Rebuilding PC

[Junior2613]

Hey all, I was wandering if anyone could offer me advice on a good cheap rebuild for my PC. My current specs are

Intel Pentium Dual Core E2140 @ 1.6Ghz + 1mb L2

2gb Kingston DDR2 667Mhz RAM 5-5-5-15

nVidia GeForce 7300GS 256mb ddr2 @ 625Mhz / 1640Mhz

Acer F672CR mobo with SiS 672 Chipset.

250W Generic PSU

First of all my budget isn't very high as I'm just a teenager but I don't mind building up slowly. I know First thing I need to change is PSU but I Have a 800w PSU coming in soon from Novatech. My main priority would be the CPU and Mobo but I'm having a slight dilemma my mind is telling me go for a cheap Foxconn Mobo that will take a C2D or C2Q with FSB upto 1600Mhz but then I don't want it to turn out to be a complete flop any tips ??

[strel]

I'd buy a powerfull mobo in order to upgrade parts later, with the highest FSB frecuency in the range of CPU and memory type you want, and I'd save with rest of the parts except memory and HD quality (not quantity there you can save too), then you'll have later the opportunitty to upgrade the parts while building a great machine and you can sell old parts or keep them for replacement.

[jcarle]

Building a computer is like building a house. The stronger your foundation, the bigger the house you can build on top of it.

I'd suggest you start off by getting yourself a quality motherboard that allows some good upgradability options and is stable for overclocking if you want to eventually do that as well, something like the Asus P5Q Deluxe is what I would recommend.

You also need a better power supply because you won't get very far with 250w. Something like the Antec TruePower 550w would be reliable and strong enough to support a good gaming video card, plenty of ram, a few hard drives and a powerful processor in the future.

[puntoMX]

Junior2613, for what are you using that computer?

It seems that you have a stock ACER desktop so here is what you need to do first:

There are nice uATX motherboard out there but I would suggest changing the housing first and like others pointed out, place a new motherboard in there using your current CPU and RAM. From there you can build up your PC little by little.

[Junior2613]

I was thinkin of getting http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/C...ch/GALAXY3.html

as a case Galaxy 3 with a 450W PSU which should be enough for now.

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/...productId=36073

as a motherboard took me a while to find out it uses the 240-Pin RAM because they don't really say it but its best to make sure so I know it works. Now I can look for a C2D on Ebay or is it possible to use my E2140 in the new mobo if it supports it ?? Is it worth overclocking it as it only has 1mb L2

Edited September 11, 2009 by Junior2613

[puntoMX]

I was thinkin of getting http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/C...ch/GALAXY3.html

as a case Galaxy 3 with a 450W PSU which should be enough for now.

Naa, better to keep your money in your pocket to buy a real case, but I thought you said a 850W is coming in? Go with a case from Coolermaster, Antec or something that is made out of 0.8mm steel and has 12cm vent holes in them.

Save your cash on the CPU for now too, that CPU will do perfect and with a good mobo and cooler it can do twice the speed if needed. Also, check out the Ultra Durable series from Gigabyte by the way, with a P45 chipset (S775).

[CoffeeFiend]

I Have a 800w PSU coming in soon from Novatech

I definitely wouldn't buy this!

Let's look at other offerings in that 800 or so watts range (newegg's prices):

CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX 850W $200

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W $140

SeaSonic M12D SS-850 850W $230

SeaSonic M12D SS-750 750W $200

SeaSonic S12D 850 Silver 850W $180

SeaSonic S12D 750 Silver 750W $160

ENERMAX REVOLUTION85+ ERV850EWT 850W $250

ENERMAX INFINITI EIN720AWT 720W $190

Antec Signature SG-850 850W $230

Antec TPQ-850 850W $150

Thermaltake W0296RU 800W $250

SILVERSTONE DA800 800W $230

ZALMAN ZM770-XT 770W $215

ENERMAX INFINITI EIN720AWT 720W $190

...

Do you expect a rebranded, no-name PSU that's ~1/5 of that price (~$40 USD) to be any good? When it looks too good to be true, it generally is. When it comes to PSUs, you really do get what you paid for. $20 says that PSU dies under half load (and hopefully doesn't take the motherboard out with itself). You can barely buy a good quality 350W or so PSU for that much money e.g. a SeaSonic SS-350ET or such, or a "just OK" 450W-ish PSU. jcarle's pick is just fine.

as a case Galaxy 3 with a 450W PSU which should be enough for now.

Same as before. Don't bother. Just like puntoMX said. That freebie PSU is also junk and so is the case. Here, for half the price of a basic case (e.g. Antec 300 or similar CoolerMaster models), you get a flimsy case that seems to be all about looks (windows and blue LEDs), and a even worse PSU. You want a quality, solid, well built case that will last a while and have good airflow. Along with a decent PSU (which doesn't actually need to be super powerful).

Like others have said, you need a good base first. That 250W PSU will have to go for sure. And that no-airflow over-packed acer case too if it's like all the others I've seen. Then you can worry about the rest, and power & heat won't be an issue.

