Advice for begining builder

[new_builder85]

Hi all. I am planning on building my own pc for light office work and web surfing. Here are the components I plan to use (all from tiger direct):


Motherboard: Asus 54A785-M

Processor: AMD Phenom X3 8850 tri-core

RAM: Crucial 800 mhz DDR2 Ram – 2 gig

Heat Sink: Cooler Master Hyper N520

Hard Drive: Hitachi 0F10381 500 gig

Power Supply: Ultra LSP550 550-Watt

Optical Drive: haven’t decided


Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jedi940]

1. What is your budget?

2. That Phenom is a generation old. Do not buy it. grab something from the Athlon II or Phenom II line.

3. Grab a decent power supply from Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, Xigmatek, or Rosewill green series

4. Ram will need to be DDR3. (grab a 4GB dual channel kit by GSkill)

5. Any <$20 DVD burner will be fine unless you want blu-ray

6. you don't need a heatsink if you are not overclocking

7. for a motherboard, grab an AM3 from ASRock or Gigabyte. They have value priced motherboards that support USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0

Also, do you need an OS, case, monitor, keyboard, mouse?

 

[jedi940]

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822152185
$69.99

GIGABYTE GA-880GA-UD3H AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128444
$109.99

Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W Continuous Power ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817371029
$44.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH
$54.99

AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX450WFGMBOX
Item #: N82E16819103886
$79.99

Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7261S-0B LightScribe Support - OEM
Item #: N82E16827118040
$19.99

TOTAL = $379.94

 

[shineon2010]

+1

 

[ulysses35]

1. What is your budget?

2. That Phenom is a generation old. Do not buy it. grab something from the Athlon II or Phenom II line.

3. Grab a decent power supply from Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, Xigmatek, or Rosewill green series

4. Ram will need to be DDR3. (grab a 4GB dual channel kit by GSkill)

5. Any <$20 DVD burner will be fine unless you want blu-ray

6. you don't need a heatsink if you are not overclocking

7. for a motherboard, grab an AM3 from ASRock or Gigabyte. They have value priced motherboards that support USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0

Also, do you need an OS, case, monitor, keyboard, mouse?

ASRock ??? are you sure ??? would be like buying a "budget" budget motherboard.

 

[new_builder85]

Wow, much thanks for prompt and useful reply.

Budget: $400-$500

OS: Linux (Ubuntu)

Case: Something large, with space and easy installation, and sturdy

Keyboard, monitor, mouse: allready have

Your recommendations seem solid. Again thanks.

 

[jedi940]

I would recommend Gigabyte over ASRock. that is why i suggested it in my build. Given the parts the op started with I assumed a lower budget. In that capacity, Asrock does quite well. For a case, just grab whatever you find aesthetically pleasing. A full tower will give you plenty of room. a mid tower would probably be fine though. the Antec 300 is quite nice.

If you have $4-500, I would suggest grabbing a Athlon II 640. might as well grab 4 cores for only $20 more. do you plan on overclocking? That motheroard has integrated graphics which should suit you fine for web surfing.

 

[new_builder85]

Sounds good. I think I might as well go with the 4 core processor. I don't plan to overclock this cpu.

I'm going to get the parts together and build this thing and see how it goes. I plan to order from TigerDirect. I also looked at Newegg.com. Do you have any preference between the two, or perhaps an online site I haven't heard of?

 

[jedi940]

Most people around here, myself included, will recommend Newegg. I love their prices, and they have fast reliable service. Plus, through their email specials, promo codes and combo deals, you can usually save another $30-50.

 

[joelmartinez]

antec 300 illusion at newegg right now for $55 pick it up before the deal is gone http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066&cm_sp=DailyDeal-_-11-129-066-_-Homepage

 

[new_builder85]

Joel, Jedi, thanks for the info!

If I were going to overclock, what heatsink would you suggest? Assuming I go with the antec 300 and the athlon II 640. I know it would have to be compatible with the AM3 socket. Is coolermaster a good brand?

 

[jedi940]

I would suggest the Xigmatek Gaia. I choose this cooler for my 1090T because of the mounting orientation. I wanted a crossflow cooler. Most of the coolers will be in an updraft configuration on an AM3 chipset. The main reason I wanted this is that with an updraft configuration, that hot air would blow directly into my PSU. If you get a case that has the psu on the bottom and a top mounted case fan, it won't matter. Another cooler many recommend is the cooler master 212.

 

[joelmartinez]

I have the hyper 212+ and it is a great little thing buy from amazon 2 fans, free shipping, cheaper http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002G1YPH0/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0KFVNAEDHFBKXN2CDCFN&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846
The price changes daily sometimes it goes to 25 dollars

 

[Grove]

Another case you could look into would be the HAF 912 for $5 more than the 300. It's got room to put all your cables to the side of your case so it doesn't block any air moving throughout the case and it makes the inside look much nicer with all your cables tucked away.

If you were to overclock, I'd recommend the Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B. It seems to be a steal at $40. Only issue is it's a monster but you would probably only have issues if your RAM has heat spreaders like the Ripjaws, Dominator, etc. Also, I don't believe the Mugen 2 comes with thermal paste so I'd recommend Arctic Silver 5.

A review here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/lga-1156-heatsink,2535-14.html
The Mugen 2 here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142
Arctic Silver 5 here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

 

[gerry410]

If its your first build and your on the fence about which components to piece together why don't you read all of the toms build your own articles. Go with one that fits your needs. It worked well for me. I built the march $1500.00 /2010 build with some small changes. I'm really happy with the results.
It gives you the advantage of knowing what works best with what. the diff. builds are already tested and rated. Basically u cant go wrong.
I noticed you mentioned buying everything at TigerD. BIGMISTAKE You can find processors real cheap at MicroCenter and Newegg has rotating great deals and probably the best online store to research your purchases.

Good luck Bro