Help me build my new PC

[Chris D]

So it's time for me to build a new PC. My current desktop is a full 10 years old (wow... can you believe it?) and is for all intents dead. Wifey and I talked about options, such as going laptop-only, but we think we're always going to need a central family desktop, for doing projects, schoolwork for the kids, etc.

I've never built a PC before, but would like to do it this time. I'm a little daunted by the idea, especially when looking at all the options. So I really could use help from those who know about building their own PCs, and get suggestions/advice along the way, mostly about the hardware selection.

Big picture, I'm looking for a solid PC, middle class with a few high performance features. Nothing cheap, but it does NOT have to be a high-end gaming rig. Maybe $1000-$1300 or so? Flexible. My particulars:

- Usage would be varied for the family. Lots of websurfing, some use of Office-like computing. I'd do some A/V programming with it, such as URC remote controls.

- My wife and I would likely do some decent photography and A/V editing. My wife would love to get more into this, using her SLR camera we got her this year. I could see us editing home movies. Nothing professional. But to emphasize, it would need to have the processing to do the editing, but the rig itself does NOT need to be a high-end A/V player. We would not be using it as a HTPC, to formally play back the pictures, audio, or video. We'd use our home theater equipment for that.

- On the same lines, I want to use this computer to rip music and movies to high quality digital files. But don't need to have high-end playback capability.

- I might play some good games on it to test the system, but nowadays my PS3 does my primary gaming.

- I do not need an extreme amount of dedicated hard drive storage. All my home computers are networked to NAS-like storage (Drobo) where we save all our big files, including pictures, video, and music.

- I need all hardware for the actual CPU, (not going to re-use any used internal pieces I already own) but do NOT need any peripherals like keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc.

- I'd like the case to be something classy, and it could be something cool, but doesn't need to be anything crazy, with lights or such. Don't need a screen on the case.

- I'd like to have some decent cooling. The case will likely be in a cabinet, and if it would have some sort of capability for external cooling, such as piping to an external radiator or such, I'm open to the extra cost.

- Since the case will likely be in a cabinet, are there any cases out there that are less DEEP than others, front to back? I really don't have a limitation on height or width, but it would help if the case is not as deep.

- Being the kind of guy I am, I usually end up doing lots of multi-tasking, and need the processing capability to do many things at once.

- On a similar note, I'm willing to pay the price for LOTS of good memory. (at least 8GB?) For processing and memory, I want something that will stay well AHEAD of the power curve, as the system naturally ages.

- I want a BD burner. A second disc player would be nice, (BD/DVD) but it wouldn't need burning capability. I have Cyberlink's full disc playing and burning software suite, which should work nice.

- Must have HDMI output(s). I currently only have a single display for this computer.

- 5.1 surround sound output is a plus, but doesn't have to be particularly robust or high fidelity.

- Needs gigabit ethernet. Does not need wi-fi.

- Front plugs like USB would be nice, but not mandatory.

- Serial/RS-232 port would be very nice. (almost mandatory)

- Right now Vista is the highest OS I have, but think I might as well go Win7 off the bat. Similarly, running Office 2007 on all my computers now. Go for Office 2010?

- This computer will remain permanently powered on in the house office. If I get the opportunity, it could even become the central home computer for home automation, security, etc. (I do not currently have computer needs for this purpose)

Thanks in advance for the help and advice! I'm ready to purchase anytime I get my ducks in a row, even today with any 4th of July holiday deals if they're out there!

[Kevin P]

Sounds like your primary goals are future-proofing and performance for photo and some video editing. So you'll want lots of RAM and a decently fast CPU.

I've been a longtime fan of ASUS motherboards and AMD CPUs. My last few builds have been Phenom II X4 (quad-core) CPUs but I think they've had 6-core ones out for a while now. Socket AM3 is the current standard socket type for AMDs, so go with that. 6-core AMD CPUs are currently running in the $170-190 range on Newegg depending on speed. The top one (the Phenom II X6 1100T) runs at 3.3 GHz and will burst up to 3.7 GHz for those heavier tasks like processing a 15 megapixel photo.

