Are these compatible?

[GuitarSam]

Hello. First, thanks for checking out this post. I will be popping about here regularly as I am hoping to build my first computer. First time for everything huh?

Anyway, what I need to ask, is if anyone would be able to tell me if this motherboard and this processor are compatible. If so, I think I can work the rest out as in knowing what hardware to buy.

I am on a budget of around £700 aswell, so hopefully I can build something cool. Anyway, the parts...

Processor:
Intel Pentium D 930 Dual Core - 3GHz 2x 2MB Cache - Link

Mobo:
Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe Intel nForce 4 SLi PCIe - Link

Now some more annoying questions...

I have read some reviews that the above processor does run quite hot. Now I am wondering if applying thermal paste and having a good heatsink will solve this problem effectivly, or should I stay away from that processor?

And one last thing, can anyone recommend a good online UK dealer whom I can purchase components off. Based around my budget, I want somewhere which has a good price.

Thanks for your help.
Sam....

[glc]

They are compatible, but I don't recommend either. Why do you want SLI?

The entry level we recommend these days for an Intel build is a Core 2 Duo E6300 processor and an Asus P5B single slot board.

[freakitchen]

Best UK vendor I've found for price vs. customer service is www.overclockers.co.uk

They're not the cheapest, but their service is good, and most importantly for me, they stock a good range of quality products. Compare their power supply selection to other vendors for a great example.

The alternatives I use are, in preference order:

www.ebuyer.co.uk
www.komplett.co.uk
www.novatech.co.uk
www.scan.co.uk
www.dabs.co.uk

What are your intended uses for this computer?

FK

[GuitarSam]

Hey and thanks for your replies. I should have said this before, but I am planning on using this new system for heavy gaming but also for rendering 3D animation and compressing videos with applications such as Premier Pro and After Effects.

I'm basing those components on recommendations from a friend, but can I ask why you wouldn't recommend it glc? Or is anybody else knows why these are not recommended, please say.

Also, thanks for the vendor list Freakitchen.

Sam.

[GuitarSam]

Ok a little update for you. Based on what I have read, I have decided to switch processor. I will now be using:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz however if I need to cut down on the money spent, I would go with the E6400

I do want to stick with an SLI motherboard in order to play my games with 2 cards. From what I know about good components (which doesn't appear to be much) this board looks like it will do the job and I dont think the price is so bad. Of course I am open to suggestions. All the help I can get the better if you don't mind.

Asus P5N32-E SLI


Like I said, if you suggest something better, I would welcome it with open arms. Also, can anybody recommend what RAM to use. I see suggestions to go to 2GB but I need to make sure I can fit it into my budget of around £700 so 1GB would be ok for the time being.

Thanks for being patient,
Sam.

[GuitarSam]

Ok so I looked and I looked, but I don't think I am ready to start building from scratch. I don't know what too look for really. I am wondering if anybody can advise me on what PSU I will require to power up these components. I am buying a bundled motherboard from Novatech. Thanks for the help!

Bundle

[freakitchen]

Sam, please don't start a new thread when you have one going on your proposed build. I moved the contents of your second thread into your first.

**Moderator**

I wouldn't recommend you buy that bundle - MSI motherboards are not of the same quality as ASUS. A lot of members on the forums (myself included) see SLI as a bit of a marketing gimmick. It necessitates you buy expensive parts to start with (SLI capable motherboard, and certified power supply), and two cards in SLI are always out-performed by one single, more powerful video card. The only circumstances in which SLI makes sense, in my opinion, is if you have a HUGE budget - and can afford to SLI two of the BEST video cards to achieve top performance.

I would personally recommend you get a standard ASUS P5B motherboard - you'd really benefit from 2GB of RAM for your intended usage.

FK

[glc]

"Budget" and "SLI" is an oxymoron. Get the single slot board and a single card that's within your budget, it will handily outperform 2 lesser cards.

