# Building New PC



## Andy4876

Hi guys. I wasn't sure which of the sections to post this on this forum so I decided this one is quite close.

Anyway, I know it's a lot to ask but I was thinking of building a new PC and I thought I'd ask some advice from you experts before deciding on anything







I havn't put together a whole PC in a long time, mainly just switching odd parts out. So I hope it will be relatively simple.

Here are the parts I have chosen as a starting point (I did it rather quickly, so feel free to correct any noobish mistakes, incompatabilities etc)

Motherboard Â£229
Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME iX58 Socket 1366 Motherboard

Processor Â£205
Intel Core i7-920 Socket 1366 CPU D0 Stepping

Heatsink Â£51
ASUS Triton 81 Multi-socket Quiet CPU Cooler

RAM Â£142
Corsair 6GB Dominator DDR3 PC3-12800 1600Mhz Tri-Channel DDR3 (3x2GB)

Graphics Card Â£251
XFX GeForce GTX 285 XXX 1024MB PCI-E 2.0

Case Â£172
Cooler Master Cosmos S 'Sport' Case

DVD Drive Â£53
Sony BDU-X10S Blu-ray BD-ROM Black SATA Retail

Power Supply Â£184
Corsair 1000 Watt HX Series, ATX, EPS12V, PS/2, Modular Power Supply, UK Version

HD - maybe a solid state one for OS and commonly used programs, though unsure on which yet.

Thanks a lot in advance, I appreciate any help.

Andy.


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## aaronb33

That's a nice build except for two things.

1. Get a better CPU cooler. A Megahalems or a Dark Knight will be better than the one you've picked (and the DK is cheaper too)

2. The PSU is massive overkill. Save a few quid and get a TX650. If you're planning to go SLI in the future, have a look at the TX750 or the HX750 (If you want modular). Even tri-SLI wouldn't need the HX1000.


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## XxG3nexX

I agree your over all build looks great, and as stated above I'd invest in a better hsf. In regards to your psu, it may be "overkill" now but you never know what the future may hold.


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## Andy4876

Great, thanks for the quick feedback guys.

So the second option for my PSU is : http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=29099

Is that the correct one?

As for the cooler, I couldn't see either of the ones you mentioned on the site I am getting the rest of my components from. It is a shop near me so I would prefer to keep everything from one place. Do you see any good options on the following page http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...NQZXJQYWdlPSY=

So everything should fit together okay? The PSU and the CD/Hard drives/motherboard/heatsink/graphics card will all fit together into the case? And all components are compatible with each other?

Thanks a lot again for the help.

Andy.


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## aaronb33

That's the right PSU, pretty good price too actually.

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=34782

That's the best CPU cooler you'll get from that particular shop.

As for stuff fitting together, you're fine.


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## Heavymetal.fan

For the case get a haf 932 or a antec 900.


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## Andy4876

Brill, thanks a lot Aaron, I'll rep if I can









What do you think of solid state drives and can you see any good ones on http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...NQZXJQYWdlPSY=

And yea I like this shop the prices have always been pretty good.

Heavymetalfan : My current case is actually an Antec 900







That would save me a few quid but I've thought about selling this one on ebay or something after I've built my new one.


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## aaronb33

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Heavymetal.fan*


For the case get a haf 932 or a antec 900.


Why? He's already picked out the Cosmos which IMO is better than either of those.


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## aaronb33

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Andy4876*


Brill, thanks a lot Aaron, I'll rep if I can









What do you think of solid state drives and can you see any good ones on http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...NQZXJQYWdlPSY=

And yea I like this shop the prices have always been pretty good.


TBH, i'm no expert on SSDs but I believe the OCZ Vertex series are the best available there.

Edit: sorry, double post


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## venom55520

aaron, he may need more power in the future, it's always good to be on the safe side, plus, tri-sli GTX285's will require that PSU or better.


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## Heavymetal.fan

Quote:



Originally Posted by *aaronb33*


Why? He's already picked out the Cosmos which IMO is better than either of those.


Because he can save some money. The haf is as good as the cosmos in my opinion.


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## aaronb33

Tri-SLI 285s could quite easily run on a good 850. HX1000 should only be considered for quad-SLI or quad fire, anything else, it's just wasted power.

