Building a new PC.
candreasen
Minneapolis, MN
I'm building a new PC (my current has an OEM HP mobo and I don't even want to try upgrading w/ that) with these parts:
mobo: Biostar TA970XE $70 (rebate)
CPU: AMD FX 4100 Black edition $100
Graphics card: AMD Radeon HD 7770 (1GB of GDDR5 mem, its a Sapphire something) $140 (rebate)
HDD: Barracuda Green 1 TB (6 GB/s SATA) $100
CD/DVD: some generic internal burner $15
Case: PowerSpec TX-606 $25
RAM: 2x 4GB DDR3-1333 (generic) $35
Total: $485
Any changes you think I should make (or something I completely missed)?
mobo: Biostar TA970XE $70 (rebate)
CPU: AMD FX 4100 Black edition $100
Graphics card: AMD Radeon HD 7770 (1GB of GDDR5 mem, its a Sapphire something) $140 (rebate)
HDD: Barracuda Green 1 TB (6 GB/s SATA) $100
CD/DVD: some generic internal burner $15
Case: PowerSpec TX-606 $25
RAM: 2x 4GB DDR3-1333 (generic) $35
Total: $485
Any changes you think I should make (or something I completely missed)?
0
Comments
You'll need a psu. Don't forget, you'll also need a windows license.
Look at ECS for heat-stable mobos, or Gigabyte for good solid quality reputation and heat stability. If you do not want to to OC, the this BIOSTAR board is a POSSIBLE candidate for a year or so of durability. The rest of your pick is not OC probable, the quality is not gonna be heat stable probably.
I would say Biostar 1 year with no OCing-- max(from dreadful experience with them, had a board that was cheap from them last 90 days and they would not replace it because I admitted I OCed it 10%).
ECS or Gigabyte boards should allow some OCing if you buy things instead. They should last 2-3 years stably while doing so. Problem is to determine how long you want to spend for, then cost per year of machine use, versus technology growth and change speed.
@Thrax , maybe, will chime in with specific motherboard recommendations when he gets time. I know Intel systems better and will not stick my neck out for AMD build recommendations specifically.
For what you want to do, as far as goals for your system, it depends a lot on how long you can live with the same system. If you are one who wants to upgrade like crazy over 2-3 years as to RAM and such, do NOT buy a cheap motherboard and buy a case that will let you have lots of fans added to it and which is spacious. You want the BEST motherboard as that is the CORE of your system (the CPUs will change as you upgrade if you get a motherboard now that supports bleeding edge CPUs AND older CPUs). The CPU is almost part of the core, but not quite true core.
To use an extended similie set, which helped me when I started out, the CPU is system heart, but hearts need muscular nourishment also, which means out of a body they cannot live. Bodies have circulation systems, CPUs need power and power supply and motherboard team to power CPU right like body systems power heart. CPU, truely, is more like BRAIN than heart. BRAIN is core of thinking, but needs lots of fine physical things to keep working well.
I cut some corners on a Folding@Home dedicated computer, and including Windows spent about $900.00 on it. I spent on a CPU that was NO LONGER state of the art about $329.99.
The motherboard and case and PSU I bought cheap. They will go first. The CPU will transfer to a new motherboard when the motherboard power circuitry goes. I bought the motherboard for a year's use. That is the expensive long-haul way to go. BUT, I wanted a dedicated folding box NOW (as of 5-6 months ago).
You need to decide if you will cut corners and replace more in a year or buy for two-three years. Totally different strategies apply for that than for 1 year max buys.
When you build your own computer, or buy a custom one, you need to look at the part mfr reps also. Part mfrs sell things for as much as they can get away with and keep a market. Biostar positions itself as a Value motheboard mfr and value these days means average one year lifespan. Gigabyte and ECS now, and MSI to a little lesser degree, make Enthusiast boards, which are designed to last 3 years or more for 90% or more of them. For the enthusiast boards, Gigabyte offers a 3 year replace or repair warranty. They stand by that warranty.
ECS is starting to do this a lot also, indeed they are promoting a 4-day turnaround for replacement if their boards fail and have some boards designed to run day-in and day-out at 50 C.
I cannot fairly, given my experience, recommend Biostar.
I have an MSI mil-spec motherboard in my folding box, it is not using a video card at all-- it depends on the video from the CPU for video. It is NOT a gamer's computer.
The temp in this bedroom is 81 degrees farenheit tonight. It was higher today, I am not liquid cooling anything. Ceiling fan is on high.
Value computers are simply not designed for hugely high temps in room they are in. They like 70-76 degrees. Enthusiast computers stand up to more heat better and longer-- plain and simple. I learned this over 30 plus years of building computers, and talked folks into better components for that reason alone.
Value computers also are not designed for high humidity. They like 10-20% humidity at most for most of their running lives.
Enthusiast computers stand up to higher humidity also. they use no ordinary steel, and the best enthusiast grade motherboards use gold plated contacts so they do not corrode where contact is made in reasonably high humidity of 50-70% for a lot of the running time.
We have air conditioning, the high was 94 degrees Farenheit today. the A/C ran about 70% of the time-- another $250.00 electric bill for this month, it looks like. I live in Florida, we get such bills about 8 months of the year and this is only a small 2-bedroom house. So I know what heat and humidity can do to value computers, they combinedly destroy them fast down here.
Many people on this forum like gigbyte/msi/etc because we're enthusiasts/overclockers/etc BUT also because they tend to have better support, more tweaking options in the bios. Often they include more robust components for overclocking and as a side benefit these components also tend to last longer.
Biostar motherboards tend to be lacking in the ability to tweak anything in the bios (beyond boot options/etc). If that's important to you, you may want to look at a more expensive board (gigabyte tends to be one of the best options).
