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Just Finished: How'd I do? (first build)

L

LucasA618

Member
Hey guys it's finally done! How'd I make out?

Cpu- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116504
(Intel i5 3.4GHz graphics 4000 etc.)
Mobo- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157297
(ASRock Z77 etc.)
Gpu- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814162119
(NVIDIA Galaxy GeForce GTX660)
Psu- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371031
(620W)
Ram- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104292
(2x4gb, PC3 12800)
Hdd- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152245
(2TB, 32mb Cache etc.)
Cd- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136247
(Ummm well it's a cd burner so thats that)
Case- NZXT Guardian
(Sexy as hell)

Thank you to everyone that helped prior to this post!

Sticky Questions for anyone new, below:
1. Gaming, Specifically bf3, L4D2, Payday the Heist, Just Cause 2, Arma 2, but I'd also like to be ready to play any game I become interested in.
2. I already have the case and I'm really looking to spend another $950-1000, I already have speakers, a gaming headset, cd/dvd burner, and windows 7.
3. Trying to buy from newegg and newegg only just to keep it simple, and in the US.
4. I don't really care about the brand... I want it to work and last.
5. Going to be using the case I have, NZXT Guardian.
7. I don't think I'll be overclocking, don't want to have to I don't wanna burn anything.
8. The monitor I wanna buy has a resolution of 1920x1080.
9. Bought
 
Two problems I see:

1. A 5400RPM hard disk for the system partition will slow down your system. At least 7200RPM or an SSD is recommended for the system partition. The drive you bought is a very good storage drive though, I own one as well.

2. The memory you bought is 1.65V. LGA1155 is meant to use 1.5V memory. If you have not put the PC together yet, return the memory and buy a 1.5V set like this one. If you have put the PC together, see if you can run it stable at 1333MHz CL9 1.5V (use HCI memtest).
 
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lehtv pointed out your only areas of concern with your build. Thumbs up for him being as thorough and honest in these 'check my build' threads as he is. He should be paid a micro-transaction for his constant work around here.

Being in the market for a HDD now is still a sad proposition, as we have had prices drop a bit, but still not enough to satisfy a bargain shopper. I'm hoping this years BF deals bring some 2-3TB 7200rpm drives into the sub $100-130 price range.
 
Absolutely add an SSD before you put this system together or you'll be crippling it significantly. Even a 60GB drive for the OS, which won't cost more than $80,will make all the difference in the world.
 
Termie said:
Absolutely add an SSD before you put this system together or you'll be crippling it significantly. Even a 60GB drive for the OS, which won't cost more than $80,will make all the difference in the world.
Click to expand...

60GB is barely sufficient space, get a 120/128GB for $100. Double the space for $20 more, that is a no brainer, and will save headaches down the road.
 
60GB is quite easily sufficient for the OS and Program Files. Games will have to go on the HDD, as well as regular My Documents folders like Downloads, Music, Pictures etc.
 
TheStu said:
60GB is barely sufficient space, get a 120/128GB for $100. Double the space for $20 more, that is a no brainer, and will save headaches down the road.
Click to expand...

My point was not that 60GB is ideal, but that it is sufficient and incredibly cheap. While 120GB Sandforce drives are very cheap, that's not what I was talking about. The difference in price between reputable 64GB and 128GB drives of the same model line is not $20. It's more like $40:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...1&name=SAMSUNG

If the OP is on a tight budget, he should absolutely get a $75 Samsung SSD over no SSD at all. Of course, if he has the budget, he should buy whatever he can afford. I would not, however, be tempted to buy a cheap SandForce drive. Whether it's $70 for 60GB or $90 for 120GB, it's not worth it, IMO.

lehtv said:
60GB is quite easily sufficient for the OS and Program Files. Games will have to go on the HDD, as well as regular My Documents folders like Downloads, Music, Pictures etc.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
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lehtv said:
60GB is quite easily sufficient for the OS and Program Files. Games will have to go on the HDD, as well as regular My Documents folders like Downloads, Music, Pictures etc.
Click to expand...

Termie said:
My point was not that 60GB is ideal, but that it is sufficient and incredibly cheap. While 120GB Sandforce drives are very cheap, that's not what I was talking about. The difference in price between reputable 64GB and 128GB drives of the same model line is not $20. It's more like $40:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...1&name=SAMSUNG

If the OP is on a tight budget, he should absolutely get a $75 Samsung SSD over no SSD at all. Of course, if he has the budget, he should buy whatever he can afford. I would not, however, be tempted to buy a cheap SandForce drive. Whether it's $70 for 60GB or $90 for 120GB, it's not worth it, IMO.
Click to expand...

I find my 120 SSD getting more than half full after not too much time, and that is just OS, documents and program files. Downloads and Music are on another drive. Part of that is the 16GB hibernate file that won't freaking die in my case though.

My point was just 60GB may become limiting too quickly, and the price delta between the 64GB and the 128GB isn't too significant. One way or another, it isn't double the cost, it is between 25-50% more to get double the space, and is a good investment in my opinion.

I wasn't referring to sandforce drives. I was looking at the 830 and M4, and those are both $105 on amazon for the 128GB models. I have prime so I check amazon first.
 
I wasn't referring to sandforce drives. I was looking at the 830 and M4, and those are both $105 on amazon for the 128GB models. I have prime so I check amazon first.
Click to expand...

OT: Is there a benefit to Prime other than free shipping? Newegg has free shipping on a lot of items as well and often lower prices than Amazon.
 
lehtv said:
OT: Is there a benefit to Prime other than free shipping? Newegg has free shipping on a lot of items as well and often lower prices than Amazon.
Click to expand...

