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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. |
What is your budget?
$500 is probably the max for what I can spend
What is your resolution?
1240x1080? I don't know what the middle of the road resolution is but that is what I would be aiming for
What are you using it for?
Mostly gaming, maybe some photo editing
What is your upgrade cycle?
I am interested in building a pc for cheap now and hopefully in the future(year or so) upgrading parts for it
When do you plan on building it?
By christmas is the deadline I have in my head but it will probably end up happening within a month or two.
Do you plan on overclocking?
I'm pretty clueless when it comes to overclocking so I would lean towards no.
Do you need an Operating System?
No
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
Probably not
Where are you buying your parts from?
Off of the internet
All of that being said, I have been browsing newegg for prices and specs and am still a little lost. I want a build to run newer games like SC2 and FFXIV smooth, I don't need them to look top notch just run good. After looking around I came up with a price around $500 for what I imagine I would need. Some of the parts may be unnecessary or overkill for what I need, but like I said i'm still a little lost. Below is a list of main parts that I came up with as I was searching around.
BIOSTAR A770E3 motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138179&Tpk=biostar a770e3
AMD Phenom x2 555 CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846&cm_re=AMD_phenom_x2_555-_-19-103-846-_-Product
HIS Radeon HD 4670
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161315
These are just an idea as I was looking around for parts. The rest I am still confused/undecided on. I will be looking for probably 4GB of RAM, only 1 DVD drive, I have a TV that I will be using as a monitor for the time being, and leaning towards a smaller HDD (160GB 7200RPM).
PSUs I am still confused on, i'm not sure what I would need to power a system but have just been using a 550w as a basis for pricing. What sort of power output am I looking for in a set-up like this? If anyone can tell me if these are good to go for what i'm looking to do, or if anyone has any ideas on parts that are cheaper and will do the same job I would appreciate it.
Like I said before I am trying to build this for as cheap as possible while still being able to run newer games at decent settings/smoothly. I would appreciate any input to this build, are the parts totally wrong for what i'm trying to do,are these parts compatible, are the companies that I linked reliable parts, am I looking at breaking my budget for my needs? Thank you in advance for any help.
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On September 03 2010 22:47 Garnet wrote:Show nested quote +On September 03 2010 20:54 R04R wrote:
Most PSUs have at least two 6/6+2/8 power connector pins for power hungry graphics cards.
Most cards only take 1 power connector or none.
Only until 5830? and 460? do cards begin to take 2 power connectors. Trouble usually comes when you want to crossfire/sli these 2 power slot cards and you don't have enough power connectors even though your wattage is more than enough. This is usually around the 600/650/700 range of PSUs. Make sure if you pick one up around this wattage that the PSU has 4 6 pin connectors if you plan on crossfire/sli. I mean do PSUs have pci-e 2.0 connectors for pci-e 2.0 cards (like motherboards) or can I just use any psu and still take full use of the card?
All modern graphics cards plug into PCI-e slots on the motherboard. That slot is able to supply up to 75W over that interface. High-performance cards require more power than that, so they also have external power connectors (sometimes more than 1) to supplement what they get out of the mobo's slot.
This external power connector is a special 6 (or 8) pin connector from the PSU. These are sometimes called PCI-E connectors because they're used to power some PCI-E cards. Some PSUs do not have these special power connectors for high-power graphics cards--others do.
However, most cards that need external power connectors usually ship with a 2 molex -> 6 pin power adapter. Many 380-500W PSUs will have only a single 6 pin connector. But if you get something like a GTX 460 that needs two 6-pin external power connectors, you can satisfy that requirement with that kind of PSU by using the 2 molex -> 6 pin power adapter along with the existing 6 pin connector.
So most any PSU that can deliver the wattage required will also have enough connectors, maybe with the help of adapters. Just check to make sure.
iconoclast420: You might be able to get slightly better deals and prices while grabbing components as they go temporarily on sale. Would you rather get things all at once or gradually over time? If over time, it might be difficult to recommend specific items. If you want to get it now, somebody can put a build together for you.
$500 is doable for just the computer hardware. Your current parts are compatible, but I'd get a better graphics card than that. I suspect FFXIV would be better-threaded than SC2, so a dual core might not be the best idea.
PSU depends on what other stuff you're getting, but a good 380W should be plenty. Granted, PSU quality and power distribution varies a lot between models and manufacturers so you can't just look at one number.
