My first computer building project turned out to be a great success when I finished on March 22nd. Afterwards, I continued adding a few necessary components to keep this machine running for a very long time. It was without a doubt that your contribution to help me build this machine that turned out far better than I thought. So about how much did all of this cost me? Scroll down the list to find out!
My first computer building project turned out to be a great success when I finished on March 22nd. Afterwards, I continued adding a few necessary components to keep this machine running for a very long time. It was without a doubt that your contribution to help me build this machine that turned out far better than I thought. So about how much did all of this cost me? Scroll down the list to find out!Main Components
EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
Type: Video Card
Order Date: 2-15-12
Price: $140 - $20 Mail in Rebate = $120
CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 500W
Type: Power Supply
Order Date: 2-15-12
Price: $60 - $20 Mail in Rebate = $40
COOLER MASTER Elite 430
Type: Desktop Case
Order Date: 3-19-12
Price: $50 - $10 Mail in Rebate = $40
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB DDR3 1600
Type: RAM
Order Date: 3-19-12
Price: $47
Intel Core i5-2500K
Type: CPU
Order Date: 3-19-12
Price: $220 - $10 Gift Card = $210
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
Type: Motherboard
Order Date: 3-19-12
Price: $122 + $8 Shipping = $130
Seagate barracuda 7200.12 720GB
Type: Hard Drive
Order Date: 3-19-12
Price: $60
Extra Components
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
Type: CPU Cooler
Order Date: 3-19-12
Price: $30
Scythe SY1225SL12L 120mm
Type: CPU Case Fan
Order Date: 3-24-12
Price: $14
Arctic Silver 5
Type: Thermal Paste
Order Date: 3-24-12
Price: $10
Total Amount: $ 751.00
After Mail in Rebates: $701.00
So here it is! My first desktop computer!
Cord management wasn't an issue to me from this mid-size looking case so I was able to hide most of the cords at ease. Because the Cooler Master Elite 430 case comes at a good price range, the only flaw is that it only comes with one case fan equipped on the front for intake. This wasn't a major concern since buying one extra case fan would still be cheaper than buying an expensive computer case anyways.
When I first saw the Hyper 212 Plus, I was laughing at how huge this looked, but I knew that it's going to perform well to lower my cpu temperature without depending on water cooling. It does look like the fan is blowing in the wrong direction, but it's actually pushing air inside the heatsink. I would think this would be more effective this way.
I'm leaving my airflow method as simple as I can. The front case fan will pull air inside the machine, then next up my cpu cooler pushes more air towards the back, and finally the exhaust fan exiting out from the machine. It's a one way ticket to get an adequate air flow going. I've test by opening my case up after about 5 hours of intense use, and nothing felt extremely hot inside.
Since I have the 2500k processor and an overclocked motherboard, I researched intensely to see how far I can overclock. I was surprised to see many people uses the same motherboard and cpu combination as I have that have went as far as 5.0Ghz. I'm going to stay in the 4.7Ghz range that appears to be running smooth. I've used stress test to the result and the highest temperature mark reached up to 75°C. I consider that decent since 98°C is targeted to be a dangerous temp level and I doubt I'll have my machine running at a constant 100% CPU all day. At idle speed, it'll stay within the 25-30°C. It's really all thanks to the Hyper 212 Plus CPU cooler. So if you plan to overclock, I would not recommend using the stock fan that comes with your processor at all. If I did, I would certainly bet that my temperature would have exceeded the target limit.
I did get recommendations from you guys for a better desktop case, but somehow I went with my instincts to get this very low budget case from Cooler Master. As I was installing, I had no issues with cord management at all, but what I didn't know is that it only came with one fan. It wasn't a big issue so I ordered an extra case fan that was recommended to me and I believe I'm pretty secure on air flow.
15 comments:
haha my case has like 4 fans on it lol it also has that bluey glow on it 83
congrats on your first pc. once you go self build you never go back!
Using the same case for the family PC myself and I have no complaints about given how low the price is.
And it's always nice to go for third party coolers, in fact I'm using the same cooler too! The Intel pushpins are fucking horrible to install... using screws is much much more safer.
I'd say this will last you quite a loooong time, as long as none of the components break. Just take good care of it and dust them at least once or twice a year. Heck.. I'm still using my 4 year old video card (HD3870) with no issues at all.
Nice rig, the only thing that is missing IMO is some SSD drive for system, it really speed things a lot.
When I went to Best Buy with my parents last weekend, I was laughing at their prices. I showed a few people at work of my build, and now they want me to help them build their machine haha.
I was shocked to find out that my old desktop that I was pushing multitask stuff ranged around 85°C and I've had that desktop for about 2 years. So seeing that I can get around 65-70°C on full usage shows that my new desktop will have a huge longevity for sure.
I wasn't aware that the motherboard I got has gotten lots of positive feedback where it can handle anything you put on it and lasts for a long time. So I'm glad I decided to pay a little more on a motherboard than a cheap Intel board that I was going to get.
Also, people are saying that the video card I have runs very hot, but I checked the temperatures and it stays at 30-40°C. That's really good isn't it? Or I haven't unlocked its full usage yet?
SSD is my next project later on. More like, I'll just do what most people are doing by having the Operating System with SSD, and HDD for other storage.
You're not wrong :) actually I keep my system, program files and games on SSD, it reduces loading times especially for games.
I'm not very knowledgeable in that field, but is a 500w P.Supply enough to distribute all the power needed when overclocking with the setup?
I'm currently selecting parts to build my PC, and I was wondering how you calculate the right maximum amount. I know it won't stop everything from running, but it may affect performance.
I can't say I'm knowledgeable around that field either, but I can tell you that I have steady performance constantly. On TERA with max settings on 1680x1080 resolution, I do get a range of 50-80 fps. And if I'm in an instance dungeon, it can jump to at a constant 90 fps.
http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine
I went to this website and inputted all of my equipment and got up to 376 W as my maximum range. So yeah 500 W is still plenty for me, and I could probably get away with 400 W with my setup even with overclock to 4.7 Ghz on my CPU, though I might be risking if I decide to add more stuff to it later on. So that's probably why I played it safe and got the 500 W power supply.
Oh, very nice link you got there. Thanks!
I'm not especially planning on overclocking (yet), because I'll buy a an i7 that'll have a good starting frequency. Although, it's always better to think ahead, and it's part of the fun when you select your parts.
I wasn't planning on buying an extra fan, but I guess the one in the bundle won't just do if I am to try overclocking. Better play it safe on that part.
Is it a i7 2600k you getting?
I just wanted to post this nice and visual article on how much difference the temperature can get between stock cpu fan that comes with your CPU and Hyper 212 plus cpu fan. http://weaponsgradecode.com/2011/02/16/intel-sandy-bridge-2600k-and-cooler-master-hyper-212-plus/
I can relate, cause I get the same temperature results with Hyper 212 Plus.
The "Intel Core i7 2700K" one, or at least for now. There isn't too much difference in price with the 2600K, so I thought I might as well go for this one (25 extra euros won't make a difference when it's nearly 300€ already :/).
I already bought a new, nice monitor, but without the performance, you can't really enjoy it, at least not the recent games.
It's funny how, a few years ago, we thought that dual cores would handle pretty much anything. Now, you can't hope to run a game on full settings without a quad.
Good to see that you liked that cpu fan
and overall very good pc
have fun with it :D
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