My first build. Opinions?

[steviedoors]

Hi, I've been looking at components for my first custom build PC and I'm pretty much ready to order it all, but I'm looking for some opinions (or facts, I guess) before I do, just in case.
Thanks!

Spoiler

Motherboard
Asus M5A97 Motherboard 90-MIBFS0-G0AAY00Z
£69.65
http://www.cclonline.com/product/75437/90-MIBFS0-G0AAY00Z/Motherboards/Asus-M5A97-Motherboard/MBD0327/

CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Quad Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
£87.73
http://www.cclonline.com/product/26600/HDZ965FBGMBOX/CPUs/AMD-Phenom-II-X4-965-Black-Edition-3-4GHz-Quad-Core-Processor/CPU1046/

Graphics Card
XFX Radeon HD 7750 Graphics Card 1GB FX-775A-ZDB4
£91.72
http://www.cclonline.com/product/81324/FX-775A-ZDB4/Graphics-Cards/XFX-Radeon-HD-7750-Graphics-Card-1GB/VGA0606/

Memory
4GB Corsair XMS3 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory Kit TW3X4G1333C9A
£25.16
http://www.cclonline.com/product/36069/TW3X4G1333C9A/Desktop-Memory/4GB-Corsair-XMS3-1333MHz-DDR3-Dual-Channel-Memory-Kit/RAM5965/

Wireless Card
TP Link TL-WN881ND 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Express Adapter TL-WN881ND
£16.63
http://www.cclonline.com/product/70755/TL-WN881ND/Wireless-Adapters/TP-Link-TL-WN881ND-300Mbps-Wireless-N-PCI-Express-Adapter/NET0394/

Power Supply
600W OCZ ModXStream Pro Modular Power Supply OCZ600MXSP-UK
£56.70
http://www.cclonline.com/product/18316/OCZ600MXSP-UK/Power-Supplies/600W-OCZ-ModXStream-Pro-Modular-Power-Supply/PSU1077/

Hard Drive
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB (7200rpm) SATA 6Gb/s 16MB 3.5 inch Hard Drive WD5000AAKX
£48.78
http://www.cclonline.com/product/45601/WD5000AAKX/Hard-Drives/Western-Digital-Caviar-Blue-500GB-7200rpm-SATA-6Gb/s-16MB-3-5-inch-Hard-Drive/HDD1106/

DVD Drive
Sony 24x Internal DVDRW Drive AD-5280S-0B
£17.89
http://www.cclonline.com/product/74593/AD-5280S-0B/Optical-Drives/Sony-24x-Internal-DVDRW-Drive/CDR0118/

Case
Galaxy III Black 2720D
£36.25
http://www.cclonline.com/product/3760/2720D/Cases/Galaxy-III-Black/CAS0119/

Monitor
Acer V223HQVbd 22" TFT Monitor ET.WV3HE.021
£79.99
http://www.cclonline.com/product/65597/ET-WV3HE-021/Monitors/Acer-V223HQVbd-22-TFT-Monitor/MON0496/

Keyboard
CiT KB-2106C USB/PS2 Combo Keyboard KB-2106C
£5.21
http://www.cclonline.com/product/76320/KB-2106C/Keyboards/CiT-KB-2106C-USB/PS2-Combo-Keyboard/KBD0426/

Mouse
Logitech M100 Corded Optical Mouse 910-001602
£11.23
http://www.cclonline.com/product/42940/910-001602/Mice/Logitech-M100-Corded-Optical-Mouse/MOU1287/

Total Price: £547.24

Feel free to tell me if I'm being a noob, and thanks again

 

[allanitomwesh]

switch to intel,overclock later.
http://www.cclonline.com/product/81539/GA-Z77-DS3H/Motherboards/Gigabyte-GA-Z77-DS3H-Motherboard/MBD0390/
http://www.cclonline.com/product/44983/BX80623I32120/CPUs/Intel-Core-i3-2120-3-3GHz-Dual-Core-Processor-/CPU1113/
http://www.cclonline.com/product/45624/RC-370-KKN1/Cases/Cooler-Master-Elite-370-Midi-Tower-PC-Case/CAS1286/

 

[steviedoors]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm too far over budget already, so I couldn't really switch to Intel at this point. AMD seems to make more sense from a monetary stand point for the moment at least, but if I ever make a build with a higher budget I would certainly consider Intel.

 

[lazyboy947]

Go for 8gb of ram, and a 7770 or 6850. rest seems good. not sure of price of that in euros or where u buying from but u'd b better off with 8gb and at least a 7770 if u can get similar to the 7750, and same for a 6850 to the 7770.

 

[steviedoors]

Yeah I was kinda wanting to go for 8 GB rather than 4 but price is already too high. If I do a bit of shifting about I might be able to squeeze in the extra RAM but I'm not sure at the moment. If I can't do it just now I'll probably upgrade to 8GB later, though.
As for the GPU, I'll look at those other two. The 7770 is about a fiver more than my current selection, and the 6850 is only a couple more, so I'll compare them. Which of the two would you recommend?

