Final build compatibility check/comments

jack888

Hey,

Heres my final build spec, I want to make sure this is all compatible and that I will be able to build it?
Any comments on parts or advice please!, thanks.

Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155 €173.55
ASRock P67 Extreme4 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX €130.55
Sapphire HD 6950 Dirt2, 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express €215
Crossair 750HX 750 watt €115
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse DEFINE R3 Black Pearl €89.75
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL9 €54.98
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ) €44.09
Samsung SH-222AB bare schwarz SATA €17.71
Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B, CPU-Kühler, für alle Sockel geeignet €33.99
hCrucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5") €179
TOTAL €1052

Im hoping to build this myself, should I be getting any special screw set? or any equipment.

deconduo

Looks good to me. The PSU is expensive, but its a good quality one and is modular. You could save money by getting this one instead if you don't need a modular one:
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=30071&agid=1630

You just need a single Philips screwdriver, nothing else. Some people get a static wristband but thats not really necessary if you make sure you ground yourself before handling parts, by touching the metal of your case for example. Oh and don't build the computer while standing on carpet :P

Asmodean

Im putting a fairly similar build together too and this has cleared up a few questions for me as a first time builder too. Stupid question but does the i5 heat sink already have thermal past with it or do i need to buy that seperately?

daba

jack888 wrote: »

Hey,

Heres my final build spec, I want to make sure this is all compatible and that I will be able to build it?
Any comments on parts or advice please!, thanks.

Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155 €173.55
ASRock P67 Extreme4 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX €130.55
Sapphire HD 6950 Dirt2, 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express €215
Crossair 750HX 750 watt €115
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse DEFINE R3 Black Pearl €89.75
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL9 €54.98
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ) €44.09
Samsung SH-222AB bare schwarz SATA €17.71
Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B, CPU-Kühler, für alle Sockel geeignet €33.99
hCrucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5") €179
TOTAL €1052

Im hoping to build this myself, should I be getting any special screw set? or any equipment.

i think u should consider a z68 motherboard :rolleyes: as they offer everything in h67 & p67 mobos !!
about the case i have no idea about the fractal design one , but did u c the bitfenix shinobi window case ?? have a look at it , it is very coool , very new , very elegant and less than 60 quid !!!
get a usb wireless adaptor , it will b very useful .and maby a card reader too :rolleyes:.
goooooooooooooood luck

Fluffy88

The Fractal Design is one of the better cases around, great cable management and everyone says it's a joy to work with. So unless you are just looking to get a prettier case or cheaper(coz let's face is €90 is a lot of money) there is no need to change it.

Don't get a USB wireless adapter for a PC, get a PCI one if you need it, it will be much cleaner and probably better and cheaper too. Unless you want the USB so you can bring it around with you for other reasons.

Card reader is a good idea though and they are cheap,
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=21456&agid=221
That doesn't look like it's 75 in 1 but I'll believe what they tell me.

Tea_Bag

I agree with the z68 comment. the Asrock z68 extreme4 is less than €10 more, and for that you get a lot more board. onboard gpu is extremely handy for diagnostic and future usage, let alone lower power usage when doing stuff other than gaming as the iGPU will do all the mundane work.

jack888

Tea_Bag wrote: »

I agree with the z68 comment. the Asrock z68 extreme4 is less than €10 more, and for that you get a lot more board. onboard gpu is extremely handy for diagnostic and future usage, let alone lower power usage when doing stuff other than gaming as the iGPU will do all the mundane work.

What extra does this board bring?
Its actually 20 dollar more.

Tea_Bag

sorry that was a typo it was meant to be 'less than €20 more'

either way, it is a lot more board and more future proof. Google the features of a z68 chipset.

PseudoFamous

Have a look at the Asus P8Z68-V board, it's nearly identical to the ASRock Extreme4 Z68, and it's €15 less. Only real differences are found in the SATA ports.

Tea_Bag

I'd steer clear tbh. ASUS has been taking shortcuts on its cheaper z68 boards w/r/t pci bandwidth switches. On mobile so can't find the source, think it might have been a review by anand, but stuff like, if you ocupy the 3rd PCIe x4 lane, the board completely disables the top PCIe x1 slot and the USB3 front header, even if the card in the x4 slot isn't actually in use.

Tar.Aldarion

jack888 wrote: »

What extra does this board bring?
Its actually 20 dollar more.

