PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[Kipling]

Finally narrowed my potential parts/build down some. Will buy tomorrow morning when my DD hits, just wanted to run it through the BG to make sure I didn't make any obvious errors of compatibility or whatever else.

CPU

Mobo
- The remote bluetooth features and automatic OC feature for a noob like me seem really nice.

GPU

RAM

Heat Sink - Goes for 49~ on Newegg.

OS


Thermal Grease

CD/DVD

Have everything else that's needed.

[Caiyuo]

Are the AMD Fusion chips coming out changing the landscape for budget builds at all? I'm guessing they'd be primarily for builds definitely not including a discrete video card? I've been wanting to do a build for my brother for awhile and his entire use is digital audio recording and internet use so it seems like they'd be perfect for something cheap and effective, while still leaving a little room in case he ever wanted to get an emulator going or something. Or is it still cheaper to go with like an i3 and a card?

[Isiolia]

Are the AMD Fusion chips coming out changing the landscape for budget builds at all? I'm guessing they'd be primarily for builds definitely not including a discrete video card? I've been wanting to do a build for my brother for awhile and his entire use is digital audio recording and internet use so it seems like they'd be perfect for something cheap and effective, while still leaving a little room in case he ever wanted to get an emulator going or something. Or is it still cheaper to go with like an i3 and a card?

I think the gap in motherboard cost that had been skewing things toward i3 is now much smaller, if there at all. Newegg seems to have some FM1 board in ~$80 range, and the A8-3850 seems to be a little cheaper now ($130ish, similar to an i3 2100).

That said, it's app dependent on how the CPUs stack up. I'd also consider that you're looking at the top end of the Lynx series competing with the bottom end of the i3s, much less i5s. An A8-3850 is $140 or so. If you have a Microcenter nearby, you can get an i5 2400 for $150 (or a 2500k for $180). The A8-3850 only really beats an i3 in heavily threaded apps (quad core vs dual core), and going to an i5 will demolish that for really not a whole lot more cash.

I don't think most emulators will require much out of the GPU, unless you're looking at Dolphin n' stuff, and almost any actual discrete card will beat out any integrated solution. Personally, I'd lean towards fitting in a better Intel CPU, since it'd do better if he did decide to go with gaming and dropped in a decent card.

Then again, I prefer to err on the side of power - last time I built a system believing the "never plays games" argument (for my brother), the first thing he did when he got back to college was try to play a Battlefield game on it. Had to buy a better card, etc.

[Caiyuo]

lol I'm the same way and I was trying to prevent that thought-process because he really does need something cheap and I know when I was looking at my own build, I kept notching it up and up as I looked through parts. I'll have to see how he feels about it since I think he'd primarily be doing SNES and PS1 stuff, but then again I can imagine if he could run a PS2 emulator he probably would. I mean he's literally on a 1999~ P4 2Ghz Compaq right now, so I guess that both means expectations are low and ...I'm going to have to decade-proof this thing. No luck with Microcenter here, though, so I'll be watching prices for a bit.

The upside is neither his or mine is really time-sensitive so I'm willing to wait until either a spectacular deal comes along, maybe until black friday, or until something pushes prices down further.

thanks, man, always a great help

[Olo401]

Since we're on the subject of AMD's new processors, it looks like the market date for AMD's new bulldozer-based FX CPUs is late August or September. There were some benchmark leaks recently that put the performance of an engineering sample somewhere between the two unlocked Intel Sandy Bridge procs.

[Kipling]

In the time I put together my cart last night/went to HP premiere/woke up... Amazon went out of stock on every crucial part, hahaha. Just bit the bullet and went Newegg, tax be damned.

Says it'll be here tomorrow cause I live like an hour from a warehouse, anyone have a link to a computer building guide for someone who is afraid he'll accidentally hulk smash his new parts?! Pictures largely appreciated. <3

[Arkanna]

In the time I put together my cart last night/went to HP premiere/woke up... Amazon went out of stock on every crucial part, hahaha. Just bit the bullet and went Newegg, tax be damned.

Says it'll be here tomorrow cause I live like an hour from a warehouse, anyone have a link to a computer building guide for someone who is afraid he'll accidentally hulk smash his new parts?! Pictures largely appreciated. <3

Maximum PC published a build-it guide a few issues back. It doesn't match your hardware, but it should apply to you just the same. Page 2 onward at the following link:

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fea...g_pc_step_step

[Overburn]

Also feel free to actually read the guides they all come with.

