New build, any problems?

Rinimee

Hi Guys. I'm hoping to get a build from hardwareversand in the next month or so and was hoping you could point out if there are any potential flaws or pitfalls in what I've picked so far! I've done a fair bit of lurking around the board and read up a bit further on this stuff but I just wanted to get the thumbs up from you guys before I pushed the button on this. I'm in or around my budget right now - I suppose I can go to 950 (including display and OS) or so if you think it's really needed.

I work in multimedia so the machine will be used for graphics processing, some light video processing and heavy internet use. It'll probably be more heavily used for gaming though. I want it to easily cope with the new Assassins Creed and Elder Scrolls releases, and also future proof enough that I hopefully won't need to upgrade for a couple of years to cope with new releases.

Here's what I have so far:


Intel Core i5-2400 Box, LGA1155 153,36 €
ASRock P67 Pro3 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX 83,63 €
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws PC3-10667U CL9 40,79 €
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse DEFINE R3 Titanium Grey 89,75 €
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 650W 68,71 €
Club 3D Radeon 6950 1024MB, AMD Radeon HD 6950, PCI-Express 188,59 €
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ) 45,14 €
Samsung SH-D163C SATA schwarz 12,53 €
Samsung SH-223C bare schwarz SATA 20,45 €
Samsung SyncMaster B2230H 116,27 €
Revoltec LightMouse Portable RE111 4,67 €
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version) 74,51 €
Rechner - Zusammenbau 20,00 €
Sum: 918,40 €

Thanks for your help!

deconduo

Looks good but one or two small problems.

-Why a DVD-RW drive and a DVD-ROM drive?
-PSU is overkill unless you plan on crossfire later. The SuperFlower Amazon 550W is plenty. If you do you need a motherboard that supports crossfire
-You should get the i5-2500k to take advantage of your P67 motherboard's ability to overclock. If you don't want to overclock (though you really should) a cheaper H67 or H61 board will do you fine.

Rinimee

Thanks deconduo, I'll get the 2500k instead.

I'm not sure why, but the website won't allow me to change the PSU to a lower wattage. Is this an issue other than it the higher wattage version being a bit more expensive?

freestyla

Rinimee wrote: »

Thanks deconduo, I'll get the 2500k instead.

I'm not sure why, but the website won't allow me to change the PSU to a lower wattage. Is this an issue other than it the higher wattage version being a bit more expensive?

Well shopping carts could stuck there , you just need to refresh it or remove/add some items, or start over :P

What comes to PSU.. the most important component in a computer I would say! well in any electrical device ofcourse so don't go for cheap stuff here.

1. Look for one with as many voltage regulators and circuit protections as possible because you want reliable stuff.

2. Look for high efficiency rating:
80Plus
80Plus Bronze
80Plus Silver
80Plus Gold
80Plus Platinum

..and I wouldn't go under Bronze for my toys.

PSU which doesn't tell you efficiency figures, stay away from those because they usually below 80% thus not quality stuff.

Now efficiency is a bit tricky to read.. some manufacturers could state 84% efficiency but that could be ata low power load e.g. at 20% which means you can surf web and listen to the music at very good quality voltage supply no probs then you startup Photoshop or Crysis where power load increases to 70% or higher and you might get glitches and hiccups because PSU wasn't designed for such power hungry demands.

So you look for Plus rating, not percentage figures.

When you calculate your wattage needs here http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp its around 500W.. let's say you add few extra USB and PCI devices, just to be on a safe side 550-600W is right for you. It's better you buy 550W from reputable manufacture with Bronze-Gold rating (dunno if thers any Platinum for real?) than 1000W low efficiency piece.

If something good to tell about low efficiency PSU.. it warms up the house nicely when it draws a lot of electricity but converting it into waste heat instead of computing power :pac:

Rinimee

Freestyla, from what I can tell the Super Flower Amazon Units are Bronze rated and seem to have good voltage regulation for the price.

Okay so I've tried forcing the PC configuration system on the hardwareversand website to accept the lower voltage unit. I took various things out of the system and back on and it is telling me basically that the graphics card is not compatible with a lower power source. I'm not sure why, but it's not budging on this one.

Not sure what the best move is here, (or why they keep saying that) since I want this company to put together the system. Go with the higher PSU or is there another graphics card that would suit a 550 PSU?

deconduo

Rinimee wrote: »

Freestyla, from what I can tell the Super Flower Amazon Units are Bronze rated and seem to have good voltage regulation for the price.

Okay so I've tried forcing the PC configuration system on the hardwareversand website to accept the lower voltage unit. I took various things out of the system and back on and it is telling me basically that the graphics card is not compatible with a lower power source. I'm not sure why, but it's not budging on this one.

Not sure what the best move is here, (or why they keep saying that) since I want this company to put together the system. Go with the higher PSU or is there another graphics card that would suit a 550 PSU?

Oh don't use the configurator. Just add all the parts to your basket and put this in at the end:
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=746&agid=829

Or if you're in Dublin and want to save €20 then I can build it for you.

Rinimee

Thanks, that's a really nice offer but I am in north Louth so a bit far out of the way. (As opposed to Germany, I know. It makes sense on some level...)

I didn't realize you could still get them to put it together if you didn't use the configuration tool, so I suppose I will go with that option!

Thanks for your help