Personally, I'd spend a little bit more on the crucial system components (CPU/RAM/MOBO/GPU) to ensure that my machine would last the 2-5 years you want it to before you need to upgrade things.
I skip things because I take them for granted based on knowing them to be repeatedly true from experience and often state what others think are conclusions regarding building while for me they are build rule sets. Also brevity requires logic gaps. And, no-one is a computer God-- definitely including me. I otherwise leave gaps so as not to kill a discussion totally, leaving things for others to contribute. I am an old guy, older than most here, and formally trained in verbal logic but not math logic (Terrible with math.).
Biostar positions itself as a Value motheboard mfr and value these days means average one year lifespan.
(cite)
I cannot fairly, given my experience, recommend Biostar.
(what experience? what information other than your anecdotes?)
I have an MSI mil-spec motherboard in my folding box, it is not using a video card at all-- it depends on the video from the CPU for video. It is NOT a gamer's computer.
(what does this have to do with the current question?)
The temp in this bedroom is 81 degrees farenheit tonight. It was higher today, I am not liquid cooling anything. Ceiling fan is on high.
(useless info)
Value computers are simply not designed for hugely high temps in room they are in. They like 70-76 degrees.
(cite)
Enthusiast computers stand up to more heat better and longer-- plain and simple. I learned this over 30 plus years of building computers, and talked folks into better components for that reason alone.
(you know what the first 27 years of that experience means at this point? Pretty much nil. No one cares if you can manually set all the IRQs to minimize/remove conflicts anymore)
Value computers also are not designed for high humidity. They like 10-20% humidity at most for most of their running lives.
(cite)
Enthusiast computers stand up to higher humidity also. they use no ordinary steel, and the best enthusiast grade motherboards use gold plated contacts so they do not corrode where contact is made in reasonably high humidity of 50-70% for a lot of the running time.
(ordinary steel? WTF. Also, now we're onto the highest-end parts for a computer that's going to play older games?)
We have air conditioning, the high was 94 degrees Farenheit today. the A/C ran about 70% of the time-- another $250.00 electric bill for this month, it looks like. I live in Florida, we get such bills about 8 months of the year and this is only a small 2-bedroom house. So I know what heat and humidity can do to value computers, they combinedly destroy them fast down here.
(This is useless info).
What makes Enthusiast boards Enthusiast boards is better quality. Folks are coming to realize that these boards also last longer. By getting Value systems where they cut the wrong corners in specifying the computer. The computer dies in 90 days to a year. Say the generic PSU dies. If it dies catastrophically due to being surged, it can easily surge the mainboard, the RAM, the CPU, the South and North bridges, etc. So, don't buy a real cheap PSU. Same for motherboard, if a motherboard that is cheap is surged it dies in its power circuitry often.
TANSTAFL is a base buying principle my father drummed into me. It applies to computers hugely.
As to hugely high end materials like gold, 3 micron thin plating is now useable on some areas of contacts. ECS and MSI are using this kind of process, or buying parts made with it. I have had to chemically clean RAM socket contacts that were corroded, replace soldered-on batteries where they electrolytically were corroded, and so on. So, non-electrolytically reactive and more expensive stuff also has the side benefit of being less corrodable by moist air.
Enthusiast machines have more fans, because folks want more fast. This means more heat. The fans also blow moist air away from things faster. They corrode less. cheap way to baby cheap stuff.
As to babying cheap motherboards, they have to be power babied also, because power circuitry details are corner cut areas for costing.
The MSI Mil-Spec motherboard I got? It was $69.95 from Newegg, but intended for Intel. Where did MSI cut corners? On the chipset-- the board has a chipset designed for SATA II stuff at best. The video is limited also. It is not a gamer's board. The power circuitry? High grade. the contacts were mostly gold-plated.
The last main full use computer I built ran me $1500.00, in year 2000 dollars. I got one of the oldest video cards the computer could support and a VGA NEC flatscreen for it-- cut corners and spurged, where experience said (for my use goal set )I could do so.
MY current main-use computer? A laptop, Lenovo Thinkpad W520, one of the oldest subrevisions. It works fine, though I do not game with it. It ran me $1,500.00 and is a desktop replacement laptop that is an older submodel so Lenovo discounted it to me for about $1000.00 off. I got a 3-year extended warranty for it in the price.
What does that say to the case in point? You have to know what you are doing to build for yourself or buy at discount these days. I have been trying to teacxh someone who will have increased needs out of his computer where NOT to cut corners, and perhaps teach future readers also. So I appear to ramble. Sorry, Deal With It!
ECS does not currently make a true AM3+ motherboard, which would have a 900-series chipset. The closest they have is the A890GXM-A2 2.0, which would be fine as long as you're not overclocking. You'd do better to go with a Gigabyte motherboard such as one of these.
Generally speaking, Gigabyte has a much better reputation than Biostar.
Since you're not doing overclocking, you'll probably be fine with your original Biostar motherboard.
I would definitely consider a bigger power supply. AMD recommends a minimum of 500W for the Radeon HD 7770. A 430W PSU might work, but you're likely pushing the upper limits of what it can do. I would highly recommend going with a good quality PSU as well - this is one component that should never be skimped on since it's providing electricity to your entire system. A bad PSU can wreck an entire computer in an instant (worst case) or possibly not be able to supply its advertised wattage (more likely) which would cause problems as well. Jonnyguru is an excellent resource for finding both excellent and terrible power supplies. This guy has PSU test equipment that I could only dream of owning. If he says a supply is good or bad, you can be 100% sure his opinion is accurate.