Help with a new build (windows based) PC

Hi

Am looking for help on a new build PC to work out a couple of questions;
1 - How much do I need to have as a power supply (with the possibilty of adding another SATA hard drive some point in the future or a low to moderate end GFX card)
2 - Can this set up accept (and use) DDR3 @ 1600 or is DDR3 @ 1333 the max?
3 - Any configuration issues you might see?

Note a screen is not listed here as I have not decided yet what to go for - family member I am building it for wants appx 19�, I say go for appx 22-24� and get a nice big 1920*1080 desktop

OS � Windows 7 home, 64bit

AMD Athlon II X4 640 Socket AM3 3GHz 2MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
Asrock 890GM Pro3 Socket AM3 DVI VGA HDMI Out 8 Channel Audio MATX Motherboard

EXTRA VALUE 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Memory Kit 1.5V CL9
Or
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 XMS3 i5 Memory Kit CL9(9-9-9-24) 1.65V - is the i5 a clue that it wont work?!?

Western Digital WD5000AADS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 32MB Cache - OEM Caviar Green
Samsung SH-S223L 22x DVD±RW DL & RAM with LightScribe SATA Optical Drive - OEM Black

Keyboard, mouse and some sata cables � forgot all these last time I built a PC for another family member !!!!

As an example, for power - if its enough, was thinking this as got one for last build - different setup tho
Coolermaster Elite 330 Case With Coolermaster Elite 460W PSU
or is it worth a few more quid for this?
Coolermaster Elite 310 Case with Side Window and Coolermaster Elite 500W PSU

Overclocking will not be an issues, just want to get best bang for buck

Thx

I Wouldn't go for the Caviar Green drives, I had 2 2TB varients and they failed within 6 weeks, 1st one failed within 12 hours

i have a couple of greens (not as big as yours - ooeer) seem to run fine but lets just say then any 500g-1t size drive in that setup, are you able to assist with the questions?
thx

I dont see any issues with that setup really.
That motherboard says it can accept upto 1800mhz ddr3 so 1600mhz wont be a problem.

Like the first reply posted i've never liked green drives from any brand there slower for what? to save like 1watt of power.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Caviar-SATAI...

blue edition drive for hardly anymore money. See if its on ebuyer.

PSU wise any of them will easily be fine for that setup how it is now. But maybe go with the case with the higher wattage psu to make it more future proof. Incase you upgrade it to a quad or 6 core phenom cpu with a moderate g card in the future. That would take its power usage up alot etc.

Blackmesa8

Thanks for the reply - i had seen the mobo would take up to 1800 for the memory but i thought (i may be wrong here!!!) i seen a posting somewhere that said the cpu would only use 1333 speed? so didnt want to cause any incompatibilities or waste money on the faster memory.

as for the drive - the blue is actually 2 quid cheaper on ebuyer - but is there much of a difference in performance for a single drive PC for a cache of 16mb (blue) as opposed to 32mb (green)
the reason i picked green was actually for the "silent" operation as opposed to any power eco issues - but if you have experience for both and know if there is no noise difference or performance betwen them that would be handy?
thx

I did not notice the green edition had a 32mb cache. Not sure if it would be faster or slower. I do own a 16mb cache blue edition and it makes a quiet humming sound constantly. But you cant hear it load at all which makes it the most quiet harddrive i have ever owned for when its loading stuff.

As for the cpu you may be right. I just looked it up.
"X3 and X4 - Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2-8500 (DDR2-1066MHz) -AND- PC3 10600 (DDR3-1333MHz)"

That cpu you chose might well have a 1333mhz limit and it makes sense when i think about it cause the memory controller will be built into the cpu.

I dont think it will really matter with performance tho. I upgraded from 800mhz ddr2 ram to 1066mhz ddr2 ram once and noticed basicly no performance increase at all.
I dont think 1333mhz to 1600mhz is gonna make a huge performance differance unless you have a high end i7 or something,.

Does that mobo really give you anything over an Asus M488T-M for £25 less?
Samsung F3 is one of the fastest, quietest drives on the market and well worth considering.
Coolermaster case with 460W PSU is very nice indeed (I've done 2 builds with this) and 460W is more than enough to power this proposed build even with 2 HDDs.
Finally you'll not notice the real world difference between 1333MHz and 1600MHz RAM so go with 1333MHz. RAM is one area ebuyer is not competitive on price, get this 4GB Kingston RAM from Amazon rather than no-name Extra Value.

