My First PC... awwwww...

[yellow]

I was told by multiple PC-support people (who are heavy-gamers) that was a good mobo with a good future. <shrug>

 

[ravenvii]

I was told by multiple PC-support people (who are heavy-gamers) that was a good mobo with a good future. <shrug>

For other stuff, that mobo should hold up well, but he's right, Socket 939's dead, so you can't expect to upgrade the CPU down the road.

 

[yellow]

****!

I should know better than to listen to these morons. 😡

 

[emw]

Alright, I admit I know nothing about building a PC from scratch other than I wouldn't have the time or inclination to do it. However, I'm impressed you're able to pull this together, even if your mojo might not be that great. Or mobo. Or whatever. 😉

I'm sure you'll be a happy gamer in the next couple of days - just remember to create a "Post your FPS" thread when you've got it done. 😀

 

[yellow]

Well, everything is here.

A warning about the case.. It's made in China and the translation of the 'how to' is pretty bad. In fact, I didn't even GET a manual with it, and the website doesn't actually have the manual, so I'm working off the manual for a similar case. Which has terrible English. So there's a little bit of wiring that doesn't make any sense, but I'll figure it out.

Currently in the process of formatting the giant 350GB SATA2 drive.
It's taking forever. <snore> 🙂

Sorry for the low-qual pics, it's from my cell phone.

 

[yellow]

Gotta RMA the case..

The stupid power supply is warped and the bladesof the fan in back hit the walls of their enclosure making an annoying ass rattling sound.

 

[nbs2]

Gotta RMA the case..

The stupid power supply is warped and the bladesof the fan in back hit the walls of their enclosure making an annoying ass rattling sound.

Man...how much of your recovery time is going to be spent getting this thing working?

On a side note, I hadn't bothered to click on your earlier links...I never realized how ugly PC cases are with the big openings and the blue lights and such...I want to put a hot poker to my eyeballs...

 

[yellow]

Hopefully none. Hopefully it will all be absobed with OS X Server and playing games on this (fully functional) bastard. 🙂

As for the ugly-factor, I agree. The strange thing is, everyone I work with are PC-heads. Every single one of them has marveled at how 'cool' it looks. 2 of them even spend time online last night ordering replacement side-doors that were clear for their PC cases. I guess beauty truely is in the eye of the beholder. 🙂

 

[Timepass]

Gotta RMA the case..

The stupid power supply is warped and the bladesof the fan in back hit the walls of their enclosure making an annoying ass rattling sound.

please dont use the POS PSU that came with the case. You are risking you $1000+ investment on a 10 buck PSU. That is one of the most imporant things when building that any good builder will tell you NEVER and I mean NEVER use a cheap PSU. Cheap PSU are good for a temp PSU to hold you over or as parts for a junk computer at most (aka the total value is less than 600). Dont risk your invement on a cheap PSU that can not support the system.

Cheap PSU can easily blow. Also they do not adjust well to a power demand spike. A processor at idle my be pulling 15W but when it is loaded up and hit a 100% it will be pulling 90W of power. This doesnt count other things that may be powering up at the same time. So you power demand on the PSU could jump 100W+ almost instantly. A cheap PSU can not always handle that and will cause a sytem crash. A good PSU can take the demand change and adjust at the same rate. A lot of computer crash and freeze can be link to the PSU not being able to handle the load change.

Please I beg you go out and buy a real PSU unit. Epox, thermotake are both good. I personally am a huge fan of Antec and that really all I willing to using my my rigs.

As for your mobo I would not worry about it. General by the time some one wants to upgrade their CPU it time for a new system build any ways. Plus CPU sockets change offen enough that it doesnt matter. To get some noticible gains out of a CPU upgrade it would require a new Mobo any how because the faster CPU are almost always on a new socket. Things that last a while are the other parts. You are more likely to upgrade the graphic card, ram and other parts. CPU is normally low on the list of upgrades any how so dont worry about it. Plus the over head on the CPU is pretty high right now so it be a while before it catches up. A friend of mine is still running on a AMD 2400+ and it going strong and not a limiting factor yet. The part like graphic cards is where problems will come up and other parts.

 

[stonyc]

I wouldn't worry too much about building your comp on a 939 board... AM2 seems more like a transitory upgrade anyway. You're not likely to see huge bumps in speed over 939 until lower latency DDR2 RAM becomes more readily available and affordable. There's already talk of AM3 (which, according to specs appears to be a much more significant upgrade... DDR3, cross-compatibility with AM2) in late 2007/early 2008. Your machine will last you a good while, and when you're ready to upgrade again... say sometime in the last half of 2007, you can spring for a more matured AM2 board and chip, then hop on the AM3 bandwagon (since AM3 chips will run in AM2 boards, but not vice versa) in 2008. Then, when AM3 matures a bit more you can upgrade the mobo and RAM to fully take advantage of that AM3 chip, etc.

EDIT: And Timepass is 100% correct, invest in a good and reliable PSU. Don't skimp by using the $10 piece of crap that came with that case... spend $50-120 (there's alot of solid options in that range, dependant on how much you want to spend) on a good PSU from someone like Antec, Fortron, Seasonic and the like. If you can stretch your dollars there, get a little more PSU than you think you need right now... leave yourself some headroom for upgrades later.

 

[Macmaniac]

Well, everything is here.

A warning about the case.. It's made in China and the translation of the 'how to' is pretty bad. In fact, I didn't even GET a manual with it, and the website doesn't actually have the manual, so I'm working off the manual for a similar case. Which has terrible English. So there's a little bit of wiring that doesn't make any sense, but I'll figure it out.

Currently in the process of formatting the giant 350GB SATA2 drive.
It's taking forever. <snore> 🙂

Sorry for the low-qual pics, it's from my cell phone.

