need some help choosing/deciding on a new pc

[Atreides]

uh... maybe I don't understand electricity but isnt 750w better than 650w?

[Jefe]

Not if you're not going to use them, hence the xfire/sli question. And like I said, the 750W is probably the minimum at best when xfire/sli, which you don't want. Then again this depends on the GPU you choose...

Edit: Use this to kinda help you decide:

http://support.asus.com/PowerSupplyC...tor_right.aspx

http://www.corsair.com/psufinder/default.aspx

Remember, it's wise to have some extra W from the recommended values.

[Atreides]

oh ok gotcha, I don't have any plans to do that at the moment

[Atreides]

oh yeah, still have no idea which of those 2 graphics cards I should go with

[sruon]

I've always adviced the 5770 to my friends on budget because it performs amazingly well even with terrible CPUs, but if you have the CPU to keep up(i5 750 works perfectly) and the money, you should get the 460.

[Atreides]

anyone know which version of Windows 7 I should be looking for? I assume Home Premium Edition, I guess x64 (other choice is x86)?

also I have a static bracelet but it's apparently broken, the strap that attaches to your wrist is gone completely so I have to go buy another before I can put this thing together

[Franzer]

Try to stay away from the home editions, aim for either the professional, or ultimate (especially if you're torrenting a copy).

[Jefe]

7 64 Ultimate. Strap? Just touch the case.

[Atreides]

how often should I touch the case? like every 20 seconds? I thought the whole purpose of the static bracelet was to keep you in constant contact

[Jefe]

Wat, not like you're gonna be rubbing your feet against the carpet. Just touch it once to ground yourself, maybe 1x before you handle each part since you're kinda paranoid. Stay away from carpets.

[Caiyuo]

Was there a reason the Samsung Spinpoint F3s didn't come up here? Last I saw they were top of their class and the 1TB drives have been on sale for around $60 constantly the last few months

[Atreides]

just a quick question about the heatsink/cpu, it was a REALLY big struggle for me to get the included heatsink/fan to clip onto the socket nubs, and now I'm wondering two things:

1) the instructions for the processor have a picture saying you should rotate this clip to make it fit more snugly. If I do this, I'm not sure if it can be made much tighter, and I don't want to break anything. Should the heat sink be able to move at all on top of the processor, even a little?

2) apparently the included heatsink had thermal paste pre-applied, and I used a tiny dab (about the size of a grain of rice) in the center of the CPU (following instructions online) which I'm not sure if it spread out over the heatsink fully. Should I take it off and gently scrape all the material off, and start again?

[Binkie]

1) If you mean the stock fan, rotating the clips doesn't make it tighter. There's 2 positions for the clips, release and locking. Since you've been twisting them, might wanna try tugging each clip upwards to see if you have it on the right position. If you have a case with a rear panel cut out for the cpu area, check the backside of your motherboard for the clips poking through.

2) I'm not sure if you should be mixing pastes. Sometimes the stock fans come with thermal pads, and with that you definitely shouldn't have pads and paste at the same time. As for how much paste to use, check this video of pastes being smashed against a clear glass:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyXLu1Ms-q4

Edit: This was me assuming you had an intel, sorry, wrong info.

[Atreides]

hmm... im pretty sure it just had a small layer of paste and not a pad. At the moment it's fastened very securely but I can sort of twist it a few millimeters back and forth. I know what you mean about locking, it's just that locking it is extremely difficult and I dont want to crush anything or push it too hard. --edit: nvm locked it just fine, hopefully I dont have to take it off to put more paste. Is there such a thing as too much paste?

also, my chassis seems to include an extra cable for the front panel and I'm not sure what it's for. I've already plugged in the a 9-pin usb header for the 3 in the front panel of the chassis, but there's also a second cable here with only 4 pins, labeled +5v D+ D- ground. Is this just another USB for people who dont have a standard 9 pin port on their mobo? SHould I be plugging both things in?

[Atreides]

this is what the cable looks like, it basically looks like half of a USB header cable. I already have a full 9-pin cable plugged into the USB header port. Both cables come from the front part of the case. I'm not sure what it's for, any ideas?

here's a picture, spoilered for huge

Spoiler: show

http://i56.tinypic.com/210n9e9.jpg

I'm pretty sure that's all I have left as far as installation is concerned, does anything look out of place here:

Spoiler: show

http://i51.tinypic.com/2czvrsp.jpg

[Binkie]

Half (or one, depending on how you look at it) usb cable is probably exactly what it is. The 9 pin one supports 2 usb ports (the 9th pin isn't actually used).

O O O O O
P D- D+ G (unused)
O O O O
P D- D+ G

Just plug into one of the top or bottom

Edit: Found you a better visual:

http://www.808.dk/pics/k7s5a_usb1.gif

[Atreides]

oh so if there are 3 usb ports on the front panel, there should be one 9 pin (to support 2 usb ports) cable and one 4 pin cable to plug into the motherboard?

The computer is working great, I already installed windows 7 and a bunch of other programs. Only thing I have to do is figure out what I want to keep on in terms of fans-- the case has 4, the motherboard has 1, and the graphics card has 1, and I'm assuming I won't need all 4 case fans.

Anyway, really surprised how well that went, thanks for the help everyone

[rezn0r]

you have nice fingers

[Stumblingdrunk]

lol...

[Maaglin]

You need to look at the current output on your voltage rails, not overall wattage when choosing a power supply.