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First build for a complete beginner

Bligh

Hi Guys

I have been thinking of building my own PC for awhile will be a nice wee project and at least will give me the ability to change any part of the PC later or upgrade as and when I want. If you could have a look at what I am thinking and perhaps tell me if am on track or way off it would be appreciated. I am very new to this and my research is limited to what I have read on the stickys and posts on this forum which is very impressive and informative so thank you for the help so far.

1. What is your budget? 600 to 700

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? browsing the internet, HTPC- would like to have RAID setup, and a system that will also act as a NAS so I can stream to my smart TV, or access files on my laptop, working on Office docs

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? NO

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? NO

5. Do you need a monitor? No - have a 42 in LED TV and a 15inch LG studioworks Monitor and I will like to connect to both

5a. If yes, what size do you need. N/A

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? Res is 1024 x 768 but will upgrade in the future

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? yes need a card reader and an optical drive DVD CD read write

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? yes would be interested to give this a bash if it can be done my the CPU I chose

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser] any of these

9. When are you purchasing? end of September start of October

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Donegal

This is what I have come up with based on reading the posts on here and a bit of research but I could be way off the mark and I might not have chosen the best components that will work well together

Item|Price
Cooler Master Storm Trooper, ohne Netzteil|€127.91
16GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance Low Profile schwarz PC3-12800U CL10-10-10-27|€86.09
2 x WD Caviar Green 1TB, SATA 6Gb/s (WD10EZRX)|€146.42
Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3, AMD 980FX, AM3+, ATX|€132.29
AMD FX-4170 Prozessor, Boxed, Sockel AM3+|€117.65
Cooler Master GX Lite Series PSU, 500 Watt|€41.92
Corsair Force3A 60GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5") SATA|€62.99
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€734.26

Few things

I am right in having a SSD, if I install windows on this drive will the boot time of the PC be quicker?

Is 16GB of RAM overkill? I am not gaming

I chose an AMD CPU and compatible Motherboard mostly because its cheaper but wondering what you think of the performance.

I chose the tower as I want plenty of space in it for expansion if I upgrade or build again later, space is not an issue or noise

What I am missing lol and sure there is loads

cheers

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U_Fig

some things about the build

16gb of ram is overkill unless you will be video rendering/ usng cad and photoshop alot
Amd CPU's at the moment are not as good as Intel ones.
Yes an SSD will be quicker for booting up and generally in windows opening programs ect..
The build you posted does not have any integrated graphics nor a graphics card so you would not be able to attach the monitor

IMO i would go for intel...if you have no interest in gaming then integrated GPU will do fine, go for an AMD APU if you wish to stick to AMD

below is an example of a build you could have in your budget that would be alot better than the above...although you wouldn't need anything near them specs

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€216.29
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€32.54
2 x WD Caviar Green 1TB, SATA 6Gb/s (WD10EZRX)|€146.42
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€42.15
ASRock Z77 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€88.19
BitFenix Shinobi Midi-Tower USB 3.0 black, ohne Netzteil|€52.49
LG GH24NS bare schwarz|€17.19
Ultron Cardreader 75-in-1, intern, schwarz|€9.65
Samsung SSD 830 128GB SATA 6GB's Paper Box|€99.74
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€723.65

you could change the case to which ever you wanted but that is a good case with plenty of space ect.

also you prob won't need something as powerful as a 3750k or the z77 board so you could save money going for this motherboard

Item|Price
ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP, Sockel 1155, ATX|€81.89

and either of these CPU's

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3450 Box, LGA1155|€174.11
Intel Core i3-2120 Box, LGA1155|€109.14

by doing this you will not have the option of overclocking but you won't need it (at least for a good few years) for what you'll be using the pc for
ot
if you will need to transcode any of the stuff you will be streaming go for an i5, if not the i3 will be more than enough for HTPC/ internet use

Bligh

Hi U-Fig

Many thanks I see what you mean about the integrated Graphics and using the i5 or i3 cpu makes a lot of sense and just the type of advice I was looking for I will have look in more detail and update my build in the morning.

Thanks

Bligh

Ok I have finally got time to refine my build and have changed from having a RAID set up, as from talking to some friends I may not need it and I have always the option of fitting another hard drive in the future if I need it. So I have changed to a single 2 TB HD

Also keeps me within budget, what you think will this work for a non gaming set up.

One question left, (bit of a dumb one, probably) there is no wifi card in this, but if am plugging direct into my router will I will be able connect to the PC from another wifi device?

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€216.29
ASRock Z77 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€88.19
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€32.54
WD Caviar Green 2TB Sata 6Gb/s|€98.69
Samsung SSD 830 128GB SATA 6GB's Paper Box|€99.74
BitFenix Shinobi Midi-Tower USB 3.0 black, ohne Netzteil|€52.49
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€42.15
LG GH24NS bare schwarz|€17.19
Ultron Cardreader 75-in-1, intern, schwarz|€9.65
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€675.92

U_Fig

Bligh wrote: »

Ok I have finally got time to refine my build and have changed from having a RAID set up, as from talking to some friends I may not need it and I have always the option of fitting another hard drive in the future if I need it. So I have changed to a single 2 TB HD

Also keeps me within budget, what you think will this work for a non gaming set up.

One question left, (bit of a dumb one, probably) there is no wifi card in this, but if am plugging direct into my router will I will be able connect to the PC from another wifi device?