I dont agree that samsung F3's are one of the quietest drives on the market. I have two of them one is a main OS drive yes there silent when idle. But when you really ramp them hard. Say install a game or extract a huge winrar archive they can start to make quite a loud loading noise louder than alot of other drives i have owned including western digital blue editions. But yeh the Samsung F3 range are def incredibly fast and reliable drives i love my two. Two of the best drives i've ever owned.

memory, to make sure i get it all at once i think i will have to go with ebuyer - on a timescale for this now, but thanks for the heads up regards amazon, ill keep in mind for future use
drive - im still debating on getting an F3 or a WD blue or green - all seem appx same price its just i need to make the best choice for performance and still quiet
case - when i last looked the one with the extra 40w was about 2 quid more so i might go for that to allow a bit of room if i need to get them a dedicated medium range GFX card or a 2nd drive (or both!)

mobo tho.......not sure now what to do, i had seen on ebuyer that one or one similar but not sure.....
right now the main difference is the cheaper mobo has an HD4250 gfx card
the dearer one has a HD4290 but also with dedicated 128mb onboard

so is the gfx card+on board memory worth an extra 25 notes? i honestly dont know?


edit.
forgot to say - is value ram not all kingston anyway just might be different name on the stick?
this part might be total [cough] that i picked up from somewhere!!!
and thanks for your suggestions - i think i used your suggestions to build the last PC i made a few months ago for another family member

Edited by deleted (Tue 28-Dec-10 05:52:24)

i think i will just stick with the 1333 memory
like you say 1333 to 1600 will probably be no real difference so just stick with what i know will work
as for the drive i will still need to think about it, not sure what to do, want to get best erformance but still stay quiet - so will have to have a wee think

thx for your help tho

Unless you're gaming I don't think the extra £25 is worth spending on that ASRock mobo so save some cash there.
As for the PSU, looking here http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite... with the Athlon X4, 2HDDs, 3 USB devices (may be more than you're thinking of) and a HD4670 graphics card included it still reckons a 300W PSU will be enough to power all that.

nice link - thx v much
i even put in a 8800gtx card for them to get an idea - still way below the 460w on that one picked, plus it might give me an excuse to upgrade my gfx card if i give mine away

I found the results to be a little under real world figures, it also depends on the 12volt rail(how many amps) some psu's have more than 1 12v rail i currently use a tagan 580watt modular psu, and currently have a nvidia 7800gt gpu, but if i needed /wanted to upgrade to a 9800gt or later card of the same specs i would probably have to also invest in a bigger psu, although my current psu may run it,it would seriously reduce it's life span ,and should the psu ever blow or it's output be under the required voltage (under voltage) it could cause damage to other components in the pc or connected to it via usb, rule of thumb always use a psu that is more than capable of powering what you need it to do, also go for a brand that is a reputable one that offers a long warranty

When thinking of a PSU, keep in mind any future changes, additions and long-term usage. Add another 10-20% of calculated wattage.

My system comes out at around 450w so I made sure I got a PSU with at least 550W. Ended up with a 700w one. Handy if adding a second gfx card (in my case) or a couple of HDDs down the line.

I had an EVGA 8800 Ultra spare a few months ago. Fleck knows where it went to. Need to sort out the cupboards and boxes in the new year.

Used to use an 850w PSU - now use a 1kw one. It's always better to get larger than you need, after all, you are always going to upgrade.

or a WD blue or green

Black is better. Faster, Longer warranty. The slowest thing in your PC so get the best !

Just have it wired straight to the main generator, obviously making sure that your PC has any and ALL preferences over silly wee things like, you know, hospitals and stuff.

Well, you might be getting a hard time on one of the Boss levels in >[Enter Game Name HERE]< and there is nothing worse than THAT!!

Nuclear-Powered PCs - it's the only way round it that's acceptable - For me anyway.

In reply to a post by The_Jimster:

drive - im still debating on getting an F3 or a WD blue or green - all seem appx same price its just i need to make the best choice for performance and still quiet

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storage/2009/10/06/...

Look at LGs 23" LED screen. Full HD good qual and good value.

below is what i went for......
cables and OS also on order, left out of below details

AMD Athlon II X4 640
Western Digital WD5000AADS 500GB
Samsung SH-S223L 22x DVD±RW DL & RAM
Coolermaster Elite 330 Case With Coolermaster Elite 460W PSU
Corsair 2GB DDR3 1333MHz x2 units
Asus M4A88T-M 880G Socket AM3
BenQ G2220HD 22" TFT Monitor 1920x1080

none of the above is top of the range but its more than enough for the family member built for - plus room to add in a couple of memory sticks in the future or a cheap PCIe gfx card and the PSU should handle that - if i even do add in stuff like that, which to be honest i can see that PC running for years with no changes made.....

thanks very much to all who helped
james

Looks like a neat build
The Asus mobo comes with 2 SATA cables so if you've ordered them as well at least you'll have a couple of spares

cool, didnt realise so yes, 2 spare cables for me

nice build giving me food for thought, my laptop is now deceased due to an accident with milk and rice krispies So had to resurrect my ancient Athlon XP3000 and NV6800 AGP gfx Need something better faster quieter !

you lucky, the ratings are hideous on newegg for all large capacity green models. I was almost tempted but decided against it. Obviously I dont just check one src, in datacentre usage I have also seen bad failure rates.

500 watt is plenty assuming you not going to buy a monster gfx setup.

psu's get less efficient as well as less reliable the closer they run to rated wattage, so even tho you could get away with 400 watt, should stick to 500watt+.