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Making a computer for the first time, need some tips

Discussion in 'Other Hardware' started by Havingphun, Jan 2, 2012.

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  1. Havingphun Newcomer, in training Posts: 80

    Well I wasn't sure how turbo boost worked and if I'm right overclocking is making a cpu, gpu, etc faster by increasing its voltage/frequency. But I probably would want the noctua cooler so I don't have to worry about getting another later. Also I realized that I still have alot to learn about pc's.
  2. hahahanoobs TechSpot Booster Posts: 485   +31

    Yes, those are the basics of overclocking. Noctua is a beast cooler and it just doesn't make sense to get one unless you're going for extreme overclocks (which requires more than just voltage and multiplier adjustments). It's your money, but once you have it in your hands and see how massive it is, you're gonna be wondering why you bought it. And in the long term when new sockets come out, that cooler is not guaranteed to support them. By then Noctua will want you to buy their newest cooler. It would be like driving a Ferrari and never going over 60MPH. I'd recommend the $30 to $50 range for a beginner such as yourself.
  3. Sucoi Newcomer, in training Posts: 37

    Agree with hahahanoobs, since u never made a oc starting with a noctua wouldnt be good, I mean u can spend this money elsewhere cause if ur going to buy a noctua u need a case that fit it, and they arent to cheap. a good one is the cooler master evo 212 if im not wrong.
  4. Havingphun Newcomer, in training Posts: 80

    Thank you both I agree with you. I don't want to waste my money. Thanks for the heads up.
  5. Havingphun Newcomer, in training Posts: 80

    So I have just come into some money for a new computer and now getting this is a real possibility. My new budget is $1500. I could go above that but I dont want to. So far these are the parts:

    Motherboard: Z68 Asrock extreme 3 gen 3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 $121

    CPU: Intel Core I5 2500k sandy bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz with Turbo Boost): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 $219

    RAM: Corsair 2x 4GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz dual memory kit: I'm not sure which one this is can someone find the link for me? It was $39

    GPU: Asus en Gtx Ti Core 448 , 1280Mb memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121480 $310

    HDD: Seagate Barrucuda 7200.12 500 GB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178085 $95 - This is the link to the 25 pack Its the only one I can find. Is there another hard drive I could use?

    Case: Cooler Master Storm trooper: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119245 $140

    Power cord: Corsair TX650 650Watt: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020: $90

    SSD for caching: OCZ Agility 3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227725: $65

    OS: Windows 7 home premium 64 - bit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986: $100

    BD Drive: Lite - on 12x BD drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106374 $50 - Is this drive reliable, will it work with the other parts.

    Keyboard: Logitech K200: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126191 $21

    Mouse: Logitech Optical USB Mouse B100 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104370 $12

    Monitor: ASUS VH232H Glossy Black 23" 5ms Widescreen Full HD 1080p: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236079 $160

    So all of that would be: $1422

    I have a few questions and things:

    1. Can someone find the ram mentioned earlier I can't find it?
    2. What other HDD can I use since the only thing I can find on the barrucuda is a 25 pack?
    3: Since I have extra money now would it be worth it to move back up to the Asus P8P67 Motherboard? What would be the difference?
    4. Could you guys please check to make sure all of these parts will work together and that they are all fit together.
    5. Do you guys have any suggestions for this pc and its parts? Is there anything missing?

    Thanks.
  6. Havingphun Newcomer, in training Posts: 80

    How did my thread end up in the overclocking cooling and modding section?
     
  7. mailpup TS Special Forces Posts: 7,908   +77

    Maybe because so much of the conversation was about overclocking? Moving.
  8. Havingphun Newcomer, in training Posts: 80

    Thanks mailpup.
    Also I have one more question for anyone who replies. Would I need a sound card or doesn't the motherboard come with it built in?
  9. mailpup TS Special Forces Posts: 7,908   +77

    The motherboard does come with onboard sound so you don't need a sound card. If you wish, you could always add one later.
  10. Havingphun Newcomer, in training Posts: 80

    Ok, Thanks. Will all these parts work together. What HDD would you suggest I use? Do you suggest anything else for this pc?
  11. mailpup TS Special Forces Posts: 7,908   +77

    I believe this is the one you originally wanted: Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500G. My personal preference is Western Digital but I don't have anything against Seagate.

