New PC build- are these components good?

[Tomtom111]

Hi everyone,

I'm building my own PC for the first time and I wanted some guidance on the parts that I have selected. I'm going to be using it for heavy web browsing and casual gaming (which includes hosting a MC server from time to time) mainly.

• AMD FX6300 - I'm pretty much set on this now.
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-FX6300-Edition-4-1GHz-Socket/dp/B009O7YORK/
• Either ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3 OR ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX - both have similar features, but are different in a couple of ways like the SATA 6 ports on the ASRock so could you help on deciding on one of these.
  ASUS: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-M5A78L-M-USB3-Motherboard-Socket/dp/B0054U7HIO/
  ASRock: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASRock-960GM-U3S3-FX-Motherboard/dp/B007RS70HO/
• Crucial Ballistix Tactial 8GB (2x4GB)
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-BLT2CP4G3D1869DT1TX0CEU-Ballistix-DDR3-1866-PC3-14900/dp/B0069OG1RM/
• Corsair CX500 (I've already got this)
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Builder-Series-Bronze-Supply/dp/B009RMP2VE/
• ASUS Radeon 6850 1GB DirectCU (I've already got this also)
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Radeon-6850-DirectCU-PCI-E/dp/B004HXW5OU/
• WD Caviar Blue 1TB 7200RPM
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0088PUEPK/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers
• TPLink 150Mbps PCI card adapter
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-WN781ND-150Mbps-Wireless-Express/dp/B0036AFAEW/

I still have to decide on a case, but I'm thinking either the Fractal Design Core 1000 or Fractal Design Define Mini (might need some help on that one as well) Core 1000: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fractal-Des...UTF8&qid=1384257290&sr=1-1&keywords=core+1000 Define Mini: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fractal-Design-Define-Series-Micro/dp/B004ZH18VE/. I may add a CD/DVD drive, but its unlikely. Also, I'm considering getting more fans that which ever case I get comes with to make sure everything is cool enough. I'm not going to have an SSD at first but I might add one later on. Also, I found this site that compares the two mobo's I've found: Temporary comparison table | Hardware.Info United Kingdom

Bearing in mind that I'm quite a tight budget of around £400 (~$630 USD at the current exchange rates) so I won't be able to spend a huge amount and get the latest and greatest, would you say that this is a decent build and could you suggest any improvements that wouldn't increase the price too far beyond £400. Oh, and the budget excludes an OS and monitor.

Thanks in advance.
Tom

Oh, and I want to stick with AMD, as Intel CPU's are kinda out of my budget

 

[AmericanPharaoh]

Hey Tomtom,

Here's a link for you to check out some of the many custom builds.

You can get an idea of what goes together.

http://www.newegg.com/DIY-PC-Combos/PromotionStore/ID-33

John

 

[madcratebuilder]

That's a good choice of parts. The two mobo's have the same chjpset and should be very much the same in performance, the bundled software is the biggest difference. I would prefer asus, but nothing wrong with asrock.

What are you doing for a power supply?

 

[whs]

I would add a SSD for the OS. a 120GB model would be a good choice. They sell for around $100 or around 70 quid.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Tomtom111,
Whatever case you go with consider the space behind the motherboard as your PSU isn't modular so you'll be hiding lots of cable there, take it from me as I built a system with that very PSU. I also agree with whs you should pull the trigger for a SSD believe me it's the single most impressive upgrade I've made to my rigs and the joy of loading the OS and software much less all the updates is a joy to watch as it must take at least half the time much less boot, software loading and shut down times.

 

[LittleJay]

I totally agree in regard to an SSD. It is the single best improvement I have ever made to any of my computers.

 

[Tomtom111]

That's a good choice of parts. The two mobo's have the same chjpset and should be very much the same in performance, the bundled software is the biggest difference. I would prefer asus, but nothing wrong with asrock.

What are you doing for a power supply?

