First build! Checking for issues

twodollastud

Honorable
Aug 18, 2012
4
0
10,510
Hi guys! I'm David. Let's just dive into it.

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: Maybe this month, maybe Black Friday in a few months for $100-200 off build (opinions?)

Budget Range: under $1,000, Would like to keep it under $900 (cross fingers for rebates)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming. I might also hook it up to a home theater system via HDMI and use it for media. Then use my smartphone to control it through the school network. (No router.. Is that possible?)

Are you buying a monitor: No. I also have speakers, so non worries there.

Parts to Upgrade: All

Do you need to buy OS: No. I'm planning on using Ubuntu, and will figure out wine to run games like Skyrim and Guild Wars 2

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Location: City, State/Region, Country - I'm about to move back into Edmond, OK for school, but currently in Tulsa, OK for the summer.

Parts Preferences: None, other than AMD for the cheaper price

Overclocking: Maybe, probably not at first

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: Not exactly sure. It's an old 23 (.5?)" Dell. 1920x1080 I thnk.

Additional Comments: Planning on running the latest version of Ubuntu. Want to play games like Skyrim, Guild Wars 2 and Starcraft 2.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: So I can have a desktop computer!

Build list:

Corsair Obsidian Series 650D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139006

Western Digital RE4 WD5003ABYX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136697

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

LG Black 14X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA BDXL Blu-ray Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136250

Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441

ASUS Sabertooth 990FX AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131736


AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8120FRGUBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103961

EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625

CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027



More additional comments: I really would appreciate your guys' opinions. The main issue I'm worried about currently is the power supply wattage. Is 500W enough to run my system comfortably? I can't tally the wattage total because the video card doesn't give me that spec. I would also like to know if that 64GB SSD will be enough without issues for Ubuntu + freeware office and other software?

Also, I believe I will need a DVI-I to DVI-D adapter and a USB 3.0 dual female head to 20 pin adapter so I don't have to take up the rear USB 3.0 slots to use the front ones. Can anyone point me towards those?

Currently I'm set up to receive a $40 discount for combo-ing the motherboard and CPU, then another $15 for combo-ing the video card and PSU. I figure that since the video card and the PSU come as a combo, I would be alright with that power supply for any non-rediculous other high wattage components.

Oh, and I guess I'll find a keyboard to throw in there. It's not really relevant though.
So there you have it! Please let me know what you guys think!
 

twodollastud

Honorable
Aug 18, 2012
4
0
10,510
Hmm. I think I am more stuck on my build. I'm focusing less on the video card and putting more into the case because I'd like the case to last me awhile... and I like the way it looks. I'm putting more into the motherboard for longevity and peace of mind, I would definitely like the blu-ray player/burner, and am not really looking into an aftermarket CPU cooler.
 
If you qualify, you can buy an academic license for windows 7 for $30 if you are a student with a .edu e-mail address.
Check that out.

TheBigTroll had a nice list of a standard gaming pc.
Here is an explanation for some of his picks:

1) Bulldozer is a disappointment for gamers. Most games use only 2-3 cores, not the 8 cores the FX-8120 advertises.
In addition, the bulldozer cores are not nearly as efficient as the intel cores on a clock for clock basis. Today, at any price point, an Intel sandy bridge or ivy bridge is superiou for the gamer at any price point.

2) If you are on a budget, you can buy a very effective case like the Antec 200/300 for about $50. If you are not budget limited, buy whatever case you love.

3) The GTX660 is a blockbuster product at $300. The graphics card is more important than the cpu for the gamer.

4) Any Z77 based motherboard will be good. No need for enthusiast motherboards. Pick your favorite brand.

5) Low profile ram will not interfere with a cpu cooler. Fancy heat spreaders are mostly marketing.

6) A SSD slows down as it gets filled. 64gb is usually too small. I suggest the Intel 330 series for reliability.

