First build compatibility check

E34

Honorable
Dec 9, 2012
11
0
10,510
Hello everyone, for Christmas my parents decided to let me build myself a computer. This is my first time so I'd like to see if everything I have so far is compatible, if anyone has any suggestions PLEASE don't hesistate.

NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Steel / Plastic Enthusiast ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146067

Western Digital WD Green WD25EZRX 2.5TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136873

ASUS M5A88-M AM3+ AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131758

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100358VXL Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102993

COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M2 RS620-SPM2E3-US 620W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171068

Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model BLS4G3D1609ES2LX0 (Two for 8 GB of RAM)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148660

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
 

E34

Honorable
Dec 9, 2012
11
0
10,510


Oh yes, that's the primary drive behind the build. It's not ONLY going to be for gaming but for a decent price I still want to build something that will be able to handle the newest games quite well for a while. I'm trying to get the price down to around preferably under $700 if not less than $650. Is there anything I can sort of go a little cheaper on in the meantime? My birthday is only a month after Christmas so is there anything I could wait for? Also can you tell me how to tell if the GPU is compatible with the motherboard there?
 

omnimodis78

Distinguished
Oct 7, 2008
886
0
19,010
The waiting game doesn't really work out as well as we usually hope. I say if you can then just go ahead and order the stuff and be done with it all, instead of waiting for this sale or that sale - the net savings usually end up being the same regardless how long you wait, unless you hit gold, but that's a toss of the coin.

The only thing I would really change is the mobo. Assuming you really want a Micro ATX board, and you prefer ASUS, I think this would be good enough: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131795
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


No it doesn't. I look at it this way - if you're going to wait, you'll never be satisfied with what's out there now, and then you'll be playing games on a four year old P4 that can barely run anything while the people with the latest and greatest are yelling at you to get off the server.

What's the budget? The NZXT Phantom is one of the best cases available right now but it might always not work out for the budget, I might make a few adjustments if I knew that.
 

E34

Honorable
Dec 9, 2012
11
0
10,510


Thanks for the info, I really only chose that mobo because ASUS is really the only decently reliable brand I knew of and because it was AM3+. If there's any other reliable AM3/AM3+ mobo you'd recommend that'll work with everything lemme know. I just REALLY want the Phenom II lol
 

E34

Honorable
Dec 9, 2012
11
0
10,510


I worked some things out and switched out some stuff to drop the price a bit so now it's in a comfortable spot.

NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Steel / Plastic Enthusiast ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146067

(Switched out the 2.5TB drive for this just to save some money) Western Digital WD Green WD10EARX 1TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136939

(Switched to what Omnimodis suggested since it's not that big a deal to me as long as my stuff works) ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131795

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100358VXL Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102993

COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M2 RS620-SPM2E3-US 620W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171068

Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model BLS4G3D1609ES2LX0 (x2, 8GB of RAM)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148660

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

Also should I buy more fans or am I set with the case's fans?
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


That motherboard is actually older and has outdated ports that you'll never use. This would be better: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280

And then Cooler Master power supplies are not good - they have a horrendous reputation for false advertising. This would be better: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

Get 8GB of RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231542

Also that green hard drive will be a massive bottleneck. Get this instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

You don't need to purchase the extra case fans until after the build is complete.
 

E34

Honorable
Dec 9, 2012
11
0
10,510


Thanks a ton man this means so much to me. So you would definitely recommend more fans though? Also 500W is powerful enough? I used NewEgg's PSU calculator and it recommended 530W. And does the difference between the mobo's GB/s and the hard drive's GB/s mean anything? Or do they need to be the same?
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


I think PC Part Picker has a far more accurate wattage calculator than anything else you can use. The problem is that most of those don't take into account actual real world wattage use and poorly made power supplies (of which there are many).
 