Between youtube videos about my case (to see where everything was suggested to go), the newegg "building a computer" guide (you can probably skip part 1, it's 3 parts), and reading the guides in the boxes, it took me probably 5-6 hours on my first computer. 4chan's technology (g) board was also pretty helpful when I wanted to make sure I wasn't smashing pieces too hard since I was constantly afraid any force would snap my mobo.

[Kipling]

Those are both really helpful, thanks.

I see the whole touching the case thing, but does wearing gloves (plastic ones) help as well for reducing static? Think we have some around the house.

[TacoTaru]

Instead of bumping my old thread, I figured I'd just post here. Hoping to pick up parts over the next six months (hoping my wedding anniversary + Christmas + birthday pans out with plenty of parts or money) or so and I'm curious of the opinions on what I have here:

http://mlkshk.com/r/6BSD

I'm open to any suggestions. As for any questions the parts I picked, I'm an epic computer building scrub atm, so a lot of what I picked was based off companies that my friend went with when building his, and what I thought looked good for my price range.

Thanks in advance.

[Jojimbo]

Might want to change the HDD (1TB Samsung F3 or WD Caviar Black are good). Probably should change PSU to a Corsair, but reviews on the Rosewill series of psu is that it's 'ok'.

If you are going to build over the next 6 months and just sit on the components then you may want to save up the money instead, as new gen might be out by then or a month away which would drive prices down (or simply be better) and there may be price drops anyway (+ you could try and get some better deals in)

[Karinastar]

Besides Jojimbo's suggestions, I see you have a regular 2600 and a P8P67 LE mobo. If you don't want to overclock at all this is fine, but if you do you need to get the "k" version of that CPU and the regular P8P67 or equivalent. The locked CPU barely overclocks at all and the LE motherboard doesn't have voltage control. Besides that, I agree that you should always buy everything at once or as close to it as possible. Hardware always gets progressively cheaper over time, and in 6 months you might be able to find better components for those prices.

[TacoTaru]

Truthfully overclocking the CPU isn't even on my radar. I know so little about these things, that I'd surely push it too far and fry it. I'll keep in mind buying it all at once, but I'm hoping to stack enough gifts around anni/christmas/birthday/taxes that I can just get it in on fell swoop (maybe even take a few parts off my end of the expense). That being said, thanks a lot for the advice!

[Caiyuo]

As far as components go I'm looking at a really similar build as you so if I'll be keeping track of this stuff in the coming months, I'll be sure to update if anything improves prices or an especially good deal pops up.

[Eggroll]

Anyone have any advice for CPU cooling? I'm using a HAF-X so space isn't really an issue so I was leaning towards the Noctua NH-D14 since I've heard nothing but great things about it. I'd like to avoid water cooling since I don't have the tech level to be comfortable enough to deal with them and sealed systems seem like they offer pretty lackluster gains for their price points. Also if anyone has strong convictions about thermal paste I'd like some advice as well, I'll probably settle with arctic silver 5 but I know brands like shin-etsu get a lot of love from the community.

[Jojimbo]

The Thermalright Silver Arrow and Noctua NH-D14 are best coolers atm (SA very slightly beating D14 on moderate overclocks, D14 wins for very high OC). There are better thermal pastes than AS5, although I have no idea what they are (last time I asked I was told to just use the AS5 I had)

[arus2001]

Been considering getting a bigger hard drive (only 220gb at present) but don't want to get ripped off. As is, I'm uncertain if my power supply could support a slave drive, as sometimes I have to unplug some USB devices to reboot after a power outage and the like. So, kind of a mixed request on suggestions for a deal and anything I should be aware of before jumping into a buy. As is, pretty sure my tower's got bay space, but I'd need to double-check the cable connected to my current HD to see if it'd have a connector for more drives.

[Jojimbo]

The 1TB Samsung F3 or WD Caviar Black are good and your PSU should have enough power for another HDD (they use <10W and most PSU will have plenty of connectors for HDDs). Just in case, what CPU/GPU/PSU are you using/what things do you have to unplug, or does it only happen after a sudden shutdown/power outage.

[arus2001]

CPU: Intel® Core™2 Duo CPU E8500 @ 3.16GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285
PSU: 750 WATT OEM ATX PSU (if I read the old invoice right)

System's creeping up on a few years old now, but I've been otherwise content with its performance. Just been slowly filling up the HD with games and would hate to constantly be deleting and reinstalling/patching things.

[Jojimbo]

That PSU is more than enough for that GPU/CPU combo + extra HDDs. Have no idea why you would need to remove usb things though, unless PSU was damaged in a surge or it is a hardware conflict rather than power issue.