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On September 04 2010 00:26 Myrmidon wrote:Show nested quote +On September 03 2010 22:47 Garnet wrote:On September 03 2010 20:54 R04R wrote:
Most PSUs have at least two 6/6+2/8 power connector pins for power hungry graphics cards.
Most cards only take 1 power connector or none.
Only until 5830? and 460? do cards begin to take 2 power connectors. Trouble usually comes when you want to crossfire/sli these 2 power slot cards and you don't have enough power connectors even though your wattage is more than enough. This is usually around the 600/650/700 range of PSUs. Make sure if you pick one up around this wattage that the PSU has 4 6 pin connectors if you plan on crossfire/sli. I mean do PSUs have pci-e 2.0 connectors for pci-e 2.0 cards (like motherboards) or can I just use any psu and still take full use of the card? All modern graphics cards plug into PCI-e slots on the motherboard. That slot is able to supply up to 75W over that interface. High-performance cards require more power than that, so they also have external power connectors (sometimes more than 1) to supplement what they get out of the mobo's slot. This external power connector is a special 6 (or 8) pin connector from the PSU. These are sometimes called PCI-E connectors because they're used to power some PCI-E cards. Some PSUs do not have these special power connectors for high-power graphics cards--others do. However, most cards that need external power connectors usually ship with a 2 molex -> 6 pin power adapter. Many 380-500W PSUs will have only a single 6 pin connector. But if you get something like a GTX 460 that needs two 6-pin external power connectors, you can satisfy that requirement with that kind of PSU by using the 2 molex -> 6 pin power adapter along with the existing 6 pin connector. So most any PSU that can deliver the wattage required will also have enough connectors, maybe with the help of adapters. Just check to make sure. iconoclast420: You might be able to get slightly better deals and prices while grabbing components as they go temporarily on sale. Would you rather get things all at once or gradually over time? If over time, it might be difficult to recommend specific items. If you want to get it now, somebody can put a build together for you. $500 is doable for just the computer hardware. Your current parts are compatible, but I'd get a better graphics card than that. I suspect FFXIV would be better-threaded than SC2, so a dual core might not be the best idea. PSU depends on what other stuff you're getting, but a good 380W should be plenty. Granted, PSU quality and power distribution varies a lot between models and manufacturers so you can't just look at one number.
Thanks for your reply.
So I used those online PSU calculators and the result is 350w, but there's someone who tell me I should add about 300w to that, is he/she right or wrong?
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On September 04 2010 01:10 Garnet wrote:
Thanks for your reply.
So I used those online PSU calculators and the result is 350w, but there's someone who tell me I should add about 300w to that, is he/she right or wrong?
Power supplies generally run at highest efficiency between 40 and 60% load. You'll probably be at 80-90% load when stressing your parts, though a good power supply will still be above 80% efficiency even at those conditions. In reality, you're probably be comparing 80-81% efficiency at 90% load with maybe 84% at 50% load, so the difference is minimal. Your power supply might not last as long, but in reality this is a budget build so I assume that in a few years if or when you upgrade you will buy a new power supply anyways.
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Thank you both for the help and fast reply. I looked over the build and only have one question, if FFXIV is too much for a dual core, and most of the feedback I have seen about the Athlon II x3 445 is overclocking and unlocking cores would I be better off just shelling out the extra cash and go for a quad core if I am clueless about overclocking? Other then that one question everything looks good for what I need and I appreciate it very much.
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Hyrule19190 Posts
Awful, awful video card. Just about any other is better.
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Hyrule19190 Posts
On September 04 2010 01:49 iconoclast420 wrote:
Thank you both for the help and fast reply. I looked over the build and only have one question, if FFXIV is too much for a dual core, and most of the feedback I have seen about the Athlon II x3 445 is overclocking and unlocking cores would I be better off just shelling out the extra cash and go for a quad core if I am clueless about overclocking? Other then that one question everything looks good for what I need and I appreciate it very much.
Dual core and triple core AMDs are typically quad cores with 1 or 2 disabled. If you get a mobo with core unlocker, you may be able to get a quad core. I said "may" because AMD will disable the cores for a few reasons, and one of them is that there are physical defects with 1 or 2 of the cores.
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On September 04 2010 02:02 tofucake wrote:Awful, awful video card. Just about any other is better.
Whats wrong with it? Do you mean the 5770 or that specific card? I had a quick look and haven't seen any bad reviews for it, the only problem seems to be the price which is negated with the $30 combo + $20 MIR. Its cool, fast and stock overclocked.