Afterwards, you can worry about a new motherboard (previous asus/gigabyte recommendations are just fine). And like puntoMX said, there's plenty of life left in that CPU. I'm still using a 2 year old E2160 in this box right now, overclocked by 85% and it's still plenty fast for just about everything you could think of. Chances are you can push that E2140 pretty high with a decent board and later on upgrade to something fancier. Then again, depending on what you want to do with it, you're likely going to want to upgrade that video card as well (likely well before the CPU, especially if it's OC'ed)

[Junior2613]

So really then I should be looking at getting a proper case a PSU and graphics. I mainly use this PC for games but I set everything to medium @ 1280x768 like WiC and CoD4.

Tbh I was only thinking of the Galaxy 3 because it was cheap and reviews were good and it has a slot for 120mm intake fan and 2x80mm outakes.

And the PSU I was looking at were the same reasons all the reviews were good even worked on mid - high end systems like with 4850's

Although my current case Isn't hot at all. My CPU is at 45C under load with fan pretty slow. Only thing hot is GPU cause its got a crappy excuse for a fan I may as well breathing on it thats how crap it is.

Edited September 12, 2009 by Junior2613

[CoffeeFiend]

And the PSU I was looking at were the same reasons all the reviews were good even worked on mid - high end systems like with 4850's

I'd love to see those "reviews". That's anything BUT a quality PSU. I wouldn't put that in one of my boxes, even if they gave them away.

As for 4850's, they're hardly power hungry monsters. A lot of reviews show system loads 250W and under while gaming (or running benchmarks) with one. The cards' power consumption seems to be around 100W total (at full load). Like I said, you don't need crazy high wattage in the first place. And this 800W junker is probably worse than a lot of "just OK" 450W'ers out there. I'll take a quality 350W unit over that any day.

Edit: here. Look at what you can expect from such units (a 650W unit that dies at 184W load). There's just no way they can bring you anywhere near 800W on that much money. Absolute junk.

[Junior2613]

Well its a good thing I came for help here then otherwise I would have been screwed. http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/...productId=33914

This is now my first choice PSU and should have been in the first place

what do you think of this mobo

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/...productId=36073

its nothing much but its just about what I need I don't need a fancy P55 or P45 mobo

Edited September 12, 2009 by Junior2613

[CoffeeFiend]

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/...productId=33914

That's already a MUCH better option. Decent brand, 400 "real" watts (and not at 20C either), 31A on the 12v rails (372 out of 400W), 80plus, active PFC, decent quality power (decent regulation & low ripple, good parts), 3yr warranty, decent protections, decent set of connectors (sleeved 18AWG cables too), 140mm fan... A few extra bucks goes a LONG way.

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/...productId=36073

Not a great choice. G31/ICH7 isn't exactly amazing. And you only get 2 DIMM slots (big deal IMO), limiting how much RAM you can use (and having to discard the old to upgrade). Intel says G31 is limited to 4GB as well (even though asrock says it supports 8 somehow). And it's likely not a great overclocker either (no vcore adjustment seemingly), so you'll likely want to upgrade your CPU sooner. Not very future proof either (no PCI-e x16 2.0, limited ports and slots...)

I'd make I at least get a board with 4 DIMM slots. Having a top of the line CPU with a low amount of RAM is kind of pointless. And if you want to use it for gaming in the future, when a PCI-e x16 2.0 slot might be a good idea.

If you buy too low end, you'll be spending more because you'll be replacing it again soon.

[Junior2613]

Yeah I see what you mean but the main issue is my budget and all the PCI-E 2.0 boards I'm seeing are out of my budget. The thing is my budget depends on how well I do in my exams lol. all A's will get me £100 or over A/B's will get me £80 to £90 and so on vica versa.

[puntoMX]

Well, to not keep running in circles, keep that PSU until to buy your real Graphics Accelerator, the PSU isn't that bad for now...

Just start with a case, like that Antec 300 or so and a P45 Intel based mobo from Gigabyte like the GA-EP45-UD3L or the GA-EP43-UD3L when you real short on cash.

Build from there .

[Junior2613]

I was going to add ASUS P5QPL-AM would this be so bad its got the PCI-E 2.0 as well. Then I can OC my CPU to like 2.8 if i'm lucky. I will most likely put in an order for this stuff today I also get a PSU now then a GPU in a month.

PS. is 30C Idle good for a CPU ?? and 37C under load ?

[noguru]

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/...productId=33914

That's already a MUCH better option. Decent brand, 400 "real" watts (and not at 20C either), 31A on the 12v rails (372 out of 400W), 80plus, active PFC, decent quality power (decent regulation & low ripple, good parts), 3yr warranty, decent protections, decent set of connectors (sleeved 18AWG cables too), 140mm fan... A few extra bucks goes a LONG way.

It's an excellent choice for the money:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/794

Actually it's even better than the more expensive StealthXStream 500W which I have. The 400W model is made by CWT, the 500W model is made by FSP. Despite the similar naming these OCZ models are totally different.