Home Office Video/Audio Build (Budget)

[skyline605]

Well, this is a whole separate topic that already has it's own thread(s) here... I was merely making generalizations to prove my point. I know the OP doesn't care, and I'm not going to change his mind, but it bothers me, so I assert my opinions.

In other words, you will have to do your research on each individual unit to know whether it's statistically reliable or not, on your own - IF you care enough.

I get the point. It's certainly been a while, but I have built PCs before and I understand the price v. quality argument. It applies to everything in the world of tech (most notably audio, which I am extremely familiar with).

If you can show me that the CX430 has a history of failure and that I can get something that is proven to be better at a reasonable price, then I'm all ears.

At the same time, I AM on a budget and through many years in the tech world have learned not to fall for snake oil and gimmicks. So far I haven't found a substantial amount of failure reports for this particular model other than a handful of reviews on newegg which you'll see for nearly every product. Corsair is a brand that I've come to trust over the years.

But, once again, I'll reiterate that I'm open to specific suggestions. I'll certainly keep my eye on the Rosewill and Seasonic models listed by Torn Mind.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

I get the point. It's certainly been a while, but I have built PCs before and I understand the price v. quality argument. It applies to everything in the world of tech (most notably audio, which I am extremely familiar with).

If you can show me that the CX430 has a history of failure and that I can get something that is proven to be better at a reasonable price, then I'm all ears.

At the same time, I AM on a budget and through many years in the tech world have learned not to fall for snake oil and gimmicks. So far I haven't found a substantial amount of failure reports for this particular model other than a handful of reviews on newegg which you'll see for nearly every product. Corsair is a brand that I've come to trust over the years.

But, once again, I'll reiterate that I'm open to specific suggestions. I'll certainly keep my eye on the Rosewill and Seasonic models listed by Torn Mind.

I'm in the middle of using my computer (playing DayZ with my friends), and I really believe YOU should do the research yourself since it's your decision and you'll have to live with the purchase/equipment.

But, the main issue here is that Corsair doesn't actually manufacture anything. Most of their best PSU's that have a good rep are built by Seasonic, AFAIK. I don't think Rosewill manufactures anything either. It's newegg's house brand. I love my corsair K90 and M90 but they're just branded Corsair, and built by some other OEM. Seasonic isn't snake-oil. They use good designs (that they develop and Corsair uses), and quality parts.

 

[Torn Mind]

The CX 430's previous two iterations uses Teapo and/or Samxon capacitors in the filtering, capacitors that are not the worst and not the best. Seasonic's G360 and the Capstone 450's use Japanese capacitors. I don't have hard data to back it up, but since OklahomaWolf is a pretty knowledgable guy, I think his statement is closer to the truth than falsehood.

V2 review: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-CX430-V2-Power-Supply-Review/1284/5
first version review: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-CX430-Power-Supply-Review/1200/5
first version review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=214

Capstone 450 reviews:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5698/rosewill-capstone-450w-and-650w-80plus-gold/4
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=250
Capstone 450 is based on this platform, so the differences will be slight, if there are any. Many branded units are made by a different company, so this is not unusual. Seasonic is a manufactuer and not just a rebranding company. So is Super Flower, Channel Well, and others.

Seasonic G360 review:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=313

As the reviews show, the Seasonic and Rosewill are confirmed to use Japanese capacitors(Nippon Chemi-con making up the majority, it seems). I don't know how they do it, but the Japanese caps are allegedly "better built", so they last longer and aren't as prone to defects.

 

[skyline605]

The CX 430's previous two iterations uses Teapo and/or Samxon capacitors in the filtering, capacitors that are not the worst and not the best. Seasonic's G360 and the Capstone 450's use Japanese capacitors. I don't have hard data to back it up, but since OklahomaWolf is a pretty knowledgable guy, I think his statement is closer to the truth than falsehood.

V2 review: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-CX430-V2-Power-Supply-Review/1284/5
first version review: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-CX430-Power-Supply-Review/1200/5
first version review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=214

Capstone 450 reviews:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5698/rosewill-capstone-450w-and-650w-80plus-gold/4
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=250
Capstone 450 is based on this platform, so the differences will be slight, if there are any. Many branded units are made by a different company, so this is not unusual. Seasonic is a manufactuer and not just a rebranding company. So is Super Flower, Channel Well, and others.

