First time build - Last words of advice

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pm1967

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Jan 29, 2014
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I'm building my first rig. I had help to pick out a decent set up for the games I'm likely to play (older games such as STALKER, Rome Total War)

Planned build:

Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor £81.59
Asus H81M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard £39.99
Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory £62.16
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive £39.98
Asus Radeon HD 7790 1GB Video Card £90.78
XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply £34.14
Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer £12.50
OS at £50.00
£411.14
Budget is £450 at the moment but could maybe stretch to £500

I havent picked out a case or resin yet so any advice on that front would be welcome.
Will the CPU fan provide enough cooling? As I say I wont be playing high end games. I have an Xbox one for that.
Any other feedback on the setup would be great as well.

Thanks
 
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C12Friedman

C12Friedman

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Jan 25, 2012
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The stock heat sink/fan will do nicely for your cooling needs. The single concern there being if the stock fan is too loud for you - if it is, then worry about getting something quieter. I'm assuming by resin you are referring to thermal compound, the stock heat sink comes pre-printed with thermal compound on it - no worries there.
For a case, that really is a personal call since you're the one that will be looking at it all the time, not us. My suggestion there would be to post some cases you like and request feedback on them
 
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pm1967

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Jan 29, 2014
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I'm not hugely worried about the noise of the fan. Had an Xbox 360 original which sounded like a jet taking off. Yeah I meant thermal compound.

As for the case this was picked by someone on here
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ezcool-N-630D-Pc-Case-no-psu-/271289295994?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopComponents_RL&hash=item3f2a1a247a#shpCntId

Looks ok, not looking for anything too fancy. Just one thats suitable. As long as it has at least 4 usb ports. I'm guessing this one comes with 2 and the motherboard will have 2?
 
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Rammy

Rammy

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Sep 3, 2012
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For the price it's a solid little build. There isn't an awful lot worth upgrading for your extra £50, with the exception of going for say an R9 270 2Gb, as it gives you some more flexibility going forwards if you did want to play a more modern PC-based game.

As for case ideas (assuming you are looking to stick to £40) I'd have a look at these and see what you think, it's very subjective.
Cooler Master K280/K380 - cheap, no-nonsense
Fractal Design Core 1000 - compact, simple, great value, mATX only.
NZXT Source 210 - available in black and white
BitFenix Comrade - available in black and white
All of those only come with a single 120mm fan as standard, which isn't a massive issue but adding a second might be worth it, even though you don't have anything that's generating much heat.
While I'm not a particular fan of Zalman cases, for this price, it's hard not to consider the Z5 Plus too. Comes with 3 fans, filters and a basic fan controller as standard.
 
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pm1967

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I think the Zalman looks like a good choice. As I say not looking for anything special. A black box is fine. Thanks
 
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Rammy

Rammy

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Yeah I'd definitely advise getting a "proper" case, as it's not something that fatigues really. You can use it for years.
There's also the problems with build quality. I bought a £10 case once when I was a teenager, and I had to basically bend it a little to fit the (standard sized) motherboard into it, then the PSU mounting screw holes weren't aligned. Once it was assembled it vibrated quite alarmingly, kinda like a tiny washing machine. Haven't made the same mistake since.

@ Your earlier USB query. The motherboard you picked has 2 USB3.0 and 4 USB2.0 on the back. It also has internal headers for both USB2.0 and USB3.0 on the front panel, depending on which case you go for. Should be plenty for you, whatever.
 
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C12Friedman

C12Friedman

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Jan 25, 2012
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And now for some (semi-critical) feedback. I'm thinking the case does not have USB 3.0 available but the motherboard you chose does feature two USB 3.0 ports on the back so I would think you'd be covered there. I can't figure cable management (whether tricky or not) from the pictures I've seen. It is about the least expensive case I've seen (I once got one free - worst case ever). I figure a case like that will accomplish it's mission of holding your parts but that will be all it will do. Okay, that's really all any case does but, well some cases are a pleasure to build in while others, well, not so much fun
 
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pm1967

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Jan 29, 2014
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So would you suggest a slightly more expensive case? With it being a first build I'd maybe part with a little more cash up to the £500 limit if it made things easier
 
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Rammy

Rammy

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It's solid enough. If I'd gone over £40 it would have been one of my suggestions (along with the Antec One and Bitfenix Shinobi) but if you are happy with something basic then any of my earlier suggestions will fit the bill.
There is quite a big difference going from a no-name case to a reputable company's entry level cases.
 
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