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The only current-gen AMD products that are not quad cores are the Athlon II X2 and the single-core Sempron (edit: to be more specific, Sargas), unless I'm forgetting something. Those two are a dual core design, while the others are quad core designs (some sold with some of the cores deactivated).
Defects are kind of relative. A core might be disabled because some transistors in the cache leak current above a certain tolerance range. But you might still be able to operate that core in stable conditions, maybe with a little extra voltage. Other cores may work completely well in spec and are just disabled so the CPU can be sold at a certain price point. However, some defects are much more serious and would prevent the core from being used at all. If you've got an instruction register that reads wrong values, you're going nowhere with that core.
About PSUs: another reason you might not want to run a PSU at 80-90% of full load is that they are usually louder (fan noise) near their rated capacity. Some PSUs are quiet up to 20%, or 50%, or whatever, then get steadily louder as power drawn increases. Some expensive PSUs are totally fanless, or their fan doesn't even turn on until it has to. It's just another thing that depends on the exact PSU model. Then again, if your PSU is near full load, chances are that your CPU fan and GPU fan are not going to be quiet either.
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Would an Intel 945G Express motherboard be compatible with the AMD Athlon X4 635? Tried to search for the info on google and it didn't go so well....
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On September 04 2010 02:25 Snuggles wrote:
Would an Intel 945G Express motherboard be compatible with the AMD Athlon X4 635? Tried to search for the info on google and it didn't go so well....
No, you need an AM3 chipset motherboard.
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On September 04 2010 02:32 deconduo wrote:Show nested quote +On September 04 2010 02:25 Snuggles wrote:
Would an Intel 945G Express motherboard be compatible with the AMD Athlon X4 635? Tried to search for the info on google and it didn't go so well.... No, you need an AM3 chipset motherboard.
Ahh.... I see.... Really now......
Goddammit all. Just looking at the Intel site it doesn't look like my board can use an i5 750 either huh?
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The 945G is a socket 775 board. The first generation core i5 and core i7 require socket 1156 and 1366 boards respectively.
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I believe you have a socket 775 motherboard, which pretty much limits you to core2quads for any upgrades.
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On September 04 2010 02:49 skyR wrote:
The 945G is a socket 775 board. The first generation core i5 and core i7 require socket 1156 and 1366 boards respectively.
i7-860/i7-870/other variants are 1156 too
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On September 04 2010 02:10 deconduo wrote:Show nested quote +On September 04 2010 02:02 tofucake wrote:Awful, awful video card. Just about any other is better. Whats wrong with it? Do you mean the 5770 or that specific card? I had a quick look and haven't seen any bad reviews for it, the only problem seems to be the price which is negated with the $30 combo + $20 MIR. Its cool, fast and stock overclocked.
I don't think he knows what he is talking about because that is actually quite a good deal
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So I got all the parts to my computer today! I even have some pictures of it. But I'm not going to post those because I'm too busy being angry. I'm not expecting anybody here to be able to tell me what's wrong, but if anyone knows that would be great. I'm trying some stuff with a different PSU tomorrow, maybe get some help from a tech guy I know, worst case scenario RMA the mobo.
First, specs:
i7 930
EVGA SLI LE
EVGA GTX 470
This 1000W PSU by Cooler Master
4 GB G Skill RAM
Samsung F1 1 TB
Cooler Master Hyper 212 CPU Fan
So, the problem occurs when I try to boot, obviously. When I have one stick of RAM and basically nothing else besides case fans, I get FF. This is without CPU however, which is a small problem obviously. As soon as I plug the CPU in I start getting problems though. One of two situations happens.
1. I think this is when the GPU is plugged in. The indicator that says FF or whatever goes from F3 to F6 to 68, and then restarts itself.
2. When the GPU isn't plugged in, it flashes FF and then immediately restarts.
So yeah, if anyone has any ideas, that would be great.
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Hmm I would try booting with a PCI card actually (rules out mobo, indicates GPU). I've never heard of a DOA GPU, but you never know. The better option would be a working PCI-e GPU, so you can rule out the PCI-e slot first.
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On September 02 2010 12:38 Mystor wrote:Thanks, just one more pass of my system  + Show Spoiler +There are currently no combo deals and I bumped up the quality of my gfx card and processor a touch. If this works I think I will get it soon.
Ok, so some people have said that this computer will need a better PSU than the 430W one in the Antec 300.
Is this true? if so what should I get it at? Any suggestions?
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