As for cooling, are you willing to consider having the back of the cabinet open and/or install fan(s) in the cabinet? That's the best bet for overall cooling. Even if you installed some sort of external heatpipe or heat exchanger for the CPU, you still have the video card, PSU, mobo chipset, hard drive putting heat into the cabinet. Ventilating the cabinet is the easiest, cheapest, and best solution.

If you want a case that is less deep, consider a Micro ATX case and motherboard. They're smaller than standard ATX, but you'll lose some expansion options like fewer PCI slots. Some microATX cases are 13" or so deep.

Since you're not building a dedicated HTPC or gaming system, onboard video and sound will be fine. Most decent motherboards have HDMI and SPDIF (optical or coax) already, as well as onboard ethernet (many with gigabit).

Front USB jacks are a feature of the case. All motherboards have connections for additional USB jacks.

For 8 GB RAM, you'll need a 64-bit OS. Don't put Vi$ta on it, it's total crap. Go Win7 or Ubuntu.

Serial ports are becoming rarities on today's motherboards. You may have to use a PCI serial card or a USB-serial dongle.

Check out this motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131654
It appears to have what you're looking for, except for serial, which you can add on with a USB or PCI card. Such as this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-113-_-Product

[Hdale85]

Well personally I'd go for the new AMD cpu's that were just released (only 2 have so far) or the Sandybridge Intel CPU's. Both have a very decent on chip GPU. The new AMD's aren't badly priced at all of course I don't think the Intel's are either. I like Asus, Gigabyte, and lately I've been using MSI for the past few years. The newly released AMD cpu's I believe are of the lower end of the spectrum as far as what will come out? I'm not entirely sure on this but it seems that way?

Playing back HD video and what not is actually quite easy now days, you'll use way more processing power actually editing it then it takes to play it back.

As for a case I've grown very fond of the Cooler Master HAF series cases, I have the HAF 922 which is 22.2" deep, there is the HAF 912 at 19.5" deep. HAF stands for High Air Flow, they are completely designed for maximum airflow and cooling. The 922 has 2 200MM fans and is nearly completely silent. The HAF922 does have a single red 200MM LED fan on the front, but there is a button on the top to turn it on and off.

The other thing you don't want to go cheap on at all is the PSU, a lot of people think they are all equal but they really aren't. Get your self a good quality 80+ certified PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197&cm_re=HAF-_-11-119-197-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.675161

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151098

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227689

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233170

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136232

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118050

I think that's pretty much everything? Just slightly over 1k and a Sandybridge setup would be around the same. If you go Intel I'd go with a socket 1155 board and the Core i7 2600k likely. Personally I do have the 6 core Phenom II. It is nice, but I believe the new AMD cpu's are supposed to bring a lot more performance to the table then the Phenoms because of some new features like on die memory controller and what not. Since you're not doing a high end video card, in your budget you could almost do any setup? Even the 1366 Intel setup is very nice! With 3 channel memory and what not. Sort of more for gaming but doesn't have to be. I really wanted a Sandybridge CPU but they had a recall on them the day before I ordered, and the 1366 stuff at the time didn't fit my budget so I went with the AMD 6 core.

[Hdale85]

That SSD might not be ideal, the ones that last a long time I think are the SLC based drives and not the MLC? I haven't read any reviews lately about the newer MLC drives? An SSD is something I still need to add to my gaming rig.

[aud19]

Mostly already been touched on but I agree with Kevin, go for an Asus mobo IMO. They also have made great "silent" (big heat sink, no fan) video cards if you do decide not to use on board video (which should be sufficient for your use). I'd personally go with Nvidia based Asus units in that case (over ATI).

Definitely go SSD for your hard drive (quieter, faster and less heat) and I personally like Lite-On optical drives (they're the OEM supplier for Sony FWIW)

8gb should be plenty for RAM, though a bit more won't hurt if you get a good price etc.

CPU's I too am a fan of AMD and have one of their 6 core units in my work station. Multi core cpu's will be great for multi-threaded aps (like my 3D Studio and I believe the new Photoshop as well) but the 6 core AMD's did fall a bit short of top performers in more mundane computer tasks. But they're MUCH cheaper than Intel equivalents and in my mind it makes sense to have your CPU be really good at the hard stuff and mediocre at the easy stuff than vice versa but it depends on your priorities. If you're doing a LOT of easy stuff it might make more sense to get a comparatively priced Intel CPU that is arguably better at easy stuff but might fall a bit shorter on the occasional hard stuff.