 

[allanitomwesh]

Perhaps a cheaper motherboard?
http://www.cclonline.com/product/70185/GA-H61M-D2H-USB3/Motherboards/Gigabyte-GA-H61M-D2H-USB3-Motherboard/MBD0252/
the core i3 is better than the x4
http://www.cclonline.com/product/44983/BX80623I32120/CPUs/Intel-Core-i3-2120-3-3GHz-Dual-Core-Processor-/CPU1113/
change your case
http://www.cclonline.com/product/80281/0-761345-15970-8/Cases/Antec-One-Mid-Tower-Case/CAS0592/
and get the rest of your parts.

 

[steviedoors]

I've been with AMD CPUs for a while and a lot of my friends use them too so I'm a bit reluctant to switch over atm, to be honest.

 

[allanitomwesh]

core i3 2120>Phenom x6> phenom x4 be
core i5 3450> 8 core bulldozer
core i7 3770k has no competition
Go with my first recommendation,you don't loose any cash and get a better gaming board with pci e ×16 3.0. The second board sacrifices crossfire x.

 

[MaidenBoots]

Your mobo has an integrated network card so you don't need to spend extra money on a separate card and use up a PCIe slot.

 

[steviedoors]

Your mobo has an integrated network card so you don't need to spend extra money on a separate card and use up a PCIe slot.

Is the integrated network card not only if you can plug your PC into a router or something? I thought I needed a wireless card to be able to connect with the router from long range. How does the integrated card work then? I'm not too sure about network cards... xD

core i3 2120>Phenom x6> phenom x4 be
core i5 3450> 8 core bulldozer
core i7 3770k has no competition
Go with my first recommendation,you don't loose any cash and get a better gaming board with pci e ×16 3.0. The second board sacrifices crossfire x.

I've heard a lot of people tell me Intel is generally better, but I think I'm going to at least try AMD with this build and Intel if I ever do another one, so I can see for myself the difference.

 

[allanitomwesh]

Okay then.The build seems okay.

 

[steviedoors]

OK, thanks

 

[allanitomwesh]

Sure thing. Pick a best answer.

 

[steviedoors]

Sure thing. Pick a best answer.

You can pick a best answer for discussions? How?

 

[allanitomwesh]

It's there to click on every reply. Look keenly.

 

[steviedoors]

I'm really pretty sure you can't. I Google'd it and apparently you need to change the thread type to "Question", but since I don't have permission to edit I can't do that. It's a gold trophy or something I'm supposed to click right? I can't see anything like that...
Sorry :/

 

[allanitomwesh]

Not a problem. Enjoy your pc. Post some pics.

 

[steviedoors]

OK, thanks, I will do ^^

 

[steviedoors]

Here's some pics - sorry about crappy quality, had to use laptop webcam

So far I haven't run into any computer-related problems, however I have run into stupid-lack-of-preparation-related problems. One, I forgot to move the speakers over to my final list so I didn't get them with the rest of my parts. They should be here any day now though, hopefully x]
Two, I didn't anticipate that the wireless antennae being right up against the wall would make the internet signal pretty much useless for streaming videos, downloads and online gaming. I'm just getting a long ethernet cable to go all the way to the router so that shouldn't be a problem, but I could have saved a bit of money if I had foreseen this.

I think I also wired the chassis speakers incorrectly as I didn't hear any bleeps on start up. The next time I open it up I'll probably have a look around and see what's wrong with it, but I don't think it should be a problem.

Apart from that, it's running great, and when I finally managed to download Just Cause 2 I got an average 45 fps on the benchmark which I'm really happy with. I can't wait to get some sound and some internets and start gaming properly
Thanks for all the help and suggestions everyone

 

[steviedoors]

Oh yeah and @LazyBoy, I went for 8Gb of RAM in the end. I compared CCL prices with Amazon and a lot were cheaper there, so I got the overall price down to £580 including the OS, monitor and the extra 4 gig of memory.

 

[allanitomwesh]

Nice PC. You pulled of some wicked lights. Nice going.

 

[steviedoors]

Hehe nah the lights came pre-attached to the chassis but they are pretty sick.

 

[allanitomwesh]

Then that would be the galaxy chasis. How solid is it? I had doubts about it.

 

[steviedoors]

Yeah. Well since it's my first time I don't really have anything to compare it to. I didn't have any problems, there was enough space and getting in and out is really easy (a matter of two screws that can be unscrewed by hand), and of course it's pretty so I'm very happy with it, though the ports on the mobo that stick out the back of the chassis are a bit misaligned with the actual chassis. I'm fairly certain that's to do with the screws I used to mount the motherboard though.
One (possible) problem I've just discovered is that (I think) the wire between the mic/speaker ports at the front and the mobo isn't made correct. It's a 9-1 pin plug and I've plugged it into a socket on the mobo that the manual says to and it fits perfectly, but I noticed only 7 wires went into the pins when (I'm assuming) there should be 8. It seems pretty unlikely that this is a manufacturing error but I can't think of any other solution than replacing that wire, unless it is in fact the way it should be. Would it be possible to replace the audio wire? Or is it possible I'm doing something else wrong?
In any case, I really doubt that this is a problem with the chassis in general so I would recommend it.

 

[allanitomwesh]

No,it's okay. Unless your motherboard has a different port for case speaker in the manual ,if you're hearing beeps off it then it's working.