Homebuilt PC Page 2

Started by Circuit September 25th, 2010 2:44 PM
  • 2202 views
  • 37 replies

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
There's no reason to get something as expensive as a GTX 470. Unless you spend more time gaming than you do anything else, it's a huge waste of money.
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me

Archer

NSW, Australia
Seen January 26th, 2020
Posted January 5th, 2020
3,956 posts
16.6 Years
And im not so sure about this but you might want to get a psu that is SLI certified instead of Crossfire certified. SLI and Crossfire are both for video card which lets you connect 2+ video cards of the same type and run them at the same time through one monitor. Basicly if you run dual Fermi's in SLI you will get twice the preformance compared to running a single Fermi. But Crossfire is for ATI while SLI is for nividia. It won't make a diffrence for using just one card but if you ever decide to run SLI it would be better if the psu was certified for SLI use.

But generally speaking you don't want a psu that looks stylish. You want a psu that is reliable. Although it might be a good psu i would recommend getting a psu that has 200+ reviews.

In this case i would recommend this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=17-139-005&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=3&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29&Page=1

Before i forget what do you plan to construct the case out of and what do you plan on making it look like?
Sorry to be blunt, but you're totally wrong. You don't need an SLI certified PSU. That basically means that they've paid off Nvidia for a extra feature-point. Aside from the fact that the OP is 1. not going to need an SLI setup if they're going with a 470 and 2. not going to be able to run SLI 470s off a 650W as it is, they don't need SLI certification to run an SLI setup. Especially if the PSU is still certified for Crossfire, then a SLI certification means sweet FA. That said, you're quite right in saying that's a great PSU (the Corsair). It's not perfect (fluctuation under really high load, but that's why we've got the wattage headroom in the first place), but it's definitely good enough.

The others are right, though. A 470 might be overkill. I spend quite a lot of time on my computer and I use a single 5770, which is probably 60% of power 470. That said, I'd quite like the power of a 470, as it would allow me that extra juice to up the settings at 1920x1080.

You guys need to remember that he's gaming on a full HD monitor, so it will require a lot more power than running at 1440x900. This card will also last a lot longer than a slower card, so it may even out in the long run. If you can afford it, I'd say go for it. Alternatively, if you want to draw out the cost a little more, you could go with a cheap, EOL card, such as the 9800GTX+ until such time as you feel the need to upgrade, although you could probably shave part of the difference off other things first. (PSU, Mobo, Screen)

Before you finalise things, have you considered mouse and keyboard? They make a hell of a difference in the end experience and I'm willing to bet that you could do better than what you have in that department.

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
About the power supply, it might be prudent to get something 80+ certified. Also, modular might be easier to install, but it's ever so slightly less efficient than non-modular, so choose whichever suits your needs.
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me

Archer

NSW, Australia
Seen January 26th, 2020
Posted January 5th, 2020
3,956 posts
16.6 Years
About the power supply, it might be prudent to get something 80+ certified. Also, modular might be easier to install, but it's ever so slightly less efficient than non-modular, so choose whichever suits your needs.
80+ is a given, yeah. I'd be concerned about using anything that wasn't already, in a system like that.
As for the second point, non-modular is not always better off - the TX650Ws, which someone mentioned, have different guts to their HX650W modular counterparts, where the modular version has a much more stable supply and slightly higher efficiency. Given the microscopically higher case temps from extra cabling, the efficiency benefit you mentioned is pretty much negligible, anyway.

If he wants to pay the extra for modular, go for it. It's not a lot of money at the end of the day - but it depends on how much the OP will be opening the case and whether a window will be present.

Circuit

Wiring your Circuits

Age 27
Male
Berlin
Seen January 6th, 2021
Posted July 29th, 2020
4,815 posts
15.2 Years
Well, how about this Power Supply? 80+ Certified, Modular;
OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Also, this is the Keyboard and Mouse:
Keyboard:
Saitek PZ30AUR 104 Normal Keys 4 Function Keys USB Wired Standard Eclipse Red Backlit Keyboard $49.99
Mouse:
Kensington SlimBlade USB TrackBall Mouse $129.99

What do you think of those? I do like a trackball mouse, and this seemed pretty good. The Keyboard looks both stylish and comfortable, but I'm not sure how good it is.

