The (new) Official PC building thread!

@sam
Which review for which P/S?..
The last reviews I read showed the Internal components of the P/S...running cooler in the PCP&C then even the Corsair...they said the Corsairs fan design created a Quieter P/S...but PCP&C air flow design was more efficient at removing heat...
Corsairs fan speed increased in a more gradual slower curve...PCP&C in a quicker more steep curve...

 

The temp rise for the Corsair is 13C at maximum, which isn't bad. At full load it's only 11C due to the higher fan speed. You really can't complain about temps like those.

 

The Corsairs & the PCP&C P/S both run Cool...they were both with-in like 2-3 degrees...The main reason the Corsair & PCP&C P/S are so Cool...is they are both so efficient at converting power...

The PCP&C units can fit Taller & Bigger Heat Sinks because they do not have the bottom mounted 120mm fan...hence their components are Cooler...but with the sacrifice of a little sound...

I consider the 2 P/S basically equal...which ever one is cheaper at the time...or which ever ones fan configuration is more overall beneficial to the Cooling of the particular build...is the one I am going for right now...

 

As far as keeping the system running cool goes, I vote for the large bottom fan approach. It works very well for me in my current setup.

 

Sometimes the Bottom Fan can Interfere with the airflow of the CPU Cooler if its placed to close to the P/S Fan...Hence...I'll take into consideration the Case Design & Fan & Vent Placement...the CPU Cooler Design...Video Card Cooling...as well as the M/B layout when Picking the proper Components for the system...I always start with the Case & M/B...then Pick the rest of the components accordingly...

There are case were the Bottom mount is beneficial...If the P/S is Mounted up top...and there is a Big top mount exhaust...it can interfere with proper air flow to the P/S...by not allowing the back mount P/S fan to pull enough air through the P/S chassis...This will cause the P/S fan to spin at full speed all the time...and be noisier then it should...

 

Thanks for the helo guys. I'll try to get something finalized soon.

EDIT: I could try this too.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=382329

 

what does it mean to have 1,2, or 4 rails? what is this for..

i DL'd the manual for the gigabyte MOBO lastnight. did some reading maybe the firs 48 pages of the 84 page manual.... seems pretty easy if ya take your time and go by the book... the one thing it kept say that tossed me a bit. was to turn the power off before installing this part... why would there be power to it if your doing the intial build? im sure that ment if you allready had it built and was adding new stuff..

 

@Cincy

Intel officially dropped the 240VA standard in spring 2005...and re-instating single 12V rail power supply units as an accepted standard...

PSU manufacturers and there Marketing Department...or the Spin Doctors...took a grim situation...and turned it 180 degrees...and tried to turn "multiple rails" into some marketing Hype about performance...Which in my opinion it is Not...

In Both cases...If you have enough Juice on the Rail...there is No Problem...However...The Multi Rail System buy its mere design...will always be more likely to Not Have the Juice on the Rail when needed...The Muti rail is fine as long as it is engineered properly...and distributed correctly...The Single Rail Concept Eliminates this potential problem...The Single Rail will always have it on the Right Rail...

There is a much longer discussion about P/S's in Loco's Compy Build...Part of it should probably be moved over here as Greenie suggested once...

 

Hi guys,
I built my Phenom PC yesterday, here are a few pix:




Phenom CPU:


Rob, when installing standoffs, thread them in until they just touch, then no more than 1/4 turn tighter:


The quietest PSU I have ever not heard:


Zalmans sure are well finished:


The Gigabyte board with the CPU, heatsink and RAM installed. I do check and make sure I can get the mounting screws installed with the heatsink installed:


I have this long screwdriver that I magnetized. It makes it really easy to get the mount screws installed in the corners.


Larger cases are great for cable management. This small mid-tower Silversone is a real challenge:


About 4 hours hours to build, not counting the 45 minutes it took me to figure out the stupid floppy mount:


Loading Windows:


I ran 3DMark06 and got a 5430 score. About the same as what I get with the E6750 and the same video card.


I'm still waiting for the 3870 video cards. I borrowed a 1950Pro to finish the build.
I really like how quiet this PC is. It's the quietest one I've built so far.
I dislike this case and do not recommend them. It has a few good points but not enough to recommend it.
Things I don't like...
No BIOS beep speaker.
Rivets that interfere with PCI card installation.
Poor instructions.
Cheap plastic front panel cover for the ports.

Other than that I really enjoyed this build and have a nice quiet PC as a result. Building an AMD for the first time, I liked the ZIF mechanism for the cpu and the way the heatsink attached.
This is my seventh build and so far not one single bad part or failure to start on the first attempt. I think it's because I'm very careful with the parts, take steps to avoid static, and double check all connections before applying power.

Cheers!

 

wow...good job on the built. Looks awesome. The fact that it's quiet makes it all the better.