Seasonic G360 review:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=313

As the reviews show, the Seasonic and Rosewill are confirmed to use Japanese capacitors(Nippon Chemi-con making up the majority, it seems). I don't know how they do it, but the Japanese caps are allegedly "better built", so they last longer and aren't as prone to defects.

I had read the hardware secrets review of the CX430. It, combined with the 3-year warranty, was enough to make me feel comfortable with it. Especially considering the fact that this PC build is not power hungry in the least. It's not as if I'm going to be taxing this thing in any significant way.

But again, I have all the other PSUs you guys have recommended on a newegg wishlist and I'm price watching. If a higher quality PSU drops down to a similar price, then I'll be all over it. I'm very appreciative for the suggestions.

Now that this has been exhausted...thoughts on the other components?

I'm still curious as to which B85 Charlie preferred over the H87 I currently have selected. If he's talking about my original Gigabyte Sniper board, then yeah...me too. But, I really fell in love with the Obsidian 350D case and it's microATX, which caused me to look in a different direction. The last PC I built was a full-sized monster, and I'd kind of like to try a smaller enclosure this time.

If he's referring to the B85 recommended my mfenn, then the only reason I changed was that the H87 board has the ability to go up to 32GB of memory whereas the B85 tops out at 16. It's something that will probably make no difference whatsoever, but they seem like very similar boards otherwise, so why not have the headroom?

 

[mfenn]

I'm in the middle of using my computer (playing DayZ with my friends), and I really believe YOU should do the research yourself since it's your decision and you'll have to live with the purchase/equipment.

In other words "I don't have any actual data, so I'm just going wave my hands as a distraction".

Good on you OP for asking for hard proof. Also thanks to Torn Mind for doing the research and presenting it concisely.

 

[mfenn]

Well, here's my updated build list if anyone cares. Took a lot of ideas from mfenn with a few adjustments.

Case: Corsair Obsidian 350D - $99
PSU: Corsair CX430 - $45
MB: ASRock H87M Pro 4 - $73
PSU: i5 4440 - $189
Memory: Team 16GB DDR3 1600 - $140
Solid State: Samsung EVO 128GB Sata III - $90
Hard Drive: WD Blue 1TB - $60
Blu-ray: LG 16x - $70

Should be able to fit all of this in under $800...

This looks good to me. Nice find on the H87M Pro4, it's a no brainer over the B85M when they're both at $73.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

In other words "I don't have any actual data, so I'm just going wave my hands as a distraction".

Good on you OP for asking for hard proof. Also thanks to Torn Mind for doing the research and presenting it concisely.

No. Just no. Now, go back to your hole you troll. Why should I do the OP's research for him? I already did my own research when I built mine. Don't be ridiculous! And also you forgot to include the other half of my post...

 

[Torn Mind]

In other words "I don't have any actual data, so I'm just going wave my hands as a distraction".

Good on you OP for asking for hard proof. Also thanks to Torn Mind for doing the research and presenting it concisely.

Yes, as much as self-sufficiency is something valuable to foster, educating someone who wants help is also something valuable as well. Someone with altruistic intentions would not be simultaneous denigrating the intellect of the person he is trying to allegedly help.

 

[Torn Mind]

I had read the hardware secrets review of the CX430. It, combined with the 3-year warranty, was enough to make me feel comfortable with it. Especially considering the fact that this PC build is not power hungry in the least. It's not as if I'm going to be taxing this thing in any significant way.

But again, I have all the other PSUs you guys have recommended on a newegg wishlist and I'm price watching. If a higher quality PSU drops down to a similar price, then I'll be all over it. I'm very appreciative for the suggestions.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/399979/Builder_Series_CX430_430_Watt_ATX_12V_Power_Supply
You can buy it via Micro Center's web store and they have a rebate promo going on.

Amazon has the G-360 for $54, or you can be their refurb from the warehouse deals for only $50. Amazon tends to have favorable customer support in case anything breaks.

 

[skyline605]

Thanks!

The Seasonic at Amazon looks like a good deal.

It's going to be a month, probably, before I start purchasing so I'll keeep my eyes open.

 

[Charlie98]

Which B85 are you referring to?

