advice on whether I need a new build

henbane

The power supply in my PC has decided to die or blow the fuses in every kettle lead that gets plugged in, which I assume is a PSU issue. So I'm posting from the intel D945GCLF board I bought to mess with a few years ago.

Will a modern power supply be ok with an asrock s939-dual-sata. If so could I get a recommendation of a cheap replacement? The parts aren't worth anything so there's no point in spending serious money on a 6 yr old box.

If not, could someone recommend a build under 3-400 euro (preferably sub 300 unless there's a good reason) with no mouse/keybd/monitor/speaker needed. I have a sharkoon silvation case which I'll probably re-use as a can of compressed air is cheaper than a case. I will be using an hauppauge pvr-150 if that makes a difference for mobo selection. Also, I have 2xIDE dvd+rw that I can use again but if it's easier to get an sata disk drive, that's not a problem. I would like dual monitor support too.

Is it worth spending the extra to get SATA3, USB3, SSD etc.?

This will likely end up being a box dual-booting arch & ubuntu with a virtualbox install of one of XP/2K/98SE for some legacy software - legacy stuff is what was called "multimedia" in the 90s so the speed of virtualised apps isn't an issue. Low noise is more of a consideration than performance as this will be used for internet, live tv playback but not editing (and the odd overnight conversion from mpeg/avi to dvd but not often enough to spend serious money on), LaTeX, development, bittorrent for isos and very little else.

Tea_Bag

Hardwareversand is down for me at the moment so ill try thow up a build later, but you'll be quite suprised by what you could get for €400 case excluded.

deconduo

Without a case or hard drive:

Item|Price
Total build cost: €233.04 + €30 shipping
Intel Core i3-2100 Box, LGA1155|€99.46
ASRock H61M-S (B3), Sockel 1155, mATX|€47.93
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€34.61
Antec BasiQ VP350|€35.00
Samsung SH-222AB bare schwarz SATA|€16.04


The reason I left out the hard drive is that prices are ridiculous right now due to the floods in Thailand. Not much you can do about it unfortunately. Either of these would be what you are looking for but they are €25 more than they normally would cost.

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28151&agid=689
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28152&agid=689

Tea_Bag

i had a massive post written up with several build option for you just there but then IE crashed and i lost everything. stupid ******* university insists on using this useless POS browser and wont let you install any others. the ******* bane of my life. :(

my build was almost identical to Decs but i upped to an i5 and a HD5450 cause im not sure on H61 compatability with dual screens. i had to use a better (more expensive) motherboard so that you could have a PCIe for the GPU and a PCI slot for your TV card. comes in at €410 HDD included. id drop the HDD and i5 for a 64gb SSD though if all youll be doing is VM and TV stuff. the i5 rig will probably be near as powerful or more as your editing rig if you're using any last gen CPUs.

deconduo

Tea_Bag wrote: »

i had a massive post written up with several build option for you just there but then IE crashed and i lost everything. stupid ******* university insists on using this useless POS browser and wont let you install any others. the ******* bane of my life. :(

Have you tried this:
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable

There are also Opera and Chrome versions but I haven't tried them myself.

Tea_Bag

deconduo wrote: »

Have you tried this:
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable

There are also Opera and Chrome versions but I haven't tried them myself.

hmm ive never actually thought of that. ive also got a U3 USB stick that would do the same job. Opera ftw!

henbane

Right, the budget is getting revised upwards after reading about the i5, SSD etc and spending the best part of the day on hardwareversand. So I've come up with this for the moment:
Item|Price
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|165,78
Intel Core i5-2300 Box, LGA1155|152,15
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|34,61
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|41,04
ASUS EAH5450 Silent/DI/512MD2 (LP), ATI Radeon HD 5450, 512MB, PCI- Express|25,61
Subtotal:|€419.19
Possible Mainboards:
ASRock H67DE 3 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX |85,11
ASRock P67 Pro3 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX|85,67
Total:|504ish


Opinions on the build, alternatives and mainboard suggestions are welcome? Would the i5 2500K be worth the extra when overclocking isn't a consideration.

