[FearlessH]

Hey guys I'm 14, live in New Zealnd, and my dad is letting me build (or get built) my own computer and is thinking of spending around $1500 NZD (roughly $1000 USD) so can you guys tell me if it will all work together and if I should look for something better/cheaper. Also can you guys please give any other advice on this build. Thanks so much , here are the specs:

CASE ENERMAX ECA3162 PHOENIX NEO ATX MID TOWER CASE BLACK NO PSU
DVD LITE-ON IHAS324 SUPER ALLWRITE 24X DVD WRITER DVD+-24X8X8/8X4,DV
CPU AMD PHENOM II X4 955 8MB CACHE AM3 3.2GHZ BLACK ED RETAIL
Keyboard & mouse
Graphics card POWER COLOR ATI RADEON HD5850 1GB DDR5 256BITS PCIE 2XDVI HDMI
HDD WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR BLUE WD5000AAKS 500GB 3.5' 16MB SATA2
MoBo Gigabyte GA-770TA-UD3 DDR3 Socket AM3 SATA3 USB3.0 ATX Motherboard Retail
RAM NEW! Corsair CMSO4GX3M2A1333C9 4GB Kit (2x 2GB) PC-10600 (1333MHz) 2x 204-pin SO-DIMM DDR3 RAM, CL9,
PSU TCOOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus 550W Silent

Also, will the RAM be very good, will the HD 5850 fit into the case and would it be worth sending it to a computer store to be put together (I dont want to screw up a $400 graphics card)

Cheers
-KM

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Hi FearlessH, Welcome to Geekstogo!

I noticed some things in the build that could use some changing, but overall, pretty nice setup. The RAM you have picked is for a laptop, and I think you would benefit from a 80 plus certified Power Supply since you will be using a high end graphics card. Also, I don't know anything about that case you picked, I'm not sure if it will fit that card or not. It looks like it will??? CLICK HERE Below is a recommendation on a hard drive as well.

The power supply I would recommend is one by Cooler Master, but 80 Plus Certified meaning it will provide clean and stable power to your system, especially when that graphics card is working hard. I recommend the 600 watt, but go with the 700 watt if you can afford it. HERE

I'm not sure what RAM is available in your country, so I'll just give you the specs you need. You need DDR3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800), or 1333 will work as well. Something like this HERE

The hard drive you picked is very nice, but one that is a bit faster is the "Black" series by Western Digital. You can see it HERE. You may want to look at the 6gb/s SATA drives there as well, your board supports that which is really good! It is very new and much faster(probably expensive too).

Besides that, everything looks great and is all compatible. Your board supports USB 3.0 which is really nice, and the Phenom x4 955 is a fast processor. Combine that with a 5850 GPU and you should be able to play just about any game at high settings.

I didn't look at your keyboard or mouse, those are all up to you really. Do you have any questions?

Edited by Ferrari, 27 February 2010 - 07:53 AM.

[Ferrari]

Hi FearlessH, Welcome to Geekstogo!

I noticed some things in the build that could use some changing, but overall, pretty nice setup. The RAM you have picked is for a laptop, and I think you would benefit from a 80 plus certified Power Supply since you will be using a high end graphics card. Also, I don't know anything about that case you picked, I'm not sure if it will fit that card or not. It looks like it will??? CLICK HERE Below is a recommendation on a hard drive as well.

The power supply I would recommend is one by Cooler Master, but 80 Plus Certified meaning it will provide clean and stable power to your system, especially when that graphics card is working hard. I recommend the 600 watt, but go with the 700 watt if you can afford it. HERE

I'm not sure what RAM is available in your country, so I'll just give you the specs you need. You need DDR3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800), or 1333 will work as well. Something like this HERE

The hard drive you picked is very nice, but one that is a bit faster is the "Black" series by Western Digital. You can see it HERE. You may want to look at the 6gb/s SATA drives there as well, your board supports that which is really good! It is very new and much faster(probably expensive too).

Besides that, everything looks great and is all compatible. Your board supports USB 3.0 which is really nice, and the Phenom x4 955 is a fast processor. Combine that with a 5850 GPU and you should be able to play just about any game at high settings.

