The 'Build Me A PC' Thread

[Morfiend]

So, I don't think I will be able to install the stock cooler. I will have to remove my motherboard to access the H50 backplate, and its a HUGE pain in the ass.

I did reseat the H50 with Arctic Silver 5, and now I am running way hotter even. After 5 minutes of Prime 95, I'm now running at 75c.

[Morfiend]

Reseated a 4th time and now im back to 39-40c idles and 65c load temps. I still feel this is to high, but I dont know what to do next.

[Engels]

65 C at load still gives you, what 30ish to TJ Max? That's way within safety limits. Honestly bro, I think that's just how they're designed.

[Morfiend]

I brought my processor up to 3.7 and it was idling at 56-58c, and as soon as I started Prime95 it jumped to 85c and then climbed up to 91c in the next 30 seconds.

Does that seem right?

[Minvaren]

Not sure about Intel, but my last few AMDs (95W 2.8/3.0 Ghz) idled at 35-40c and peaked at 60-65c under full load, so your original temps don't seem too far out of bounds by comparison.

[Lantyssa]

How much thermal paste are you using?  One thing to keep in mind is that you want an extremely thin coat.  The idea is to seal any gaps between the two plates.  Too much paste and it acts as an insulator.

Running hotter than ever would seem to indicate too much.  Get it to a decent temp (and I honestly think 39 C idle / 65 C under load is a decent temp), and give it a week.  Even then, it'll take time for the paste to settle due to pressure once you have the proper thickness.

[rattran]

Do you have any secondary cooling around the cpu area for mosfets, nb and such? Water cooling does great for what it's on, but nothing for surrounding stuff.

[Sheepherder]

Are you still getting water flow noises?  Are you certain you've purged all air from the loop?

[rattran]

H50 is a sealed system cooler, there should be no water noise at all. I have one on my desk I haven't installed yet.

[Morat20]

So is this the thread for "I am a hardware idiot?". I'm looking at building a box sometime after Christmas. My current PC is...elderly (2002-ish?).

I've gotten someone to agree to help put the thing together (he's done it lots of times, and I've never done it, so...prefer to have someone stand over my shoulder and say 'Don't be a moron' before I do something dumb).

Trying to keep it in the 500 to 700 dollar range. Don't need a monitor. Cost for the OS is seperate from the hardware costs (I want to set it up to dual boot Ubuntu and Windows 7, I think). My hard drives are elderly enough that even if the hardware fits, they're at the end of their lifespan.

So what I should I be looking at? Case, video card, CPU, power supply, RAM, and drives?

[Engels]

Depends on your needs. If you aren't a gamer/video fiddler, then yes, its very doable. If you are interested in gaming its still doable, but a bit constrained at $700.

[Rasix]

210   chip (i5 760)
120   mb (might be able to get cheaper if in a combo)
150   GPU (a 460 can be got for this price)
100   RAM (4 gigs)
100   HD  (perhaps can get cheaper)
50   case (cheap)
20   dvd (standard)
75     PSU (could get for less)

There's a quick, lazy response that gets you (albeit with stock cooling) a decent gaming machine at $825 for the hardware.  You could shave $10-20 dollars off here or there and perhaps some more with combo deals and mail in rebates.  Very possible to get that under $700. 

[Hawkbit]

Don't forget a static strap.  No matter what your buddy tells you, use a static strap AND GROUND IT. 

[Sheepherder]

AMD CPU/Mobo is an option if you start looking at i3's instead of i5's.

Don't go cheap on the PSU.  Get something 450-600 watt from Seasonic.  Yes, a 450 watt will run an i5 and GTX 460 if it's not a piece of shit.

[Thrawn]

Don't go cheap on the PSU.

Seconding this, I have a bunch of dead cheap off brand PSUs in my basement from computers I've fixed for people.  Buy a decent brand and you usually want to buy bigger than what you need.

[Morat20]

210   chip (i5 760)
120   mb (might be able to get cheaper if in a combo)
150   GPU (a 460 can be got for this price)
100   RAM (4 gigs)
100   HD  (perhaps can get cheaper)
50   case (cheap)
20   dvd (standard)
75     PSU (could get for less)

There's a quick, lazy response that gets you (albeit with stock cooling) a decent gaming machine at $825 for the hardware.  You could shave $10-20 dollars off here or there and perhaps some more with combo deals and mail in rebates.  Very possible to get that under $700. 

