Thinking of getting a new PC..

[TheBetaFox]

Sorry if this isn't the right section, but.. yeah.
I'm thinking of getting a new PC, on the budget of 2,500 RON (767.8 US dollars).
I'm gonna get it in a few weeks or months, not exactly now, but a proffesionist recommended me this build (I'm getting the pieces separately)

Sursa (Don't know how it's called in English, I guess you could help me on that XD): Fortron Saga II 500
Motherboard: ASRock M3A770DE
HDD: Samsung 1 TB SATA-II 7200RPM 32MB PMR Spinpoint F3
Processor: AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.00GHz skt AM3 box
Case: NOX NX-2
Video card: Palit GeForce GTX 460 Sonic 1GB DDR5 256-bit
RAM: A-DATA 4GB DDR3 1333MHz CL9 Premier
(You can click on the links to get more info, unfortunately it's in Romanian - but I guess Google Translate shall help you there, even with it's really bad translation - if I'm not allowed to link there please tell me.)

I have a monitor, mouse and keyboard already, so please don't comment on that.
What's your opinion on it? The 'expert' I talked to said that I should talk to him two weeks before buying the PC, because things change and I might just get something better by then.
I, of course, plan on running Windows 7 Ultimate x64 on it. The PC will be used for gaming and minor video editing. Also, in time I might upgrade the processor and/or I will add 8 more GB of RAM.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

The Samsung hard drive is a good choice.

Fortron is a good brand also. Sursa means "source" in English, but that device is a "power supply".

Case is purely personal preference. I have never heard of the NOX brand.

I would go with Crucial or Corsair brand on the RAM because they are known to be highly reliable brands in the US. But A-Data may be fine as well.

I can't comment about the pricing or the other stuff.

Good luck.

 

[TheBetaFox]

The Samsung hard drive is a good choice.

Fortron is a good brand also. Sursa means "source" in English, but that device is a "power supply".

Case is purely personal preference. I have never heard of the NOX brand.

I would go with Crucial or Corsair brand on the RAM because they are known to be highly reliable brands in the US. But A-Data may be fine as well.

I can't comment about the pricing or the other stuff.

Good luck.

Thanks - yes, the name for power supply is 'source' in Romanian - many things in my language cannot be directly translated to English... Anyway...
Around my area, the NOX brand is quite popular, so I decided to go with it.
A-DATA's fine enough for me.

About the pricing, it's quite cheap for a good PC (for me, that is). It's the cheapest quality gaming PC "I" could build.
I'm not getting it right now, maybe in January or February...
Anyway, other opinions? Should I raise the budget a bit and get something better?
Also, I'm in a contest so I might just win a Cooler Master case, which would 'free' the case slot and allow me to get better RAM or a better video card. The processor's good enough to me, because the differences in performance to the Phenom II are not that big.

 

[johnwillyums]

Hi TBF. That sounds like a nice computer you are building.
The Palit Sonic GTX 460 has got very good reviews in my country so good choice. Nvidia have just bought out their 5 series cards. So far there is the 580 and 570 and both are getting rave reviews. They are supposedly 30-40% faster than the 4 series.
The 580 and 570 are both high end and expensive but I suspect it won't be long before the 560 comes along. Nvidia will want to get that out as the mid range cards sell more than the top end. It might well be worth waiting for that as it should be around the same price as the 460..
I've not heard of Nox cases. Can you post a link to it? I think cases are important as, if you get a good one, you won't need to replace it for ages. Also a larger case with easy access to the motherboard can make both building it and upgrading in the future much easier.
You don't mention a heat sink fan cooler for your cpu or fans in general. Fans can make a lot of difference to your temperatures. I'd recommend Sharkoon Silent Eagle if you can get them or anything from the Noctua range.
Good luck with your build. Keep us posted, John

 

[TheBetaFox]

Hi TBF. That sounds like a nice computer you are building.
The Palit Sonic GTX 460 has got very good reviews in my country so good choice. Nvidia have just bought out their 5 series cards. So far there is the 580 and 570 and both are getting rave reviews. They are supposedly 30-40% faster than the 4 series.
The 580 and 570 are both high end and expensive but I suspect it won't be long before the 560 comes along. Nvidia will want to get that out as the mid range cards sell more than the top end. It might well be worth waiting for that as it should be around the same price as the 460..
I've not heard of Nox cases. Can you post a link to it? I think cases are important as, if you get a good one, you won't need to replace it for ages. Also a larger case with easy access to the motherboard can make both building it and upgrading in the future much easier.
You don't mention a heat sink fan cooler for your cpu or fans in general. Fans can make a lot of difference to your temperatures. I'd recommend Sharkoon Silent Eagle if you can get them or anything from the Noctua range.
Good luck with your build. Keep us posted, John

NOX. Be yourself. - Home Page
Although I'm thinking of getting another case..
About the heatsink fan cooler, that is one of the things I'm still thinking about.
I might just get a lower capacity HDD and so have money to get other things.
And as I specified, if I win the Cooler Master contest, I'll either have a cooler (therefore taking away the need of one) or a well-ventilated case (which will eliminate the need for a new case, and will let me buy a good cooler).

 

[linnemeyerhere]

If you win the contest than thats great. I would figure on not overclocking this new system for a while so I say just save your money and go with the stock AMD cooler. Then later after your all dialed in and have a good feel for the system and have done all your homework you can look at aftermarket coolers and overclocking as a package deal second phase. I would invest in a quality PSU go with a name brand and don't skimp stay in the 600-750 minimum range as this will serve you for a long time. Use this PSU calculator to give you an idea of future needs or expansion.
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator
I would look at filling all the available fan slots with high quality fans.

