First Build

Avatar of Me

Avatar of Me

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2006

N/Me

So I built my first PC about a week ago, and everything seems to be going smoothly, though I'd like some feedback.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128514
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103996
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820226217
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130625
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148767

and a Zumax 650w PSU that newegg doesn't stock.
All of it crammed into a Coolermaster Mystique 632s that I had sitting around.

Despite having minimal knowledge of hardware details, everything seems to be in order, though I feel like I paid too much for the RAM.

Quaker

Quaker

Hell's Protector

Join Date: Aug 2005

Canada

Brothers Disgruntled

Quote:
Originally Posted by newegg
"Your shopping cart is empty"
Makes it hard to comment.

----------------------------

Edit - since you've edited the OP, I'll edit too.

Overall, there's no big problems with the build except that the FX-4100 is a poor choice imho.

Avatar of Me

Avatar of Me

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2006

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Quaker View Post
Makes it hard to comment.
I kind of had a feeling that wouldn't work.

Anyway, I updated the links in my original post.

enter_the_zone

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Nov 2007

R/

Spec-wise, it seems fine, though my component choices would have differed slightly. I'm partial to Asus mobos and Crucial/Kingston/Corsair RAM, though I'd also have gone with Seagate and Coolermaster or Antec.

Avatar of Me

Avatar of Me

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2006

N/Me

The build was a bit rough, apparently GIGABYTE motherboards don't have the best I/O shields. I never did get it to line up properly, but everything plugs in just fine...except perhaps the e-SATA ports. Though I don't really have a use for those at the moment.

I had a bit of trouble with my optical drive as well. The cut-rate power supply I had sitting around claimed to have two 15 pin SATA connectors, but they are on the same line. With the Mystique having a side facing HDD bay, the cable wouldn't reach both my SATA devices at once.

But, everything has been fixed, and aside from a small display issue, it's looking to be a nice PC. Though I still get paranoid whenever I see temp numbers higher than 40c. I've been thinking about dedicating the lower three 5.25" bays for a 120mm case fan, but I'm not exactly sure how to mount one.

enter_the_zone

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Nov 2007

R/

Doesn't the Mystique already have a case fan under the drive bays? I wouldn't put a second one in, it will probably screw with the thermal design and airflow resulting in higher temperatures.

Avatar of Me

Avatar of Me

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2006

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by enter_the_zone View Post
Doesn't the Mystique already have a case fan under the drive bays? I wouldn't put a second one in, it will probably screw with the thermal design and airflow resulting in higher temperatures.
It does have a case fan in the front, but it's a bit obscured by the lower side facing drive cage. My front fan is also operating at an oddly low rpm. At idle, it runs around 600-700 rpm, peaking at around 800 under load. In contrast, the rear case fan runs at around 1200 idle, and 1300-1400 under load.

I also removed the duct thing attached to the side panel and replaced it with an 80mm exhaust fan, not sure if it's having any significant impact, but my temps so far are reasonably low, as long as I keep an eye on my GPU fan speed. (I had to set it manually to 50%, since it likes to stay at 30% at all times...I was getting up to 60c just playing GW. But at 50%, I barely get above 45c on max settings.)