And TBH I think even Dual-SLI 285s would run on the TX650, it'd be squeezing it a bit but it's solid enough I think.

Heavymetalfan - You may be right but the HAF is ugly as sin lol. I've modded mine a ridiculous amount to make it slightly good looking.


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## Andy4876

Is this the one you mean? http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=33726

Also, will this setup be able to overclock pretty well?

Cheers.


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## aaronb33

Yeah that's the HAF. As already posted, it's cheaper and offers similar performance, just depends if you can stand the looks of it lol.

And I think you should get a decent overclock. 4ghz should be achievable but then you'll run into cooling issues. 4ghz is still bloody good though lol.


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## Heavymetal.fan

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Andy4876*


Is this the one you mean? http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=33726

Also, will this setup be able to overclock pretty well?

Cheers.


Yup same case. Also you will be able to overclock pretty well, but even better with water cooling if you have the money and time







.


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## Andy4876

Ah I don't think I'm quite ready for watercooling yet







But 4ghz sounds very perfect to me!!

So how about we compromise on the PSU and I'll get the Corsair 750W TX Series PSU to be safe?

Also, Solid State are 2.5" so will they fit in the 3.5" drive bays okay?


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## aaronb33

They might come with adapters, but if not, you can put them pretty much anywhere, they don't vibrate so you could velcro them to a side panel if you really wanted to.

The TX750 is a solid PSU and will be more than enough should you go SLI, good choice.


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## Andy4876

Okay cool thanks.

Would I require any extra cables to put it all together? The Hard Drives won't come with SATA cables I doubt will they?

Also, this is the setup I currently have, it's been well used but in good condition http://www.aria.co.uk/VendorStores/G...roductId=32514

Any idea what this could fetch on eBay?

Andy.


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## aaronb33

Possibly Â£600 if you're lucky. Start it at Â£450 and hope for the best. Â£450 is a fair price I'd say.

Your motherboard will come with a few (usually about 4) SATA cables in the box.


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## Andy4876

Great cheers, Â£450 sounds good to me. Just rang the company and they aren't getting stock of the graphics card or RAM till later this week







So guess I'll have to wait till then. Unless anybody has any better suggestions for those 2 parts?









Andy.


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## Andy4876

Never mind I just ordered all the parts that were in stock and I'll build it tomorrow and add the graphics card and RAM in when they get them in stock. I went for a 60GB Vertex solid state and also a regular 1TB.

Any suggestions for a good mouse/keyboard? I HATE the Logitech G15 before anyone suggests that









Thanks for all your help with choosing what to get. I hope you will help me troubleshoot when it ends up not turning on after I've put it all together









Andy.


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## Jus'Chillin'

I'd only add that as much as ppl talk about overkill with PSU's, there is often much better design build and quality with the larger units.
Perfect example was a Corsair 620HX I had for 6 months. What a nightmare!

No-one believed it was the PSU, but constant rewiring with different results showed the ports/rails were damaged.
Once I RMA'd it, they did finally found it was faulty and admitted that there were many Corsair 520 and 620 RMA's (at least in Aust; which is what I saw posted), but almost no 1000watt units.

Aside from that, noise could be a factor. The Corsairs are known for making high pitched noises at load. So, if you have a unit that handles what you through at it easily, it's unlikely to cause any issues.
I chose Enermax as a replacement and it's completely different. The Corsair 1000HX would have been the other choice, but once bitten etc and the Enermax 1050 are great; just not as modular (needed to buy an ATX cable extender).

An unusual example of the difference in build quality is I pushed my vcore right up and it didn't even blue-screen. All I got was a message stating the CPU had reached its voltage limit. I can only put that down to the PSU since that was all that was changed and the voltage regulators were actively saving my system.

Hope that helps.


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## aaronb33

I don't know about the HX series but IIRC, the TX series have internals by Seasonic, which is pretty much as high standard as PSUs get. I've loaded my 650 with 2 4870s and an extreme quad, plus my water cooling system; it never flaked out on me once and the only noise was from the fan ramping up (and even that wasn't too loud). I can speak from experience that the TX series are built amazingly well. I've never used the HX as I've never had the need for modular PSUs (I usually use virtually every power connector).