The GTX560ti FPB needs only a 500w psu.
Here is the link: http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=01G-P3-1561-AR&family=GeForce 500 Series Family&sw=
The GTX660ti needs less, only 450w:
http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=02G-P4-3660-KR&family=GeForce 600 Series Family&sw=
 
i dont see the point of blowing money on a case where you cant use most of the features and it costs almost 3 times as much as the one i recommended.

you put more money on the mobo but you cant use half of the features again since you arent running dual video cards.

the psu you chose isnt the best choice out there.

intel beats amd at any price point. not trying to be a fanboi, but the fx 8120 is comparable to the pentium g850 from intel. no point of fx
 


AMD is no good for longevity, at least for a gamer.
Here is one comparison. Even the $68 dual core G630 is comparable to the FX-8120. Not that I am suggesting it.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120-10.html

I suggest the $30 aftermarket cpu cooler with a 120mm fan. The stock coolers have very small fans which get going very fast and are noisy under load.
 

twodollastud

Honorable
Aug 18, 2012
4
0
10,510
I will check out that $30 lisence, thanks for that. You guys do make a few good points. Especially on the processor choice. Except that I would think you guys intended to throw up the later gen i5 processor? That is also an extra $60ish for a processor that I don't really need all the speed from, however, since it's not as important as the GPU. So wouldn't a core i3 2120 be just fine?


So if people don't buy a standard ATX motherboard for dual video cards, what do they buy them for? I'm looking at it because the UEFI bios looks attractive and for overall performance.

Will the Antec case be noisier? The 650D comes with 200mm fans. I don't wanna wake up my roomate during late nights.

Won't a $100-150 video card work just fine? I can buy the video card you guys are recommending for the same price (100-150) later since there's new video cards like what, quarterly?

I'm not looking for any specific RAM. I went to newegg and found the cheapest top seller that was 2 x 4GB.

Thanks for clarification on the SSD, I'll get that higher capacity.
Also for the aftermarket cooler. I'll probably go stock and then upgrade if it does seem noisy.
 
people buy standard size motherboards since they usually have more connectivity options like pci-e x1 slots or more pci slots.

UEFI is a given in all new boards

of course they work fine. just that they can play games at medium or high settings at most



if you are looking for a silent case, you should be getting something like a fractal define mini or a fractal define r4 case (mini=matx, R4=atx)
 




For gaming, the graphics card is more important than the cpu, at least for most games.
My rule of thumb is to budget twice the price of the cpu for a graphics card.
That might mean a $150 i3-2130 paired with a $300 GTX660ti,
Or, a $210 i5-3570K and a $420 GTX670.

Some are enamored with dual cards, crossfire or sli. I am not.
Here is my canned rant on that:
a) How good do you really need to be?
A single GTX560 or 6870 can give you great performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.

A single GTX560ti or 6950 will give you excellent performance at 1920 x 1200 in most games.
Even 2560 x 1600 will be good with lowered detail.
A single 7970 or GTX680 is about as good as it gets.

Only if you are looking at triple monitor gaming, then sli/cf will be needed.
Even that is now changing with triple monitor support on top end cards.

b) The costs for a single card are lower.
You require a less expensive motherboard; no need for sli/cf or multiple pci-e slots.
Even a ITX motherboard will do.

Your psu costs are less.
A GTX560ti needs a 450w psu, even a GTX580 only needs a 600w psu.
When you add another card to the mix, plan on adding 150-200w to your psu requirements.
A single more modern 28nm card like a 7970 or GTX680 needs only 550W.
Even the strongest GTX690 only needs 650w.

Case cooling becomes more of an issue with dual cards.
That means a more expensive case with more and stronger fans.
You will also look at more noise.

c) Dual cards do not always render their half of the display in sync, causing microstuttering. It is an annoying effect.
The benefit of higher benchmark fps can be offset, particularly with lower tier cards.
Read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html

d) dual card support is dependent on the driver. Not all games can benefit from dual cards.

e) cf/sli up front reduces your option to get another card for an upgrade. Not that I suggest you plan for that.
It will often be the case that replacing your current card with a newer gen card will offer a better upgrade path.

Smaller M-ATX motherboards are a bit cheaper, and will fit in some nice compact cases. Modern motherboards now include several components that used to be implemented via add in expansion cards. sound and lan functions for example.

If you are interested in quiet computing, do some research at www.silentpcreview.com
Two recommended quiet cases are the fractal R4, and the Antec solo II.
They have features like baffled intakes, sound deadening on the panels, and even suspension mounts for hard drives.