1st self-built pc - compatibility

[elonmusk]

Hello,
I'm buying PC components online and will put them together myself. After much research, I have finalized on the following. But I don't have much knowledge/experience in this stuff.
Please verify whether these components are compatible with each other.

CPU = Intel 3.4 GHz LGA 1155 Core i7 3770
storage = Seagate Barracuda 1 TB ST31000524AS
RAM = Corsair XMS3 DDR3 CMX8GX3M1A1600C11 (1 x 8 GB)
MotherBoard = Intel DQ77MK
SSD boot = Samsung 830 64GB SSD (MZ-7PC064B/WW)
GPU = ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce GT 630 Synergy Edition 1GB DDR3

the GPU needs PCIe (2.0 x16) but the Motherboard provides either (2.0 x4) or (3.0 x16) would the GPU fit on the motherboard?
and how to know if the GPU size (with the heatsink/fan) is not too large so that other things will fit on the motherboard properly?
The GPU recommends 300w power supply - would I need a special SMPS and a special case/cabinet?
Also, if I use my 1920 x 1080 tv as the monitor, would this PC be compatible?
Will the default BIOS support SSD booting?

Thanks in advance

 

[stickmansam]

pcie 1.1, 2.0 and 3.0 are all compatible with each other

I would get either a wd caviar blue or seagate 7200.14 m00x drive over the seagate you chose

if possible aim for a dual channel setup of 2x4GB

Is this build for gaming or something else?
Because for gaming I would get a stronger gpu and drop cpu to 3570k

The Xeon 1230v2 or 1240v2 or 1245v2 are the same as the i7 but lack the IGPU (except the 1245v2 which has it ) are cheaper and have more cache

64Gb is a bit small for boot drive but should be fine if you don't put many apps on it

 

[smorizio]

i would use the lock i5 cpu. if you have a micro center near you you can get a good price.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130648
80.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127710
105.00
if you have to use an amd build or use an i3.
going cheap on the gpu and cpu just going to give you a crappy system.
put in the ssd last. go with a stock hd to start.

 

[elonmusk]

Thanks a lot Stickmansam and smorizio.
so you're saying that the components i picked are compatible with each other (ports and everything) right?

 

[stickmansam]

Yep they are but there are better price/perf parts arround

 

[elonmusk]

This won't be used for gaming.
This is for my parents, they're in their 60s and not computer savvy.
This will only be used for routine tasks.
But still i'm going for highest configuration available in my budget because my parents won't upgrade the system for at least next 5-6 years. The last desktop we have is 10 years old, without even single upgrade.
So i just want to make sure that the resource-hungry softwares 5-6 years in the future would till be compatible onto this system.
The SSD is a must because if the boot is slow, my parents would prefer to avoid using it. I want to make this system a pleasure to use so that they will use it more often. The goal is to make them computer literate.

 

[BriboCN]

Hello,
I'm buying PC components online and will put them together myself. After much research, I have finalized on the following. But I don't have much knowledge/experience in this stuff.
Please verify whether these components are compatible with each other.

CPU = Intel 3.4 GHz LGA 1155 Core i7 3770
storage = Seagate Barracuda 1 TB ST31000524AS
RAM = Corsair XMS3 DDR3 CMX8GX3M1A1600C11 (1 x 8 GB)
MotherBoard = Intel DQ77MK
SSD boot = Samsung 830 64GB SSD (MZ-7PC064B/WW)
GPU = ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce GT 630 Synergy Edition 1GB DDR3

the GPU needs PCIe (2.0 x16) but the Motherboard provides either (2.0 x4) or (3.0 x16) would the GPU fit on the motherboard?
and how to know if the GPU size (with the heatsink/fan) is not too large so that other things will fit on the motherboard properly?
The GPU recommends 300w power supply - would I need a special SMPS and a special case/cabinet?
Also, if I use my 1920 x 1080 tv as the monitor, would this PC be compatible?
Will the default BIOS support SSD booting?

Thanks in advance

Some friendly advice would be to let this community tweak your part selection because many choices seem curious and not overly efficient. For instance the video card you selected is certainly better but not sizably better than the cpu graphics. With that being said to answer your questions:

PCI Express is 100% backwards compatible. So a PCI E 3.0 x16 would support a 2.0 X16 card just fine.

As far as size goes GPU cards are measured by length and generally how many slots they take up . The card you linked is a single slot card and only 6 inches long. Compared to the highest end cards that are currently nearly double that. It is a very small card.

Nearly any case should fit fine. Yes your PC will be compatible just make sure you have a mini HDMI to HDMI cable in order to achieve the best picture possible and any modern MB will support SSD booting.

 

[elonmusk]

Thanks Stickmansam,
And I didn't know that 2x4gb memory is better than 1x8gb. i thought it was the other way. Will check that out too.

 

[elonmusk]

Best answer selected by elonmusk.

 

[BriboCN]

This won't be used for gaming.
This is for my parents, they're in their 60s and not computer savvy.
This will only be used for routine tasks.
But still i'm going for highest configuration available in my budget because my parents won't upgrade the system for at least next 5-6 years. The last desktop we have is 10 years old, without even single upgrade.
So i just want to make sure that the resource-hungry softwares 5-6 years in the future would till be compatible onto this system.
The SSD is a must because if the boot is slow, my parents would prefer to avoid using it. I want to make this system a pleasure to use so that they will use it more often. The goal is to make them computer literate.

What type of stuff are your parents likely to do with the machine. If they are only going to use the web, watch some video or blue ray movies etc I would recommend dropping the GPU all together and just use the on chip GPU. It will save them some money and create a quieter machine. Plus with you choosing a very small MB you wont have to worry about spacing.

 

[stickmansam]

If its not going to be used for gaming get something like this
Use an low level APU with fast ram to get the fastest response time (and this ram is barely any pricier than 1600mhz ram)
You can even swap for a a10 if you want more graphics power
These will be quad cores and more than capable for any light browsing productivity task
Make sure to get them to install the browser and office and OS on the SSD but storage stuff onto the HDD

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A8-5600K 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75M-DGS Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($59.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($49.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($73.49 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Crucial V4 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $348.43
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-24 02:44 EST-0500)

 

[elonmusk]

@ BriboCN: I was thinking the same - dropping the gpu. But then i thought maybe the gpu makes a lot of difference in the OS GUI too.
I don't want gaming but want good OS experience (full aero etc) of windows 7/8 ultimate etc. I know even the weakest machines support browsing etc, but the pleasant feel of the OS is important if you want to attract computer-phobes to computers.
I also thought maybe a couple years later, the windows 9 or windows 10 won't work without a GPU. But i guess there's not much use thinking so far into the hypothetical future.
Dropped the Graphics Card.

@ Stickmansam : Thanks
I'm checking out these components.

Gotta say, this is an awesome forum. Very fast replies!!

 

[stickmansam]

GPU does make a big impact in OS GUI, HD3000 feels slow to me even when paired with i5 (laptop version 2410m) while laptops with weaker cpu but stronger gpu feel more fluid