New builder need help & recommendations w/ mobo part.

[davi921]

Hi, first time builder here. I'm close to getting all the necessary parts I need to complete my build. I'm currently having trouble selecting the ideal motherboard for my computer.

For my CPU, I went with the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

I'm having trouble selecting the ideal motherboard to pair up with my build. After spending weeks doing research, I came up with this motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130637

What I was wondering is, would this be a good motherboard and how many extra fans would I be able to install with this motherboard?

Looking at:

1 x ATX 24-pin power connector
1 x ATX 8-pin 12V CPU power connector
CPU x 1 / System x 2 FAN connectors
1 x Front panel audio connector
1 x Front panel connector
1 x Chassis intrusion switch connector
1 x Clear CMOS jumper
1 x SPDIF-out connector

Does that mean I will only have one available slot to add an extra fan since the other slot will go to the CPU?

On a side note, I don't necessarily have a budget, but I'm also not looking to buy top of the line parts because this computer's main purpose is not for gaming. At the same time, I don't want to go the cheap route by buying a low quality part just to save a few bucks.

Any advice and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Wolfshadw]

No. It means you have 1 CPU fan connector and 2 System fan connectors. If you look at the top-down view of the motherboard, you can see the CPU fan connector at the lower right corner of the CPU socket. The System Fan 1 connection is just to the left of the 24-pin ATX power connector and the System Fan 2 connection is just to the right of the right-most PCI-Ex1 slot.

I don't see anything wrong with your selections, but a full build and budget would be helpful.

-Wolf sends

Edit - Forgot to mention, you can run as many fans as your case and power supply allow for. Many additional fans will run off of a 4-pin molex connector directly from your power supply.

 

[malbluff]

It means you can connect CPU cooler to one, and then have two seperate connections for case fans. That is intended to mean two case fans. In practice, you can run more than one fan off each connector, using a splitter. You do need to be careful not to put too much load on each connector. The manual should give guidance, or you can ask manufacturer direct, for advice re your specific needs. The alternative is to use a seperate fan controller, that will run as many fans, as you want, or some, more expensive boards have up to 4 fan connectors.

 

[davi921]

Thanks for the replies guys. You guys definitely answered my question. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to add more than 1 fan, but it's good to know that that won't be a problem.

As of right now this is what I have:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

Corsair Vengeance? LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1333MHz DDR3 240-Pin Desktop Memory
http://www.frys.com/product/6906857?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

NZXT Source 210 S210-001 Black “Aluminum Brush / Plastic” ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146075

COUGAR CF-V12HP Vortex Hydro-Dynamic-Bearing (Fluid) 300,000 Hours 12CM Silent Cooling Fan with Pulse Width Modulation
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835553002

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005O65JXI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?t=slicinc-20&tag=slicinc-20&ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER


I'm going to reuse my old optical drive and my old video card for now. I'm not looking to do any gaming so I can hold out on buying a new video card.


All that is left for me to get is the right hard drive and the right motherboard. I'm looking to spend $500 MAX. As of right now, I have spent a total of $240. What I want to do is get two new internal hard drives, a 250gb - 320gb to use as my primary HD and install the OS on, and a second 1tb hard drive to use solely as storage. How many extra hard drive cables typically comes with the motherboard? I noticed a lot of the HD on newegg are listed as bare drives, so I don't want to buy a HD and I end up not having the necessary cables to install it.

These are the 3 hard drives I was able to narrow down:

320gb

Seagate Barracuda ST320DM000 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148766

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 HD322GJ/U 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152244

1tb

Seagate ST310005N1A1AS-RK 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - $92.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148321


What do you guys think?

One last thing, I also need to get a copy of Windows 7.
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/en_US/pd/Windows-7-Professional-Upgrade/productID.216644200 would this be the cheapest place to get a copy?

 

[Wolfshadw]

1) Looking at your case, you have:

Front, 2 x 120mm (optional)
Rear, 1 x 120mm @ 1200rpm (included)
Top, 1 x 140mm (optional)
Bottom, 1 x 120mm (optional)

The rear fan is probably going to connect to SYS_FAN2. You can probably run a 120mm front fan from SYS_FAN1, but you'll need to make sure the fan power connection is a three-pin connector. Any other fans you want to add will need to have 4-pin molex power connectors.

2) Your motherboard appears to come with two SATA cables. You stated that you wanted two hard drives and utilize your old optical drive. If your optical drive requires a SATA connection, you will need to purchase an additional SATA cable. If your optical drive requires and IDE connection, you will need to purchase a new one as your motherboard does not have an IDE connection.

3) That copy of Windows you linked is an upgrade version. You can only use that if you already have a version of Windows installed. You will need to purchase a full version (from Newegg).

-Wolf sends

 

[davi921]

Awesome.

As far as hard drives goes, should I get the ones that are SATA 6.0Gb/s since the motherboard I mentioned above is also a SATA 6Gb/s? That way I would get the most out of the HD and the motherboard. I know having a SATA 3.0Gb/s would still function on a SATA 6Gb/s mobo, but in terms of getting the most out of both parts, should I go ahead and get all SATA 6Gb/s HDs while I'm at it?

 

[malbluff]

Obviously, good speed for software access is nice. For general storage, unless you're shifting huge amounts of data, not vital. Basically, if possible go faster, if budget fits.

 

[davi921]

Alright cool. Thanks for the input. Much appreciated.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I agree with Malbluff. If it's within budget, go with SATA 6.0Gb/s hard drives. If it's not, it's not anything to really worry about.

-Wolf sends