First time building a PC, please take a look at my build, have q's

[superkrups20056]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kdEC
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kdEC/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kdEC/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL EVO CORSA Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($95.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($190.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card ($284.99 @ CompUSA)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.98 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1215.46
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)


A couple questions:

-The case has a FireWire port on the front. I want this port to work, but I am unsure if the motherboard supports it. What's the easiest way to figure out if my motherboard is compatible with all the ports available on the front of the case?

-I'm looking to salvage a BluRay reader (HL-DT-ST BDDVDRW GBC-H20L) optical drive from my old computer. Can I install the drive in this computer as a second drive? Will this let me copy my BluRay home videos straight from one drive to the other, as my other optical drive would be a BluRay writer?

Thank you!

 

[clutchc]

The 5400 rpm hard drive is going to be slower than you'll like. I would opt for a std 7200 rpm. If you don't mind the 'green' drive going into sleep mode off and on, it will be OK as long as it isn't used as the boot drive (I see you have a SSD listed).

I don't see a IEEE 1394 header listed on the specs, so I imagine there is no place for your Firewire.
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H77%20Pro4MVP/?cat=Specifications

As long as your Blu-Ray player is SATA and not PATA, it will connect to one of the SATA headers on the board just like a HDD, SSD, and DVD drive.

 

[superkrups20056]

Could you point me in the direction of a motherboard that would work with the full features of this case? Thank you!

 

[clutchc]

Could you point me in the direction of a motherboard that would work with the full features of this case? Thank you!

If you want to stay with a Z77 board (good choice), this is the least expensive one listed on Newegg's site.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157295
It supports both Xfire and SLI at x8,x8 speeds. Here is the manufacturer's page for the board if you want to investigate the specs.
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.us.asp?Model=Z77%20Extreme6

 

[superkrups20056]

The Z77 is perfect, but can you tell me if it will allow the firewire port in the front of the case to work?

 

[clutchc]

The Z77 is perfect, but can you tell me if it will allow the firewire port in the front of the case to work?

Yes. It has a IEEE 1394 header on the board for you to plug in the case's Firewire connector. Page 14 of the board's manual shows where it is located: ftp://174.142.97.10/manual/Z77%20Extreme6.pdf

And it also has a USB 3.0 header onboard to match the connector your case comes with. Btw, USB 3.0 is faster than Firewire.

 

[superkrups20056]

OK, I have a better idea. These motherboards are really expensive, so I was just thinking of purchasing a firewire card seperately. That would work, correct? This is my final build. I changed the Case to the Corsair 300R because it doesnt have that firewire port in the front.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kexQ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kexQ/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kexQ/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL EVO CORSA Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($95.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($190.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card ($284.99 @ CompUSA)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($67.46 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.98 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1194.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

My question is this: the case specifications says that it only fits graphics cards up to 450mm in length. Is that 450 millimeters?? That's kinda small. Would my graphics card fit in that case?!

 

[badtaylorx]

450mm card would be hhhhuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggeeeeeeeeeee

like 18 inches huge

 

[jay_nar2012]

450mm=45CM which is a 30cm ruler and a 15cm ruler put together which is a long space.

Trust me 45CM isn't small for a GPU as badtaylorx said clearly.

 

[superkrups20056]

Thanks guys. I think this is the final build then. Theoretically, should everything fit into place perfectly?! Thanks a lot. I'm really excited so give me the ok go! Of course, suggest improvements too if you'd like!


(I REALLY want a 7200 RPM Hard drive that's 2 TB, but I can't find one that has reliable reviews)

 

[jimmysmitty]

If you want a 7200RPM HDD then why not get a Seagate ST2000dm001? Its a full 7200RPM HDD that has pretty good reviews and will beat the pants off of a WD Green in performance.

I have 2 of them in a RAID0 and am pretty happy with them. Then again I have had Seagates for all of my builds with no issues with them ever (just sold my older 500GB 7200.10s, 5 years old, and they still pass write and read tests).

The only issue with these drives is that the APM in it will cause a clicking like sound. There is a firmare update already out for it that fixes it so its no big issue.

The only other thing I would change is PSU. Not a big fan of Antec as of late and prefer Corsair or Seasonic.

http://compare.ebay.com/like/200681086252?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

That would benice but not sure if I trust the seller as he only has 80ish reviews.

 

[clutchc]

What 450mm long graphic card are we talking about? All I see listed is the 660ti @ 9.5"

 

[superkrups20056]

Thanks. I verified the graphics card will indeed fit. I just hope the rest of the components will!

One last conflict I am having is the graphics card: should I stick with the nVidia 660Ti or get the Raedon 7950? I'm having a discussion on reddit right now here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/11fbdm/this_is_one_of_my_final_builds_im_going_to_order/c6ly6v7

but what do you guys think? Thank you.

 

[clutchc]

The HD 7950 lists at 290mm long. If your case will accept that and you need 3GB for more than one monitor and you don't mind the cost, go for it. It will require 208W at max and draw 17.3A on the +12V rail.

 

[superkrups20056]

Thanks! This is my final build everyone. I'm about to pull the trigger...some final last minute improvements would really calm my mind. Thank you!

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kgZh
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kgZh/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kgZh/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL EVO CORSA Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($95.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($190.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($67.46 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.98 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1219.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)