First Time Build

olebendz · Dec 24, 2016

So i've been designing this new PC that I want to build within the next few months. However, i'm a total newbie when it comes to computer building and I usually just buy my computers or laptops. I've never purposely attempted to have to figure out if pieces 'work' with each other. This is my first build (detailed below) and I was wondering if anyone could comment if it's a decent build or not, how I should improve on it, etc. Also, I have no idea how to choose a networking card, so any advice on that would be amazing

JrClocker · Dec 24, 2016

What's your budget and what's the purpose for this PC?

If you have never done a mATX build...you need small fingers...it will be tight inside of the case.

Looking at the case , I don't see a lot of airflow potential...this means it may run hot. For smaller cases, I prefer the "blower" style GPU coolers...vents the hot air out the back of the case. The other style coolers vent the hot air into the case, and you need good airflow in the case to get the heat out.

Make sure that the CPU cooler will fit in that case...the case looks very narrow.

The motherboard you chose comes with network capability...do you think you need more? (I haven't bought a network card in over 10 years!)

olebendz · Dec 24, 2016

JrClocker said:
What's your budget and what's the purpose for this PC?

If you have never done a mATX build...you need small fingers...it will be tight inside of the case.

Looking at the case , I don't see a lot of airflow potential...this means it may run hot. For smaller cases, I prefer the "blower" style GPU coolers...vents the hot air out the back of the case. The other style coolers vent the hot air into the case, and you need good airflow in the case to get the heat out.

Make sure that the CPU cooler will fit in that case...the case looks very narrow.

The motherboard you chose comes with network capability...do you think you need more? (I haven't bought a network card in over 10 years!)

Thank you for the reply

My budget is anywhere between £1000 to £1,200, and I'm wanting to do some gaming here and there, but also some use with Photoshop, Blender and Unity 3D engine. I'm not really one for fancy looking cases, I just chose that one because it looked simple, cheap and small enough to go under my desk without taking up a lot of room.

Thankfully I do have small fingers!

Is it possible to add some type of extra internal cooling that could help counter the lack of airflow? I don't really understand the airflow stuff tbh :/

The CPU cooler is 37mm low profile, so I thought that might be small enough to fit snug in the case

How do you know if its got Network Capability?

JrClocker · Dec 24, 2016

The board you chose has a gigabit Ethernet port on it (wired). These types of ports work at 100 Mb and 10 Mb also...so unless you want wireless, you are good to go.

You should look at m.2 drive to substitute for the SATA SSD. The Samsung 950 pro has come down in price. If this is too much $$, I would definitely increase the SSD size to at least 256 Gig!

I have learned (after 4 cases in one year - hehe) that airflow in a case is important to keep temperatures cool. I'm running much higher power hardware, but the principle still applies. For small cases, check out the Corsair "spec" series. I have a "spec-02" for my "little folder" in my signature. It's low cost, has good airflow, and is not too big.

You didn't post any case fans in your list. If you go with the Corsair "spec", the Corsair Air series fans work nice for case fans. I have 2 as intake and 1 as exhaust in my "little folder". Not the best fans, but a good value for the price.

trents · Dec 24, 2016

The cooler should be fine but unless you are overclocking the CPU the stock cooler that comes with the i5 6500 will probably be adequate. And since that is not a "K" CPU it is not overclockable anyway.

The case comes with front USB 3.0 ports built in and there will be more of them on the back in the motherboard I/0 area. Do you need more than that?

You really don't need 600 watts of PSU to power that rig. 450W would be just fine but I realize you may not have a lot of choices if the case requires an SFX form factor PSU.

Cooling will be a challenge. Are there any other spots for fans other then the 80mm one in the front? I think I would look at a video card with the squirrel cage fan that exhausts all hot air out the back of the card. And example would be the ASUS GeForce GTX 1060 Turbo 6G but it may be too long to fit in the case.