Reminds me of the pictures of my case inards. Having the PSU die sucks, mine died a week ago and its taking forever to get back. I bought a well reviewed Antec True Blue TPII 480w PSU and the thing started to die🙁 Antec is in California and I am here in NJ so ground shipping means I am out 2 weeks worth of games.

 

[stonyc]

Link to a PSU buying guide and list of PSUs to avoid.

 

[DMPDX]

Looks like a very good set up for gaming with that expandability readily available. All that I would change would be to shift some funds around and go for a processor upgrade. Personally I would have gone for the 64 X2 dual core. But if it doesnt fit into it, dont worry. Just a personal liking of that specific chip.
-dsm

 

[yellow]

Well, I think the PSU is fine.. the problem is with the case I think. The design is stupid, the PSU is attached by 4 screws in the back of the case, it's not attached above at all and it sits on the horizontal rails. I get the feeling that case warp has ****ed up the PSU attachment causing the PSU to warp and clack. I'm very much afraid that if I try and replace the PSU only that I'll end up in the same boat, and yet another god damned thing to return..

As for the processor.. I think that processor will be fine for the next year or 2. Currently I don't see the need for multiple cores since it won't help me one whit with games. And I won't do anything except game on this. I have real computers for non-gaming. 🙂 In the future when games are actually multi-core aware (other than WoW), I'll get on board.

 

[Timepass]

Yellow the PSU is crap plan and simple. The case lay out with 4 screws and rails like that is really pretty common place and a normal good design.

The PSU is at most a 10 buck POS (chance are it cost about 2-3 bucks to make). If I had to guess you paid about 60-70 bucks for you cases. Just base on what it looks like and it include a PSU. You are risking you $1k+ build on a maybe a 10buck POS PSU. The PSU I running (antec true power 430W) was about 60 bucks by itself (may of been more it been 2 years) and is a quilty unit.

Several of us have made a huge point though out this entire thread about not cheaping out on the PSU. it is not worth the risk. It is the one thing that runs you entire computer and if it goes it can and quite offen does take out everything in the computer (including hd, opitcal drive, CPU, you name it and it takes it out) True us when we tell you dont go cheap on the PSU and get a quility name brand one. Go look at PC builder forums and that is something very common they make a point about, NOT CHEAPING OUT on the PSU.

You are risking you entire computer on that one part and if it blows and takes out everything you warrenty on everything(but the PSU) is voided and the PSU manufacter not going to cover all your parts.

 

[yellow]

Unfortunately the case was much more expensive than that. I'm having a tough time believing a $10 PSU can push 500W of power, or should I say ' a 500W PSU can cost $10' (err retail) but ok.

I've decided not to RMA the case since shipping it BACK to them will either take too long and I won't get the replacement in time, or cost 1/2 the price of the friggin case. In which case I'll just buy a replacement locally and smash this thing with a hammer.

I can tell you that I won't be buying anatec. Some jackass in a lab ordered 10 of their BTO computers and not a single one lasted more than 6 months before we scrapped and replaced them. They were the most craptastic computers I've ever seen. The PC support people still curse them to this day (almost 2 years later). That was enough to sour me to them forever.

Beyond that, I'll see what decent PSUs I can get locally and hope for the best.

I guess I'll end up with this one, provided it fits.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1273350&CatId=2036

Too bad I loose the nifty looking neon green cable casings.

 

[Timepass]

ummm antec doesnt make computer... They make some of the best cases and PSU on the market but not computers.

Also it pretty easy to believe that a $10 PSU can push 500W is very believeable. Also the Wattage number mean very little. heck is means nothing. What really matters are what are the rails on the PSU.

http://www.tgdaily.com/2001/10/12/rant/index.html are some rants on cheap psu.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2002/10/21/inadequate_and_deceptive_product_labeling/ another one.

but really the PSU that come with cases are normally complete crap.

 

[yellow]

ummm antec doesnt make computer... They make some of the best cases and PSU on the market but not computers.

Don't know what to tell you.. that's who the PC support people called to get support on those POS boxes. Doesn't matter, won't buy from them. There's plenty more suppliers out there.

 

[Timepass]

Don't know what to tell you.. that's who the PC support people called to get support on those POS boxes. Doesn't matter, won't buy from them. There's plenty more suppliers out there.

and I telling you that it was not antec. Antec DOES NOT make computer. Dont believe me go to www.antec.com and find where they sell computers. Now I know there are computer maker have name like antec but it not antec. Antec just make a few parts. but there are other makes our there that make good PSU just the one with the case is complete crap.

 

[yellow]

Maybe things were different 2+ years ago. Beyond that, I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY don't give a damn. 😉

Clearly stated, will buy from a different manufacturer.

Thanks for all your help otherwise, though!! (and I'm not being sarcastic)

 

[stonyc]

Check out Seasonic, high-quality PSUs and have a reputation for being great for quiet operation. Check out http://www.silentpcreview.com for reviews and testimonials. Expect to pay $60-150 depending on the model.

Fortron Sparkle (don't laugh!) make some high-quality PSUs with mid-range price points. Cheaper than Seasonic, expect somewhere around $40-120.

Thermaltake has some very good PSUs, but also some very bad ones... refer to that hardforum link I provided above. I've never built a comp with a Thermaltake PSU... only with Antec, Seasonic and FSP so far.

If you want the absolute best, and I mean absolutely the top of the line PSU... PC Power & Cooling. Those will last years and years, but you pay through the nose for them. $200-$600 isn't out of the question... If I were building a $10,000 monster I'd go with PCPC, no questions asked.

EDIT: Other brands with good reputations... Enermax and OCZ also come to mind.

 

[yellow]

Fortron Sparkle (don't laugh!)

Teehee! Couldn't help myself. 🙂