Will Everything In This Build Be Compatible?

[James_P]

Hey,

 

Wasn't too sure, but this seemed like the best place to post this in. I've built my own PC before and it's been working great since then, I've recently been asked to build someone a fairly cheap gaming PC, and wanted some more experienced advice before ordering the parts.

 

Spec:

 

 

Thanks in advance

 

James

[Yeelen]

I wouldn't use that PSU, a quick Google search tells me it's low quality and such an important part of a PC should not be skimped on too much. You don't need that much wattage (at all, in fact) in this kind of build, 450-500W with an 80 PLUS Bronze certificate is a better idea, and leaves enough room for upgrades. Also, the GPU seems a bit high spec compared to the rest. Personally I would get something like a GTX 650 Ti or a GTX 650 Boost and spend a little extra on the CPU, PSU and motherboard to balance it out a bit more, you might miss out on some features with an H61 board. Although I don't think ASUS makes any crap boards, this one is very cheap.

[mvitkun]

whats your budget?

 

in general I'd say go for a different power supply,can't suggest one without a budget.

something like this is good

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1450sx2b9

and it would be perfectly fine for your system.

[KYJelliott]

IMPORTANT: I just checked asus's website spec on your motherboard to see what it was. According to Asus the board will only work with 2nd gen processors.http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8H61/#specifications

 

 So that means sandy bridge not ivy. You should upgrade that board to an Asus p8z77 pro (This:http://ca.asus.com/en/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z77V_PRO/#specifications

 

 or mATX equivalent or your CPU will NOT BE COMPATIBLE.

 

A couple pointers, first off while selecting the parts of a pc can be an easy task, (this fits with this so on and so forth) optimizing it for exactly what you need it to do can pose a challenge. Price to performance is a huge thing. It is smarter to spend the extra 100 dollars to have a system perform well than save 100 bucks and tear it down 2 years earlier. First off the GTX 660 compared to the 660ti isn't a good value. I would definitely jump up to a 660ti for gaming, The psu is important. Because this rig doesn't need a ton of wattage I would suggest an 80 plus bronze at least with about 450-500 watts of power. Jonnyguru is an amazing website for researching power supplies   http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5927 . I personally would recommend the Silverstone SFX series 450 watt 80 plus gold psu http://ncix.com/products/?sku=75786&vpn=ST45SF-G&manufacture=Silverstone%20Technology

This is a great psu for a mid range build quiet, and modular so the build will look tidy. Jonnyguru gave it a damn near perfect score. (Linus swears by that site). I would also suggest jumping up to a 3570 (3570k if your friend is an overclocker). The two  extra cores will seriously improve speeds. Games these days like crysis 3 are moving towards multi core and you have to consider the fact that when the new consoles drop that game devs will be able to leave the archaic console hardware behind meaning having a slightly beefier system will be much better in the long run. Again you will need to change that board to use ivy bridge processors. P8z77-v pro would be my board of choice.With regards to the drive you might want to swap to a black drive because it will be able to load faster. You could also consider a cheap ssd boot drive if interested. The case is more of a personal taste sort of thing but personally I hate cheap feeling cases as well as loud cases. I just recently swapped my Corsair obsidian 800d for a fractal design define r4 windowed version. They are dead silent come in black, white or grey, are relatively cheap, (about 100 bucks canadian) easy to build in, can have side panels, and look outstanding with great build quality. Trust me that case will have you set. http://ncix.com/products/?sku=75045&vpn=FD-CA-DEF-R4-BL-W&manufacture=Fractal%20Design&promoid=1360

 

 

So what I would change, probably running you around 300 more dollars, but A RIDICULOUS PERFORMANCE JUMP is as follows

CPU - 3570 (K if he is an overclocker)

Motherboard - Asus P8Z77-v pro

Ram - corsair 8gbs

Graphics card - ANY GTX 660ti (go with what is on sale) Because of board swap you will be able to upgrade to SLI if desired later on.

PSU - Silverstone SFX 450 watt 80 plus gold

Case - Fractal design define r4 black or white, windowed or non windowed version (personal taste)

Hard drive - Western Digital 1tb 7200rpm black drive

 

Please keep in mind I do not know what the budget is but If you can save for a little longer or afford the extra 200-300 dollars the price to performance ratio will be much better.

