When using this resource, please read FragKrag's opening post. The Tech Support forum regulars have helped create countless of desktop systems without any compensation. The least you can do is provide all of the information required for them to help you properly.
This will be my first time building a computer. So far this is what I have:
Motherboard - ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) LGA 1155 PSU - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 CPU - i5 2500k HDD - Samsung Desktop Class Spinpoint F3 1 TB SATA 3.0 Gb-s 16 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare-OEM Drives, HD103SJ RAM - Corsair Vengeance Blue 8 GB (2X4 GB) PC3-12800 1600mHz DDR3 GPU - GTX 460 Case - Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower ATX Case (RC-912-KKN1)
My biggest questions right now are: 1) Are there any glaring flaws? 2) Are the motherboard and PSU fine? I can probably go up to $150 on the mobo 3) I'm buying all of the parts from amazon, the shipping on newegg costs too much where I live. Will this be a problem? 4) Can I put my current hard drive into the new computer and expect it to run?
Yes, there are glaring flaws with your selection of components. You have an old TX650 when the TX650v2 can be had for the same price or even a lower price and is all around better. Another problem is that your board is a Pro3 which is not capable of a multi-GPU configuration so 650w is complete overkill for a single GPU configuration. A ~500w unit leaves you with plenty of headroom.
Motherboard choice is fine. Power supply, explained above.
Higher frequency memory provides little to zero benefits for gaming so you're wasting money here:
You're also missing an aftermarket heatsink for overclocking.
No it won't but you should also check out us.ncix.com as they have free shipping and there are many hot deals, especially for graphics cards. The 2500k is $200 while a MSI GTX 460 1GB Hawk is $130. But I thought Newegg had free shipping on the majority of components?
Yes you can put in your current harddrive and use it as a storage drive.
Any chance you live near a microcenter? I bought an i5 2400 + MSI H61 board yesterday for a grand total of $182.11 after tax (which is quite expensive in CA). i5 2400 was $149.99 and the board was $19.99 (off from $64.99) because of a bundle deal. They sell for below cost, so if you can manage that...
Any current monitor will be compatible with any current motherboard via DVI.
Actually I think I do. Would it be a good idea to take the parts that he gave me, and search around for better pricing? I don't know if it makes a difference, but I also live about 10 minutes away from Fry's, I've seen around here that they would be a good place to go to as well.
There is currently nothing better than what I've listed. You'll only find better processor pricing at Microcenter and the power supply can only be better if you want to deal with mail in rebates.
Ok, thanks! I'll check out us.ncix but I see that they don't have free shipping to Alaska, so I'll pick whichever site is cheaper in the end.
My brother is going to provide me with a heat sink, so that won't be a problem.
I'll also pick out a lower wattage PSU and some cheaper RAM.
This will be my first time building a computer. So far this is what I have:
Motherboard - ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) LGA 1155 PSU - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 CPU - i5 2500k HDD - Samsung Desktop Class Spinpoint F3 1 TB SATA 3.0 Gb-s 16 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare-OEM Drives, HD103SJ RAM - Corsair Vengeance Blue 8 GB (2X4 GB) PC3-12800 1600mHz DDR3 GPU - GTX 460 Case - Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower ATX Case (RC-912-KKN1)
My biggest questions right now are: 1) Are there any glaring flaws? 2) Are the motherboard and PSU fine? I can probably go up to $150 on the mobo 3) I'm buying all of the parts from amazon, the shipping on newegg costs too much where I live. Will this be a problem? 4) Can I put my current hard drive into the new computer and expect it to run?
Yes, there are glaring flaws with your selection of components. You have an old TX650 when the TX650v2 can be had for the same price or even a lower price and is all around better. Another problem is that your board is a Pro3 which is not capable of a multi-GPU configuration so 650w is complete overkill for a single GPU configuration. A ~500w unit leaves you with plenty of headroom.
Motherboard choice is fine. Power supply, explained above.
Higher frequency memory provides little to zero benefits for gaming so you're wasting money here:
You're also missing an aftermarket heatsink for overclocking.
No it won't but you should also check out us.ncix.com as they have free shipping and there are many hot deals, especially for graphics cards. The 2500k is $200 while a MSI GTX 460 1GB Hawk is $130. But I thought Newegg had free shipping on the majority of components?
Yes you can put in your current harddrive and use it as a storage drive.
Any chance you live near a microcenter? I bought an i5 2400 + MSI H61 board yesterday for a grand total of $182.11 after tax (which is quite expensive in CA). i5 2400 was $149.99 and the board was $19.99 (off from $64.99) because of a bundle deal. They sell for below cost, so if you can manage that...
Any current monitor will be compatible with any current motherboard via DVI.