As for your keyboard and mouse, it really depends on what you're willing to spend, although Razer have something for virtually every budget, so have a look at some Razer products and get whichever takes your fancy.


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## Andy4876

For keyboard and mouse I think I've decided on the following:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Perip...roductId=36786
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Perip...roductId=34435

Just been looking through the motherboard manual in preperation for tomorrow. I'm so nervous that I might break something


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## aaronb33

They look like good choices.

And don't worry about breaking stuff, PC parts are a lot tougher than people give them credit for. Just make sure you're grounded (touch something metal) and don't over tighten anything.


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## Andy4876

lol I just got everything set up with cables all nice and neat so all I had left to do was CPU and heatsink and the first thing in the heatsink instructions says unscrew the motherboard you have to put something on the bottom







GAY


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## Andy4876

Okay guys, I've set up all the parts I've got so far. So I'm just missing the Graphics Card and RAM. The thing is I decided to power it up just to make sure all fans and motherboard were working, and I expected some BIOS beeps to let me know there was no RAM or graphics card.

So I powered on and all lights came on in the case and on the motherboard, fans continously span, the DVD drive would open and close... but I heard no beeps... (motherboard speaker is in)

I then put the graphics card in from this computer and that lit up, so I was just missing RAM, but still no beeps. Is something wrong here? Would a fault with the CPU cause these symptoms?

Hope you can help me out.

Cheers,

Andy.

Edit : Well I just tried it without a CPU and it kept turning on and off so I guess it is recognizing it. Maybe it is just the fact there's no RAM then?


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## Jus'Chillin'

Quote:



Originally Posted by *aaronb33*


I don't know about the HX series but IIRC, the TX series have internals by Seasonic, which is pretty much as high standard as PSUs get. I've loaded my 650 with 2 4870s and an extreme quad, plus my water cooling system; it never flaked out on me once and the only noise was from the fan ramping up (and even that wasn't too loud). I can speak from experience that the TX series are built amazingly well. I've never used the HX as I've never had the need for modular PSUs (I usually use virtually every power connector).


Yeah, same internals I believe. I was referring to the often superior build quality + lower noise/component strain with larger units. Modular may not be what you need, but makes sense for better cable management/airflow in general.

Nonetheless, it's been decided. Hope it goes well for the OP.


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## aaronb33

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Andy4876* 
Okay guys, I've set up all the parts I've got so far. So I'm just missing the Graphics Card and RAM. The thing is I decided to power it up just to make sure all fans and motherboard were working, and I expected some BIOS beeps to let me know there was no RAM or graphics card.

So I powered on and all lights came on in the case and on the motherboard, fans continously span, the DVD drive would open and close... but I heard no beeps... (motherboard speaker is in)

I then put the graphics card in from this computer and that lit up, so I was just missing RAM, but still no beeps. Is something wrong here? Would a fault with the CPU cause these symptoms?

Hope you can help me out.

Cheers,

Andy.

Edit : Well I just tried it without a CPU and it kept turning on and off so I guess it is recognizing it. Maybe it is just the fact there's no RAM then?

usually if there's no beeps, it means there's no CPU in the board. I'd wait until you get your RAM in and then see what happens. If there are still no beeps and the computer doesn't boot, the CPU should be the first thing to check.


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## Andy4876

Hmm damn that worries me, I have already reseated the CPU a few times and it's still doing the same. What else is there to check on a CPU? I was worried when putting it in, the lever did have to push the load plate down very hard in order to close. I'll just have to wait till I get my RAM.

If it turns out it is the CPU can I exchange it where I bought it or do I have to go through Intel or something?

Cheers,

Andy.


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## aaronb33

You can usually take it back to the shop, sometimes they're picky about what they'll deal with though. You should be OK.

The first thing to check is whether there are any bent pins, either on the CPU or in the CPU socket itself. If one's bent, it won't work, simple as that. You can straighten pins out with a razor blade if you're feeling brave. Don't worry about having to push the load plate down hard. I always find that the most nerve racking part of any build personally.

Anyway, if there's nothing visibly wrong with the CPU or the motherboard, just wait until you get your RAM, cross your fingers and hope for the best.