The ASRock mobo has SATA6, whereas the ASUS only has SATA3, which limits me speed wise if I get an SSD. As for the PSU, I've already got it, a Corsair CX500

I would add a SSD for the OS. a 120GB model would be a good choice. They sell for around $100 or around 70 quid.

Tomtom111,
Whatever case you go with consider the space behind the motherboard as your PSU isn't modular so you'll be hiding lots of cable there, take it from me as I built a system with that very PSU. I also agree with whs you should pull the trigger for a SSD believe me it's the single most impressive upgrade I've made to my rigs and the joy of loading the OS and software much less all the updates is a joy to watch as it must take at least half the time much less boot, software loading and shut down times.

I totally agree in regard to an SSD. It is the single best improvement I have ever made to any of my computers.

My problem is that I install and reinstall operating systems often (generally not my main OS (W7), but others like Linux) and I've read that SSD's have limited read/write numbers, so obviously writing a lot of data to one would wear it out quickly. Also the Fractal Core 1000 can hold 3 drives, but as far as I can tell my GPU is long enough to go beyond the 2nd and 3rd drive mounts, so as a result I'll only be able to have one in that case. It isn't an issue in the other case though.

Thanks for you're replies

 

[whs]

Don't worry about the reliability of SSDs. They are more reliable than spinning disks. Of my 7 SSDs, the oldest is from 2007 and still going strong. And SSDs use hardly any power at all - less than 1W. You can check out the specifications of a few here: Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, SSDs, Internal SSDs, 91GB - 128GB

 

[Tomtom111]

Don't worry about the reliability of SSDs. They are more reliable than spinning disks. Of my 7 SSDs, the oldest is from 2007 and still going strong. And SSDs use hardly any power at all - less than 1W. You can check out the specifications of a few here: Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, SSDs, Internal SSDs, 91GB - 128GB

OK, well as I said in the first post, it's something I may add later on, be I'll stick to a HDD. Havign said that, what about a SSHD? They seem to be the best of both worlds to me, so is there anything wrong with it?

Thanks

 

[whs]

Forget the SSHDs. They look good on paper but all the real life feedback I have ever seen was negative.

I guess they would be OK if you used it for data storage where you manipulate large amounts of contiguously stored data each time. Then the access time would not be such a big factor. But the OS manipulates only very small 4K random blocks and accresses the disk very frequently. For that environment, the access time has a big impact.

If you are waiting with the SSD for later because of budget reasons, I can understand. But if you are able to afford a SSD now, I would not wait. A system with a SSD is a completely different world.

 

[Wishmaster]

Performance-wise, the hybrid SSD/HDs do OK as a OS drive.
A bit better than a just a spinner, but not nearly as good as a SSD.

In regards to reliability ... not so sure. I wouldn't do it personally. Id go spinner or SSD.

As whs said, dont worry about SSd reliability. My most recent was a 80GB Intel 320 series a good while back. I just installed Windows on it, and haven't messed with it since, and its still strong and healthy.

I too agree a SSD is the single best upgrade you can do. You really only need a small one for the the OS apps only.

Everything else can be on the WD Blue.
And dont worry about SATA speeds. Even a SSD throttles to SATA 3 speeds will destroy any spinner, and you will certainly see the difference.


The WD Blue is a good HD, have some myself.
But if its going to be your only drive, with everything including the OS on it, you may want to consider a Black Edition.
Although not a lot of difference, the Black Edition will have a slight overall speed advantage.
Both are excellent drives though, just something worth considering.


I use a WD Black as a Game drive. And believe it or not, games actually load a bit faster from it. But OS is on SSD, and that WD Balck is dedicated to Steam and Steam Games only. So it has nothing else to do.

 

[Tomtom111]

Forget the SSHDs. They look good on paper but all the real life feedback I have ever seen was negative.

If you are waiting for later because of budget reasons, I can understand. But if you are able to afford a SSD now, I would not wait. A system with a SSD is a completely different world.

