Strongly considering a PC upgrade. Is this spec ok?

[EEVILMURRAY]

Jamming all the bits in I think I can manage, it's just the wiring I'm worried about. I'm going to use the 2-3 metre long chain I use for my Ghost Rider costume, wrap it around my waist and tie the other end to the radiator, and wear my trainers which I think should eliminate any chance of static.

 

Postman left the RAM outside instead of delivering, fucking idiot. But apart from the case which I hope comes tomorrow I have everything!

[Cube]

Here's how I dealt with static:

 

- I had some wooden side-tables and a coffee table. The computer case on the coffee table, current component on a side table and I sat on the other.

- I wore boxers. Nothing else.

- I touched the metal case of the computer (it's a metal object) on a very regular basis.

- I carefully handled the components, avoiding contact with metal parts of them (the only metal parts I touched were the case of the SSD) as the whole point of the other parts (i.e. circuit board) is that they don't conduct electricity.

[EEVILMURRAY]

I have some rubber gloves as well from my miniature modelling days. I used them so I wouldn't leave fingerprints, but the fingerprints still come through.

[Cube]

If anything, rubber gloves will make it worse.

 

You're going way overboard on the anti-static thing.

[EEVILMURRAY]

You're going way overboard on the anti-static thing.

I know, I'm just not made of money.

[Cube]

What I mean is that the static thing is very overstated. Avoid carpet, keep touching metal objects (radiator/computer case/etc) to discharge static.

 

The most important thing by far is simply be careful with the components and avoid touching any of their metal parts/contacts.

[Sheikah]

Jamming all the bits in I think I can manage, it's just the wiring I'm worried about. I'm going to use the 2-3 metre long chain I use for my Ghost Rider costume, wrap it around my waist and tie the other end to the radiator, and wear my trainers which I think should eliminate any chance of static.

 

 

Unless you are this guy this is ridiculously overkill!

 

Just touch the case often and don't work on the carpet. Really hard to break anything.

[EEVILMURRAY]

Awww graphics card has arrived but no tower, coming before Friday apparently... And no additional power supply either... Hmm, I'm gonna have to chase that one up.

[MoogleViper]

Just wear an anti-static wrist strap, you can pick them up for about 2 quid.

[EEVILMURRAY]

I would, but I think the Ghost Rider chain will do alright.

 

Just after returning from a haircut I find the dreaded "attempted delivery" form. FUCKWITTERY.

[Yvonne]

It has to be earthed metal for it to work. Radiators will work.

And yeah, static threat is overstated!

[Pyxis]

I dont bother worrying about static and touch all parts of my components when installing them so I would say that is the least of your worries.

 

Whenever I build a new pc, it will either not power on or show any video signal and it typically takes an hour or more of confision until I notice a silly mistake like a cpu power connection being put in the wrong way. Just take your time and read the instructions. Youtube is also great for quick and simple tutorials.

 

Good luck with the 60GB hard drive guys. I know that such a capacity is the only choice on a budget, but my 80GB drive is a real headache in terms of storage and I have no games installed on it. I use a 2TB hdd for file storage, but im upgrading to a 240GB SSD asap since I will be installing games on my next PC and dont want to worry about moving files around all the time. The agility 3 is a good choice, but you might want to think about saving up and eventually replacing it with something bigger in the future. The price of SSDs seems to have halved recently so maybe a 240GB one will be affordable in a year or so.

 

I am in Malaysia at the moment and went to a shopping centre in Kl called Lowyat Plaza. It has nothing but shops selling pc components and you can get anything you want, its brilliant.

 

I picked up an i7 3770k a few days ago for just £200.. I also purchased a Corsair H60 water cooler for my CPU. I havent made up my mind whether to go for 8GB or 16GB of RAM yet. I am planning to use vmware workstation and have a cisco contact center solution along with a call manager up and running from time to time so I can route voip telephone calls and play around with vxml scripts, but I might be able to get away with 8GB.

 

I was thinking of buying an AMD Radeon 7870, but Nvidia will be releasing their 660 next month, which will offer superior performance and be in the same price range. I will wait and see which one is cheaper.

 

My case of choice is the white fractal design r3 with usb 3 and a transparant side panel. I have a black one at the moment, but it shows dust and the led light never worked.

Edited July 11, 2012 by Pyxis
Automerged Doublepost

[Sheikah]

Yeah personally I would not bother with anything above 128GB right now (which is around the £80 range). I can imagine these drives being dirt cheap compared to what they are now in a few years time, they've already dropped considerably in the last year or two. I would recommend a small drive since a lot of things like games don't always benefit massively from game installations (look at number crunches for people who installed an SSD in their PS3). It's best for OS and other programs you use a lot to make them snappier (e.g. browser / photoshop). Also I doubt you would ever need access to over 100GB worth of games at any one time, so having them all at hand isn't exactly necessary.