As for PSU, I'll add a basic dvdrw and the PVR-150. Later likely additions would be a couple of large HDDs when the prices come back down and maybe a card reader, usb/pci wireless, other usb bits and pieces, maybe a second SSD in due course too. Is 450W enough?

Also, am I over-speccing for my needs? The base mobo/cpu/psu combination will stay the same for 6 years if my usual usage habits hold but it's unlikely to ever be used for gaming.

By the by, I didn't mention it in the OP, but I don't like mATX boards, I'd prefer a board with a decent amount of slots for adding connectivity.

henbane

Bit of a bump. Does anyone have any comments on this build?

marco_polo

Looks pretty good to me, since you have no overclocking intentions get the H67 board which means you can ditch the discrete card too, as dual monitor will be no problem for the integrated graphics.

If you want to divert it towards the CPU (and it might be no harm if you want it to last a long time), maybe upgrade to an i5-2400 or i5-2500, don't bother with the K versions as overclocking ability is the only real extra they bring to the party.

It may be slightly overspecced for now, but if you need it to last 6 years then that is no harm.

thysol

Get a different power supply. Superflower sucks. This one here is way better:

http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/info/p687432/pid/geizhals

deconduo

thysol wrote: »

Get a different power supply. Superflower sucks. This one here is way better:

http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/info/p687432/pid/geizhals

€20 more, only 3 more amps on the +12V rail, worse ripple, worse efficiency, much louder. Don't give bad advice please.

thysol

deconduo wrote: »

€20 more, only 3 more amps on the +12V rail, worse ripple, worse efficiency, much louder. Don't give bad advice please.

So your one of those guys who looks just on the specs to tell whether a product is good? Well then buy your 1000W sound system for €50, lets see how that sounds, specs are good.:rolleyes:

Super-Flower has a bad reputation for reliability amongst other things. I just wouldn't buy them, heard that advice in multiple hardware forums.

deconduo

thysol wrote: »

So your one of those guys who looks just on the specs to tell whether a product is good? Well then buy your 1000W sound system for €50, lets see how that sounds, specs are good.:rolleyes:

Super-Flower has a bad reputation for reliability amongst other things. I just wouldn't buy them, heard that advice in multiple hardware forums.

Yes, jump to the wrong conlusion as usual. Please cite your sources for the SuperFlower Amazon series being bad. SuperFlower make both good and bad PSUs, the Amazons are the good ones, along with their Golden Greens and Golden Kings

Amazon reviews:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2643
http://www.technic3d.com/review/netzteile/1059-netzteil-super-flower-amazon-800w-im-test/1.htm - German but you can use google translate.

Other SuperFlower reviews:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/SuperFlower/SF-500P14FG/1.html
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=221
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=240

thysol

deconduo wrote: »

Yes, jump to the wrong conlusion as usual. Please cite your sources for the SuperFlower Amazon series being bad. SuperFlower make both good and bad PSUs, the Amazons are the good ones, along with their Golden Greens and Golden Kings

Amazon reviews:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2643
http://www.technic3d.com/review/netzteile/1059-netzteil-super-flower-amazon-800w-im-test/1.htm - German but you can use google translate.

Other SuperFlower reviews:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/SuperFlower/SF-500P14FG/1.html
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=221
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=240

Fine, the amazon series doesn't seem to be that bad, I would still buy from a different firm, but I can't say anymore that I'd be totally against buying a Superflower. In most hardware forums the general advice still is though to not buy a superflower. Anyway, you recommend Superflower, I recommend others without saying that Superflower is crap, ok? Peace?

Monotype

Nearly every PSU manufacturer has a couple of duds in their lineup. Some only have a few good ones. You can't rely on manufacturer specs either as they can... well just make them up really. Relying on brand alone is a terrible idea as some will abuse their good reputation to get you to buy rubbish (Corsair, Coolermaster).

Bottom line is: Don't trust any brand without looking at specifications and in-depth reviews* (and vice versa, don't write them off either).

*Not just someone saying that it works with their new system, they like the shiny surface, the LEDs are awesome and it's so light.