Performance-wise, the hybrid SSD/HDs do OK as a OS drive.
A bit better than a just a spinner, but not nearly as good as a SSD.

In regards to reliability ... not so sure. I wouldn't do it personally. Id go spinner or SSD.

As whs said, dont worry about SSd reliability. My most recent was a 80GB Intel 320 series a good while back. I just installed Windows on it, and haven't messed with it since, and its still strong and healthy.

I too agree a SSD is the single best upgrade you can do. You really only need a small one for the the OS apps only.

Everything else can be on the WD Blue.
And dont worry about SATA speeds. Even a SSD throttles to SATA 3 speeds will destroy any spinner, and you will certainly see the difference.


The WD Blue is a good HD, have some myself.
But if its going to be your only drive, with everything including the OS on it, you may want to consider a Black Edition.
Although not a lot of difference, the Black Edition will have a slight overall speed advantage.
Both are excellent drives though, just something worth considering.


I use a WD Black as a Game drive. And believe it or not, games actually load a bit faster from it. But OS is on SSD, and that WD Balck is dedicated to Steam and Steam Games only. So it has nothing else to do.

If you are waiting for later because of budget reasons, I can understand. But if you are able to afford a SSD now, I would not wait. A system with a SSD is a completely different world.[/QUOTE]

Thanks guys, I will definitely look at SSD's once I've got some more to spend, but for now I'll stick to a HDD. And I'll look at the Black edition as well, honestly I just picked one of the most popular on Amazon. Back to the SSHD quickly, the video make SSHD's out to be pretty good, is it reliability issues that you've heard or something else?

Besides that, the stuff I've already selected will make a huge difference, as at the moment I'm on a crumby 4 year old laptop with a 2.2GHz cpu... Not great... But a jump to at 3.5GHz cpu will do me nicely for a while But when I do get more upgrades for my new PC I'll look at SSD's, as I said.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Well in a nut shell you can add a small solid state cache to a spinner but you still wind up with a spinner. One of the biggest reasons for a separate SSD is the fact they aren't moving, highly reliable and use so little power, generate little heat along with the obvious speed.

 

[whs]

I have added a paragraph to my post #10. That may give you some more logic about the SSHDs.

BTW - those Momentus are not cheap.

 

[Tomtom111]

The Momentus aren't as cheap as a convential HDD no, but they are cheaper than SSD's. Anyway, I'll avoid getting a SSHD then, and once I scrounge some more money perhaps getting a SSD.

What about the other parts I listed? Would you say they are good? Any improvements on them (that are still in budget)? What about the motherboards I listed, which one would you say, bearing in mind only one has SATA6?

Thanks

 

[vspeck23]

Hi everyone,

I'm building my own PC for the first time and I wanted some guidance on the parts that I have selected. I'm going to be using it for heavy web browsing and casual gaming (which includes hosting a MC server from time to time) mainly.

• AMD FX6300 - I'm pretty much set on this now.
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-FX6300-Edition-4-1GHz-Socket/dp/B009O7YORK/
• Either ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3 OR ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX - both have similar features, but are different in a couple of ways like the SATA 6 ports on the ASRock so could you help on deciding on one of these.
  ASUS: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-M5A78L-M-USB3-Motherboard-Socket/dp/B0054U7HIO/
  ASRock: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASRock-960GM-U3S3-FX-Motherboard/dp/B007RS70HO/
• Crucial Ballistix Tactial 8GB (2x4GB)
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-BLT2CP4G3D1869DT1TX0CEU-Ballistix-DDR3-1866-PC3-14900/dp/B0069OG1RM/
• Corsair CX500 (I've already got this)
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Builder-Series-Bronze-Supply/dp/B009RMP2VE/
• ASUS Radeon 6850 1GB DirectCU (I've already got this also)
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Radeon-6850-DirectCU-PCI-E/dp/B004HXW5OU/
• WD Caviar Blue 1TB 7200RPM
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0088PUEPK/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers
• TPLink 150Mbps PCI card adapter
  TP-Link TL-WN781ND 150Mbps Wireless PCI Express Adapter + Low Profile Bracket: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