I quite like Silverstone cases. Well built, good ventilation, they have quality PS's http://www.silverstonetek.com/produc...tno=7&area=usa

Definitely go Win7

[Chris D]

Great start there. What sites should I be shopping on? I got Newegg. Others?

As for the cabinet, based on my office, I don't have much choice other than using this built-in computer workstation that's built into the wall, with cabinets, which puts the CPU in this floor-level cabinet. I can leave the door open, which ventilates the cabinet, but it still puts the CPU in a 5-sided enclosed box. I can potentially cut holes in the cabinet ceiling or left wall, to run tubes/cables, but not an extreme amount.

Is there such a thing as an external cooling radiator, with like water tubes from the case?

If nothing else, it would really help to have a case that would ventilate from a front-based fan, so it could push hot air straight out into the room through the open cabinet door. Know of a good case that exhausts from the front? Or is it possible to make the fans run backwards, so that it takes air in from the rear, and exhausts from the front?

[Alaric]

Got my stuff at Tiger Direct. I second the Asus/AMD quad core combo. Tiger Direct also has some helpful videos for assembling a PC. They're on youtube. And WELCOME HOME , CHRIS!!! Late , but sincere nonetheless.

[Alaric]

I also went with 64 bit Win 7. Meh. It loads and shuts down faster , but IE has to be run in 32 bit if you want Flash animation , or use another browser. I go back and forth between IE and Firefox. I'm thinking about taking the plunge and going with Linux. The Beast Of Redmond is getting tiresome.

[Hdale85]

I've been using Chrome for a while now...... Firefox started having some severe memory issues a while back and I've been on Chrome ever since.

[Alaric]

I've noticed Firefox using stupid amounts of memory for a while. Hmmmmm. How's Opera?

[aud19]

If nothing else, it would really help to have a case that would ventilate from a front-based fan, so it could push hot air straight out into the room through the open cabinet door. Know of a good case that exhausts from the front? Or is it possible to make the fans run backwards, so that it takes air in from the rear, and exhausts from the front?

Simply mount the fan backwards in the case.

However, most cases nowadays have a side exhaust directly from the CPU so you may still have issues. Not to mention your power supply exhausting out the rear as well. Another option, if you have room would be to install a large 12-14cm fan at the back of the desk to pull air out of the cabinet itself. It may not completely solve the issue but it won't hurt. With long enough or extension cables you could likely run it from the motherboard as well. Just be careful when pulling the computer out of the desk :lol:

[Kevin P]

You could put the entire computer, case and all, into the cabinet backwards, then it'll vent out the front. :B It'll make plugging the cables in easier too. Want to put discs in the optical drive? Just mount one externally on top of the case facing toward you. Easy as pie.

Best solution is to, if at all possible, keep a front-to-back airflow, whether that means putting a fan in the back of the cabinet to pull air through, or one in front to push air through. Front-to-back will be quieter too. For my MythTV box, I mounted a 12cm fan in the back side of the cabinet (the side facing the kitchen), and rigged up an extension cable that plugs into one of the PSU molex connectors and goes out the back of the machine, then the fan header plugs into that.

[impala454]

You definitely don't want to be reversing the fan flow in a computer. There's a reason motherboards are designed the way they are. Unless you want CPU and video card heat blowing across all your other components, leave it the way it is.

Venting the cabinet itself is the only way to go really (if it must reside inside a cabinet). IMHO if you're going to have to drill holes to do that type of venting, you might as well see if there's a nearby closet it or something where you can stash the computer, then the whole system can be loud as all get out, will vent well, and still be silent at your chair.

[Hdale85]

Those HAF cases vent most of their heat out of the top 200mm fan. I'm not sure if that works better in your circumstance?

[Chris D]

Thanks, Lee. Good to be home!

Thanks, guys. I am really liking the look of Silverstone cases. This one has my eye, although it only has one disc drive, and a slot-loader, at that:

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=291&area=usa

The cables all come out either the top or the bottom, at the rear. All 4 side panels are blanks.





