James' Computer Build

[jshibby84]

Missy's Build...
I have varied questions as of this would be my first build of a computer. Please provide general knowledge to things I may need to know, Hints, Tips or things I should know before making this build...

This is what I have planned for the build and what I have so far...

Asus M3A78-CM Motherboard
AMD Phenom X3 8750 Black Edition

That being what I have so far... I'm building it for my sister who needs something to to do light graphics with general use.

She is computer savvy but often times does not do any upkeep for her computer... I will be doing the repairs and modifications to the computer as well as maintaing it.

From what I gather about making or building a computer is basic... I've helped my dad build computers for people and myself all my life but I am unsure about some things about the building of the computer... I know to use grease, not screw down the motherboard, only use compatible memory, and I will be sure to use a static guard when installing anything. I am wondering if you install a cpu in only a motherboard itself, will it go bad if sitting on a motherboard only? Are the motherboard and CPU I have already compatible? How do I safely OC the machine for only a safe boost in power without overheating a Micro ATX Tower? Everything about the computer build is self explanitory but any suggestions, comments, hints, tips about general computer build would be helpful.

Thanks,
James

[jshibby84]

most likely this was needed in computer build but I hope this can stay for my general knowlege

[Khalil]

You do not need to OC any modern CPU and it is highy recomended you don't unless you are an expert tweeker and even then it is totally unnecessary.
The board and CPU you picked are good. Now you need a good power supply, hard drive and vga card, for us to help you, we need to know how much money are you willing to put into this build.

[jshibby84]

Roughly I didnt want to spend that much money, I originaly have planned for componets that would roughly cost about 100$ each that includes hard drive, video, memory ect. So probably i would be spending for the entire build another 500-600$ to complete the build.

[pam123]

That board has built in HD video, see my sig, and the option of using a video card.
For your sister's light graphics the board will use 256 mb of the on board memory which is quite workable but if you have a 64 bit OS and her usage goes beyond "light" she will need to up the memory in the future so keep that in mind.
Depending on how your sister usually uses the computer you may/may not want to use the Express Gate function on the board .
This is something to ask her about first since if has the potential to save both of you some headaches if your sister is always IM'ing friends but otherwise doesn't need the computer on full.
If that's not the case then disable Express Gate in the bios when you set up the computer for her.

[jshibby84]

I had just recently recived the shipment for the cpu... I lifted the pid leaver aligned the triangles and inserted the cpu and secured it to the board. Actually I have plan for a much better video card and at least about 4-8gb of memory so 64-bit will be something I will be looking into... We had talked about using windows 7 in the build that not only for a full version it would be cheaper and not to my knowledge if it would be a the best idea but it would be a step further. I plan to not use the cheapest materials in this build but woud rather like to use high quality parts. I plan to use a thermal grease that is high rated, but unsure about which is the best for the cpu. Also I will be using a cpu cooler that has fins 360 degrees around with a fan in the middle, is this cooler (http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Produc...C=1151&ID=1749) a good solution for cooling? I would like to be sure my sister has a reasonably good computer. Info on the thermal grease from an expert would be nice to know...

James

[pam123]

Your sister or you may be able to get a student discount for Windows 7, at this point in time neither Vista or XP would make sense.
8 GB of ram would max out the board and for your sister's needs it's overkill.

If you bought a retail (non-oem) cpu using a 3rd party heat sink/fan and another form of thermal paste will void your warranty. This is only done when over clocking and, as kahlil told you, that would be a mistake for this build.

[jshibby84]

Unfourtunately the processor I have boughten was oem... what then would I do for the cooling of the processor? Where do I buy certified paste and cpu cooler?

James

[pam123]

Newegg : http://www.newegg.com/

Remember when looking through the AMD heat sink/fans that your cpu runs at 95 watts so don't buy a combination rated for one of the 65 watt processors.

If you don't like their choices then google AMD heat sink/fans but remember what I said about the watts.
Many combos come with thermal paste already applied, if it doesn't or you decide you'd rather use something else Arctic Silver is always a good bet : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100007