the F3's 500GB platters. I haven't seen a comparison, but in theory, the WD Black 2TB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136456) should outperform even the 1TB F3 (64MB cache vs the F3's 32MB)...unfortunately it's also 3x the cost. :P

[SchaibleTech]

sweet.

the build is running in the low $800, but i can manage. i just gotta stop buying food for a week and this will all work out.

thanks man! im going with the HDD and the power supply you suggested. you get what you pay for!

i hope.

[x88x]

i just gotta stop buying food for a week and this will all work out.

Hahaha, that's the spirit! :P

Just make sure you post a buildlog when you build it. ;)

[chaksq]

Yup. Though, one tip I got from my boss several years back; if the user smokes in the room with the computer in it, reserve the flow. That way, instead of drawing the smoke into the computer and clogging up stuff, it just pulls dust from behind (a lot easier to clean).

Good point, although you still want fans on the top to be exhaust. This is because heat rises, intake fans on top will prevent hot air from leaving the top of the case. But I don't see any problems pulling in air from the back and exhausting out the front, just be sure you have enough clearance behind the case if you do this. I also recommend using fan filters, at least on the intake fans, if your computer is someplace where there is smoke or a lot of dust.

[x88x]

Yup, definitely exhaust out the top. An example of the damage that smoke can do to computer components.. Several years back, this same boss happened to come into a 18.5" 1280x1024 LCD monitor for free (Compaq TFT8030...check my system specs..you should see where this is going ;) ). This monitor worked fine for him for a few days, then it started turning off after about 15 minutes of use. So, one day we were sitting around working on computers and talking, and it came up that he had this LCD at home that I could have if I wanted, but it didn't always work. I said no thanks at first, but after thinking about it, the next day I worked, I said yeah, I'll take it; maybe I can figure out what's wrong and fix it. I was hoping for maybe an obviously blown capacitor or loose wire.

So, next day he brings it in; I take it apart there, checking everything...and I find nothing. I did notice, however, that it reeked of cigarette smoke... So, I tested it; it worked fine...and it has continued to work fine these past 4.5 years of daily use. :D

And that is the story of how I got my first LCD monitor. :D

[SchaibleTech]

my friend had 2 brand new xboxs red ring in the same year. he said xboxs suck, i said no, you need to stop smoking a pack of day in your bedroom with the windows closed.

i took both xboxs, i sent one to xbox for a warranty fix, and got the other one just chillin in my room. was thinking of turning it into a pc, and maybe buying like a micro atx board. IDK! i dont know how those work.

would you guys suggest putting a fan on the top of the case instead of on the window? i actually thought about doing that at first. but since my power supply is located at the top of the case, im not sure how much room i have inbetween the PSU and the cd drives. should i put a 120mm on top? or a 80mm?

[x88x]

Is the second 360 still under warranty? If so, go ahead and send it in for repairs; if you don't want to use it, you can always strip the case out when you get it back and sell the parts on eBay or such (you can actually usually make a lot more selling the parts than you could if you sold the unit), then use the case for a mod or whatever.

Having an exhaust in the top of the case is generally a great idea; just make sure that you have a good airflow set up so it's not just pulling through a small corner of the case or something. A 120mm will give you more airflow at less noise, so I would recommend that over an 80mm, if you can fit one. If you can't fit a fan in the top, no worries; just make sure you have good front-to-back airflow, and you should be good.

[SchaibleTech]

no the other 360 isnt under warranty, hence why it sits in my room right now hahahahahh.
i have seen some xbox pc mods on this site a few times, ima have to check them out and see what i can do. would love to have a small second pc.

well, i might do an exhaust on the top then. i gotta see if i can find a hole saw big enough to cut a 120mm hole in the top. and i hope i dont **** the case up.

so i got a 120mm in the front, which is intake, and then the 120mm on the top and the rear are exhaust?

thanks for the help, again.

[x88x]

Ideally you want to have the same amount of air coming in as going out, so if you balance the CFM of the fans correctly, then yes, that could achieve that (ex, intake: single 120mm rated at 80CFM, exhaust is two 120mm's each rated at 40CFM). Sticking with the fans you currently have though (presumably all similar CFM ratings), it'll still probably be fine, you'll just have a negative air pressure, so any cracks between panels/etc will then essentially serve as passive intake.