Actually I think I do. Would it be a good idea to take the parts that he gave me, and search around for better pricing? I don't know if it makes a difference, but I also live about 10 minutes away from Fry's, I've seen around here that they would be a good place to go to as well.
There is currently nothing better than what I've listed. You'll only find better processor pricing at Microcenter and the power supply can only be better if you want to deal with mail in rebates.
Ok, thanks! I'll check out us.ncix but I see that they don't have free shipping to Alaska, so I'll pick whichever site is cheaper in the end.
My brother is going to provide me with a heat sink, so that won't be a problem.
I'll also pick out a lower wattage PSU and some cheaper RAM.
If you want to help him maybe you should write why it's better or worse. Anyone can say something is better or worse, how would he know which one of you have a clue?
In reality the whole tech support might be useless since Google could probably find the solution to every problem. However, its things like personal experience that definitely make this worthwhile since not everyone has the time to read up on everything. Also things that some posters might find intuitive to them might be news to others. Feedback is always nice .
Actually both PSUs are bad though seems like you're correct. Btw the johnnyguru review didn't have hotbox testing for the other PSU and did for other, not sure what's with that.
Though yeah it has pretty high noise and ripple and that's bad.
Opinions are good, facts are better. If you look at the real contributers of this thread (skyr and co), they tend to support their opinions with something more than, "it seems better/worse." That's all I'm saying.
By the way I used this for my judgement but yeah in reality both the PSUs are subpar, Amazon really has mostly junky PSUs, I wouldn't buy mine from there.
Not sure what you're talking about, since both reviews have hotbox testing. Just scroll around. The different reviewers divide up the information on different pages, so the formatting is a little inconsistent.
Many previous reviews have not shown +12V regulation issues with the Seasonic S12II Bronze platform, so it seems like maybe an outlier anyway. But maybe XFX ordered up something a little screwy.
Overall, the XFX performance is better. It uses the same pretty high-quality ball-bearing fan as the retail Seasonic S12II Bronze (better than the BB model in the otherwise mostly-identical Antec High Current Gamer, which is known to have a higher rate of potential clicking problems), as opposed to a decent sleeve-bearing fan in the Cooler Master. And it also uses higher-quality capacitors and more.
On September 26 2011 04:50 Myrmidon wrote: Not sure what you're talking about, since both reviews have hotbox testing. Just scroll around. The different reviewers divide up the information on different pages, so the formatting is a little inconsistent.
Many previous reviews have not shown +12V regulation issues with the Seasonic S12II Bronze platform, so it seems like maybe an outlier anyway. But maybe XFX ordered up something a little screwy.
Overall, the XFX performance is better. It uses the same pretty high-quality ball-bearing fan as the retail Seasonic S12II Bronze (better than the BB model in the otherwise mostly-identical Antec High Current Gamer, which is known to have a higher rate of potential clicking problems), as opposed to a decent sleeve-bearing fan in the Cooler Master. And it also uses higher-quality capacitors and more.
You're probably correct, still I can't find the XFX hotbox tests anywhere.
Ehh as I was saying... I don't consider 30 celcius intake (at 100% load, starting at 22!!! celcius) air hotbox by any stretch of imagination. Compare that to the temperatures used by hardwaresecrets that started at 44 celcius room temperature.
I'm much more interested in real-world results than benchmarks in PSUs.
True that 30C is not that hot, but like I said...previous S12II with those kinds of components don't have problems (with high temperatures, or elsewhere, except maybe with transient response).
Also, can I find the same thing somewhere else for a better price?
Thank you again very much! And I believe Newegg or somewhere will have a tutorial on learning how to put it all together right? (Plus I'm pretty sure I have a friend who can show me.)
@Tex: if you use the motherboard skyR linked, yes, that wireless card will fit. It's compatible, but I don't really use wireless much. And Asus doesn't tend to make terrible products.
On September 26 2011 07:47 TexDrum wrote: Ok, SkyR, if you're there, (or anyone else) I have one more question. I need a wireless networking card so that wifi will be compatible with the computer, will this work? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320074
Also, can I find the same thing somewhere else for a better price?
Thank you again very much! And I believe Newegg or somewhere will have a tutorial on learning how to put it all together right? (Plus I'm pretty sure I have a friend who can show me.)
I use this one, I believe Myrmidon was the one who recommended it for me if you need credibility. Works like a charm, and the advantages of this one via USB is that you can physically move around the antennae to get a better signal, which surprisingly makes a huge difference (2 ft can make the difference for me of getting a signal strength of 57% to 85%, I've moved it back and forth watching the signal drop as I leave the antennae on top of my case, and rise as I move it up to where my desk is).
EPT