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## Andy4876

From what I remember when I examined it I don't think there are any pins on the CPU - like the following http://www.guru3d.com/imageview.php?image=15329

And I don't think there was anything wrong with the socket on the motherboard. It's totally killing me waiting till they get the RAM and graphics card in stock lol I keep just refresing the page, going to ring them again tomorrow. I'm a little optimistic cause I get different results with the CPU in and out so it must be detecting it a little!

If it doesn't work I can try my CPU in my friends, think he has the same motherboard and processor as me, or try his CPU in mine. Then I'll have a case to argue when I take it back to the shop.

Thanks again,

Andy.


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## Andy4876

Hmm I've just realised the motherboard has an error code LED display on it. It's displaying 29 which, according to the manual, means:

1. Program CPU internal MTRR for 0-640K memory address
2. Initialize the APIC for Pentium class CPU
3. Program early chipset according to CMOS setup
Example: onboard IDE controller
4. Measure CPU speed

Any idea if this is because there is no RAM or graphics card or is it the CPU at fault?

Andy.

Hmm I thought it was 29 (could have been 62 upside down) because there isn't a 62 error code in the BIOS. But before it stops on 29/62 it flashes C1 (but the way up so that the second code would but 62). But anyway C1 means detect memory so maybe it's (rightly so) crashing on that. Although error 62 doesn't mean anything lol.

Anyway I'm just going to forget about it until I get my RAM, so no need to reply to my blathering just wish me luck


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## aaronb33

Well I'm glad to tell you it looks as if having no RAM is your problem







. I just remembered the memory is controlled by the CPU on i7 boards so that would explain it in theory.

I'm gonna stop talking now and see what happens when you put your RAM in lol.


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## Andy4876

Hehe thanks for the good news! I got bored of waiting for them to come in stock so I ordered this one instead:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-E...erminator-Game

Is it roughly equivalent?

And similar RAM : http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/6GB-C...s-Air-Flow-Fan

And the same mouse and keyboard.

Funny thing is, a few seconds after I placed the order I got a phone call from my bank saying the order hadn't gone through because they wanted to check some recent orders I had made, guess I've been spending too much lol she read out my Pizza Hut charges







So I told her it was fine and now the order has gone through and it's coming tomorrow


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## aaronb33

I love Scan, the service there is the best I've ever seen. Luckily, I'm only about twenty minutes away









You made a good decision shopping there lol.


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## Andy4876

Yeah my mate at work is always going on about it, he lives near the store in Bolton. But I always argue that Aria is better (I live close to the store in Manchester). And I nicknamed them Scam to piss him off







From what I've seen so far though they seem to have good prices, good customer service on the phone, a good website. Let's hope they make their delivery promise of tomorrow and I may shop there a bit more


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## aaronb33

They've always delivered on time for me so you should have no worries there. The place they really stand out in is returns though. When you return something, they don't ask any daft questions, they just swap it or refund it, and usually they'll give you a free upgrade if it was their fault. Great shop.


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## [Teh Root]

Actually the best SSD out there is the Corsair P256 is better then the Intel X-M25 and the OCZ Vertex series. Other wise great build.


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## Andy4876

All set up and running like a charm







I got a D0 too, average temp 36ish idle. Under load maxes about 57, not done any overclocking yet though.

Only downside is that, due to the size of the heatsink, I can't get the side of the case on, which is a shame because it has the biggest fan out of the lot







Might just balance it on.

Oh and another thing, it won't boot using the XMP for the memory, just won't POST. So it's just using the defaults at the moment so CPU-Z is reporting 667mhz instead of 933







Will have to have a play around with that later to try and sort it. Any ideas?

So all that worrying was for nothing!

Cheers again for the help,

Andy.


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## Andy4876

This is brilliant! 3.82ghz without upping the voltage once (1.152v) and not one problem in Prime yet, going to keep going till I run into problems then increase the core more. Although temps are reaching 66-68ish under load.

Anyway I'll shut up now as this is no longer the forum for it









See ya!


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## aaronb33

That's a great speed for the voltage, I can see you'll have a lot of fun with that chip









Well done on the build mate


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