So I'm trying to finalize this pc I'm going to build. Still have about a week and a half before I buy the parts and put it together, but I'd
like to have everything figured out by then.

motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050

cpu:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115031

hdd:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144417

memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145015

case w/ ps:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024&Tpk=ANTEC+Sonata+III

odd:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151153

graphics:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150185
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130085

I just want to make sure all these parts will work well together and are good choices. I'm not sure which graphics card I will get, but I'm hoping to put the 8600gt on it. But will my cpu choice makes the 8600gt useless (i.e. do I need to upgrade the cpu too)? I'm looking at a max budget of 600-700, so I can't upgrade too much. I'll be using xp pro on the system and will get a nice monitor later.

 

Wow, nice pics fasfrank. that heatsink you got looks like a monster, how tall is that sucker? It almost looks like it would be touching your side window!

Thanks for the reply Sam. I should have been more specific about what I plan on using it for, because I actually do a decent amount of video editing. Although I'm editing at small resolutions for the web, not HD video or anything like that. But overkill is fine with me I think I'm gonna stick with that CPU. But does this mean I HAVE to go 64-bit now that I will have 4 cores? I have always been a little reluctant to make the jump from 32.

Are there any ASUS motherboards that are comparable to the Gigabyte one you linked me to? I never know what the small differences are between the models and really don't want to screw it up. I am more comfortable with ASUS because I have used them many times before, and actually do know a little about their specific technologies. For example, somebody told me to only get a -E model board from ASUS now because they have better power components.

I'm not exactly looking for the best value here, I am willing to spend a little $ now to save some headaches later. I just want a solid board, a lot of USB connections, no SLI or crazy video card stuff, DDR2 and 3, ATX, maybe Wi-Fi.

And that case was pretty good I actually found some other ones that look similar that I like a little more. Thanks for the link. Oh and are cases like Silverstones and Lian Li's really worth the hundreds $ more?

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it.

 

It has about 2 inches of clearance from the side. That is a tight case though. I wish I'd gotten a Cosmos!

Itan, That Sonata case is one of my favorites. It's easy to work with and makes for a quick build. If you leave the top bay empty you can stuff all your excess cabling above your optical drive. The biggest fault with the Sonata are the stupid rubber feet. Get some double sided tape, like they use to put automotive trim on with and you can make them stick. The first time I slid the case a bit three of the feet fell off.
I really wish you could install an E6750 cpu.
As far as video cards go, I'd go with the DX10 8600 GT..

From Toms Hardware http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/11/06/best_graphics_card/

Staying within a budget is not easy. For example, do you have an OS to use? Heat sink thermal compound? The stock Intel heatsink is OK to do a minor overclock... with the correct application of AS Ceramique' or other good quality compounds.
I was able OC an E6750 to roughly 3.1 Ghz, staying below 55C at 100% load.

 

After reading around some more, I came across an article talking about the new Intel chipset X38. The article was an early review of motherboards and said it could not give too many conclusions because there were only a few mobos that met their deadline.

Does anybody know the advantages or disadvantages of the X38 chipset vs the P35? I was about to purchase a P35 board.

Thanks for the help.

 

@fasfrank i love the way you put the box and components together...it looks really...really...Good...
Well dont you think 8600GT will bottle neck your System?...that mother board is has 790FX chip...so why dont you buy a HD3800 series card...

 

what res do you game at, caus an 8600GT, IMO is poor. if you are going o seond wuite a bit of money on a system, and you game, then why skimp on the GPU.

IMO for a minimum GFX card that anyone should go for ATM, is the HS3850 (£105), or even the x1950pro(£75)

 

@Abuzar1
If you want I can send you a couple of those Ultra's...A buddy of mine has a plenty of Dead Ones lying around..

Nice build Frank...let us know how it turns out...interested in how the Phenom is stacking up against the Intel's...

 

Hi GTR,
I was just commenting on Itan's post. I've got a pair of 3870s on the way. I've got a Radeon 1950Pro card installed until they show up.
I've been overclocking a bit and running 3DMark06 benchmarks. I'm getting about what I got with a E6700 and the same 1950 Pro video card. I need to run some CPU benchmarks of some sort to do a realastic comparison though.

 

@jtan189
I do not see any compatibility problems with your build...the only suggestion's I would make is going up to PC-6400 memory if you can swing it...Crucial or Corsair cas4...4-4-4-12 timing...and an aftermarket Cooler...Cooler Master has a Good One that is available for $2 after rebate...
COOLER MASTER Hyper TX - Universal RR-CCH-L9U1-GP CPU Cooler Retail $22 with $20 rebate $2 after rebate...a hard to beat deal...
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10005600&ps=homain2

 

Good eye on that $2 coolermaster LP531!
I currently use one, and at that price, I had to buy one for my next build. It'll fit either AMD or Intel so whichever new CPU is the sweet spot (money-power combo) I should be ready.

 

@Deadrum
You can also get it at SVC.com for $9.99...No rebate...which is still a good deal...

The Best way to shop at SVC is...look through-out the store...buy as many Item as you can...they do the best job I have ever seen in combining the shipping...and it can save you a bunch...they always have some insane deals...and to top it off...the best customer service of any store I have ever dealt with...way better then Newegg...Zipzoomfly...etc...