MicroVirus

Hey guys, i came to this forum a while ago and managed to make a pretty decent build. I ended up not building it in the end though and was told to wait a couple of months. I've decided that i might as well build it now =) otherwise i'll never get around to doing it. So here is what i managed to rack up months ago with the help of this forum..

- OCZ GameXstream 600W power supply
- ASUS P5KC LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
- Radeon HD 3870 512MB ~~~~~~~~~ 8800GT?
- Intel core 2 duo E6550 2.33ghz
- Corsair XMS2 2GB DDR2 RAM
- Western Digital Caviar SE SATA Hard Drive 250gb
- Lite-On SOHC-5236V dvd reader and cd burner/reader
- Antec nine hundred case

Ive had another look around and those parts seem pretty outdated. The PC will be used for work and gaming. I'd like to play games like assassins creed and crysis (not neccesarily on best detail) and i can't do that on my current computer (its P4 with 512mb ram etc. etc.)

So if anyone can suggest parts that would be great. Im open to anything at the moment. I'm trying to make it futureproof so i wont have to upgrade it later (i remember the mobo supports DDR2/DDR3 RAM). Ive got a mouse and monitor and keyboard and im also planning to do an extended desktop so a graphics card that supports 2 monitors would be good. I'll research a bit and post any parts i find.

Thanks!

Tumbleweed36

With that video card try a Corsair 650 power supply. 600 is on the light side to expect it to pull this rig. If you want to make it future proof and have no intentions of using crossfire/sli, then spill for a 750 watt. If however, later you intend on crossfire/sli, then you might as well pick a 850 watt power supply. I do recommend the Corsair or Thermaltake "toughpower" for this rig.

MicroVirus

I'll have a look into the power supply, i'm wondering whether after those few months, anything new has come out that i could replace some parts with - just slightly more expensive than these parts but with better performance etc.

Ive had a look around and i might try the antec 300 instead of 900. There doesnt seem like much difference.

Also, are any of the earthwatts power supplies good? I might try one of them.

As for the Motherboard and CPU ive had a look around and ive found the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L. Its really basic but its cheap and from the reviews ive read it sounds like it does everything i would want.

Still open to suggestions

Thanks!

shotgn

what is your budget?

wrench97

Tumbleweed36

Yes, the Asus board you suggested first is good as is the Gigabyte board. Another one to look at is the Asus P5Q pro board. It is also basic, but excellent.

I would also put either an e8400 or e8500 on this instead of the CPU you have suggested. IMHO, skip the Antec power supplies at this time until they get a quality manufacturer to make them. They used to use Seasonic as a builder, but now use different suppliers and they are not the quality they used to be.

MicroVirus

Thanks for the replies - my budget is around 1000 Australian dollars.

Ive had a look at the ASUS P5Q Pro and it looks pretty good for a reasonable price. Would it outperform the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L that i suggested by alot? It's more expensive than the Gigabyte and im wondering whether it would be worth it. It has an extra pci-e port which im not sure will be that useful - im only planning to have one graphics card. and the audio/wireless cards would go into the pci ports wouldnt they?

The E8500 also looks pretty good, would it work well with the ASUS P5Q board? or would a different processor perform better on it?

I'm gonna have a look at the shops and see what they have.

Thanks for all the replies!

Tumbleweed36

The Gigabyte board is comparable to the P5Q model. It is kind of like the Chevy and Ford argument. Someone likes the Chevy and someone likes the Ford. There is actually not a lot of difference between the two and if budget is a concern, go for the Gigabyte....it is a nice board. The e-8400 or e-8500 are both top of the line and will perform well in either board.

MicroVirus

Well the P5Q is 50 or so dollars more than the Gigabyte and if they have the same-ish performance then i guess the gigabyte is the better option. An extra pci-e slot doesnt sound like its worth 50 dollars. I'm gonna take a trip to the shops in a sec, i'll see what they say.

Thanks!

Tumbleweed36

You will be fine with that board. It is simply excellent and I can't say anything bad about it.

MicroVirus

ok, ive been to the shop and had a look at prices and i think ive basically decided what im gonna buy. Ive changed the graphics card and thats about it.

- Radeon 4850 (iv'e been told that this card surpasses the 8800gt by a long shot and it seems good for its price, ive read heat is an issue but with the antec 900's ventilation i hope it'll be fine)
~~~ 220 Australian dollars

-Antec 900 (still like this case, looks like plenty of room for future expansion and good airflow)
~~~ 165 Aussie dollars

- Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L (everyone seems to think highly of it, good price - why not?)
~~~ 142 Aussie Dollars

- Thermaltake Toughpower 750W (not sure whether to use this one or the 620W corsair one, going with this one though - tumbleweed suggested it)
~~~ 185 Aussie Dollars

- E8500 Intel core 2 duo processor (ive been told itll work well with the mobo)
~~~ 260 Australian Dollars

Kingston 800 RAM (the shop suggested this one)
~~~ 65 Australian Dollars

Not sure about the cd/dvd drive - i'll just use any one i guess
~~~ about 30 dollars

Not sure about the hard drive either - gonna see if i can get a western digital 500gb or so hard drive
~~~ 100ish Dollars

And i think that's everything that goes inside the tower.

So a total of.. 1167 Aussie Dollars - translates to 967 US dollars - sound ok to you guys for this build?

I'm still not sure about the PSU - they have a corsair 620W which i can buy instead of the Thermaltake Toughpower 750W. I'm worried that the 750W will be overkill or use too much electricity.

and also, if someone can confirm that all these parts will fit and work together that would be great =)

Thanks!

Tumbleweed36

Nice build IMHO.

MicroVirus

If i used a thermaltake toughpower 600W would it not be enough for this build?

wrench97

600w is a little small I would want to see at least 650w the lower you go the harder the PSU has to work and the more heat it produces leading to heat problems in the rest of the PC Ideally you want to run a PSU at 60-80% of it's capacity over that they start heating up.

MicroVirus

OK Ive just ordered all the parts and they should come in tomorrow. I'm still not completely sure what to do so if anyone knows a guide i can follow or has any general tips it would be appreciated.

Also, after plugging in the 20/24 pin power connector to the motherboard, do i have to plug in the separate 4 pin one too?

Tumbleweed36

This should help you:

Building Your Own Rig

MicroVirus

ok i've gotten all the parts but the shop said they couldnt stock the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L and gave me the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3 (no L at the end) for 10 dollars more. They said its better (it has an extra pci-e firewire and pcix1 thing). I hope its just as good or better =)

Ive installed the psu and the mobo and i didnt have any paste to put on the processor so i just put the fan straight onto it - should that be ok? Im a bit worried but the instructions for the cpu didnt have applying paste onto it and it didnt come with paste.

wrench97

IF you used the stock heat sink it should have already had thermal compound on the bottom of it sometimes with a piece of plastic covering it you can not run it without the thermal it will overheat in a matter of seconds.
The DS3 is a better board same chip set and Bios with extras.

MicroVirus

if it did have a plastic sheet over the bottom, would it be in the instructions to take it off? i didnt look and it wasnt in the intructions.

wrench97

Usually not? I can't say I've looked at the instructions lately it's part of the packaging either a plastic cap or plastic sheet.