My biggest concern is with the choice of the case. Personally, I would go with something like a cube case that uses a standard PSU and has better ventilation. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119286

olebendz · Dec 24, 2016

JrClocker said:
The board you chose has a gigabit Ethernet port on it (wired). These types of ports work at 100 Mb and 10 Mb also...so unless you want wireless, you are good to go.

You should look at m.2 drive to substitute for the SATA SSD. The Samsung 950 pro has come down in price. If this is too much $$, I would definitely increase the SSD size to at least 256 Gig!

I have learned (after 4 cases in one year - hehe) that airflow in a case is important to keep temperatures cool. I'm running much higher power hardware, but the principle still applies. For small cases, check out the Corsair "spec" series. I have a "spec-02" for my "little folder" in my signature. It's low cost, has good airflow, and is not too big.

You didn't post any case fans in your list. If you go with the Corsair "spec", the Corsair Air series fans work nice for case fans. I have 2 as intake and 1 as exhaust in my "little folder". Not the best fans, but a good value for the price.

Ah, then yes, I will have to look into buying a Network Cable. I need to use Wireless

I didn't think there would be a need for choosing a 256 over the 120? I was only going to use that for storing the OS on, as I've been told that is a good thing to do? Then everything else I do can be saved onto the 2TB hard drive. What is an m.2 drive? I googled it, but it doesn't make much sense to me.

I didn't think there would be any more room for extra fans

The cooler should be fine but unless you are overclocking the CPU the stock cooler that comes with the i5 6500 will probably be adequate. And since that is not a "K" CPU it is not overclockable anyway.

The case comes with front USB 3.0 ports built in and there will be more of them on the back in the motherboard I/0 area. Do you need more than that?

You really don't need 600 watts of PSU to power that rig. 450W would be just fine but I realize you may not have a lot of choices if the case requires an SFX form factor PSU.

Cooling will be a challenge. Are there any other spots for fans other then the 80mm one in the front? I think I would look at a video card with the squirrel cage fan that exhausts all hot air out the back of the card. And example would be the ASUS GeForce GTX 1060 Turbo 6G but it may be too long to fit in the case.

I honestly wouldn't trust myself to overclock anything. I wouldn't even know where to begin and chances are, knowing my luck, I would somehow bugger it all up aha.

I only chose the extra USB ports for the front as the front has an external 2.5" slot. I didn't know what to do with it, so I figured i should make some use of it.

How about this for a Power Supply: https://www.scan.co.uk/products/450...ar-sli-crossfire-single-rail-37a-plus12v-80mm ?

I don't know about any more other spots, there isn't any more information regarding the case.

Other cases i've looked at are:

Raven RVZ02 Mini-ITX HTPC Case - Black (SST-RVZ02B)
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/silv...8k3mahyBCdkdDxG5WiEV3NCxo0os96x5IBRoCAlnw_wcB

Node 202 Mini-ITX HTPC Case - Black
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/frac...xgd99CGaShNJi8GpNoSYZzxKC7Aft8oaQPRoCMvDw_wcB

Fractal Design Node 202 Computer Case (black) With Integrated Sfx 450w Power Supply Unit
http://www.ebuyer.com/741748-fracta...8oDcU_SNsOdnBm4m8TxOKsf2UNehW83oVvxoCrOzw_wcB

trents · Dec 24, 2016

Any of those last three cases would seem to offer much better air flow than the first one you listed.

I'm not real keen on Thermaltake's PSU quality.

Realize that your video card will make the most heat of any of your components, probably more than all the others combined. That's why I suggested a card with a different fan design.

trents · Dec 24, 2016

I think I would go with the Fractal Design Node 202 with integrated SFX 450W PSU. Three year warranty. That's pretty good. And it will accommodate the length of the Asus video card I referenced should you be considering that.

First Time Build

olebendz

New Member

JrClocker

AKA: JrMiyagi

olebendz

New Member

JrClocker

AKA: JrMiyagi

trents

Senior Member

olebendz

New Member

trents

Senior Member

trents

Senior Member

Similar threads