But I'd have to say that these two are catching my eye the most, the final one being an evolution of the other model. They're Micro-ATX cases. Would I have any compromise if I put everything into one of these?

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=93&area=usa

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=303&area=usa

[aud19]

Nope, microATX really is where most people should be building IMO short of all out gaming or server rigs.

With onboard sound, video and network the only expansion card space you'll likely need is the aforementioned serial adapter. Throw in your RAM, CPU and a small, quiet and cool SSD and you've still got plenty of room in a mATX.

[Hdale85]

Well, a lot of microATX boards are limited in more then just expansion slots. A lot of them only have 2 memory slots, some are limited by CPU wattage. Also there are plenty of other circumstances other then gaming and a server that require more expansion, video editing rigs, work stations, producing music and such. For Chris it's likely all he needs though, just find one with 4 memory slots and make sure it'll handle the wattage of CPU you want to use (the 6 core AMD Phenom II is 125watts I believe).

[aud19]

Sorry, should have thrown out an "etc" there... "Nope, microATX really is where most people should be building IMO short of all out gaming or server rigs etc."

Better? :

[Hdale85]

Lol, yeah it's better. For a basic home computer you're likely not going to need more then a MicroATX solution, other then the few items I listed that you have to look out for. I got Diana a MicroATX board for her computer and ended up it was restricted to 95watt CPU's max and I couldn't install the quad core I had laying around...... in fact I had to swap CPU's all over the house in order to free up one that would work for her motherboard..... oh well? Server got an upgrade to quad core at least lol.

[Chris D]

Ah, okay... well, if we assume to get us going in a direction that I go with one of those cases, I need to figure out the next steps. Looking at motherboards, I really don't know what most of the stats mean, other than assuming that a higher model number would be "better" or newer than a lower one, or a numerically higher stat is better, such as DDR3 2000 O.C. memory assumed to have better performance than 1600 O.C.

Doing a search on NewEgg then, narrowing down just a bit and sticking with the ASUS mobos that you guys recommended, it came up with 5 primary contenders:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007625%2050001315%20600007977%20600036416%20600009017&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&CompareItemList=22%7C13-131-595%5E13-131-595-TS%2C13-131-654%5E13-131-654-TS%2C13-131-660%5E13-131-660-TS%2C13-131-657%5E13-131-657-TS%2C13-131-672%5E13-131-672-TS

Out of those, the one on the far right seems to have the best stats.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131654

So then moving on to processors, it seems that a good match for that AM3 mobo would be something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103913

AMD has apparently released new the new A-series "Accelerated Processing Unit" that shares processing between CPU and graphics. http://promotions.newegg.com/AMD/11-...%2f156x350.jpg Here's an ASUS mobo that support the A-series processors. These are FM1 socket types, instead of the AM3. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131764 And in fact, this mobo supports up to 64GB memory, whereas the AM3 board caps it at 16GB. (which I probably don't even need that much, I think) I only see two APU processors on NewEgg so far, and both are quad cores, whereas you can get six-cores with the AM3. This is the better of the two, and I think the one Dougie recommended: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103942

So to sum up two options here would be the AM3 socket option with Phenom II X6 processor mating:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131654

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103913

Or the FM1 with A-series processor mating:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131764

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103942

I'll pause here for more guidance and recommendations...

And another thing... looking towards what form of Windows 7 to get, am I locked in to 64 bit to get a decent amount of memory? (I'm thinking 8-16GB) Lee mentioned Flash, and I'm not sure if all my programs run in 64 bit of not. Can I have problems, or I see that Win7 Pro has a feature to run "Win XP programs"... would I want to that edition to be sure of an ability to run all the programs?

Thanks much!

[Hdale85]

Any 32bit app will run in 64bit windows.

The quad core vs 6 core cpu I'm not sure if you'd notice a huge difference? Obviously more cores are better, but the newer CPU's do have some features that should perform a good bit better? It may still be too soon to start going with the A series though simply because they don't have any of the higher end units out yet and because they literally just came out like last week. The new chips should be pretty sweet though, just not a lot out there about them yet.

Get Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit, or Ultimate if any of those features appeal to you.

[aud19]

I think Dougie pretty much covered it. I'd probably go with an AM3 X6 unless you ABSOLUTELY must be on the bleeding edge but then you have less to choose from and will likely pay a bit more of a price premium. Either will have more than enough horse power for you.