I'm still curious as to which B85 Charlie preferred over the H87 I currently have selected. If he's talking about my original Gigabyte Sniper board, then yeah...me too.

Actually, that H87M board you linked is pretty sweet!

 

[skyline605]

Okay, so next up. I'm only going to be able to buy 1 or 2 components per month over the next several months to build this thing gradually.

Do you see any current prices that are absolute musts that I should jump on immediately?

The H87 board is currently $15 off, but I have no idea if that's just the normal price for it these days or of it's a deal I should jump on. Seasonic G360 for $54? Samsung SSD for $89?

For the most part I'm willing to wait out deals, but I have no clue if some of these may be as good as they're going to get or may even go up in price.

Thanks for any input!

 

[Charlie98]

I built my last desktop that way... picking up parts as they came on sale. It's not really the best way to go about it, because once you buy it... the warranty meter is running even if it's setting on a shelf in the box. I'm not saying don't do it, I'm just making you aware of the shortcomings of it.

If you want to try it, put all your items on a Newegg wish list... they will notify you if one of those components goes on sale. Subscribe to Newegg and other's daily sales emails. Go in each day and see what comes up on their loss-leader or headline sales.

 

[skyline605]

I built my last desktop that way... picking up parts as they came on sale. It's not really the best way to go about it, because once you buy it... the warranty meter is running even if it's setting on a shelf in the box. I'm not saying don't do it, I'm just making you aware of the shortcomings of it.

If you want to try it, put all your items on a Newegg wish list... they will notify you if one of those components goes on sale. Subscribe to Newegg and other's daily sales emails. Go in each day and see what comes up on their loss-leader or headline sales.

Yeah, it's not ideal at all. I guess I need to see which items have the shortest warranty and buy those last.

I've got the newegg wishlist set up. I just don't know if any of the current prices are abnormally good or pretty much par for the course...

When you've been out of this game for a while you really lose product awareness in that way.

 

[Charlie98]

The Corsair CX430 goes on sale for around $20, usually after rebate, quite often. I'd wait for that.

$89 for a 120GB EVO is pretty normal... just wait and see, or if you see a better deal on something similar... drop the hammer.

There is a 10% off memory 'coupon' from Newegg right now (just got it about an hour ago...) One other thing I look for is free shipping, which most of NE's stuff that's truly on sale normally includes... I don't ever pay for shipping.

 

[mfenn]

Okay, so next up. I'm only going to be able to buy 1 or 2 components per month over the next several months to build this thing gradually.

I really cannot recommend sticking to such an exact list over a long period of time. It's not (just) that you'll miss deals on the current parts, it's that you'll be putting blinders on and miss amazing deals for equivalent parts.

Question: are you building this as a completely machine or do you have a base that you can upgrade?

 

[skyline605]

I really cannot recommend sticking to such an exact list over a long period of time. It's not (just) that you'll miss deals on the current parts, it's that you'll be putting blinders on and miss amazing deals for equivalent parts.

Question: are you building this as a completely machine or do you have a base that you can upgrade?

No blinders. I have two lists...one for the parts I've listed here in this thread and another for pretty much anything and everything else that I run across.

I check daily deals and browse around. So, if something else comes up, I'll jump on it.

I just want to make sure there's nothing now that I can't pass up.

As to your question, are you asking if this is a completely new machine? If so, then yes.

 

[skyline605]

It looks like newegg has an e-mail deal on the Define R4 for $79.

I like the 350D better, but it IS tempting...

 

[circusslaughter]

http://www.logicalincrements.com/

 

[mfenn]

Yes, that's what I was asking. If you had a suitable existing machine, you could use that for testing the parts as they arrived.

It looks like newegg has an e-mail deal on the Define R4 for $79.

I like the 350D better, but it IS tempting...

$79 is a good price for an R4, but not an earth-shattering must-buy-it-now deal.

 

[skyline605]

Yes, that's what I was asking. If you had a suitable existing machine, you could use that for testing the parts as they arrived.



$79 is a good price for an R4, but not an earth-shattering must-buy-it-now deal.

That was my impression.

I've also added the Arc Mini R2 to my watch-list. It seems to be pretty similar to the 350D as far as ease of build and in terms of design. Both seem promising.