 

[TheBetaFox]

If you win the contest than thats great. I would figure on not overclocking this new system for a while so I say just save your money and go with the stock AMD cooler. Then later after your all dialed in and have a good feel for the system and have done all your homework you can look at aftermarket coolers and overclocking as a package deal second phase. I would invest in a quality PSU go with a name brand and don't skimp stay in the 600-750 minimum range as this will serve you for a long time. Use this PSU calculator to give you an idea of future needs or expansion.
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator
I would look at filling all the available fan slots with high quality fans.

The power supply has a power of 500 W, so I guess that'll 'satisfy' the needs of the PC after I buy it. I may, in time, upgrade to 8, 12, 16 GB of RAM as time passes, and possibly upgrade my video card and motherboard, further resulting in a future 'upgrade' of the Power Supply.
Is the stock AMD cooler good enough, anyway? I'm not very good when it comes to building hardware, I actually mostly suck, one helped me to pick these components - and I'm not sure how many fans, if any, would be needed...
And I'm not overclocking, maybe only in the future, in a few years. Meanwhile, could I do gaming with just the stock AMD cooler?

 

[johnwillyums]

Just had a look at the case here: Review of Nox NX-2, Review Nox NX-2 - Cases
I think it's a Spanish site. Anyway, Google Translate did it's usual amusing job on the idioms.
Case looks really nice. Solid steel and well laid out. Looks like it will
I wouldn't drop the Samsung HDD. I don't know what your paying but they are very well priced here and the fastest thing you'll get this side of a solid state drive. Also 1TB soon gets eaten up these days.
Unless you're planning to overclock you shouldn't really need anything better than the cooler that comes with the chip. Especially if you get another couple of case fans, and they are quite cheap.

 

[TheBetaFox]

Just had a look at the case here: Review of Nox NX-2, Review Nox NX-2 - Cases
I think it's a Spanish site. Anyway, Google Translate did it's usual amusing job on the idioms.
Case looks really nice. Solid steel and well laid out. Looks like it will
I wouldn't drop the Samsung HDD. I don't know what your paying but they are very well priced here and the fastest thing you'll get this side of a solid state drive. Also 1TB soon gets eaten up these days.
Unless you're planning to overclock you shouldn't really need anything better than the cooler that comes with the chip. Especially if you get another couple of case fans, and they are quite cheap.

The Samsung HDD is only ~200 RON here, which is ~60 USD. EDIT: 272 RON. Convert it by Google '272 RON to USD'
Yeah, I know. Cheap. Really cheap. I guess that's the result of stores trying to get rid of 1 TB HDDs so they can bring in the 3 TB HDDs...
Anyway, if the cooler that comes with the chip is good enough, that sounds great.
Although, 'till February, new things might come out so I might just change my configuration
P.S: Someone recommended the Cooltek K3 Evolution case to me. Is it good?
And it took me 7 years to use up 250 GB, so I don't think 1 TB would get eaten up fast in my case. I do weekly maintenance in my system to delete whatever I'm not using and/or I do not like, and I use CCleaner to clean up ~10 GB of browser caches and just plain junk monthly.

 

[johnwillyums]

I wouldn't have said it's any better than the Nox one you're looking at. The NXZT range seems very good value for money.

 

[TheBetaFox]

I wouldn't have said it's any better than the Nox one you're looking at. The NXZT range seems very good value for money.

Indeed, but I'm currently looking at multiple choices - the Cooltek K3 Evolution is different, but not in a lot of ways, someone actually says it's better - but I'm a bit too lazy to research, plus the K3 seems to be cheaper.
EDIT: Maybe you could PM me your Windows Live address or an address from any Instant Messaging service used by you, in case you do use one? You don't need to if you intend to be as 'anonymous' as possible

 

[linnemeyerhere]

TheBetaFox,
Yes the AMD stock cooler is engineered to do a very respectable job. Any cooler will require maintenance to keep if purring along, clean it and the case interior along with the other fans at least twice a year and more often if you have dust, pets or case on carpet issues. I'll say it again as well the PSU is the heart of your system and the quality of these units vary wildly. Stick with name brands that have a reputation for reliability and do please consider up sizing this area as you will get the bug and upgrade items, ram, drives, fans, coolers, and the big one is a quality GPU which draws a huge bit of energy off the secondary rail. My advice may seem like over kill but many here will agree tons of issues here get traced back to the lack of proper power supply sizing and quality.
Cheers and good luck you will love being challenged with the build and making it your build. Please take pictures and post all during it's build and when done !

 

[TheBetaFox]

TheBetaFox,
Yes the AMD stock cooler is engineered to do a very respectable job. Any cooler will require maintenance to keep if purring along, clean it and the case interior along with the other fans at least twice a year and more often if you have dust, pets or case on carpet issues. I'll say it again as well the PSU is the heart of your system and the quality of these units vary wildly. Stick with name brands that have a reputation for reliability and do please consider up sizing this area as you will get the bug and upgrade items, ram, drives, fans, coolers, and the big one is a quality GPU which draws a huge bit of energy off the secondary rail. My advice may seem like over kill but many here will agree tons of issues here get traced back to the lack of proper power supply sizing and quality.
Cheers and good luck you will love being challenged with the build and making it your build. Please take pictures and post all during it's build and when done !

Thank you for the advice, sir.
Of course, I will share information and pictures of the build, but when I will buy it, that is I'm kinda short of money at the moment.. Oh sweet financial crisis </sarcasm>.