AaronOnPokemon

"So the story continues!"

Age 29
Male
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Seen April 17th, 2011
Posted October 9th, 2010
72 posts
13.7 Years
When I made my PC I got an old PC and built it up slowly. Before I had a low speck computer and then upgrading it starting with the RAM.

That is what I did because I didn't have a lot of money behind my belt. But if you do you should look at pre-made ones on sites. There are loads that meat you specification and you can sometimes make then custom for you.

Archer

NSW, Australia
Seen January 26th, 2020
Posted January 5th, 2020
3,956 posts
16.6 Years
Well, how about this Power Supply? 80+ Certified, Modular;
OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Also, this is the Keyboard and Mouse:
Keyboard:
Saitek PZ30AUR 104 Normal Keys 4 Function Keys USB Wired Standard Eclipse Red Backlit Keyboard $49.99
Mouse:
Kensington SlimBlade USB TrackBall Mouse $129.99

What do you think of those? I do like a trackball mouse, and this seemed pretty good. The Keyboard looks both stylish and comfortable, but I'm not sure how good it is.
You're not using that PSU with a 470. Not enough guts. Don't do it.
The Ecplises are great keyboards, but I really don't like the idea of that trackball. Just get a damn mouse, lol. If you want to get really tricky, use an Apple Magic Trackpad.

Poster above: RAM is not the best thing to upgrade. It's easy to do so people assume it will make everything faster - only if you use that much. Custom builds are arguably better than pre-built ASSUMING you know how to build it properly.

Circuit

Wiring your Circuits

Age 27
Male
Berlin
Seen January 6th, 2021
Posted July 29th, 2020
4,815 posts
15.2 Years
I forgot to look at the Rating >.<
I've chosen this one, because it delivers 650W instead of 550W.
Power Supply:
Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

How good is that one? Or should I go for a 750W? I was also thinking of a water cooled PC, or is that over doing it?

Archer

NSW, Australia
Seen January 26th, 2020
Posted January 5th, 2020
3,956 posts
16.6 Years
I forgot to look at the Rating >.<
I've chosen this one, because it delivers 650W instead of 550W.
Power Supply:
Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

How good is that one? Or should I go for a 750W? I was also thinking of a water cooled PC, or is that over doing it?
I think you should leave water cooling 'till a little further in your life. How far do you intend on overclocking it? And yeah, that PSU will be fine.

Circuit

Wiring your Circuits

Age 27
Male
Berlin
Seen January 6th, 2021
Posted July 29th, 2020
4,815 posts
15.2 Years
Haven't been on since then, but anyway, here I am.
I think I will leave water cooling 'till later, you're right.
What do you mean by 'overclocking it' though?

The 100 Mega Shock

Male
Seen March 10th, 2013
Posted March 23rd, 2012
1,234 posts
12.7 Years
Overclocking is the process of pushing components (usually the CPU, graphics card and occasionally RAM) to run at higher clock speed than they were originally set at.

Within reasonable limits (ie don't turn everything up to 11 unless you like the smell of burning silicon and loud bangs) this can provide a performance boost at the cost of increased heat generation (to the point where stock coolers won't cut it), power consumption (making good-quality PSUs more important) and slightly diminishd life expetancy, although many modern CPUs and graphics are designed to be overclocked by the enthusiast user, some being able to get cranked higher than others.

Archer

NSW, Australia
Seen January 26th, 2020
Posted January 5th, 2020
3,956 posts
16.6 Years
Haven't been on since then, but anyway, here I am.
I think I will leave water cooling 'till later, you're right.
What do you mean by 'overclocking it' though?
It was a nice way of saying that you don't need water cooling if you don't know what overclocking is, let alone intend to do it.

The only reason for you to go with a non-stock form of cooling would be for noise reduction, but installing an after-market heatsink is easy to screw up and not worth the hassle with Intel's coolers. AMD's coolers are a little noisy on hotter CPUs, but that's irrelevant.

So, how's the progress with this build?