Greetings friends, I'm new to the threads, but I'be looked in for many years now. I, need help on deciding which components I should consider. My system is old, Intel 775 chip, core 2 duo. I want to build a system I can use for photography, and normal use. I do no gaming though. Last game I played was Pong when it was new. So far I have a i5 6600k, Samsung EVO 850 250Gb, WD Black 1-tb, 16 Gb, of patriot DDR4 2600. First I need a Z170 mother board. I've read the reviews, and don't really understand a lot of what they are saying. And, there is a huge amount to chose from. I know I need plenty of USB capabilities, and some in the front of the case. I want to install a card reader in the case. Graphics card, really has me confused. I don't need the real high end ones, but I do want one that will last, and that will be good with Adobe. Something not to large,yet has 2 GB of DDR5, or is that over kill? I have an older AMD Radon R 200. I'm considering a Seasonic PSU, in 650 Watts. If,it's enough? I was considering a Micro ATX board, but most of them seem to be light on some things. I'm trying to decide on a nice and easy to configure case, that's not as big as the old Antec Sonota III I now have. I understand this is a lot to ask, but after spending and missing the sales trying to decide, I thought I'd give this a try. This old computer I'm using, is like an old car, you have to work on every time you want to use it. I also would like to keep Windows 7 as my OS. Thank you for any advise you may have. I promise, I'll read any advise given, and consider it. Best wishes to you, and your families. Mike
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Help Deciding On Components For Old Man
- Thread starter rr67gto
- Start date
Solution
Motherboard: Z170 motherboards are 'enthusiast' level products and typically designed with gaming (and overclocking) in mind. However, they are also capable of allowing more USB connectors (which I assume is why you chose it in the first place). It can also allow for more USB 3 ports. (An H170 motherboard can have the same number of USB connectors but fewer USB 3 ports.) Smaller motherboards are likely to loose a feature or connection for space reasons. I believe an ATX sized Z170 motherboard should meet your requirements. Be aware you'd need a case which can accept an ATX size motherboard.
Case: With respect to the need of USB ports at the front of the case, it will depend on the case itself and the available connectors on the motherboard. There should be cables from the front panel with connectors which need to be plugged into the correct places on the motherboard. Whichever motherboard you end up getting will have indications of these ports as would the case manual to some extent. As for which case, it depends on your own requirements. You mention configuring; what do you mean? There are cases which are modular, though I'm not sure this is what you mean.
Card reader: Much like the other USB ports. May depend on the actual card reader you have and it may inhabit one USB port on the motherboard. I believe my card reader plugs into a motherboard USB connection.
PSU: Seasonic is a reliable brand. The 650W should suffice after a graphics card is added to your components.
Graphics card: Not much I can add since you don't game. However, it does sound like this is supposed to be a production PC. In which case, it sounds like one of the professional type cards might be more suitable for your needs (Quadro comes to mind), but it's not something I'm familiar with.
OS: I'm not sure how easy it would be to obtain a new copy of Windows 7. Do you know how you obtained your current copy of Windows 7? If it's a retail version you could install it on the new hard drive, though you may need to deactivate it first (or speak to a Microsoft rep).
Comment: Probably just confused you more with all the above and didn't answer a single thing...
Case: With respect to the need of USB ports at the front of the case, it will depend on the case itself and the available connectors on the motherboard. There should be cables from the front panel with connectors which need to be plugged into the correct places on the motherboard. Whichever motherboard you end up getting will have indications of these ports as would the case manual to some extent. As for which case, it depends on your own requirements. You mention configuring; what do you mean? There are cases which are modular, though I'm not sure this is what you mean.
Card reader: Much like the other USB ports. May depend on the actual card reader you have and it may inhabit one USB port on the motherboard. I believe my card reader plugs into a motherboard USB connection.
PSU: Seasonic is a reliable brand. The 650W should suffice after a graphics card is added to your components.
