| Windows 7: Computer build help |
01 Dec 2010
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#1 | | |
Computer build help I am building a computer for my friend. Unfortunately, he is on a tight budget, but wanted something reasonable. I was going to go i3 3.2GHz, until I found the AMD phenom II x4 925 (2.8 GHz), which would save $80 off the motherboard. I wanted to know, however if the cooling would be sufficient and how much the PSU should be. I checked the antec PSU calculator, and it says 331w. I'm wondering how accurate this would be, given that we were planning to have a high end CPU. The specs are:
coolermaster elite 334 (1 120mm rear, 1 120mm front)
AMD phenom X2 925 2.8Ghz, using stock heatsink AMD Phenom
Gigabyte MA78LMT-S2 GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket AM3 - GA-MA78LMT-S2 (rev. 3.x)
Antec BP430 (is it enough?) http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=NzI3
Seagate barracuda 500GB 7200RPM HDD
wireless is a TP-link (not sure exactly what yet, probably N)
RAM - Elixier 1333MHz (I think generic)
samsung DVD drive
microsoft wireless keyboard + mouse
no graphics card (intergrated into motherboard) | My System Specs |
| System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom Build OS Windows 7 Home Premium CPU i5 2500k @ 4.6GHz Motherboard Asus P8P67 LE Memory 4x4GB G-Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1600MHz Graphics Card AMD Radeon HD 5770 Sound Card Onboard Monitor(s) Displays AOC e2434pw, Dell 20" Screen Resolution 1920x1080, 1600x1200 Keyboard Logiteck K300 Mouse Microsoft basic mouse PSU Antec Earthwatts 650w Case Antec 902 Cooling Coolermaster Hyper212+ Hard Drives 1 OCZ vertex II 60GB
2 seagate barracuda 1TB on RAID0 Internet Speed ~12.5 Mb/s |
01 Dec 2010
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#2 | | |

Quote: Originally Posted by Matts1 I am building a computer for my friend. Unfortunately, he is on a tight budget, but wanted something reasonable. I was going to go i3 3.2GHz, until I found the AMD phenom II x4 925 (2.8 GHz), which would save $80 off the motherboard. I wanted to know, however if the cooling would be sufficient and how much the PSU should be. I checked the antec PSU calculator, and it says 331w. I'm wondering how accurate this would be, given that we were planning to have a high end CPU. The specs are:
coolermaster elite 334 (1 120mm rear, 1 120mm front)
AMD phenom X2 925 2.8Ghz, using stock heatsink AMD Phenom
Gigabyte MA78LMT-S2 GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket AM3 - GA-MA78LMT-S2 (rev. 3.x)
Antec BP430 (is it enough?) http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=NzI3
Seagate barracuda 500GB 7200RPM HDD
wireless is a TP-link (not sure exactly what yet, probably N)
RAM - Elixier 1333MHz (I think generic)
samsung DVD drive
microsoft wireless keyboard + mouse
no graphics card (intergrated into motherboard) Motherboard looks good. SATA ports that won't get in the way of all but the most high-end graphics cards. PCI-E 1x about the PCI-E 16x slot is always a good design choice. Unless the memory slots support 4GB modules, you won't be able to install more than 4GB ram, which is a minus.
You might be able to get away with a 450W or 500W PSU, but long term you'll just end up spending more money than you should.
When choosing a power supply, don't get one large enough for what you need now. Get one that will accomodate any upgrades that you'll add later. So if you plan on getting a 450W, you should rather get a 750W, so that 6 months from now when you friend puts in a graphics card, then you'll know of the bat that it'll have enough power, without having to also worry about "will the current PSU be enough??"
EDIT:
I just had a closer look at the motherboard specs, and it does indeed support up to 8GB memory. Just remember that to do this, you'll need to use 2x 4GB modules, which are notoriously expensive and hard to come by. Perhaps you should consider a similar board that has 3, 4 or 6 memory slots. (3 or 6 slots will allow for DDR3 triple channel mode on the memory)
Last edited by Dzomlija; 01 Dec 2010 at 04:19 AM..
Reason: Memory
| My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom Build OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 CPU AMD Phenom 9600 Quad Core Motherboard ASUS MB-M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi Memory 2 x A-Data 2GB DDR2-800 Graphics Card ASUS ATI Radeon HD 2400PRO Sound Card C-Media 7.1 Surround Monitor(s) Displays Sahara 19" Screen Resolution 1600x1200 Keyboard Mercury Mouse Logitech PSU 800W Case Thermaltake Tai-Chi Cooling Tai-Chi Water Cooler Hard Drives 1 x 80GB Seagate (IDE)
2 x 120GB Seagate (IDE/Sata)
2 x 200GB Seagate (IDE/Sata)
1 x 250GB Seagate (Sata)
1 x 320GB Seagate (Sata)
2 x 1TB Seagate (Sata)
1 x 1.5TB Seagate (Sata) Internet Speed 384kbps |
02 Dec 2010
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#3 | | |

Quote: Originally Posted by Dzomlija If you plan on getting a 450W, you should rather get a 750W, so that 6 months from now when you friend puts in a graphics card, then you'll know of the bat that it'll have enough power, without having to also worry about "will the current PSU be enough??" Yes, I know I'd be better off getting a higher wattage, but I can guaruntee we won't need over 600w because 4GB is plenty for him and the only thing which we might upgrade is a second HDD.