Does Newegg/Asus not have any m-ATX boards with Nvidia onboard video right now? All ATI?

[Hdale85]

Most AMD stuff now comes with ATI since AMD owns ATI and what not. Honestly newer ATi stuff has actually been performing better. I'm kind of regretting my purchase of Nvidia GTX 560Ti's because of lots of little quirks when it comes to DX10 and 11 games. Not to mention it's support for triple screens is starting to look pretty bad. I get crashes and artifacts all the time when running in 3 screen setups! And the ATI counterparts handle higher resolutions MUCH better and they scale better. l'll likely be upgrading soon.

[aud19]

Interesting, last I looked (probably over a year ago) Nvidia was in the lead and did far better video (more important for a HTPC) and ATI was seemingly struggling with firmware bugs...goes to show you always need to research the here and now for PC's :lol:

[Hdale85]

Yeah probably not to long after that it's sort of been AMD. Eyefinity works far better then Nvidia's Surround. Nvidia dual GPU solutions only scale about 50% or so at best while AMD's are around 90% so almost full scaling between multiple GPU's. Not the first time Nvidia has screwed things up though, if you remember the 5XXX series cards they were complete crap from the get go. I believe the people involved in development changed at Nvidia as well and haven't been doing such a great job. Of course if you do plan to use linux, you'll likely want to stick to Nvidia. Both do hardware acceleration great though for HTPC use.

[Chris D]

Next question(s).. what is a "modular" power supply? And then, when I look at power supplies, I see that there are a very select few, at 400W or less, that are designated as Micro ATX power supplies. Do I need to purchase one of these?

Here's one I found, out of stock of course. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817338019 I'll go with whatever's best for a micro ATX case. I like the TJ08 I listed above. And I wrote to Silverstone, and they say the TJ08-E evolution model should be released on Monday, so it should be a good time to get a new and improved model too.

[Hdale85]

Depends on the case, Those cases you listed I believe will use a standard PSU. Get something that's 80+ certified, gold would be even better.

[Kevin P]

Modular PSU simply means that the wires are detachable on the PSU end so you can just connect the wires you need. Reduces the rats' nest of wires behind the PSU.

Depending on the case, it may accept a standard ATX PSU or it may require a MicroATX PSU. Check the case you're planning to get.

[Chris D]

I think I may have found a good source for the new Silverstone TJ08-E case. Reading through the owner's manual for it, it seems pretty awesome, too. (with my limited background knowledge) Has anybody heard of Directron.com? They're an authorized Silverstone reseller, and have it for a good price, actually willing to ship to Alaska for something other than next-day UPS too. (big bucks)

http://www.directron.com/tj08be.html

I've got a trip to Baltimore next week. I think I might run over to the CompUSA/Tiger Direct store in Dover, Delaware. Hopefully I can pick up several of the components for the computer, and in person in Delaware, there'd be no shipping or sales tax.

- I'm not quite sure how to compute how much power I'd need from a power supply. I see that the processor is rated at 100W, but I'm not seeing power ratings for all the other things.

- Why does a power supply need to be specifically rated to enable Crossfire or SLI?

- The A8 APU processor says that it enables Crossfire when mated with "select" 6000-series graphics cards, but I don't know what to choose, if I did add a card to the A8 3850.

- Do I need to be thinking about buying little accessories, like cables, or thermal grease? On the note of cables, I'm not sure what the best connection is for each component. SATA?

- Lastly, when I got into the Silverstone case manual, it talked about doing a back case fan, depending on what type of CPU cooler is used. Uh... I don't know what to get for a CPU cooler. If I do go with the AMD A8 3850 APU, what would be a good CPU cooler?

[JohnA]

Yeah I've bought a few things from Directron over the years whenever they had the better pricing, or were the only ones that offered what I was looking for. They have been around for awhile, they did OK for me whenever I used them for something I needed to get that they had. Mwave.com and zipzoomfly.com are a another two places that I,ve used quite a few times as well.

[Chris D]

Okay, I've purchased all the components I think I'm going to need. Shopped some sales, did a lot of research, and I think I got a winning arrangement here. Experts, please check me and let me know if there's anything I'm missing, or if there's any incompatability.