 

Also note the overclocking potential of some of the cheaper cards (7850), making them effectively more powerful/efficient than more expensive cards that have lower OCing potential.

[Pyxis]

Yeah, the 7850 and 7870 are close. I might end up going for a 7850 and over clocking it if it comes with a good cooler. It is also very power efficient at stock speeds. The cost of the top models is kind of crazy if you can get away with a bit less power.

[MoogleViper]

Also note the overclocking potential of some of the cheaper cards (7850), making them effectively more powerful/efficient than more expensive cards that have lower OCing potential.

 

Are you getting commission or something?

[EEVILMURRAY]

I've been looking at the motherboard seeing where the SSD would go, but apparently it goes in one of the hard drive bays. I just watched part of an installation tutorial and dude had an extra mounting bracket which he screwed the SSD to before wiring it up. So quick Q's:

 

1] Did you have to buy an extra mounting bracket/screws?

2] Which wires did you use to wire it up? since the SSD didn't come with any (I assume it's one of the ones which come with the motherboard itself?)

[Sheikah]

Are you getting commission or something?

 

You know, that might not be a bad idea. I'm making no money for this... I shoulda charged. (but seriously, the 7850 is better for the price)

 

EEVIL the good thing about the Antec 300 2 case is that it doesn't need an SSD (2.5" drive) bracket. When you open the case on the base (where the PSU goes) are 4 screwholes. You screw your SSD at the four corners onto the base of the case, I think the necessary screws came with the case.

 

Use a SATA cable to connect your SSD to the mobo (use a newer SATA3 cable if you can, some people think they work better with the SATA3 standard even though any SATA cable is technically compatible). Then connect it up to the PSU with one of the wires that comes with the PSU.

[Pyxis]

You need to connect the SSD to a sata cable and then connect the other end to a sata port on the motherboard. your motherboard might have a mix of sata 2 (3Gb per second) and sata 3 (6Gb per second) ports. Make sure you plug it into a sata 3 port on the motherboard so you get the full speed. The motherboard instructions probably tell you which ones are which. Then just find a power cable from your power unit that fits and plug that into the SSD too.

 

My SSD came with a bracket but I dont think I used it. The hard drive bays pop out on the fractal design cases and there are the screw holes available to screw the SSDs on to the normal 3.5 inch bays. Not sure about your case though. Try finding screw holes in the case that line up with the screw holes on the SSD.

 

Edit: nevermind. Ignore this post! Its interesting to know where an SSD goes in an antec 300..

Edited July 11, 2012 by Pyxis

[EEVILMURRAY]

I think I've got a random sata cable in a drawer somewhere. So should be alright methinks. CPU cooler arrived, still waiting on the case but shouls be with me in the next coupla days =D Then all should be well.

[Sheikah]

In my experience the mobo came with a SATA cable, did your not?

 

Yeah, the 7850 and 7870 are close. I might end up going for a 7850 and over clocking it if it comes with a good cooler. It is also very power efficient at stock speeds. The cost of the top models is kind of crazy if you can get away with a bit less power.

 

Oh if you can, get the twin frozr III or IV cooler 7850s (MSI). They're really well cooled, can do some serious OCs on them.

[Cube]

The motherboard comes with two SATA 3 and two SATA 2 cables. Use one of the SATA3 ones - you'll need to use the one which is flat both ends (not one with an L-shape one - it bends the wrong way).

 

You'll need to connect this and the connection from the PSU before you screw it into the case as it's a bit too tight to put them in once the SSD is screwed in.

[EEVILMURRAY]

In my experience the mobo came with a SATA cable, did your not?

Ir probably has/does, I haven't unwrapped anything properly yet.

[EEVILMURRAY]

Ok. I've put it all together and I thought it was all done properly. But when I press the power button the fans all start up for a second then cut out. I'm sure everything is connected properly. I used my old PC as a reference as well as following the pictures in thr mobo manual. The thing is clearly getting power but I dunno how to check the other stuff =(

[Pyxis]

Ok. I've put it all together and I thought it was all done properly. But when I press the power button the fans all start up for a second then cut out. I'm sure everything is connected properly. I used my old PC as a reference as well as following the pictures in thr mobo manual. The thing is clearly getting power but I dunno how to check the other stuff =(

 

Are both the processor power connectors plugged into the sockets the right way round so that the shapes line up inside the socket? That caused me to have that sort of problem. At least it sounds like you are very close to getting there.

[Cube]

1. Are there screws in all screwholes in the motherboard (with those copper extender things behind them).

 

2. There's a 4-pin connector on the top left of the motherboard. Is there a cable put in there?

 

3. Pull out and reinsert the RAM