We have decided to get a graphics card, but have decided on an entry level one ($59 ATI 5570) | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom Build OS Windows 7 Home Premium CPU i5 2500k @ 4.6GHz Motherboard Asus P8P67 LE Memory 4x4GB G-Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1600MHz Graphics Card AMD Radeon HD 5770 Sound Card Onboard Monitor(s) Displays AOC e2434pw, Dell 20" Screen Resolution 1920x1080, 1600x1200 Keyboard Logiteck K300 Mouse Microsoft basic mouse PSU Antec Earthwatts 650w Case Antec 902 Cooling Coolermaster Hyper212+ Hard Drives 1 OCZ vertex II 60GB
2 seagate barracuda 1TB on RAID0 Internet Speed ~12.5 Mb/s |
02 Dec 2010
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#4 | | |

Quote: Originally Posted by Matts1 
Quote: Originally Posted by Dzomlija If you plan on getting a 450W, you should rather get a 750W, so that 6 months from now when you friend puts in a graphics card, then you'll know of the bat that it'll have enough power, without having to also worry about "will the current PSU be enough??" Yes, I know I'd be better off getting a higher wattage, but I can guaruntee we won't need over 600w because 4GB is plenty for him and the only thing which we might upgrade is a second HDD.
We have decided to get a graphics card, but have decided on an entry level one ($59 ATI 5570) Then it would appear as though you're building him quite a nice system. Smart move going for a dedicated graphics card - don't let anyone tell you otherwise, but onboard graphics cards never perform as well as their dedicated counterparts! | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom Build OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 CPU AMD Phenom 9600 Quad Core Motherboard ASUS MB-M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi Memory 2 x A-Data 2GB DDR2-800 Graphics Card ASUS ATI Radeon HD 2400PRO Sound Card C-Media 7.1 Surround Monitor(s) Displays Sahara 19" Screen Resolution 1600x1200 Keyboard Mercury Mouse Logitech PSU 800W Case Thermaltake Tai-Chi Cooling Tai-Chi Water Cooler Hard Drives 1 x 80GB Seagate (IDE)
2 x 120GB Seagate (IDE/Sata)
2 x 200GB Seagate (IDE/Sata)
1 x 250GB Seagate (Sata)
1 x 320GB Seagate (Sata)
2 x 1TB Seagate (Sata)
1 x 1.5TB Seagate (Sata) Internet Speed 384kbps |
02 Dec 2010
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#5 | | |
Generally speaking, people tend to way over purchase on their power supplies. With that said, I'm not suggesting that you get a cheap brand.....but a quality brand at a lower wattage may be completely and totally sufficient. For example, I have a quad core intel, with 8gb of ram, 2 hard drives, and currently an nvidia 9800gtx+....and I'm running a Corsair HX 620 and it's WAY more than enough. My current configuration would easily run on 400. This gives me plenty of juice to upgrade my video card to something like an ATI Radeon 5850 or 6870 with absolutely no problem whatsoever. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Self-Built in July 2009 OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 CPU Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS Memory 8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings Graphics Card EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570 Sound Card Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio Monitor(s) Displays 23" Acer x233H Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Keyboard ABS M1 Mechanical Mouse Logitech G9 Laser Mouse PSU Corsair 620HX modular Case Antec P182 Cooling stock Hard Drives Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS Internet Speed 15/2 cable modem Other Info Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset. |
02 Dec 2010
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#6 | | Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Southern California |
Like mentioned I would switch to a higher power PSU and go with 650-750 minimum. If you need to save money then go for non-modular and the PSU will be cheap enough. Also I'm not a Seagate guy, I would go WD or Hitachi and make sure it's non-green and has 32 min. cache and spins at 7200 rpm. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number A blend of brains, brawn and dumb luck, ask me about rig #2 ! OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64 CPU i7 3770k OC'd 4.6 @ 1.17v, still love my FX 8120 Motherboard MSI P67A-GD80 b3 Memory 16 gb Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3 9-9-9-27 @ 2000 Graphics Card XFX Radeon 7870 Sound Card On board HD audio with lossless 24 bit/192 sample rate Monitor(s) Displays (2) LG LED 23" 1920 x 1080 2ms Monitors via mini d-port Screen Resolution 1680 X 1050 p Keyboard (2) Logitech Illuminated Keyboards (1) usb (1) wireless K800 Mouse Logitech G9x & T-BC21 - nano nx for the laptop PSU Ultra X4 modular 1050 watt 80% silver rating & APC 1200 RS Case CoolerMaster Storm Styker Cooling 6 case fans 140mm & 120mm, Thermaltake h2o extreme Hard Drives Samsung 256 gb 830 SSD sata III
(2) 1 tb Hitachi deskmates/sata II
(1) 1 tb WD green/sata II
(2) 2 tb WD My Book/esata
(1) 500 gb Sea. Freeagent/esata
(2) 250 gb Sea. Freeagent go's/usb
(1) WD 2 tb Green 64 sata III
(1) 120 gb OCZ Vertex SS Internet Speed Upgraded from bottom of the barrel to bareable Other Info 4 Noctua case fans + 3 Noctua in p/p on H100 cooler
Integrated hot swap drive bays for 2.5" Drives
(2) Lite-on dvd/cd optical 22X
Integrated fan controller and led on/off
HP Officejet Pro L7680 all-n-one
HP 4 laserjet (the beast)
Hot swappable 3.5" hard drive bay
Belkin Play N600 HD router
Asus USB 3 & sata 6 PCIe card
Vantec IDE to sata adptr./Ultra sata adptr
HP Probook i3 laptop |
03 Dec 2010
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#7 | | |
I know to go with a well known brand, so I went for an antec BP500.