Graphics card: Not much I can add since you don't game. However, it does sound like this is supposed to be a production PC. In which case, it sounds like one of the professional type cards might be more suitable for your needs (Quadro comes to mind), but it's not something I'm familiar with.
OS: I'm not sure how easy it would be to obtain a new copy of Windows 7. Do you know how you obtained your current copy of Windows 7? If it's a retail version you could install it on the new hard drive, though you may need to deactivate it first (or speak to a Microsoft rep).
Comment: Probably just confused you more with all the above and didn't answer a single thing...
Thank you very much for your help. You actually did clear up some important things for me, such as the USB concern I had. I now know that the board needs front connectors. And, I also need to make sure the case has front USB slots. You also provided some assurance about the PSU I have decided on, and the wattage. This old LGA 775 I'm using has a Corsair HX 620 PSU, and has never given me a bit of trouble. But the new one is a good idea. I want to thank you for taking time to answer questions, most people already know. It really does help. From some time on your part, to answer this, a lot of what I was concerned about is now history. I now, have to decide on which ATX board to buy, and search cases out. Again, thank you very much. Mike als
You're welcome. Glad my waffle helped a bit.
With respect to the USB ports I should clarify that both the Z170 and H170 motherboards can support the maximum of 14, but of those 14 the Z170 can have 10 USB 3.0 (the H170, 8 USB 3.0). Truthfully, it will depend on whether the motherboard manufacturer has built the motherboard with these maximum figures.
Also for clarity, with respect to the USB connectors on the front of a case it will depend on the case. The number and mixture of the USB ports can vary. So if you want USB 3.0 ports because you have a lot of USB 3.0 devices, then choose accordingly.
And as a matter of interest, do you know of the following website?
http://pcpartpicker.com/
It can help you filter your requirements and give you an indication of what you could get for your needs.
With respect to the USB ports I should clarify that both the Z170 and H170 motherboards can support the maximum of 14, but of those 14 the Z170 can have 10 USB 3.0 (the H170, 8 USB 3.0). Truthfully, it will depend on whether the motherboard manufacturer has built the motherboard with these maximum figures.
Also for clarity, with respect to the USB connectors on the front of a case it will depend on the case. The number and mixture of the USB ports can vary. So if you want USB 3.0 ports because you have a lot of USB 3.0 devices, then choose accordingly.
And as a matter of interest, do you know of the following website?
http://pcpartpicker.com/
It can help you filter your requirements and give you an indication of what you could get for your needs.
Thank you for the information, and the link. I don't have any USB 3.0 products yet, but I want to keep things updated for when I may have them. I also need to be sure the case has some normal USB 2.0 front slots, because I don't think 2.0 and 3.0 are the same slots. But, I have to check that out. I will visit the link you so kindly gave me. Best wishes friend.
USB slots are generally compatible as USB 1, 2 and 3 are all physically compatible. The new USB C standard is physically different, which is the one to be more careful with.
For example, say the motherboard onboard connector is USB 3 and is connected to a front case USB 3 port, but you have a USB 1 device plugged in, the USB 1 device would still work, but it won't go faster than the USB 1 standard. If you think of this as a loop or circuit then it will be only as fast as the slowest component. (This may depend whether the device requires power.)
For example, say the motherboard onboard connector is USB 3 and is connected to a front case USB 3 port, but you have a USB 1 device plugged in, the USB 1 device would still work, but it won't go faster than the USB 1 standard. If you think of this as a loop or circuit then it will be only as fast as the slowest component. (This may depend whether the device requires power.)
By the way, because of the things I've read here, I have been to PCpartspicker a lot. The only thing I notice, is when looking up a parts ratings, it only gives a very few of those who reported. And it's odd, most are positive. I see that newegg has the Seasonic SSR-650 RM at 69.00. I may have jumped to fast, but I ended up buying 16 Gb pf Patriot Viper 4 PC3200. Two 8Gb sticks. A local place had it on sale for one day, for$84.00. I just have to be sure MOB I choose is compatible with it. Thanks again friends. I'll try my best not to bother you, unless I get stuck on something I can't understand. Mike
PC Part Picker has a rudimentary compatibility checker.
