New Desktop (Gaming)

[Blitzen95]

Hey All
For a while now been wanting to build my own Desktop specifically for gaming and finally decided that I will take action, so made a list of parts that I hope will be ok, but I just wanted to see what other people who know a lot more than me thought, here goes

• Case - Amazon.com - NZXT Crafted Series ATX Full Tower Steel Chassis - Phantom White (This was only a thought for a case, not sure though)
  

• Power Supply - DigitalPromo.co.uk - Powercool PSUPC750AUBA Extreme 750W 80+ Dual 12v V2.2 High Efficiency PSU
• Motherboard - Ditaqcomputer.com - XFX N790, nForce 790i Ultra SLI (dual PC3-10667U DDR3) (MB-N790-IUL9)
• GFX Card - ebuyer.com - Gigabyte GTX 460 OC 1GB GDDR5 OC Edition Dual DVI HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card
• Processor - amazon.com -AMD Athlon II X4 630 Quad-Core Processor - 2.80 GHz, 2MB Cache, Socket AM3, 95W, 45 nm
• Ram - crucial.com - 2x 2GB kit (1GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600 memory module
• HDD - ebuyer.com - Western Digital WD10EARS 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 5400rpm 64MB Cache - OEM Caviar Green
• Fans - ?
  
• Heatsink - Apparently a big heatsink is required in any gaming computers so not too sure about them.
  
  Any help at all is appreciated, thanks!
  
  
  
  

 

[bullzi]

A few things to clear up here..

Case is more or less what your tastes are, everybody will choose something different. For your system a Full ATX Tower would work well but it will be tall. NZXT is a good brand and should do you just fine.

1) The motherboard you selected is an Intel 775 motherboard but you have selected an AMD Athlon Quad core, not compatible.
2) I'd upgrade ram. 2GB is a decent number anymore for typical computing but if you want to get good performance for gaming, 4GB minimum is what I'd recommend. So just grab two of those kits.
3) Fans, don't really need any.. the cases usually come with adequate cooling fans and this system won't run too hot. Down the road if you want more lights or something of that nature, you can upgrade the fans to LED fans or something.
4) Large heatsinks aren't required in any computer. The OEM heatsink that comes with processors is usually adequate, otherwise why include them? AMD OEM heatsinks are much better than Intel just by the way they attach to the board, in my opinion. So, no need to purchase a fancy heatsink unless you plan on overclocking or just want to for shits and giggles.
5) What have you chosen for an Operating System? with 2GB you'd be ok with 32-bit but if you do end up going with 4GB or more, you'll need 64-bit.

 

[Blitzen95]

Thanks for the help Bullzi

For the ram i was going to go for 4gb, sorry i didnt make that clear!
So with 4gb of ram i was going to go for Windows 7 64-bit OS

The only reason I kind of wanted a big heat sink is in my desktop at the moment my core temperature while idling was average 64°C which isn't pleasant when I start to run any games, the computer just over-heated and turned itself off, found out the problem was about an inch of dust on the heatsink beneath a fan, so cleared that and core temperature while idling dropped to 37°C so was just thinking a big one, or maybe a couple of small ones? might be handy to keep core temperature down

If the AMD OEM Heatsinks are better than the intel and since the processor isnt compatible with that motherboard, should i change my motherboard or change the processor to Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz Socket 775 1333FSB 4MB L2 Cache?

Fans, will just go with the Case Fans then!

Again, Thanks for the help!

 

[bullzi]

Anytime.

Haha no problem, just checking on the ram situation . 4GB is transitioning to kind of be the minimum standard now.

Ah, well I understand that. Yea the Intel heatsinks clip into the motherboard and they're pretty difficult to get in and sometimes fall out. AMD heatsinks have a much better system of attachment. Anyway, going with a bigger heatsink is totally up to you, personally I have ran aftermarket heatsinks when I could afford them.

As for processor, I'd certainly recommend Intel. I'm an Intel guy, always have been. AMD has some great stuff, but Q8300 scores 3,558 and X4 630 3,248 in Passmark CPU Mark. PassMark - CPU Benchmarks - List of Benchmarked CPUs

 

[Blitzen95]

So the Q3000 is definately worth looking into? I don't mind how hard to put in it is!

Will most likely get an upgrade in RAM whenever i gather the money then 4gb in the new one will certainly be good compared to the machine im using at the moment (1gb ) this desktop runs off hamsters!

Might just go with a big heat sink then, but what is thermal paste? have heard about it, but not too sure what purpose it has except to cool?

The GFX card is ok? really have no idea how to tell if a GFX card is good, but have read reviews that it is good so chose it.

Thanks

 

[bullzi]

Yea the Q8300 is definitely something to look into, I have a Q8200 and it's just crazy fast so that'll be a good processor.

I understand that for sure, 4GB will be a nice upgrade plus you have DDR3 so the speeds of it will be good as well.

Might as well, if you have the money I always buy the heatsinks that have a motherboard back plate that the heatsink screws into, it's a for sure way to keep that heatsink attached. The issue with the standard intel clip heatsinks is if you move the computer and they aren't in properly they can fall off the processor, I've seen it happen numerous times.
Below is a picture of the clip mount type heatsink then the motherboard backplate type heatsink.

Stock heatsink with thermal paste. Those clips go into holes on the motherboard to 'secure' it down.

The black piece of plastic here actually goes behind the motherboard while the heatsink screws into it, it's virtually impossible for this to become detached from the CPU. This isn't a fancy heatsink by any means but it's what I use, simple and the fins are far enough apart that dust doesn't really cause any issues.

Thermal paste fills microscopic discrepancies in the metal between the CPU and heatsink allowing heat to be transfered easier to the heatsink. You don't need much of it and most heatsinks already have some applied. Some argue it's not good paste but paste is paste in my opinion.

Yes, your graphics card is a good choice. It'll play just about anything you throw at it.

 

[Blitzen95]

Mounts are definitely worth the extra money?
Thermal Paste isn't necessary then

Again thanks for all the help Bullzi!

 

[bullzi]

Yep, I always recommend getting the heatsinks with the backplate. Thermal paste will come installed on any new heatsink so yea, not necessary to purchase.

Absolutely, good luck with the build!

 

[Blitzen95]

Thanks!