Free 2 day shipping, cheap upgrade to next day shipping, Kindle Lending Library, Amazon Streaming, a couple other things. I find the prices between the two to be about even, some things are cheaper on one side or the other. But if one of multiple items DOESN'T have free shipping on Newegg, Amazon has just made up the price difference.
 
TheStu said:
I find my 120 SSD getting more than half full after not too much time, and that is just OS, documents and program files. Downloads and Music are on another drive. Part of that is the 16GB hibernate file that won't freaking die in my case though.

My point was just 60GB may become limiting too quickly, and the price delta between the 64GB and the 128GB isn't too significant. One way or another, it isn't double the cost, it is between 25-50% more to get double the space, and is a good investment in my opinion.

I wasn't referring to sandforce drives. I was looking at the 830 and M4, and those are both $105 on amazon for the 128GB models. I have prime so I check amazon first.
Click to expand...

Agreed on all points, but as for the bolded issue above, I would highly recommend that you disable hibernation. You can then delete the hibernation file.

Hibernation
Another feature that can be a pain is when you are hibernating the computer. If you really don’t need this feature consider to use sleep or shutdown instead, because it is writing your memory to the hibernation file every time you hibernate. If you reconsider to not use hibernation anymore then you can disable it by running the command

powercfg /hibernate off
as an administrator. This will disable the hibernation option and remove the hibernation file. It’s not possible to move the hibernation file.
Click to expand...

Source: http://blog.superuser.com/2011/05/10/maximizing-the-lifetime-of-your-ssd/
 
Not that it was a fast SSD, but the recent Staples deal on the 128GB Kingston V200 for $57 shipped was a great deal if you want to try out an SSD. I can recommend a Kingston SSD without feeling like the buyer is tempting fate on an OCZ drive with a rebate attached to it.
 
TheStu said:
OT: I have tried that actually, that's what I mean when I say that the ah heck won't die. I reboot... and it's back. Very annoying. And I have 16GB RAM, so the hibernate file and page file are both absurd.
Click to expand...

Make sure that you issue the powercfg command from an elevated command prompt. Then reboot and then delete the hibernate file (if necessary).

As for page file, you definitely do not need 16GB allocated to it Right-click on Computer -> Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Advanced tab -> Performance -> Advanced -> Virtual Memory -> Custom Size -> 1024 Initial and Maximum Size -> Set -> OK all the way out and reboot.
 
mfenn said:
Make sure that you issue the powercfg command from an elevated command prompt. Then reboot and then delete the hibernate file (if necessary).

As for page file, you definitely do not need 16GB allocated to it Right-click on Computer -> Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Advanced tab -> Performance -> Advanced -> Virtual Memory -> Custom Size -> 1024 Initial and Maximum Size -> Set -> OK all the way out and reboot.
Click to expand...

You know what I had been doing wrong? Not running as admin to disable hibernate.
 
Shit I forgot to check all of these replies until now I haven't put it together yet but I have all the parts will one person pleaseee just write a short thing about which new ram I should get and explain why I'll be crippled without a ssd? Will they also post a link to the cheapest one they recommend? THANK YOU I'm glad I haven't built yet
 
LucasA618,
Your system will not be crippled by not having an SSD. Your system will be much slower than it needs to be if you have a 5400RPM HD as lehtv pointed out. The solution to fix that remains the same as he stated: either swap for a 7200RPM drive or keep the 5400 and add an SSD. The SSD is very nice to have, but is not crippling to be without it. Having only the 5400RPM is just plain silly if that in fact is what you have for your boot device.

EDIT: fff and Termie have it right on the RAM. Inattention on my part missed the 1.65v. Apologies.
 
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LucasA618 said:
Shit I forgot to check all of these replies until now I haven't put it together yet but I have all the parts will one person pleaseee just write a short thing about which new ram I should get and explain why I'll be crippled without a ssd? Will they also post a link to the cheapest one they recommend? THANK YOU I'm glad I haven't built yet
Click to expand...
I wouldn't expect your computer to explode just because you bought 1.65V ram, but IIRC, Intel just puts 1.65V as the maximum ram voltage that will be safe for the CPU's Integrated Memory Controller (or something like that). Still, with a plethora of choices for ram that just needs the DDR3 standard 1.5V, it just doesn't make all that much sense to buy ram that needs 1.65V.

With SSD prices so low, I would seriously consider getting a 60GB SSD. I've never had any issues fitting everything I need (no games though) into my aging 60GB OCZ Agility. YMMV of course, depending on what kind of crap you like saved on your OS drive.

I also have the Samsung F4EG (before Samsung sold off its HDD division to Seagate). Awesome HDD. Very fast for a green drive. Even faster than my much older 7200 rpm HDD I was using before.
 
ALSO! is there just a simpler solution to returning the ram and buying a new one? I'm idk why there would be but I don't know much about computers, thanks!
 
Returning the RAM will cost you shipping and a restocking fee. Forget it, not worth it. Just manually set the RAM to 1333 in the BIOS and the voltage at 1.5v.

As for the SSD, there is absolutely no reason to spend this much on a computer in 2012 and not include an SSD. The computer will boot twice as fast, open programs twice as fast, load game levels 33% faster, and will even surf the web much faster. Spend the $75. You already bought a storage drive as a boot device - we're trying to help you salvage this machine.
 
LucasA618 said:
Okay about to buy this ssd, do I have at least 2/3 approval? haha http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227811
Click to expand...

Spend a little more and get this or even better this

The first is the Crucial M4 64GB. It is 2-5x faster than the one you picked, and is $75. The second is the Samsung 830 128GB. Double the space, equal in speed to the Crucial M4 (so still much faster than your pick) for $90. That is a great price.

Your pick has a mail in rebate, and if every dollar counts, and you follow up on the rebate, then it is hard to beat that price. However, the Crucial or Samsung are the better choice, yes they cost more money, but they are better drives.
 
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