[murock]

Been looking at building a pc struggling to understand what case to get with which motherboard especially with the introduction of usb 3. How does it work do I need a usb 3 case for a usb 3 mobo or do the ports fit the same been looking at the mobo's and case's below any help would be appreicated.

http://www.ebuyer.co...atx-880gmh-usb3
http://www.ebuyer.co...el-gamer-bundle

http://www.ebuyer.co...c-2000-kkwp1-gp
http://www.ebuyer.co...-rc-502-kwa1-jp
http://www.ebuyer.co...dle-rc-692-kka3

Thanks
Murock

[phillpower2]

murock

You need USB 3.0 ports on your case to go with USB 3.0 ports on the MB, you will find many cases will have both 2.0 and 3.0 ports, 2.0 at the front of the case and 3.0 at the rear of the case for example, they may also be vice versa.

If you provide us with your maximum budget, let us know the PCs intended use (gaming, work, media etc) and whether you already have components such as a screen, mouse, keyboard and operating disk such as windows 7 64-bit we can provide you wit a list of components to consider.

[murock]

Thank you for the help, I'm making the pc for gaming already have mouse/keyboard/screen if you can recommend a good place to get a 64 bit windows copy for a good price that would be good. My current budget is around £500-£600 pounds. Again thank you for the help anymore advice would be awesome.

[phillpower2]

You are welcome and thanks for the additional info

I will put you a list of components together and then post back.
Regarding the OS the price is more or less the same from most retailers but check Customer Care - Who is eligible bottom left corner of the page @ http://www.software4students.co.uk/ as you may qualify for a discount.

[murock]

I am a student so I should qualify however I only see upgrade windows copies on that website.

[phillpower2]

Your list http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/7qDG
Case http://www.ebuyer.co...-761345-15320-1 Please note that this case costs £10 more than the standard 300 case as it has USB 3.0 ports, this puts you over budget by er £10!
I have not included an OS as you qualify to get it for less (and it would have put me over your budget )
Let us know what you think or if you would like any changes made.

[murock]

wouldn't mind paying an extra £20 for http://www.ebuyer.co...mi-hd-687a-zhfc if you think its worth it, then later on maybe in a years time buy another and run crossfire, small query would that psu support 2 cards? Also why not go for http://www.ebuyer.co...p4g3d1609ds1s00 same spec no? little cheaper i'm no expert so not sure

[phillpower2]

Your suggested card is better but I had a budget to stick to
See http://www.videocard...=Radeon+HD+6870

I took into consideration the Sli possibility when I suggested the TX650 and it will support X2 of the 550Ti but not X2 of the HD6870, you would need a Minimum 750W for that set-up, a useful tool http://www2.corsair.com/psufinder/

Regarding the Ram please see my canned speech below;

For the best and most stable performance you should where possible purchase a CPU and Ram that have been tested and approved by the motherboard manufacturer, this is referred to as the QVL ( qualified vendors list ) understand though that there are too many products released for them all to be tested so other hardware will be compatible but not proven to be.

I have updated the list with a new MB http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/7qX0
MBs QVL available @ http://www.asrock.co...u.asp?Model=Z77

[murock]

hmm interesting whats the deal with cheaper PSU's like http://www.ebuyer.co...ci-e-pc850auba? are they unstable or? Also might as well get http://www.ebuyer.co...-oem-ihas124-19 cheaper and no delivery right?

[phillpower2]

Sorry but I dislike budget PSUs with a vengance below are some useful links regarding choosing a PSU;
http://www.10stripe....d/psu/brand.php
http://forum.pcmech....ide-inside.html
http://www.realhardt...vos/Page541.htm
And what happens to a budget PSU;

[murock]

Fair enough mate got a 620w corsair in my current machine 4/5 years old and still going strong so your probably right rather have 6 years than 6 minutes of cheap power

[phillpower2]

Yep me too
Let us know what build you decide on or if you have any further questions.

[murock]

Think I'm going to get http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/7t5O not building till summer thou, thanks for all the help really liking these forums

[phillpower2]

You are welcome and let us know when you are ready to build

[murock]

Whats the deal with the new intel chips looking at http://www.overclock...rodid=CP-406-IN any good?