I still have to decide on a case, but I'm thinking either the Fractal Design Core 1000 or Fractal Design Define Mini (might need some help on that one as well) Core 1000: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fractal-Des...UTF8&qid=1384257290&sr=1-1&keywords=core+1000 Define Mini: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fractal-Design-Define-Series-Micro/dp/B004ZH18VE/. I may add a CD/DVD drive, but its unlikely. Also, I'm considering getting more fans that which ever case I get comes with to make sure everything is cool enough. I'm not going to have an SSD at first but I might add one later on. Also, I found this site that compares the two mobo's I've found: Temporary comparison table | Hardware.Info United Kingdom

Bearing in mind that I'm quite a tight budget of around £400 (~$630 USD at the current exchange rates) so I won't be able to spend a huge amount and get the latest and greatest, would you say that this is a decent build and could you suggest any improvements that wouldn't increase the price too far beyond £400. Oh, and the budget excludes an OS and monitor.

Thanks in advance.
Tom

Oh, and I want to stick with AMD, as Intel CPU's are kinda out of my budget

Well these parts are better than what i have running on my rig and i can play call of duty black ops 2 and crysis 2 on high etc gta 4 and all ,

 

[kbrady1979]

There's no way I would build a system today and base it off a motherboard with SATA II ports......and listen to the good advice above. Budget an SSD in there as soon as possible, they are legit game changers.

 

[Tomtom111]

There's no way I would build a system today and base it off a motherboard with SATA II ports......and listen to the good advice above. Budget an SSD in there as soon as possible, they are legit game changers.

Then why are there still mobo's that only have SATA3?!?! That seems dumb to me.
Thanks for the advice, I'll go with the ASRock board, mainly because of SATA6, but also they seem to get mostly decent reviews.

Anybody want to suggest anything on the case front? A less important factor I know, plus it is pretty set that I'll get the Fractal Define mini due to the superior disk mounting options (which I'll need due everybody encouraging me to get a SSD...) which would allow me to use my GPU when the second mounting thing is removed. But other than that, any suggestions on a case, not necessarily one of the two I mention but still in the price bracket.

Thanks again

 

[whs]

The ASRock board looks pretty decent - for the money. And good that you do not depend on the integrated Radeon 3000 graphics because that is very poor.

 

[kbrady1979]

There's no way I would build a system today and base it off a motherboard with SATA II ports......and listen to the good advice above. Budget an SSD in there as soon as possible, they are legit game changers.

Then why are there still mobo's that only have SATA3?!?! That seems dumb to me.
Thanks for the advice, I'll go with the ASRock board, mainly because of SATA6, but also they seem to get mostly decent reviews.

Anybody want to suggest anything on the case front? A less important factor I know, plus it is pretty set that I'll get the Fractal Define mini due to the superior disk mounting options (which I'll need due everybody encouraging me to get a SSD...) which would allow me to use my GPU when the second mounting thing is removed. But other than that, any suggestions on a case, not necessarily one of the two I mention but still in the price bracket.

Thanks again

For many applications SATA II is still plenty fast enough to handle the throughput of mechanical HDD's. My Asus Sabertooth still includes some SATA II ports ran off the Intel chipset, but the main SATA ports are SATA III so it's just a trend that hasn't went away completely yet.

As far as the case, there is a new Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 out and I think it's a fabulous case.....along with it's bigger brother the Fractal Design Arc Midi R2. Both offer almost every feature that's needed today at a reasonable price. Keep in mind the Arc Mini will only accept mATX motherboards where the Arc Midi R2 will handle full sized ATX and smaller.

Here is a link to the new Fractal Design Arc Mini R2: Fractal Design Arc Mini R2