New Build. Advice please :)

[lauriegreen18]

Hi guys, I'm putting together a build for a friend. I'm looking for general advice regarding the components.

Do these components match the purpose of the PC?
Are these components compatible with each other?
Are these components good?
Would you suggest different components?

Any advice on what you would do differently would be greatly appreciated.


The PC will be mainly used for these tasks:
Email.
Web surfing.
Drawing in autocad and sketchup.
Running ms access based energy assessment programs.
Running thermal modelling programs.
Generally low graphics but high data crunching


Cheers guys!

I've attached the BB code for the build so far


YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 9370 Black Edition 4.40GHz (4.70GHz Turbo) (Socket AM3+) Processor - OEM £179.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Blue 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B) £143.99
1 x Toshiba 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA200) HDD £68.99
1 x Kingston 60GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/60G) £47.99
1 x OcUK Crusade 550W Dual-Rail High Efficiency '80 Plus' Power Supply £43.99
1 x Gigabyte 78LMT-USB3 AMD 760G (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £41.99
1 x Aerocool Qs-200 Lite Midi Tower Case - Black £34.99
2 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99 (£29.98)
1 x Xigmatek 75 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader - (CPH-7SPNU-U01) £4.99
Total : £609.49 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 

[manu2b]

Big No No on the motherboard.

You need a very good one with strong voltage regulators section for any of the FX 8 cores serie CPU's (8320/8350/9370...)/
E.g: Asus 990FX Sabertooth, Or Asrock 990FX EXtreme 9 at least.

You need also a good cooler: a noctua NH-D14 or a Phantek PH-TC14PE.

I would really not trust this PSU either. A Corsair or an OCZ 550W to 650W would be my choice.

You need a GPU.

A nVidia 650 will do as you don't need extreme graphics.

Edit: a 60GB SSD will be full pretty quickly. Go at least for a 120/128Gigs one.

 

[lauriegreen18]

Hi, thanks for the feedback. I'm still quite new to this and I'm pretty much learning as I go.

I'll look into the other motherboards.

Are aftermarket coolers really necessary if I don't plan to OC?

I was also very unsure about the PSU, I chose pretty much at random.

The SSD will only be used for the OS (win7) so isn't 60GB okay?

I'll look into a 650, would you advise against using onboard GFX, no gaming will take place on this machine...

Thanks again!

 

[manu2b]

9370 are basically out of the box overclocked 8320's/8350's.

So, they run hot!

No integrated graphics on the Sabertooth and the Extreme 9

 

[Theocnoob]

For what it's going to cost you to run that 9XXX AMD cpu (an expensive motherboard like a Sabretooth or Crosshair V), you could switch to a 4770K (Intel) and an ASUS Z87-A motherboard. Same amount of money spent, better CPU. Just get an aftermarket cooler and overclock it to ~4.0-4.4Ghz it's easy to do. (Much easier on Intel than AMD. For this platform anyways). The Intel CPU would also include fairly decent integrated graphics so its a win- win.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

The 9370 doesn't come with a heatsink, you'll need a Hyper 212 EVO at the very minimum for it.

Get lower profile RAM, the tall stuff like that just gets in the way. G.SKILL Ares is some good stuff.

That 60GB SSD won't be enough for the programs listed, get a 120GB+.

We have a sticky in the PSU section of this site with a recommended list of power supplies. Get a 500W off of that list (go modular, you'll thank yourself later).

You'll want a MUCH better motherboard, see manu's recommendations.

A case with a bottom mounted PSU would be nice to see for this, it'll allow for better ventilation.

Any real need for two ODDs?

You'll need a GPU, the higher-end motherboards don't have a built in GPU. I would get a 650 or 7770 or better, AutoCAD will use it more than you realize.

 

[Ajay57]

If you wish to keep with AMD then this maybe a better solution with this Motherboard and CPU. It will still do all that you have listed and more with a good motherboard and CPU Combo. But we can only point you in the right direction you have to make the choice yourself!!

1, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131874

2, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113286

My 10c is this is more than enough with a good aftermarket cooler and GPU Card!!

 

[mimart7]

I would not trust that psu. Please spend more money on a quality psu. Everyone is right about getting a larger ssd.

 

[Theocnoob]

I would not trust that psu. Please spend more money on a quality psu. Everyone is right about getting a larger ssd.

Don't need to spend much more. A Corsair CX500 or 600 ought to do the job. They're like 50GBP.

 

[Ajay57]

This would be the sort of PSU i would look at, fully Modular 5 year warranty and from a good solid maker as well!!

1, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095

Would do the job and will last for the next build as well.

AJ.

 

[lauriegreen18]

Okay, thanks for all the advice and suggestions. I've put together a new build, I realize the GPU isn't quite what you guys suggested but I was running low on budget.

Again, thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again!

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 9370 Black Edition 4.40GHz (4.70GHz Turbo) (Socket AM3+) Processor - OEM £179.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD316G1600HC9DC01) £115.99
1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 120GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (SH103S3/120G) £74.99
1 x Toshiba 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA200) HDD £68.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.95
1 x MSI HD 6450 SILENT 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £29.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler £26.99
2 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99 (£29.98)
1 x Xigmatek 75 in 1 3.5" Internal Card Reader - (CPH-7SPNU-U01) £4.99
Total : £726.83 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 

[Neostarwcc]

That looks a lot better I can't really think of any complaints on it personally.

 

[mimart7]

You add some thermal paste to the list.

 

[lauriegreen18]

You add some thermal paste to the list.

I actually already have some thermal paste left over from a previous build. Also, I'm fairly sure most heatsinks come with a small tube.

Cheers!

 

[mimart7]

I actually already have some thermal paste left over from a previous build. Also, I'm fairly sure most heatsinks come with a small tube.

Cheers!

It will come with paste. I usually don't use the oem stuff. If you can swing the extra 30 quid, I would get this psu, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-018-SS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=2383 It is far more solid, than the Corsair, imo.

 

[Neostarwcc]

oh, yeah if you don't have paste you need to get some.

Tuniq’s TX-4 or Arctic silver 5 are good pastes.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

That motherboard still won't cut it, IMO. You want a board with an 8+2 VRM.

Everything else looks pretty good to me.

 

[Ajay57]

Atmin would the FX 6300 and the Mobo i posted in no 7, would do the job with less problems with Heat and VRM's???

AJ.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Atmin would the FX 6300 and the Mobo i posted in no 7, would do the job with less problems with Heat and VRM's???

AJ.

CAD software will actually make use of the cores, so I would go with the 83xx or 9xxx series personally.

The OP really just needs to get an Asus Sabertooth 990FX, Asus Crosshair V, ASRock Fatality 990FX, ASRock 990FX Extreme 4, or ASRock 990FX Extreme 9.

Edit: The 990FX Extreme 4 is the absolute cheapest board I would recommend for an FX-9370.

Edit 2: The Extreme 9 has the best VRM setup out of all the boards listed besides the Fatality, its a very nice board.

 

[MongGrel]

Only thing I was going to say down the line was definitely don't skimp on the PSU that I saw, I guess Seasonic has gotten better over time.

I haven't bought one since I got the mack truck sized Antec CP-850 a few years back.