I didn't look at your keyboard or mouse, those are all up to you really. Do you have any questions?

Edited by Ferrari, 27 February 2010 - 07:53 AM.

[rshaffer61]

This might help you out alot. Written by one of our own Tech Staff memeber Troy.
How To Build Your Own Computer

[FearlessH]

Thanks guys, I could not find that PSU on any of the major sites but I did find this one and was wondering whether it is up to standard also I think I found some good ram - kingstonvaluram?
Also thanks rshaffer61 I will read now

-KM

[rshaffer61]

If i can the PSU is the one piece of hardware you do not want to skimp on. A bad PSU can short out your whole system taking other parts with it . I would recommend this one HERE as it is 80 plus certified to use less power consumption with a stead 12 volt rail so no fluctuation in the power.

[Ferrari]

FearlessH,

The power supply you linked to will work and it is 80 plus certified. So you can go with that one. If you can find the name brand Corsair in your country and it is affordable, then Corsair is the better choice. Like the one rshaffer61 mentioned. They are nice.

The RAM you linked to doesn't provide many specifications, but from what I can tell it will work. I need DETAILED specifications like this to provide the best help...

OCZ
Model OCZ3X1600R2LV4GK
Type 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM
Tech Spec
Capacity 4GB (2 x 2GB)
Speed DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Cas Latency 8
Timing 8-8-8-24
ECC No
Buffered/Registered Unbuffered
Multi-channel Kit Dual Channel Kit
Heat Spreader Yes

[FearlessH]

thanks Ferrari I will look it up now, but I can only find CL9 & CL7 ram at either 1333MHz or 1600MHZand CL7 costs a bit too much

-KM

[Ferrari]

CL9 is just fine, what I'm trying to say is that if you can buy or link from a site that PROVIDES DETAILED SPECS that will help me. You don't necessarily have to match the specs up yourself, but for me to help you, I NEED THOSE SPECS, See?

[FearlessH]

Cool, sorry took so long but I went to bed (at 4am) but I think I found a site with enough details, but I dont know if it is a good brand - http://pconlineshop....ee1cba1562ce0c8

but I also found two more:
http://www.oczone.co...oducts_id=36091
http://www.computerl...sp?partid=11848

Also will this mobo work with my system
http://www.computerl...sp?partid=10578

Thanks for all the help
-KM

[Ferrari]

FearlessH,

The RAM you linked to Thirdly is the better RAM. I would go with that and it will work great. It is better for gaming and high performance like your machine will be. This one... KINGSTON HYPERX 2X2GB DDR3-1600 KIT CL9 OEM

Also that mobo you linked to has a better northbridge (works with the cpu and graphics card), but it doesn't offer SATA 6gb/s SATA ports for your hard drives (which you may not even use) and it doesn't offer any USB 3.0 internal headers for things like your flash drives, external drives, etc. It offers USB 2.0 which is the current standard, USB 3 is very very new, just coming out.

So it's up to you. Both motherboards will work with all of your components. So ask yourself, would you rather have a better northbridge chipset of 785g and not have USB 3.0 or SATA 6gb/s ports, or would you rather have a slower northbridge 770 but have the faster hard drive speeds with 6gb/s and USB 3.0? It's up to you.

Edited by Ferrari, 27 February 2010 - 06:23 PM.

[FearlessH]

Thanks Ferrari I will use that ram but I now find myself over budget by $150 but any ideas? Even dropping $50 will be enough, thanks

Edit: Will this PSU be very good, it is about $50 cheaper

-KM

Edited by FearlessH, 27 February 2010 - 09:01 PM.

[Ferrari]

It will cut it awfully close. It is 80 Plus certified, but provides less amps on the +12v rails. If you want to save money, you may consider dropping down in the video card department, much of your budget is in that area.

[FearlessH]

How close, I dont know how important the volts are? but I was toldto spend the most money on card and CPU. So I dont want to downgrade either of the two. Thanks

-KM

[Ferrari]

It's just right on the border. You don't want your system cutting out on you or shutting down during game play. Plus the the PSU is stressed to much it will fry, and it is possible to take the motherboard, cpu, and/or graphics card with it.

[FearlessH]

Thanks so I will just stick with the one i got

-KM