I would check if you will be needing th efeatures and read some reviews. I got a p67 as I though any extra on a z68 was a waste of money for my needs.


the build looks good but i'd save 40e on a non-modular psu. May look a little tidier but I look in my case, hmm, never?!
You can make it quite tidy with the cheaper one anyway, if you want to!

Monotype

Fluffy88 wrote: »

Don't get a USB wireless adapter for a PC, get a PCI one if you need it, it will be much cleaner and probably better and cheaper too. Unless you want the USB so you can bring it around with you for other reasons.

Or even better - homeplugs (but not from hardwareversand as they'll have a different plug type).

jack888

Had a read up on those motherboards and Im going to go with the Z68.
Thanks for the info Tea_Bag, it certainly seems a better buy for extra 20 Euro.

What everyones thoughts on the 6950 graphics card?, is it worth upgrading to the 6970

Tar.Aldarion

if you get the 2gig 6950 you can unlock it to a 6970 apparently

Monotype

Well, close enough to a 6970. People who flashed to the 6970s fried their cards as the voltage was higher, so it's a lot safer to just unlock the shaders.

Not all of them can be unlocked. I'm not so sure about that sapphire one - the general guideline is to go for the reference design ones (e.g., the Powercolor one). A quick look online shows unlocking of other sapphire versions, but not this one.

jack888

Deliver on route to Ireland for last 4 days:(

Guess it will be next week now!!

jack888

Started building this last night.

Installing the Sycthe mugen cpu cooler proved to be a complete nightmare.
Im now worried I may have damaged motherboard while trying to install as had a lot of trouble getting it on. Also, dont know if I need to get more thermal cooler as I took so long to get the cpu cooler on, it was very messy.

Anyway, will try powering on later today.

Only trouble Ive had so far is with this sythe mugen peice of ****, stay away from it!!!. Also its blocking 3 of my 4 RAM slots!!!. whoever recommended this, thank you.

Monotype

Is it the fan that's blocking the RAM? You can move that to any side. The fractal design R3 case has a hole in the back to allow you to screw on a heatsink when the board is installed - although it's more cramped to work with if the board is in.

jack888

Monotype wrote: »

Is it the fan that's blocking the RAM? You can move that to any side. The fractal design R3 case has a hole in the back to allow you to screw on a heatsink when the board is installed - although it's more cramped to work with if the board is in.

Yeah I installed while the board is in!!, that was my mistake. Its a two man job but I did it myself. Should have waited for someone to help.

Tea_Bag

Apparently that heaysink is an absolute nightmare, but it can keep up with coolers twice its price. Don't forget to take loads of photos.

jack888

Tea_Bag wrote: »

Apparently that heaysink is an absolute nightmare, but it can keep up with coolers twice its price. Don't forget to take loads of photos.

I would happily pay twice the price for a product that is easier to install.

Ill take photos when Im home later, if I can get it working. I have a fear I damaged the motherboard while trying to install the cpu cooler POS.

Tea_Bag

I think you'll be alright. Whenever I install coolers I think I've broken the board it bends and twists so much, but they always seem to be fine. Last time I fudged a mobo was back when you needed a BIOS update through DOS to get the board to accept HDDs bigger than 32gb! You'd think that'd be giving away my old age but I've just turned 21 today :pac:

jack888

Tea_Bag wrote: »

I think you'll be alright. Whenever I install coolers I think I've broken the board it bends and twists so much, but they always seem to be fine. Last time I fudged a mobo was back when you needed a BIOS update through DOS to get the board to accept HDDs bigger than 32gb! You'd think that'd be giving away my old age but I've just turned 21 today :pac:

I hope so.

Do you think Ill need to get more thermal paste on, since it took me about 2 hours and a lot of on and off to get the CPU cooler in place, after applying the thermal paste.

Monotype

It's a troublesome enough heatsink alright. I've said it a few times but the larger ones generally are and it does its job very well once it's in.

Burgo

Happy Birthday ! Turned 23 yesterday

Can you slide the fan up so it doesn't block the slot?

Monotype

Tea_Bag wrote: »

You'd think that'd be giving away my old age but I've just turned 21 today :pac:

Happy birthday!

pepper180

jack888 wrote: »

Started building this last night.

Installing the Sycthe mugen cpu cooler proved to be a complete nightmare.
Im now worried I may have damaged motherboard while trying to install as had a lot of trouble getting it on. Also, dont know if I need to get more thermal cooler as I took so long to get the cpu cooler on, it was very messy.