[freakitchen]

Here is what I would build for a £700 budget. All prices from Overclockers:

2GB Corsair RAM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MY-097-CS

BFG 7600GT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-019-BG

Lite-on DVD Burner
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CD-064-LO

Intel E6300
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CP-126-IN

Asus P5B
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MB-151-AS

Antec Sonata II case & psu
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CA-040-AN

Seagate 250GB
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=HD-079-SE

Windows XP Home
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=OS-001-MS

Total comes in at £687.10 plus delivery. The video card isn't the strongest - but it's great value for money, and it doesn't make too much sense to plough a lot of money into one at the moment, with Direct X 10 just around the corner. The 7600GT is a great place-holder card until that happens.

FK

[GuitarSam]

Firstly, thanks for your help and patience. I guess it isn't easy helping out the new guy, but I appreciate the help you have gievn. Having read the suggestions posted here and in other threads, I think I am ready to list the components for my new system. I was also lucky enough to boost my budget to around £950 so here we go.

Case and PSU:
Jeantech ATX 500W PSU

Motherboard:
Asus P5B*

Processor:
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 2.4GHz (Upgraded to reflect budget change)

HDD:
Seagate Barracuda 7200

RAM:
Corsair 2GB DDR2

Video:
Undecided

Heatsink:
Ahh.. need help finding one please. Depending on motherboard recommendations.

The other components such as optical drives arn't listed because I am able to get them for good value closer to me. I have * the motherboard because I am wondering, are there any other bards I can get of good value which will offer me more than 1 PCI Express 16 slot? I currently have £247 remaining. I need a graphics card (might use suggested one) and I need a heatsink. The remaining money will e used on the motherboard.

[freakitchen]

Good upgrade choice on the processor.

If you're set on getting a board that will support dual video cards, then you might look at the ASUS P5W DH Deluxe. It's crossfire capable, so will support dual ATI video cards (but no problems using the place-holder Nvidia card I suggested for the moment). I personally think the standard P5B is more cost-effective, but it's up to you.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MB-152-AS

The processor you picked is retail boxed, so it comes with a good heatsink and Thermal Interface Material. The only reason to replace it would be if you're planning to overclock the processor, which you haven't said you intend to do.

I wouldn't use that Jeantech PSU. Their quality is "OK" at best, and you need a GOOD quality ATX2 spec power supply for this system. If you don't want to get the Sonata II case I linked to, then you could use this unit in a different case:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CA-002-TG

It would need to be replaced if you went for dual video cards in the future, though.

FK

[GuitarSam]

Well it's not for another video card. I trust your judgement on going for another card. I am just thinking about circumstances where I may need another slot to use something. Well thanks for your help guys. Looks like I will be ordering my new components in about a week. That gives me time to keep an eye out for good deals.

One question however... I was reading up on some guides, and from what I understand, there is some sort of set-up required in the BIOS when you first start your computer. Atleast that was my perception. Can anyone please elaborate on this. I am just wondering about how I would have to do it for my system.

Cheers,
Sam!

[freakitchen]

Keep an eye out for the 'This Week Only' deals on Overclockers. They reduce the price on 20 or so various items on a Thursday afternoon.

For modern builds, there's VERY little tweaking that's required in the BIOS on first boot. The first thing I do when i build a computer is check the CPU temperature in BIOS, to make sure I've installed the heatsink correctly. If I hadn't it would be very high.

The only other thing to do is to check IDE and SATA drives have been recognised correctly, and adjust the boot order so that the system looks at the optical drive before the hard-drive - allowing the system to boot from CD and install the operating system.

FK

[glc]

You shouldn't need another PCI-Ex16 slot for anything else. The P5B has 3 legacy PCI slots and 3 PCI-Ex1 slots.

[GuitarSam]

Ok guys, after all the help I got here and some of my own research, I think I finally have a PC which I am ready to build. I am going to post up the stuff here and hopefully you guys will be able to say it's good, or fire me out of a cannon and say it sucks, either way, here goes...

(I havn't added everything, only stuff I think needs reviewing...)

Power Supply Unit:
Tagan TG420-U01 420W ARX2.0 Silent PSU

Motherboard:
Asus P5B-E Plus (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2

Processor:
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 LGA775 - 2.4GHz

HDD:
Seagate Barracuda 7200 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache

RAM:
Corsair 2GB DDR2 Value Select PC5300 Dual Channel (2x1GB)

Primary Optical:
Samsung SH-W183

Video Card:
BFG nVidia 7900 GS 256MB PCI-E

Monitor:
Viewsonic VA903B 19" LCD (1280*1024)

Operating System:
Windows XP Home SP2


As you can see, it is simular to the parts recommended to me above. I do have a question about cases though. Am I right in thinking that certain cases will only fit certain motherboards? If this is so, what do I need to look out for when buying a case so I know my stuff will fit in.