[SchaibleTech]

awesome. thanks for the tips.

will be ordering my parts this coming thursday! cant wait.

[SchaibleTech]

i am actually thinking about getting a different mobo. maybe this one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138160

or possibly this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138159

the gigabyte i picked out doesnt suppourt SLI. so i was looking at other options.

suggestions?

[x88x]

Well, first off you want to look for CrossFire compatible, not SLI, since you're working with an ATI card. I would not go with the first MBB you have listed because it looks like it will only run the second x16 slot at x4 speeds...not something you want if you're planning on doing CrossFire. The second board looks good though (the TPOWER i55); CrossFire support, 1x16 or 2x8 PCIe modes, and good overclocking ability.

[SchaibleTech]

oooo ok that makes sense now...so SLI = AMD and Crossfire = Intel. got it.

yeah i just didnt want to get screwed by going with a cheaper board. figured i would drop the exrta 20 some bucks to get a better quality.

im not planning on buying a second vid card for another 6 months or so, should i just stick with the gigabyte board? or is this over kill seeing as how im getting a i5 not an i7?

i just have no idea what to look for when it comes to Mobos

[slaveofconvention]

oooo ok that makes sense now...so SLI = AMD and Crossfire = Intel. got it.

Close, but no cigar :) ... SLI is nVidia only, and Crossfire is ATI only - if you dig around you can find boards supporting AMD or INTEL chips which will do either, neither or both SLI and Crossfire

[x88x]

/\ This. Though, the trend recently has been to either support both or neither. Since it's entirely a firmware issue now (iirc) to support SLI and CrossFire, as long as their board can do 2x8 or 2x16, manufacturers will generally support both now. As for the MBB, it's a god solid board; I wouldn't say it's overkill.

[SchaibleTech]

okie doke. i will prob. go with that one then. i've never heard of this brand before so i figured i try and go with the underdog. i like the look of it better too. all the other boards under that brand got some great reviews as well. living life on the edge!

[x88x]

Yeah, Biostar isn't a big name but they make pretty good stuff. Kind of like Foxconn, they're a manufacturer that sells a lot of stuff to other companies but also sells stuff to consumers, so they're able to offer good stuff cheaper.

[SchaibleTech]

word up.

i picked myself some PSU sleeving kits, thumb screws, fan controller, and im in the process of finding a Cooler Master Musketeer 2, bud damn they are hard to find. and there is only 1 on ebay.

should be ordering the parts this thursday! i can wait. should have a work log up soon :)



edit: im going into Graphic design, and i pretty much use every program in Adobe Master Sweet. isnt the i7 supposed to be more built for these kind of programs?

[SchaibleTech]

one question...

so the core i7-920 is on sale at micro center for 200.

should i just go for the i7 because its the same price? or am i going to have to upgrade all the other parts i have picked out?

i know that im going to have to get another motherboard, and i picked out a gigabyte one. its like $209, but im saving almost 90 dollars on the CPU if i go with the i7 at mirco center.

here is the board i picked out.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423

trying not to go too cheap, but still spend an average amount.
to save some money i just downgraded my HDD, because that samsung f3 was supposed to be in stock yesterday, and now they delayed it another week, and i need to order my parts my tomorrow, im not waiting for the HDD. i've been without a computer for too long.

what do you think? i've been reading that its better to stick with the i5 for right now, but i dont really understand why.

[x88x]

I would definitely go with the 920 instead. The biggest difference is not between i5/i7 chips, but between the s1156 and s1366 chips. The s1156 chips only support dual-channel communication with DDR3, but s1366 chips support triple-channel. This will give you a sizable performance boost if you get triple-channel capable RAM (should be all DDR3, but get a 3-stick set to be sure). Because of that, you want to get RAM in multiples of 3 instead of multiples of 2 (which you wanted in dual-channel).

The i7-920 is actually supposed to be almost $300, I think, but when Intel jacked the price on it, Micro Center basically told them to go take a hike. :P I think they just bought a lot of the chips before the price jump, so now they have it for almost $100 less than anyone else.

EDIT:
Forgot to mention; yes, that's a good MBB you have picked out for s1366.

[SchaibleTech]

awesome. thanks a lot man, you have been a great help.