I'm just waiting on the case, which is brand new and backordered in many places, not to mention most companies charge a ton to ship to Alaska. I finally got a good price and free shipping on it from Amazon, but it won't arrive for another maybe 3 weeks. And so I wait.

The motherboard and processor are also brand new models. I was doing good on total cost, so I decided to get a dedicated graphics card too. Using Crossfire, it should integrate with the onboard GPU in the processor, making both graphics and CPU processing even faster.




Prices are total, with tax and shipping. (which I actually managed to avoid on ALL items)

$ 99.00 Silverstone Temjin TJ08B-E, Micro ATX Case
$109.99 ASUS F1A75-M Pro Micro ATX Motherboard
$124.99 AMD A8-3850 APU Processor
$171.98 16 GB DDR3, 240 pin 1866MHz memory (PC3 14900) - (2 kits of 2 x 4 GB sticks)
$129.99 Seasonic 560W ATX 80 Plus Gold X-560 Power Supply
$ 99.00 Sony SATA BD Burner
$ 99.00 Sony SATA BD Burner (2nd Optical Drive)
$129.99 Windows 7 Home Professional 64-Bit OEM Operating System
$139.99 Western Digital Caviar Black 2 TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
$ 6.99 Silverstone 120mm Rear Case Sleeve Bearing fan 26.6db FN121
$ 78.39 HIS Radeon 6570 1GB DDR3 PCIe Graphics Card

$1191.29 TOTAL

Seems a good deal to me!

[Hdale85]

Everything should work well together. Is there a reason you went for the A8? The current A8 CPU's are actually rather low end, the new SandyBridge CPU's and Phenom's actually perform quite a bit better. The A8 APU is sort of entry level and kind of designed for graphics style processing from what I gather? I'm not sure how much of a difference there is and what not it's just the preliminary reviews I've read and what not.

[Chris D]

Aha... hmmm.... from what I was gathering, in my research and our discussion here, it seemed like although faster A-series chips will (presumably) be coming out, the technology gave overall very good performance. If the FM3 chips really do outperform the A-series by that much, though, then I wonder if I made the wrong choice.

One thing I've been wondering, could I assemble this computer as configured, and then down the road just swap out the processor with a new one to keep it fast and cutting edge? Or if you change the processor or motherboard, does the hard drive setup stop working, and require a fresh install?

[Hdale85]

Generally I've found that if you're swapping an AMD with another AMD processor you don't have to reformat. Same with Intel, but going from AMD to Intel sometimes I've had to do a fresh install. AS far as upgrading the CPU it depends on weather the other new ones will use the same socket and what not?

[Chris D]

Ah, I see. So if I'm hearing correctly, I could build this PC, and then potentially just swap out the processor for a faster one, when AMD releases another A-series APU in the future? I might just do that, then.

I hope I'm not disappointed with the processing speed, then, of this build. I think it's too late for me to return the mobo and CPU/APU.

But on another note today, my case just shipped! Woot! Amazon's awesome about free shipping up to Alaska, and they decided to send it 2-day UPS this time, so it looks like I might be computer building this weekend! Woot!

[Hdale85]

Yeah if they release a faster CPU that uses the same socket then it shouldn't be a problem, and judging by the long term use of the AM3 socket I would say it's likely to happen.

With how old your previous PC was I'd be surprised if you were disappointed.

[JohnA]

I hope I'm not disappointed with the processing speed, then, of this build. I think it's too late for me to return the mobo and CPU/APU.

If you are having second thoughts, I would not sweat the matter of returning it too much if you bought it from Amazon. As long as it was bought direct from Amazon and not one of their secondary vendors that also sell through them. Amazon is absolutely great with returns, even for a non defective return the most it would cost you is the return shipping charge back to Amazon. I don't know how it is for Alaska customers, but for the rest of the US, if it's something with a defect or not described properly, then they even pay for the return shipping.

[Hdale85]

I think he got them from Newegg, I think they'd likely take them back no problem if they are unused and sealed still.

[JohnA]

The only thing he mentioned for sure that he got from Amazon, is the case. So I don't really know where he is getting everything else from.