Seagate works fine for me (or at least the last 5 drives have). And they're 7200RPM with 32MB cache. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom Build OS Windows 7 Home Premium CPU i5 2500k @ 4.6GHz Motherboard Asus P8P67 LE Memory 4x4GB G-Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1600MHz Graphics Card AMD Radeon HD 5770 Sound Card Onboard Monitor(s) Displays AOC e2434pw, Dell 20" Screen Resolution 1920x1080, 1600x1200 Keyboard Logiteck K300 Mouse Microsoft basic mouse PSU Antec Earthwatts 650w Case Antec 902 Cooling Coolermaster Hyper212+ Hard Drives 1 OCZ vertex II 60GB
2 seagate barracuda 1TB on RAID0 Internet Speed ~12.5 Mb/s |
03 Dec 2010
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#8 | | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 Hampton VA |
While I agree with getting a quality power supply, for the system you're building, you don't need anything higher than a 550, maybe a 650. I personally felt like a 750 was way overkill for what you're putting together.
To get an understanding.... if you look at my system specs, it ran rather well on my old Antec 550watt PS. Yeah I now have an 850 now, but honestly I bought it more for the build, quality, and reviews rather than pure power needs. Sure it's future proof, but I doubt I'll ever push it to its max.
Anyways I see you went with a 500 watt model so that debate is over. Good choice, and good luck.
As for hard drives, Seagate is good, though I'm a Western Digital guy myself.
Good luck with your build.
Peace | My System Specs | | Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Built by me OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 CPU Intel Core i7-950 (3.06GHz) OC to 3.8GHz Motherboard Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5 rev 1, F6 Bios Memory 12 gig Corsair DDR3 Dominator GT Memory (3X 4GB) Graphics Card AMD Radeon HD6950 2gig (Sapphire) Sound Card X-Fi Titanium Fatality Pro Monitor(s) Displays HP ZR22w 22" LCD Monitor Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080 Keyboard Logitech Wireless Wave Mouse Logitech Performance MX PSU Antec Signature - SG-850 Case Cooler Master HAF X Cooling Noctua NH-C12P SE14 Hard Drives Primary - OCZ Vertex 4 SSD (256GB). Storage - OCZ Vertex 2 SSD (120GB) & 2TB WD Caviar Black. Internet Speed High Speed Cable Other Info Memory Timings - 1600MHz @ 8-8-8-20-1T @ 1.640 volts |
03 Dec 2010
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#9 | | |

Quote: Originally Posted by Matts1 I know to go with a well known brand, so I went for an antec BP500.
Seagate works fine for me (or at least the last 5 drives have). And they're 7200RPM with 32MB cache. Seagate all the way! Just take a look at my system specs - All 10 of my hard drives are Seagate, of which the 80GB is the oldest, at around maybe 7 years or so, I forget... | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom Build OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 CPU AMD Phenom 9600 Quad Core Motherboard ASUS MB-M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi Memory 2 x A-Data 2GB DDR2-800 Graphics Card ASUS ATI Radeon HD 2400PRO Sound Card C-Media 7.1 Surround Monitor(s) Displays Sahara 19" Screen Resolution 1600x1200 Keyboard Mercury Mouse Logitech PSU 800W Case Thermaltake Tai-Chi Cooling Tai-Chi Water Cooler Hard Drives 1 x 80GB Seagate (IDE)
2 x 120GB Seagate (IDE/Sata)
2 x 200GB Seagate (IDE/Sata)
1 x 250GB Seagate (Sata)
1 x 320GB Seagate (Sata)
2 x 1TB Seagate (Sata)
1 x 1.5TB Seagate (Sata) Internet Speed 384kbps Computer build help problems? All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:44 PM. | |