Good luck with the build and I will be following this thread. :)

 

P.S. Depending on when you are building you might want to hold off because computex is just around the corner and new hardware will be dropping (Z87 and Haswell)

[James_P]

IMPORTANT: I just checked asus's website spec on your motherboard to see what it was. According to Asus the board will only work with 2nd gen processors.http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8H61/#specifications

 

 So that means sandy bridge not ivy. You should upgrade that board to an Asus p8z77 pro (This:http://ca.asus.com/en/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z77V_PRO/#specifications

 

 or mATX equivalent or your CPU will NOT BE COMPATIBLE.

 

A couple pointers, first off while selecting the parts of a pc can be an easy task, (this fits with this so on and so forth) optimizing it for exactly what you need it to do can pose a challenge. Price to performance is a huge thing. It is smarter to spend the extra 100 dollars to have a system perform well than save 100 bucks and tear it down 2 years earlier. First off the GTX 660 compared to the 660ti isn't a good value. I would definitely jump up to a 660ti for gaming, The psu is important. Because this rig doesn't need a ton of wattage I would suggest an 80 plus bronze at least with about 450-500 watts of power. Jonnyguru is an amazing website for researching power supplies   http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5927 . I personally would recommend the Silverstone SFX series 450 watt 80 plus gold psu http://ncix.com/products/?sku=75786&vpn=ST45SF-G&manufacture=Silverstone%20Technology

This is a great psu for a mid range build quiet, and modular so the build will look tidy. Jonnyguru gave it a damn near perfect score. (Linus swears by that site). I would also suggest jumping up to a 3570 (3570k if your friend is an overclocker). The two  extra cores will seriously improve speeds. Games these days like crysis 3 are moving towards multi core and you have to consider the fact that when the new consoles drop that game devs will be able to leave the archaic console hardware behind meaning having a slightly beefier system will be much better in the long run. Again you will need to change that board to use ivy bridge processors. P8z77-v pro would be my board of choice.With regards to the drive you might want to swap to a black drive because it will be able to load faster. You could also consider a cheap ssd boot drive if interested. The case is more of a personal taste sort of thing but personally I hate cheap feeling cases as well as loud cases. I just recently swapped my Corsair obsidian 800d for a fractal design define r4 windowed version. They are dead silent come in black, white or grey, are relatively cheap, (about 100 bucks canadian) easy to build in, can have side panels, and look outstanding with great build quality. Trust me that case will have you set. http://ncix.com/products/?sku=75045&vpn=FD-CA-DEF-R4-BL-W&manufacture=Fractal%20Design&promoid=1360

 

 

So what I would change, probably running you around 300 more dollars, but A RIDICULOUS PERFORMANCE JUMP is as follows

CPU - 3570 (K if he is an overclocker)

Motherboard - Asus P8Z77-v pro

Ram - corsair 8gbs

Graphics card - ANY GTX 660ti (go with what is on sale) Because of board swap you will be able to upgrade to SLI if desired later on.

PSU - Silverstone SFX 450 watt 80 plus gold

Case - Fractal design define r4 black or white, windowed or non windowed version (personal taste)

Hard drive - Western Digital 1tb 7200rpm black drive

 

Please keep in mind I do not know what the budget is but If you can save for a little longer or afford the extra 200-300 dollars the price to performance ratio will be much better.

Good luck with the build and I will be following this thread. :)

 

P.S. Depending on when you are building you might want to hold off because computex is just around the corner and new hardware will be dropping (Z87 and Haswell)

 

Can't thank you enough for your help, I've swapped for a 3rd Gen board now, unfortunately I don't have the budget to go with a more expensive board or other components however after discussing what he'll be using it for I've gone for a GTX 650TI as he's into games but he's not a massive gamer, so won't be too bothered about being able to max out every game.

 

Also, he's using a fairly low res monitor at the moment so the extra power isn't really required.

 

Again, thanks so much for your help. I completely missed the fact that the board only supported 2nd Gens, you're a life saver :D

[KYJelliott]

Welcome! good luck with the build!