That seems workable. While technically this will be a gaming machine, in actuality -- I'm years behind. I'll be satisified with something that'll run SC2 and Diablo 3, when it comes out. Runs, not "runs awesomely with 3 million FPS with all the bells and whistles on".

[Morfiend]

210   chip (i5 760)
120   mb (might be able to get cheaper if in a combo)
150   GPU (a 460 can be got for this price)
100   RAM (4 gigs)
100   HD  (perhaps can get cheaper)
50   case (cheap)
20   dvd (standard)
75     PSU (could get for less)

There's a quick, lazy response that gets you (albeit with stock cooling) a decent gaming machine at $825 for the hardware.  You could shave $10-20 dollars off here or there and perhaps some more with combo deals and mail in rebates.  Very possible to get that under $700. 

That seems workable. While technically this will be a gaming machine, in actuality -- I'm years behind. I'll be satisified with something that'll run SC2 and Diablo 3, when it comes out. Runs, not "runs awesomely with 3 million FPS with all the bells and whistles on".

For those prices you can get a pretty damn well performing PC. Also, at a later date you can add a second 460 graphics card, but a large performance increase. Just make sure you get a motherboard that supports SLI and a PSU that can handle the load of both cards.

I would recommend at least a 750w PSU. Also, you can probably get 6gb of ram for that price, 3x2gb, so you can run in triple channel. You should be able to find a hard drive for more like $50 if you watch newegg for sales. Currently they have a SATA 6 1tb drive for $89.

[Rasix]

That seems workable. While technically this will be a gaming machine, in actuality -- I'm years behind. I'll be satisified with something that'll run SC2 and Diablo 3, when it comes out. Runs, not "runs awesomely with 3 million FPS with all the bells and whistles on".

I just bought something similar, but with 8 gigs RAM, a 470 GTX, a CPU cooler, and a 750W PSU. It handles Blizzard games at "ultra" graphics settings with a constant 60 FPS.

I would recommend at least a 750w PSU. Also, you can probably get 6gb of ram for that price, 3x2gb, so you can run in triple channel. You should be able to find a hard drive for more like $50 if you watch newegg for sales. Currently they have a SATA 6 1tb drive for $89.

Can't run triple channel unless he goes an i7 that supports LGA 1366.  Depending on how lucky he gets with deals (like the $200 i7950 that was floating around a while ago), that could bump the price up more or keep it relatively the same.

[Sheepherder]

Basically the exact setup you originally listed will do Blizzard games at 60 fps on Ultra.

More PSU is better, but higher efficiency trumps more wattage.

[SnakeCharmer]

Wouldn't his monitor/resolution play a large part in determining is CPU/GPU/RAM needs to run X game at ultra (or whatever) settings?  A setup the runs 1280x1024 (or whatever it is) at ultra would chug at 1920x1200.  I've always recommended to friends to determine what resolution they play/want to play at then build accordingly.

[Morat20]

Wouldn't his monitor/resolution play a large part in determining is CPU/GPU/RAM needs to run X game at ultra (or whatever) settings?  A setup the runs 1280x1024 (or whatever it is) at ultra would chug at 1920x1200.  I've always recommended to friends to determine what resolution they play/want to play at then build accordingly.

1280x1024 is the monitor I have, and I don't plan to replace it. I'm trying to do this on the cheap. Especially since I have to scare up a copy of Windows 7 somewhere.

[Rasix]

Wouldn't his monitor/resolution play a large part in determining is CPU/GPU/RAM needs to run X game at ultra (or whatever) settings?  A setup the runs 1280x1024 (or whatever it is) at ultra would chug at 1920x1200.  I've always recommended to friends to determine what resolution they play/want to play at then build accordingly.

I play on a 23" LCD (1920x1080).  So, he'd be just fine now, and fine if he ends up upgrading his monitor in a year or two.  I'd rather have more than enough than just barely.

[Morat20]

So basically I take the list and start watching NewEgg? (I'll probably spring for 8 gigs of ram. 2 4gig sticks). I keep expecting I'll end up with a motherboard that for some reason won't fit in the damn case -- too many Dell PC's with their weird-ass motherboards cut to fit their cases.

