Build Opinions

[telegramsam]

A friend has asked me to build him a computer for his home. It's uses are iTunes, internet and office programs.

I will be running Windows 7 x64 Home Premium.

Is this processor suitable for a home box like this? He is more interested in cheap than fast. I do have Win7 beta running on an old AMD Athlon 64 4000+ S939, and it's reasonably quick on there with a really crummy video card, so I figured this board and processor should make for a comfortable user experience...?

Here are the components:

Intel Celeron E3300 2.5Ghz Dual core: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116264

ASUS P5QPL-AM (Intel G41): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131394

Crucial 4GB (2x2) DDR2 667: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148111

WD Cav Blue 160GB SATA: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136075

FSP Saga+ 450W PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104954

HP SATA DVD Burner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827140042

Haven't selected a case yet.

Thanks for your help...

[jdeb]

that will be fine

go with ddr2 800 memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231122

this is a good case with a high quality power supply if you plan on using onboard graphics. the power supply you chose is fine if you are planning on going with a midrange gaming card at a later date.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129059

[telegramsam]

Thanks for the advice--I appreciate it.

[glc]

DDR2-800 is not necessary with that processor - but if it's just as cheap as 667 you might as well use it. I'd use a LG, Lite-On, or a Sony burner before I'd use a HP.

[telegramsam]

Thanks, GLC.

I'll change the burner and and check the prices of the DDR2800.

Appreciate the help.

Edit; Turns out the GSkill DDR2 800 was $5 less than the DDR2-667. Glad I asked--thanks for the help.

[telegramsam]

Edit: I should mention that I went with jdeb's suggestion to use the Antec case/PSU combo. So the PSU in the build is the Antec Earthwatts 380W. I also used GSkill DDR2-800 with standard timings per GLC's recommendation.

I ordered and built the machine upthread. Everything worked great while installing Windows, moving files, etc. However, a day later, I discovered that the machine would shut down while sleeping and require that the power button be pressed to resume. I can actually change the power settings in Windows and affect how quickly this happens. It has never failed to boot or done anything else that appears to be incorrect.

The device manager is all clean, no hardware is not installed.
Error reporting reports nothing except for the obvious loss of power.
BIOS settings are all factory defaults (no overclocking)
BIOS CPU temperature hasn't exceeded 30°C

Here is what I did for troubleshooting:
1) Out of case build: Everything worked fine. Tested with both RAM modules individually and together.
2) Tried a different hard drive--no change in behavior
3) Reseated RAM several times, no change
4) Double, triple and quadruple checked heat sink/fan seating to motherboard
5) Disconnected everything in the case except for what was absolutely necessary to run the system: Board, RAM, hard drive were left on. Case connections, front USB and audio, USB card reader, and optical drive all disconnected.

Since the power supply itself isn't controlled by power settings, all I can come up with is a bad motherboard. Any other tests or thoughts?

Thanks

[glc]

Issues like this have been around as long as Windows has had power management settings. Today's "green" hardware has, in some cases, made this even trickier. I would honestly advise you not to put the machine to sleep and don't use any Asus power saving utilities - if that board has any. If you really feel the need to suspend the machine, consider using hibernation instead of sleep. Review all bios settings having to do with any kind of power management, and also all Windows settings and Asus utility settings.

[telegramsam]

Ok, I'll give that shot and report back. Thanks

[Panama Red]

If you google the Win7 not waking up issue, you'll find lots of folks looking for a fix. I have the same issue. Try this:

Control Panel>Power options>Change when the computer sleeps (left panel)>Change advanced power settings>expand Sleep option>Set Sleep after to never>Set Allow hybrid sleep to Off>Set Hibernate after to Never. Everything I've found points to the Hibernate feature as the culprit.

[telegramsam]

I think you two are right. I just put everything back together and powered up with no power settings to give it a chance to run. It does explain how the hardware seems to work just fine any time Windows isn't trying to sleep. I just don't want to give this machine to the owners until I'm sure it's not a hardware issue. Thank you very much for your help, guys.

[telegramsam]

In case anyone was following this or considering a similar build...

This particular motherboard is a "green" model, meaning the BIOS has some extra power saving features which are designed to interface with Windows' Power Options.

Upon shutting off sleep and hibernation, the computer works just fine.

Between the BIOS and Windows 7, I'm guessing there is a combination of settings that would work, but I didn't have time to experiment and test the numerous combinations of settings that are possible. To summarize, if you have this problem, one easy thing to try before you go through everything I did, is to shut off power management in Windows.

Thanks for your help, guys.