I hope everything is ok there, such as the power supply being good enough etc.

Thanks for atleast looking,
Sam! (A very happy Sam aswell.. hehe)

[flanzig1]

Since the mother board you picked is an ATX size board, need to look for a case in the mid-tower or larger size. Mini-tower/micro-tower/Small Form Factor type cases use uATX mobos.
The rest is good.

[freakitchen]

Good list there Sam. The only thing I'd change is the video card, in my opinion there are two options.

My suggested option would be to buy a 'placeholder' video card like the 7600GT I linked to in one of my previous posts. DirectX 10 will soon be the new gaming standard, and the majority of current cards do not support it. The 7600GT will get you buy until a full range of DX10 cards have been released, and you can then upgrade.

Your second option, if you want power now either don't mind that you won't be able to get the graphical features offered by DX10, or don't plan on installing Windows Vista any time soon, is to go for an ATI x1950 Pro. Similar prices to the 7900GT, but outperforms them by a margin. This would be my suggestion if you want to go this route - I have one myself.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-064-PC

FK

[newbuilder14]

Although Tagan is a great brand, I don't think 420w is going to cut it.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CA-005-CS - That should handle any single card on the market.

[freakitchen]

Originally Posted by newbuilder14 Although Tagan is a great brand, I don't think 420w is going to cut it. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CA-005-CS - That should handle any single card on the market.

Agreed, particularly if you decide to go for the x1950Pro I suggested.

FK

[GuitarSam]

Ok well thanks for recommending a new power supply. I have now swapped it for the old one. I have another question for you guys. It is about cables. With the parts I am getting, will cables be supplied to put the components together or will I need to buy cables aswell. If so which ones?

Thanks again,
Sam!

[Alaron]

Your motherboard will come with SATA cables for the hard drive and IDE cables for the optical drives.

[GuitarSam]

Awesome! Well I just odered al my parts for my new PC. I hope they will be here by Friday, however looking at the weather forcast and seeing that everybody in the UK goes crazy over 6" of snow, they might be a bit late.

Meh.. thanks again for all your help and I will be sure to check back once I get it al going. Though I do need to ask a quick question. I am getting 1 HDD for this sytem, but I need to know about how I go about the RAID set-up.

Thanks,
Sam!

[freakitchen]

Yep, looks like you southerners are headed for "the biggest snowfall for years" tonight/tomorrow. Which, of course, could mean anything more than 3".

To your question, you cannot set up RAID with just one hard drive. At least two drives are required. Why do you want RAID anyway? The benefits for a home user are limited, and the risk to your data can be significant.

FK

[GuitarSam]

Well I wasn't totally sure what it was exactly. From what I uinderstand it had something to do with sharing files on hard drives, but I thought there might be something else with it. However you said I must have 2 HDD's so it doesn't matter.

As for the snow... I'll just cross my fingers. There's a kid in all of us, hehe.

Thanks for your help,
Sam!

[newbuilder14]

Schools get closed here with just 1 or 2 inches of snow. It's kind of funny.

[GuitarSam]

Right.. I have all my parts here with me. I have a problem though, I can't seem to get the video card in. Now before I take at the case slots at the back with a screwdriver to get the stupid half welds off, can you check to see if it will actually fit. I am stumped.

Case
Motherboard
Graphics Card

Hopefully I am not totally screwed for buying the wrong stuff.

Edit: I should add that the motherboard has screwed in properly against the risers provided with the case and fits the I/O Sheild.
Edit 2: Yup I am amoron. Turns out I needed to take out another slot from the back. The damn things were like, welded on so it was hard to get it out. Anyway, I have the motherboard all set up and im gonna do the power stuff soon. Jese I am at 4 hours and I am shaking like a leaf lol.

Thanks,
Sam.

[glc]

Have you done an out of the case POST to make sure your core components work?

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=132409