Dammit, I ended up with 1k for the bits and pieces. I may have overdone it on the PSU and video card (420 together) and 340 for the MB+CPU combo.

Hmm. I may just have to surf sales. Post-Christmas general has some good stuff.

[Chimpy]

Yeah.

Decide on a processor type, then use the sort functions to find the mobo/processors that fit your criteria. Just make sure your case and your mobo are both the same type (ATX or MicroATX) and the fit problem should not exist.

If you are looking for getting a good all-around PC for less, you could look at AMD processors. I have been very happy with my Phenom I built 2 years ago.

[Morat20]

Eh, I could get a pretty similar build through Dell for 1200, which would include Office Home and Student and 7 Ultimate, for 1200 bucks. Admittedly, that includes a 500 dollar discount I get through my workplace.

PSU wouldn't be quite as good, nor the card as easily upgradeable, but price-wise it's a wash. Damn, I was hoping for a larger, more obvious savings.

[Rasix]

I like Dell, but you end up paying for it in the long run.  My last one, even being an XPS, was a complete pain in the ass to upgrade.  It also ran uncomfortably hot.

[Morat20]

I like Dell, but you end up paying for it in the long run.  My last one, even being an XPS, was a complete pain in the ass to upgrade.  It also ran uncomfortably hot.

Yeah, I have that problem now. Of course, where I keep my tower isn't the best ventilated now. I'm sorta mulling the "Same price, but with software and a better warranty" up against "Not Being Dell".

[Ingmar]

I don't find Dell cases hard to work in at all, YMMV.

[Morfiend]

Dammit, I ended up with 1k for the bits and pieces. I may have overdone it on the PSU and video card (420 together) and 340 for the MB+CPU combo.

EVGA 460 at newegg= $160
Corsair 850w PSU = $125

[Lantyssa]

I don't find Dell cases hard to work in at all, YMMV.

Depends if you get a tower or one of their smaller form factors.  I never have trouble with their towers either, though.

[Sheepherder]

EVGA reccomends 24A @ 12v for a single card system (meaning double that is SLI capable with headroom).  CWT made the linked Corsair, and may or may not be a good brand / OEM currently.

$75 Seagate 620w (48A @ 12v)

Seagate's other shit.

[Ashamanchill]

Hey guys, just a quick question. My brother works in a computer warehouse and he got me a good deal on a quad core. He also got me a hard drive, and a (illegitimate) copy of windows 7. The thing is, I more or less want to use my old hard drive, with all my things on it, and it being arranged how I like it and what not. I asked him if I could just move my hard drive over and use it on the new computer, and he basically said no.

Is what I am asking to do feasible? If so, how? Or is he right?

[Nightblade]

Hey guys, just a quick question. My brother works in a computer warehouse and he got me a good deal on a quad core. He also got me a hard drive, and a (illegitimate) copy of windows 7. The thing is, I more or less want to use my old hard drive, with all my things on it, and it being arranged how I like it and what not. I asked him if I could just move my hard drive over and use it on the new computer, and he basically said no.

Is what I am asking to do feasible? If so, how? Or is he right?

If you're going to be using a new motherboard, I would say no.

[Trippy]

Hey guys, just a quick question. My brother works in a computer warehouse and he got me a good deal on a quad core. He also got me a hard drive, and a (illegitimate) copy of windows 7. The thing is, I more or less want to use my old hard drive, with all my things on it, and it being arranged how I like it and what not. I asked him if I could just move my hard drive over and use it on the new computer, and he basically said no.

Is what I am asking to do feasible? If so, how? Or is he right?

The two issues you'll have is Windows activation and whether or not you'll even be able to boot off the drive into Windows given the lack of drivers for the new motherboard. If you can get it to boot and it's a legit non-OEM copy of Windows and you still have the key you should be able to get whoever you talk to to give you the activation code to let you activate it on your new hardware.

[Lantyssa]

You can use it as storage, but making it a boot drive without reinstalling has been a pain since the days of XP due to MS OS's not wanting to load if the motherboard changes.  And simply for stability and performance, I'd recommend a fresh install anyways.