E34

Honorable
Dec 9, 2012
11
0
10,510


I put it together on PCPP. But again, does the difference between the mobo's GB/s and the hard drive's GB/s mean anything? Do they need to be the same? Also I should probably get an aftermarket heatsink for the Phenom II right?
 

omnimodis78

Distinguished
Oct 7, 2008
886
0
19,010

I agree with the motherboard recommendation! Definitely a better suggestion than what I offered (sorry E3)

I disagree with the hard-drive suggestion - the Samsung you recommend is last generation, whereas the mobo you recommended has SATA 6Gb/s capabilities, so why go with a 3Gb/s hard drive? Here's my suggestion: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339

Don't scare him with the PSU comment, it's unfair. He's looking at a good model with great reviews by its owners and if that's what he wants then I don't think it's an inherently bad choice. I would be interested in reading up on sources you can send my way on these "horrendous reputation for false advertising" reports - I'm definitely interested in how a top-tiered company is releasing products with false specs and claims. Although let me be clear that your recommendation of the Corsair PSU is also a great suggestion!
 

omnimodis78

Distinguished
Oct 7, 2008
886
0
19,010

To answer your question, no, they don't have to be the same but the slowest spec (in this case the 3Gb/s) will determine the speed of the transfer. See the link I posted above for the drive I suggest, and it's at the same price now as the Samsung g-unit1111 posted. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it because a hard-drive simply cannot possible ever saturate the full 3Gb/s bandwidth - but...since the price is the same, why not. As far as all the other specs, the WD and the Samsung will more or less provide the same performance.

As for the cooling for the Phenom II, do you plan to over-clock? I owned the same 965BE and on stock voltage I ran it at 3.7Ghz - so at stock voltage like that, you won't technically need an aftermarket cooler, but even an entry level cheap cooler will always provide better cooling than the stock, so I would suggest you do. This is an all-around winner for any CPU currently on the market: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099 ....and before you ask, no, don't waste any extra cash on an aftermarket thermal paste, the one Cooler Master provides does the job just perfectly!
 

E34

Honorable
Dec 9, 2012
11
0
10,510


If I see it necessary then maybe, but I don't really see it happening unless I strive to run something like BF3 on max settings (as long as the game doesn't look like sh*t, I don't mind. So most likely overclocking will be an option for me down the road but not now.)

Thanks for the answers and suggestions again guys :D
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator


Interesting - I didn't know that about the hard drive, I have that same drive and it works fine for what I need it to do.

As for the power supply - I definitely know what it's like to be burned by bad hardware and after a couple of really crappy power supplies that I've owned (Ultra and Apevia), I'm incredibly cautious about the ones I pick out. There's a poster on here (I cant think of his screen name at the moment) who regularly points out about how bad Cooler Master power supplies are, I didn't believe him until I read this article: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/728 , scary stuff. Don't believe what the store reviews tell you, you need to use a lot more sources like this. Jonnyguru.com is another site that tears apart and analyses power supplies (they are pretty much *THE* internet authority on PSUs) better than any Newegg or Amazon review will tell you.
 

omnimodis78

Distinguished
Oct 7, 2008
886
0
19,010

Thanks for sending me those links in a PM - I read them. The thing to usually keep in mind; however, is to remain objective and keep in mind that the focus should be on model, not just the brand. I could tell you stories about top-tier brands and some of the turds they've released model wise. Yes, those articles you provided definitely are worthy of a read, and should be respected; however, as an example, http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx shows a Cooler Master PSU line (UCP Series) as a tier-2 product line (same tier as the Corsair TX series). There are other examples, "authoritative" and user based, that seem to rate Cooler Master PSU performance as good and dependable. How in-depth those reviews go and what the benchmarks are is always the determining factor for the outcome. Anyways, I don't want to hijack E34's post I just think it's fair to agree that outright writing off a brand isn't fair. Of course, if there's an over-overwhelmingly strong consensus that it's crap then sure. Consumer of the World, Unite! :bounce:
 

g-unit1111

Titan
Moderator
Thanks for sending me those links in a PM - I read them. The thing to usually keep in mind; however, is to remain objective and keep in mind that the focus should be on model, not just the brand. I could tell you stories about top-tier brands and some of the turds they've released model wise.

Yeah every brand isn't perfect - I love Corsair products and they make a lot of excellent products (cases, RAM, most power supplies) but they also make a lot of crap (CX and GS power supplies, Force SSDs, and so on).

Yes, those articles you provided definitely are worthy of a read, and should be respected; however, as an example, http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx shows a Cooler Master PSU line (UCP Series) as a tier-2 product line (same tier as the Corsair TX series).

That's actually a pretty accurate list but I think it may be a bit out of date.

Anyways, I don't want to hijack E34's post I just think it's fair to agree that outright writing off a brand isn't fair.

Believe me this isn't the first time that's happened around here. :lol: