Proposed first builld

[AnxiousBuilder]

This has been built and it works like a dream (I don't even have a reason to overclock the CPU yet). The only problem in hindsight is that the MSI P67 gd 65 (which I got) has only one USB header so you probably won't be able to connect all you front panel USBs up. Nevertheless it runs brilliantly and the only upgrade in the near future for me will be buying an SSD when I have more money. Thanks to everyone who helped.

This is my first computer build so I am a bit unsure about whether all of the parts that I have researched are recommended or whether you have any suggestions for improvement etc. My budget is around £600 £750 due to improved PSU and a new hard drive and I really don't want to go over that unless it would save me a lot of money in the long term.

The parts that I plan to use are:

Mobo - MSI P67

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-p67a-gd65-(b3)-intel-p67-s-1155-pcie-20-(x16)-ddr3-2133-sata-6gb-s-sata-raid-atx

CPU - Intel Core i5 2500k

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/inte...ad-core-33ghz-gpu-850mhz-6mb-cache-95w-retail

GPU - Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 ti

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...gpu-900mhz-shader-1800mhz-384-cores-dvi-mhdmi

RAM - 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black (2x4 GB)

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(2x4gb)-corsair-ddr3-vengeance-jet-black-pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-cas-9-9-9-24-xmp-150v

Case - Thermaltake V3 Black Mid tower

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/ther...wer-case-with-transparent-side-window-w-o-psu

Changed to a Zalman Z9 Plus

PSU - Corsair builder series 500 watt

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w...ilder-series-80-eff-120mm-fan-single-rail-atx

Now planning to use a Corsair TX850

HDD - (taken from current PC, may require upgrade) Samsung Spinpoint T166 (HD321kj)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-HD321KJ-320GB-Internal-7200RPM/dp/B000WGMZMS

Decided to get a new hard disk now, the 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12

I will probably have an extra fan from my current PC and also a DVD drive from it.

I am going to use this for gaming so if any of you have value-for-money suggestions on how to improve it for that purpose it would be gratefully received. My key queries for this build are whether the power supply wattage is correct, whether the cooling will need to be advanced and whether my HDD needs an upgrade.

Thanks for reading, please help me out,

AnxiousBuilder

 

[-warheart-]

you could get a gd 53 to save some money +4 gbs of ram is enough for gaming

-->get a cpu cooler

 

[alienware]

Hmm. Corsair 500w BS (lol what I call them now) is not adequate IMO.

I have a 430w and it's kinda, well, crap.

A 500w psu would be enough, but only a good high current model.

It only has a 34 amp single rail which is kinda weedy.

TBH mate I would avoid anything less than their TX model. The lower end units are not even in the same field, let alone ball park. You want 40 amps +.

Also, the CX500 rev1 isn't 80+. Meaning it can not remain efficient over 80% and believe me, with what you had it mind would happen often.

550=600w, herculean rail. Sorted.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/550w-enermax-naxn-enp550awt-83-efficiency-silent-cooling-fan

38 amps across two rails and 80+. That would be about the absolute minimum I would use.

The key of course is efficiency. Basically what it means is that the PSU can deliver efficient cool power at 80+ (so let's say, 82%). That's a bronze rating. Silver is 85% plus, gold is high 80s into the 90s IIRC.

When the PSU goes above 80% it gets hot. That heat is waste heat, caused by wasted power. Meaning you're basically burning power that is doing nothing but being converted into waste heat.

In my honest opinion (infact no, it's just fact) you need to spend about £100 on a PSU for a system like that. Smooth, quality, efficient power. TX HX is fine, Enermax Modu II is fine, Like this -

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/525w...i-modular-80-plus-bronze-88-eff-sli-crossfire

75 amps on the rails, 80+ bronze and can deliver over 88% efficiency.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/800w...ff-sli-eps-12v-140mm-fan-blue-led-65a-plus12v

Is the bare minimum I would go for corsair wise. Very good single rail ampage, 80+ and a reasonable price

 

[AnxiousBuilder]

Thanks for the tips.

Would I have any performance loss through using a gd53 over the gd 65 I first planned or would the £25 saved be worth it? TBH I wouldn't want to spend £20 less and be limited later on from it.

For the PSU, I know very little about it but wouldn't 600-700 W be overkill? Do PSUs with only one rail have more amperes in that rail than an equally powerful (watts) PSU with 3 rails? Would it be better to get one with a single rail if that assumption is correct?

Could you also advise me whether a modular PSU is recommended or not? If it helps I don't plan to OC at the moment.

Thanks again,

AnxiousBuilder

EDIT: Is a CPU cooler necessary and if so could you recommend me one?

 

[AdrianD2]

I think it is completely necessary for you to switch that case, a mate of mine used it for one of his builds, it's one of the most flimsy piece of garbage ever... I had a hard time building in that case...

 

[AnxiousBuilder]

Adrian, I have searched more about the case and have found that some people have had cable management issues with it.

Would a Coolermaster Elite 430 be a suitable replacement?

 

[alienware]

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/zalman-z9-plus-black-mid-tower-case-w-o-psu

That's the case taken care of. Uber case for the money and some luxuries atop it to boot

Ah cack, OOS...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-Z9/dp/B004FPS9PO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1312212320&sr=8-2

Or I think OCUK sell them.

Aye, they do

http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-ZA

Ed.. Cooler.. Dude, if youre not planning to overclock then no point in getting a better cooler. Thing is, if youre never planning to overclock then theres no point getting a K series.

 

[AnxiousBuilder]

That case is a great find. Thanks for your help but I still don't really know what to do about the PSU. Is there a certain number of amps that I need to run my CPU and graphics card and if so how can I find that?

Would the Antec HCG 620 be a good supply?

It has 48A running through the 12v rail.

One question I need to ask though is if you NEED to have other voltage rails for different parts when you are installing the smaller items such as DVD drives. A lot of guides I have read often speak about the 3.5V lines and -5V rails and other permutations (I understand that a computer needs direct current but not why it has negative voltages). Would this power supply not have various cables and would running 12V through everything be fine?

 

[SPS]

All power supplies come with the other rails, it's just that consumers are more concerned about the 12v rails rather than the others, so more information is usually provided on them.

1. +3.3v - This is the rail that powers your south bridge processor (e.g. the ICH9 class chips on the new P35 Intel boards) and some of the newer on board chips that come with modern motherboards. Each chip on your motherboard (except the main CPU) gets +3.3 volts.
2. +5v - This rail powers your USB ports and devices connected to them (including devices which are powered by a usb connection). This includes everything from peripheral devices (mouse, keyboard, web cam) to storage devices (flash/thumb drives, external hard drives, digital cameras, etc.). The more amps available on this rail, the more devices you can connect to it. So if you plug in a USB keyboard to your machine and it doesn't work, chances are, this rail doesn't carry enough amperage to run it. This rail also powers your RAM chips, as each stick needs +5v to run.
3. +12v - This is the main rail on your PSU. It powers everything else in your computer. This includes your main processor, it's fan, your case fans, hard drives, optical drives (i.e. DVD/CD±RW), add-on cards, your PCI-Express lanes, the GPU, your sound card.... everything else. Your PSU may have one or more +12v rails. All molex (4 pin) connectors run from the 12v rail. We'll talk about the significance of this in just a bit.
4. -12v & -5v - These rails exist to support legacy devices, like floppy disk drives and ISA cards. Therefore, you'll notice that there's minimum amperage delivered to these rails. You can safely ignore these rails if you're running a fairly recent rig.

Source - 2007

 

[AnxiousBuilder]

Great information, thank you.

I feel fairly confident with all the parts apart from the PSU. Is the Antec HCG 620 a good supply for the specified rig?

 

[kilobravo]

Corsair tx750 v2 or better.Seasonic,enermax is also good brands for psu,but i would prefer corsair psu.

 

[alienware]

Antec (as much as I hate to admit it) apparently make a very good psu.

Corsair make a good PSU at the top of their range. Their lower end ones leave a lot to be desired, and are being sold under the brand to bring people in. In a way it's a shame, because before this ghastly CX range Corsair's power supplies were all incredible.

Enermax PSUs are the best on the market atm, but they're also the most expensive in their class. For example, a good 650w Enermax will cost you a lot more than a HX 650 or the equivalent good corsair.

When it comes to amps no one has any idea how many you need. Manus don't specify the amp draw of their components, so we can only really go by the wiring on a PSU. IIRC PC cables can carry about 16 amps per single wire on a good psu.

But amps are the part you count on when the power is being drawn. I read a review of my Enermax recently and they were saying that my Enermax (625w Modu) drew less power with the same components on it than a 850w BFG two years ago. Mine drew something like 650w* and the BFG drew 720w.

It's the efficiency that's done this. Basically the more efficient and cool a power supply can run the less you waste in heat. As things get hot it takes power to make it hot. 80+ basically means that a PSU can remain efficient with over 80% of its power being drawn. And it will remain within a certain temperature range also. But a good psu such as a Corsair or Enermax can live its life putting out far more than is stated on the side of it due to the components and quality of.

It's kinda like household goods. A microwave for example is rated on wattage. So are vacuum cleaners. However, a microwave oven pulls far more ampage.

Just get a good one mate. Look for as many rail amps (or combined rail amps) per watt. So let's say you need a 550w psu. Find the best one you can within your price bracket with the best ampage.

*as mentioned, even though some psus are rated for a certain wattage they have no problem putting out far more. When I got my 750w fatal1ty psu I read a review where it was under a constant 930w load for a week with no problems. Good psus are under rated

 

[AnxiousBuilder]

I have decided to spend more money on the PSU and will go for a Corsair TX850.

I am probably going to order within the next week so if anyone has any more recommendations they would be greatly appreciated. No one has mentioned the CPU and GPU so I am assuming they are a good choice - please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks again to everyone for helping,

AnxiousBuilder

 

[kilobravo]

Depends on what cpu-cooler you are going to buy.Corsair vengeance rams wont fit under the nh-d14,unless its the LP version.

 

[alienware]

Just wanted to say.. The temp sensor in the case should only really be used for the case. Just find somewhere to hide it for an ambient case temp..

Not insinuating that you're silly, but I have seen people fit them between the CPU and heatsink. It didn't end so well