Anyway, will try powering on later today.

Only trouble Ive had so far is with this sythe mugen peice of ****, stay away from it!!!. Also its blocking 3 of my 4 RAM slots!!!. whoever recommended this, thank you.

jack888 you were saying on my post yesterday that one of the reasons why you get a custom PC is to build it and that I am missing the point. I think I would rather miss the point than 'cock' up the motherboard and all of the above.

Hope all works well for you though. Any chance of seeing some pictures?

Tea_Bag

pepper180 wrote: »

jack888 you were saying on my post yesterday that one of the reasons why you get a custom PC is to build it and that I am missing the point. I think I would rather miss the point than 'cock' up the motherboard and all of the above.

Hope all works well for you though. Any chance of seeing some pictures?

well if you get it built for you they wont put a heatsink in tbf, and the stock one is obviously easy to install and risk free. there's a reason these things are optional extras and are reserved for people who want the greatest performance for OC etc. 95% of people dont need one.

jack888

pepper180 wrote: »

jack888 you were saying on my post yesterday that one of the reasons why you get a custom PC is to build it and that I am missing the point. I think I would rather miss the point than 'cock' up the motherboard and all of the above.

Hope all works well for you though. Any chance of seeing some pictures?

So far the only difficulty Ive had is the damn CPU cooler and you would have to do this yourself anyway.

pepper180

jack888 wrote: »

So far the only difficulty Ive had is the damn CPU cooler and you would have to do this yourself anyway.

Well you could have got that done in any computer store around you.

Tea_Bag

pepper180 wrote: »

Well you could have got that done in any computer store around you.

i doubt it, and they care less about your stuff than you would, so could easily break the board. also, how much would they charge to build it?

you either want to built it yourself or not. its not rocket science though.

pepper180

Tea_Bag wrote: »

i doubt it, and they care less about your stuff than you would, so could easily break the board. also, how much would they charge to build it?

you either want to built it yourself or not. its not rocket science though.

They care as much as any maintenance computer store. It costs around €10 where i priced it. Better than possibly having to replace the equipment.

jack888

Ok, Ive finished, I think but I am winging it:).

Ive plugged in the desktop and powered on. I get power, cpu fan and two case fans working, graphics card is also spinnning away.

But when I plug in a monitor I get nothing. Whats my next step? I only have my HDD drive in right now, will put in SSD if I get going.

jack888

Im in!!! wow im great

pepper180

jack888 wrote: »

Im in!!! wow im great

Well done! What u do?

jack888

pepper180 wrote: »

Well done! What u do?

Was making a rookie mistake, which I wont say:)

pepper180

jack888 wrote: »

Was making a rookie mistake, which I wont say:)

Ah come on, Tell us.. We wont slag..... Much ,
Na can I know?, Just for my future in building.
PM me if you don't want to tell the whole boards family :pac:

Monotype

You have to tell us all now as we'll just assume the absolute worst. Like you forgot the processor and put the heatsink on the board without it! Or put RAM into the PCI-E slots.

Tea_Bag

power to the gpu?

jack888

pepper180 wrote: »

Ah come on, Tell us.. We wont slag..... Much ,
Na can I know?, Just for my future in building.
PM me if you don't want to tell the whole boards family :pac:

Three monitors here, was plugging in the wrong one

jack888

pepper180 wrote: »

They care as much as any maintenance computer store. It costs around €10 where i priced it. Better than possibly having to replace the equipment.

If you arent prepared to do any of the work yourself, in my opinion you should just buy from dell or someone.

Sure you will save some money, but you do need to be prepared to troubleshoot and get stuck in yourself, because problems will present themselves, even if someone does initial build.

pepper180

jack888 wrote: »

If you arent prepared to do any of the work yourself, in my opinion you should just buy from dell or someone.

Sure you will save some money, but you do need to be prepared to troubleshoot and get stuck in yourself, because problems will present themselves, even if someone does initial build.

A dell? The reason I am buying a custom built PC is because it will be better than a dell or a normal pre-built PC. I am also buying it because it is WAAAAAY cheaper.

Buying a custom PC doesn't mean you have to build it or be the maintenance man of it.

I will be my own maintenance man for it, yes, but that doesn't mean I have to build it. :rolleyes: & if I'm not able to, I have a sibling that can do it all.