But I know one thing for sure, unless it's a defective product, Newegg always hits you with a return/restocking charge. Which is one reason I more or less refuse to buy from them anymore unless I am absolutely 100% sure that it's what I want, and that they are by far the cheapest to sell it by a wide margin. I will even pay extra to avoid buying from Newegg now after they sent me a defective motherboard that would not even boot up. They tried like crazy to get me to send it to Gigabyte to have it repaired under warranty, but I refused and insisted on a return. Yet they said they checked it out after I sent it back to them and it that was OK, and so they hit me with a 15% restocking charge. And the thing the p*ssed me off the most about all of that, is that it was blatantly obvious that the motherboard they sent me was used, and was even missing some of it's accessories that come with motherboards. My guess is that it would not boot up for the other person also. So it's pretty much no more Newegg for me now, unless they are the only option left.

[Hdale85]

If it's unopened they don't do a restocking fee, at least in my experience? I've never had issues like you've had with them though. Could of been that whoever put the return in from the previous buyer may of stuck it in the wrong stack or something and labled it as unopened when it should of been in open box or something? There are other companies I like as well though, I just don't find deals that are all that much better if at all then NewEgg and I've never personally had any issues with them.

[Chris D]

Hmmm... yeah, I got the mobo and processor from Amazon.

I only have another 2 days until my case gets here. I guess I could wait, though, and buy a different mobo and processor. Would I get significantly better performance? I'm guessing you guys would recommend a high-end AM3 chip?

I've seen talk about "bulldozer", but I don't think it's out yet.

[JohnA]

If it's unopened they don't do a restocking fee, at least in my experience? I've never had issues like you've had with them though. Could of been that whoever put the return in from the previous buyer may of stuck it in the wrong stack or something and labled it as unopened when it should of been in open box or something? There are other companies I like as well though, I just don't find deals that are all that much better if at all then NewEgg and I've never personally had any issues with them.

Yeah but the point is, they obviously sent me a used & defective motherboard, that was also missing a large part of it's to be included accessories, and then they lied to me about all that, and that they said it checked out OK after they got it back from me. (BS! I bet they never actually tried it out in any way) The missing accessories I did not care that much about, but the motherboard being defective and not even capable of booting up, p*ssed me off big time. They sent me a used & defective motherboard, tried to get me to send it direct to Gigabyte instead of having me return a defective product back to them only two days after I received it from them, and yet with all the BS they pulled on me, they still hit me up with a 15% restocking fee, plus I got dinged for the return shipping.

[Hdale85]

Was it an AMD board? If it wouldn't boot up sounds like it could of been an issue of not having the latest bios possibly the CPU was too new, this has happened to me before and I had to install an older cpu in the board to update the bios and then swap it back out afterwards. Would explain why they said it tested good.


Chris it's just from the reviews I've seen and what not the current APU's are just not very high end? Would you notice a big difference in actual use? I'm not really sure. But benchmarks and stuff the AM3's and Intel Sandy Bridge CPU's score a good bit higher.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...o,2975-17.html Here's a page from a review that shows how fast several entry level CPU's are at encoding media. You notice the Core i3 is the fastest and it's the very lowest end of the new Intel chips. You can read the whole review if you want it's pretty extensive. Is it a bad product? No, but it's not intended to be anything more then entry level from what it looks like to me.

[JohnA]

BS, they never tested the board. It was flat out DEAD, there was nothing at all on shown on the screen when you turned the PC on, nothing. No bios startup messages or anything!


It was a few years ago, and it was Gigabyte Intel board. I prefer Intel processors, and do not care about at all about using AMD. It was a $350+ board with onboard Adaptec ultra SCSI, so with the 15% restocking fee and return shipping they tried to ding me for roughly $60 in return fees and return shipping. My credit card company had something to say about all that BS they tried to pull on me, and reversed all the charges on them. I got the same board from someone else, and it included ALL the accessories it was supposed to come with, and it booted up right away and worked just fine.

[aud19]

Chris the only minor things I might have done differently would have been to go with a solid state hard drive (less noise/heat, faster performance and as you already have a NAS, you don't need capacity).

And I would have gone with LiteOn optical drives. They OEM for Sony (among others) and routinely are rated as having as good or better drives at lower $$.

Minor details though, otherwise you should be great! :T