Need some advice on a new build

[sunburn1999]

Hi guys, been a long time lurker, first-time poster here at Anand. I haven't built a desktop in about 6 years but I just sold my laptop and I'm looking to build a Sandy-Bridge system. I put together a list of parts I'd like to use, the only thing I'm really lost on is a case because of the cpu cooler I'm planning to use (apparently it's colossal).

My budget is around $900 and it's going to be my primary computer; I plan to OC it and game quite a bit as well. I really just need help picking out a decent case. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated as well.

Intel Core i5 2500K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor
SKU: 200121
$179.99 $179.99

Update
Remove
1

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Universal CPU Cooler
SKU: 303198
$24.99 $24.99



Qty. Product Description Savings Total Price
1


SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black EIDE / ATAPI Model SH-S222A - OEM
Item #: N82E16827151175
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$20.99


SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822152185
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$64.99


Acer P215HBbd Black 21.5" Full HD WideScreen LCD Monitor
Item #: N82E16824009299
Return Policy: Monitor Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$40.00 Instant
$159.99
$119.99


XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Item #: N82E16814150506
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
-$5.00 Instant
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate
$192.99
$187.99


OCZ Fatal1ty 550W Modular Gaming Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
Item #: N82E16817341022
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
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-$15.00 Instant
$15.00 Mail-in Rebate Card
$84.99
$69.99


Logitech 920-000914 Black USB Wired Ultra-thin Illuminated Keyboard
Item #: N82E16823126043
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
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-$15.00 Instant
$79.99
$64.99


RAZER DeathAdder Black 5 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Precision Optical Gaming Mouse - 3.5G Infrared Sensor
Item #: N82E16826153055
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$5.00 Instant
$49.99
$44.99


G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
Item #: N82E16820231277
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
$49.99


GIGABYTE GA-P67A-D3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128487
$109.99

tentative total
$956.58

 

[Campy]

Antec 300 + two 120mm fans

 

[Zap]

That cooler should fit almost all mid-tower ATX cases. The only caveat is that if the case uses a side fan or duct, then you'd have to remove it to fit the cooler.

I'd recommend a different PSU. Something like this Antec HCG 520W for $60 with free shipping should work.

Also, if you can scrape up the budget for it, go up one step in the graphics card to a 6950. It doesn't cost that much more but should be a big bump in performance.

 

[Athadeus]

Antec 300 + two 120mm fans

That's the Antec 300 Illusion, a lot cheaper than getting it with the fans seperately. (except Newegg price currently isn't that great).

 

[mfenn]

That cooler should fit almost all mid-tower ATX cases. The only caveat is that if the case uses a side fan or duct, then you'd have to remove it to fit the cooler.

I'd recommend a different PSU. Something like this Antec HCG 520W for $60 with free shipping should work.

Also, if you can scrape up the budget for it, go up one step in the graphics card to a 6950. It doesn't cost that much more but should be a big bump in performance.

:thumbsup: to the HSF and PSU recommendation. The Hyper 212+ is big, but is isn't that big. It will even fit in a smallish mid-tower like the aforementioned Three Hundred.

Another thing that I noticed is that $50 is a bit high for 4GB of DDR3. You can get this 8GB PNY kit for $55 AR AP.

 

[sunburn1999]

Thanks a bunch for the advice guys, I made the changes and placed my order(s)! Anandtech is great, I've learned a lot since I came to these forums.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks a bunch for the advice guys, I made the changes and placed my order(s)! Anandtech is great, I've learned a lot since I came to these forums.

Glad to help. Post here if you run into any problems during the build.

 

[sunburn1999]

Will do, the parts should be coming by thurs. and hopefully it shouldn't be too much trouble. I have a feeling the hardest part will be installing the cpu and mounting the hyper 212+ correctly.

 

[sunburn1999]

So I finally put the build together tonight, it was a bit rough but the computer booted. The only big thing I have to fix is the cable management I think. I installed windows 7, the drivers that came with my motherboard and the XFX drivers from the 6870 radeon. Everything seems to be ok until it randomly decides to lock-up; I can't move the mouse or enter any keyboard inputs, it will only restart if I hold the power button. I'm not sure what it is but I have a funny feeling it's the XFX drivers, I'd update from AMDs site but I don't quite have internet yet. If anyone could give me some advice, that would be great.

 

[Athadeus]

Get the latest drivers from Gigabyte, don't use the ones on the CD.
http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3800&dl=1#driver

For the video, just use the AMD drivers instead of the XFX provided ones.
http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/radeon_win7-64.aspx

Also, a lot of builders run 1 pass of a memory test early on (can't trust any memory provider/shipping conditions)! Might as well just use the Windows one, just type mem into the start menu search and select Windows Memory Diagnostic. Just a thought.

 

[sunburn1999]

Yeah once I get the internet up and running I'll do a fresh install of Windows and download the drivers straight from the websites. I have a funny feeling it's the drivers because it seemed fairly stable in safe mode; I'll do a check on the ram tomorrow.

 

[sunburn1999]

So I ran two memory tests (with 2 passes each), the first one said that there were memory problems but the second did not. In terms of voltage or timings is there anything I can do to fix the problem? The computer still seems stable (in the short time I've been using it prior to restarts) without getting the gigabyte or 6870 drivers yet. I'll be downloading those later today. Do you guys have any other suggestions?