As for the RAM specifically... a specific motherboard model will often have a Qualfied Vendors List of RAM. These are the RAM which are guaranteed to work. Other RAM of the same nature should also work.
The Patriot Viper 4 RAM (I assume the link is correct) is DDR4 RAM which is what you'd need for the impending upgrade to a Z170 motherboard and i5-6600k.
All sounds well so far.
As for the RAM specifically... a specific motherboard model will often have a Qualfied Vendors List of RAM. These are the RAM which are guaranteed to work. Other RAM of the same nature should also work.
The Patriot Viper 4 RAM (I assume the link is correct) is DDR4 RAM which is what you'd need for the impending upgrade to a Z170 motherboard and i5-6600k.
All sounds well so far.
Thank you, I see where I'm starting out backwards. I need to decide on my mother board, before I bought the memory. I didn't know there was any difference, as long as it was DDR4. I still need to just make up my mind and decide on the board, and a graphics card, then case. I tend to over thing things to much, meaning wasting time, when I should know better. At my age time is important. Thanks again friends. I'm going to decide on the board next. I checked AMazon out, and they have changed. Now, the ratings and questions are linked to many different mother boards. Although, in the same brand and chip set. Mike
Amazon's review system has become rather convoluted. Taking the simple case of a film on DVD and Blu Ray and the reviews are bundled together even though they can vary widely. With respect to reviews it might be advisable to copy the item name into a search engine and add 'review' on the end; this way more professional reviews should be prioritised.
The RAM should work; not all manufacturers keep their QVL up to date. Differences between DDR3 and DDR4 are more pronounced and won't necessarily work on the same motherboard (motherboard support and also CPU factor into this), but it's not something to worry about with your purchase.
The RAM should work; not all manufacturers keep their QVL up to date. Differences between DDR3 and DDR4 are more pronounced and won't necessarily work on the same motherboard (motherboard support and also CPU factor into this), but it's not something to worry about with your purchase.
bahnstormer
Honorable
- Jan 5, 2015
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Graphics card - if it is for photography, just aim for any with digital outputs and get a decent screen. Most Quadro-type cards are for CAD software and show ZERO benefit unless you're using their 3D rendering optimised software - they're actually SLOWER than gaming cards for a lot of stuff (less aggressive RAM timings).
Lots of RAM on graphics is used for buffering and caching 3D textures and more recently programmable units (mostly high FPS gaming). Even if you end up with 2x 4K screens (2560x1440), you're still only going to need: 2(screens) x 2560 x 1440 (resolution) x 4 (bytes required per pixel for 32bit colour) = 30 Meg!!!
Once you add in Aero and a bit of buffering, etc you'll need more than that, but even a 128Mb quadro "NVS" card will be fine - these are the stripped down versions of the Quadro CAD card used for office workstations - they're very stable, often passively cooled, with digital outputs (often for 4 screens!), but pretty useless for gaming.
The only reason to spend anything on a graphics card is if you're doing VIDEO rendering... at which point the game changes significantly. Look up one with the best CUDA programmable units and work out what you're willing to pay for.
Lots of RAM on graphics is used for buffering and caching 3D textures and more recently programmable units (mostly high FPS gaming). Even if you end up with 2x 4K screens (2560x1440), you're still only going to need: 2(screens) x 2560 x 1440 (resolution) x 4 (bytes required per pixel for 32bit colour) = 30 Meg!!!
Once you add in Aero and a bit of buffering, etc you'll need more than that, but even a 128Mb quadro "NVS" card will be fine - these are the stripped down versions of the Quadro CAD card used for office workstations - they're very stable, often passively cooled, with digital outputs (often for 4 screens!), but pretty useless for gaming.
The only reason to spend anything on a graphics card is if you're doing VIDEO rendering... at which point the game changes significantly. Look up one with the best CUDA programmable units and work out what you're willing to pay for.
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