    As for the RAM, it might be on this list: Corsair RAM.
  12. PC nerd TechSpot Enthusiast Posts: 263   +22

    Simple list:

    • i5 2500K
    • Z68 motherboard from ASUS, Asrock or Gigabyte
    • 7850 2GB - 'tis a wonderful graphics card for it's price
    • 8GB RAM (2 x 4GB 1600MHz)
    • 128GB SSD from samsung, crucial or intel (They're so cheap now, it would be stupid to not get one)
    • Any mechanical hard drive will do as a secondary, as long as it's SATA. Buying a new hard drive at the moment isn't a great idea, because they're still really expensive at the moment.
    • A decent 650W power supply (Seasonic and XFX are probably the best)
    • A decent case (You don't want to cheap out on the case. It will bite you in the arse later on)

    You won't need a dedicated sound card or anything. The sound chip built into the motherboard is good.
  13. cliffordcooley TechSpot Paladin Posts: 2,314   +292

    This is a complete build, capacity to most is just as important as speed. What is confusing to me is why you would suggest speed over capacity to the point of calling someone stupid if they didn't purchase an SSD while the prices are the practically the same.

    You can purchase a 1TB HDD drive even a 2TB drive for the same price as the SSD you mentioned. While the SSD would lack in the department of capacity, the HDD would suffice in all departments. While I own an SSD and enjoy using it, it wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to fall back on an HDD. Where one would be considered stupid is purchasing an SSD when they needed capacity and only had money for one drive.
  14. Blkfx1 TechSpot Booster Posts: 612   +54

    Stick with the current MOBO and put the extra money into a different GPU. The GTX 560ti is good but you can get better and will want better. This is a gaming rig right?


    As for space. I agree with Clifford, it would be silly to go with a SSD over HDD. Now, if you can get both that is great. But I wouldn't solely depend on a SSD for my storage needs.
  15. ikesmasher TechSpot Addict Posts: 1,117   +80

    I would suggest replacing the i5 2500k with the newly released ivy bridge i5-3570k, just to be a little more future proof.
    also, I would not recommend a business keyboard for gaming purposes, as you might have ghosting issues (for example, some keyboards have problem with moving forward, sprinting, and jumping at the same time in some shooters).

    thats just my 10 cents though.
  16. Havingphun Newcomer, in training Posts: 80

    This is my current build:

    Motherboard: Z68 Asrock extreme 3 gen 3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 $121

    CPU:Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504: $230

    Gpu: HIS IceQ X H785QN2G2M Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161405 $250

    RAM: Team Xtreem Dark Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model TXD38192M1600HC9DC-D
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313080 $41

    HDD:Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148767 $80

    Power Supply: XFX Core Edition PRO650W (P1-650S-NLB9) 650W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply $77

    Case: Cooler Master Storm trooper: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119245 $140

    SSD for caching: OCZ Agility 3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227725: $65

    OS: Windows 7 home premium 64 - bit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986: $100

    BD Drive: Lite - on 12x BD drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106374 $50 - Is this drive reliable, will it work with the other parts.

    Keyboard: Logitech K200: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126191 $21

    Mouse: Logitech Optical USB Mouse B100 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104370 $12
    Total: $1347

    A couple things:

    Is that a good enough gpu or would I want better?

    is there any cheap but good gaming keyboards?

    I changed the cpu to the ivy bridge.

    Im having the seagate hdd for my primary and the ssd for my secondary harddrive.

    So would this run skyrim at maxed out settings with graphics mods? Also will it max out games like crysis, BF3, civilization 5, etc maxed out?

    Since I have a little extra money,(I would rather not go over $1500,). Are the cpu and gpu and other parts powerful enough would you guys suggest a nice gaming keyboard(Hopefully cheap, I don't need a hundred dollar keyboard) or improvements to any of the parts? Also I am buying warranties for all ogf the parts that I can, except for accesories. Sice this is my first build and I might ruin some pieces. But the warranties can go over the $1500 mark.
  17. ikesmasher TechSpot Addict Posts: 1,117   +80

    I think that GPU will do fine, it can do battlefield 3 on higher settings. I dont know if it can max out skyrim with all the fancy FX improvement mods and stuff and keep it above 60 FPS, but for sure above 30 (which is still smooth). You wont be able to completely max out BF3 without spending at least 300 bucks on a video card, I would think. that CPU is just fine.
    That disc drive should work fine.
    I just picked up a Saitek Eclipse II http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823175001
    may be a little out of your price range, but I personally like it so far. nice and backlit and stuff.
  18. Havingphun Newcomer, in training Posts: 80

    Well I have a little extra money for a better gpu. It can cost $350 to $400. What would you recommend?
  19. ikesmasher TechSpot Addict Posts: 1,117   +80

    oh, lucky :D
    apparently nvdia is better in this price range, from what ive heard (dont quote me on that)
    so maybe a GTX 670?
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500242
    says hes BF3 at ultra at 65 FPS
    I wouldnt change your video card unless someone else confirms this is the most valid purchase though, as im not completely certain
  20. Havingphun Newcomer, in training Posts: 80

    Ok thanks. I'm sure someone else will soon.