 

[fffblackmage]

One of the sticks has errors? You could try to bump voltage and see if that'll fix things, but if it's a bad stick, it's a bad stick. I would just send it back and exchange it for another.

 

[sunburn1999]

No I don't think so, I ran two separate memtests; the first set of tests said there were issues, the second set of tests did not (this was with both sticks in). Sorry if I didn't make that clear, I'll try bumping the voltage after work tonight.

 

[mfenn]

I'd probably start a memtest tonight and let it run straight through the night and see how it goes. If no errors show up, the previous ones were probably a fluke. I'm not a fan of adding voltage because that usually just hides the problem and it'll probably come back to bite you in the ass later.

I second the suggestion of never installing drivers from the CD!

 

[fffblackmage]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply bumping the voltage is a valid fix. Not sure what I was thinking. If the memory stick doesn't operate properly at it's rated voltage, then it's obviously defective and should be sent back for an exchange.

 

[sunburn1999]

Alright, so I'm not sure what's going on here. I finally got internet and installed the latest drivers from AMD. I had to install the drivers from the motherboard cd otherwise I wouldn't have the ethernet controller driver to get connected in the first place. After installing the AMD drivers, it locked up once during my troubleshooting the internet (getting internet wasn't a smooth process) and it just locked up 2 minutes ago as I tried to install a stress test for the GPU. I have a funny feeling the card is bad but I'll run a memtest over night tonight and see what it says in the morning.

 

[sunburn1999]

Sorry to keep posting like this, I just haven't built my own computer in so long that it's hard for me to diagnose this issue. The memory seems fine, I ran a gpu burn in test and it worked fine. When it works it works fine, but I have no way of knowing if/when it'll lock up. There doesn't seem to be a particular action that causes it to freeze. The only thing I noticed was that I didn't see any lock ups prior to installing the drivers (motherboard/Amd). Could the motherboard be causing the lock-ups, or maybe a certain setting? Getting pretty frustrated but I guess it's to be expected in a new build.

 

[fffblackmage]

Are CPU temps fine?

Everything is plugged in? PCIe power for the gfx card. 24-pin and the 4/8-pin for the mobo.

I had a problem with a system randomly freezing, which was rectified when I lowered the ram speed from DDR2-800 to DDR2-667. It's not much of a fix, but it's something you could try.

 

[sunburn1999]

I'll double check the wiring when I get home, I was digging through some other forums and they said to check the voltage on the ram. It's supposed to be 1.5v and I think the bios set it to 1.05. I guess I should update the bios while I'm at it.

The cpu and gpu temps are fine; 30c for the cpu (all cores) and the gpu idles at around 40c.

 

[Athadeus]

Never go by your feeling when troubleshooting, it has led me astray enough times before. I try to make a list of the potential problems, and then narrow that list by starting with the easiest steps first. Use Memtest86+, Prime95, LinX, OCCT, IntelBurnTest, FurMark, etc to massively accelerate the time it takes to reproduce the problem.

I'd still work on the memory testing first since it is one of the most easy things and a top suspect still. Test it at the rated speed, timings, and voltage first, and if there are any errors with Memtest86+, go to one stick at a time and see if just one produces errors. Also try with both sticks at the platform's rated memory speed, 1333mhz.

 

[sunburn1999]

It seems I've been consistently able to get it to lock up when changing/editing anything graphically related (e.g. desktop background/themes). Windows 7 said that the video card drivers crashed but have recovered (it'll either say that or just lock up completely). I'm curious if this is due to the card or perhaps the fact that it's plugged into an HDMI monitor. Windows appears stable in safe mode and so I'm leaning more towards an issue with the gpu. Is there anything other than furmark I can use to test the stability of the xfx 6870? Or should I just call XFX and RMA the card?

 

[mfenn]

It seems I've been consistently able to get it to lock up when changing/editing anything graphically related (e.g. desktop background/themes). Windows 7 said that the video card drivers crashed but have recovered (it'll either say that or just lock up completely). I'm curious if this is due to the card or perhaps the fact that it's plugged into an HDMI monitor. Windows appears stable in safe mode and so I'm leaning more towards an issue with the gpu. Is there anything other than furmark I can use to test the stability of the xfx 6870? Or should I just call XFX and RMA the card?

Since you've already tried the latest drivers, I'd say it's RMA time. Since its been less than 30 days since you ordered it, it'd probably be faster to deal with Newegg than XFX (though you can do either).

 

[sunburn1999]

I'd say so too, the computer works fine in safe mode and I even disabled the 6800 card when booted normally; haven't had a lock-up yet (I can switch backgrounds and basic resolutions just fine). It would also sometimes lock up no matter what I was doing, guess it's time to RMA it.

 

[sunburn1999]

I hate bumping old threads but wasn't quite sure where to post this, my apologies in advance. I finally got a new card and it works wonderfully. I just had a couple more general questions regarding overclocking and temperatures. Running real temp (at stock) is showing temps of around 35-39c with minimal cpu usage. These seem pretty high considering I'm using a non-stock heatsink; BIOS usually shows temps of very low 30s however. Aside from adjusting the multiplier, should I change any other settings prior to testing the stability of the overclock?