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€216.29
ASRock Z77 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€88.19
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€32.54
WD Caviar Green 2TB Sata 6Gb/s|€98.69
Samsung SSD 830 128GB SATA 6GB's Paper Box|€99.74
BitFenix Shinobi Midi-Tower USB 3.0 black, ohne Netzteil|€52.49
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€42.15
LG GH24NS bare schwarz|€17.19
Ultron Cardreader 75-in-1, intern, schwarz|€9.65
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€675.92

Firstly yes using Ethernet is the same as using wifi (it's better in terms of connection speed and strength) but you will be able to filesshare with any device connected to the router whether by Ethernet or wifi of your router supports it and you have it set up to do so.

To be honest this is overkill for a non gaming setup for the likes of Internet browsing and htpc..however it does give a lot more future proofing having the overclockable pc for squeezing extra juice when things start to become a bit sluggish in years to come..

My thoughts
If you are going to be keeping this for a long time go with that build
If you are planning on upgrading in 1-3 years drop the i5 and z77 save money get an i3 and h77 and you'll be fine for 2-3 years

Bligh

Well I finally ordered by build with the i5 and the z77, am hoping the build will be ok for a few years.

Thanks for the advice U_Fig, really looking forward to building it now, will let you know how that goes

U_Fig

Bligh wrote: »

Well I finally ordered by build with the i5 and the z77, am hoping the build will be ok for a few years.

Thanks for the advice U_Fig, really looking forward to building it now, will let you know how that goes

do yes...it'll last a long time and you'll have the option of overclocking when it begins to slow a bit

Bligh

Hi Guys

The parts for my build have arrived and now the fun begins, putting it all together and I have a few questions.

First looking at you tube and reading about installing the cooler fan on top of the CPU, what is thermal paste and where do you get it, going to try PC world on the way home from work, is it really necessary.

Secondly I think my PSU has far more cables than I actually need and its not modular, what can you recommend doing with the extra cables.

last question for now, I have a 2.5 inch SSD and only 3.5 Inch bays left in the case, have any of you used mobo standoffs to fix your 2.5 inch ssd's to the outside of the drive bays, just seen this online and it looks a pretty good solution.

Dothehustle

If you are using the stock cooler there should already be thermal paste on the end of it .. Yea should be able to see the silver stuff on the end of it

For the cables I got a cable tie and hide them in the back

Nope I haven't but as it's a ssd some people just leave it at the end of the case .. I ended up just getting a 2.5" to 3.5" converter in pcworld

ED E

Bligh wrote: »

Hi Guys

The parts for my build have arrived and now the fun begins, putting it all together and I have a few questions.

First looking at you tube and reading about installing the cooler fan on top of the CPU, what is thermal paste and where do you get it, going to try PC world on the way home from work, is it really necessary.

Secondly I think my PSU has far more cables than I actually need and its not modular, what can you recommend doing with the extra cables.

last question for now, I have a 2.5 inch SSD and only 3.5 Inch bays left in the case, have any of you used mobo standoffs to fix your 2.5 inch ssd's to the outside of the drive bays, just seen this online and it looks a pretty good solution.

Thermal paste will be pre-applied on the stock cooler. Line everything up and fit it once rather than make a mess of it have to go get more. It is necessary though, you start up without it and your CPU will overheat and possibly kill itself.

If you run the cables up the back of the mobo tray then you can leave any you dont use taped up back there, nice and clean.

Stick the SSD anywhere that suits, it doesnt matter where its placed, will be fine. Double sided tape on the base of the case is common enough.

EDIT: Watch this for an idea how to wire it up cleanly.

Bligh

Holy MoBo Crows!!

Ok I have a bit of a problem, after assembling my bits and bobs, I turned on the power today for the first time, the psu powers up, the case fan powers up and CPU fan is powered up, but no post or output to the monitor.

I have read that some other folks on here have had the same issue, so I have dismantled the PC and rechecked the CPU for bend or damaged pins and they are all ok, have unplugged everything from the mobo and just plugged in the power, the power switch and the case fan andthe cpu fan and still everything powers up but no beeps and nothing onthe screen.

My worst fear is that I have damaged the MoBo when installing it, does anyone have anyother suggestions I try,

Cheers

-( i )- Wicker

Two common things to check:
1. The monitor is connected to the gfx card and not the on-board video.
2. The memory is inserted properly (snaps are fully closed).
3. The GPU has the approriate power connections.

Edit: just noticed you didnt include a gpu, ignore the above....
If you're going digital-analogue make sure youre using the right cables

Bligh

-( i )- Wicker wrote: »

Two common things to check:
1. The monitor is connected to the gfx card and not the on-board video.
2. The memory is inserted properly (snaps are fully closed).
3. The GPU has the approriate power connections.

Edit: just noticed you didnt include a gpu, ignore the above....
If you're going digital-analogue make sure youre using the right cables

hi Wicker

Thanks, I dont have a gfx card so pluging the vga monitor direct on to the mobo, am trying to boot without the memory as it would not boot with it first few times so stripped right down to bear min to see if it will start up, also reset the CMOS but hasnt made any difference.

Bligh

woohoo

just reinerted the ram and success it has posted, thanks Wicker, am sure I'll be back with more questions later

Bligh

This is just a quick wee post to say thank you very much to everyone that posts on this forum and takes the time to help people like me (clueless). Am tapping this using my newly built PC and am just buzzin that I was able to build it myself, but this would and could not have happened without the help I got from you guys. Thanks

mmm want to build another one now or pull this one part again and add more bits into it lol