Click me for Nerd Food! Heheh...

[TooLBlue]

Hi, CotC~ You might remember me from your weekly CoD practices as Deucalion (scion's pronounciation on teamspeak: Dooky) or Fox.

Scion's big brother

Now, let the Nerd Food commence.


I'm working on putting together a computer, but a few things are beyond my knowledge. Namely, the cooling system. I just want a ballpark on how well it'll work, and whether I should pick something different. One thing I might point out is the motherboard seems to have something on the "northbridge" (I take it that's particular slot... or something? gah.), while the heatsink also has "northbridge" in the name. Does this basically mean I need to pick a different heatsink?


Here's the Newegg.com list of the parts I've got in mind (monitor and OS are omitted)

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wi ... Title=Must!

edit: fixed URL. Ah, and I'm only kidding about the nerd food! =D Well, in everybody's case except Scion's... ^^

[Scion]

You're my little brother, ya punk! Don't make come over there and kick your butt.

[TooLBlue]

Hi shorty !

[Scion]

No...I've changed my mind. I'm not related to you after all.

[Serpent]

ahhhhh sibling rivalry... I know how that is. hehe

[NightReaver[CotC]]

I think what you put together looks good.

I only have two suggestions.

• If you can increase your amount of RAM to 2Gb (most progams and games will use it)
• Trade up on your power supply something other than the generic case pawer supply. Like this
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817103931

just a suggestion not a must.... others may have different ideas for you...

Reaver out

[TooLBlue]

Yeah, I went with a single 1GB stick of ram instead of two 512's for the sake of upgrading in the future. 2GB will be nice, but I could even live with a 256mb, I imagine. Low priority so long as it works.

The Power Supply Unit is one of the most important parts of the PCs, it's very true. A bad one can cause a ton of damage. The one that comes with the case is actually a 480W according to all the reviewers, for what it's worth... I haven't been able to find any reviews claiming the PSU burned out very quickly, so I suppose I can trust it for a few months, so long as I keep watch over it like a hawk.

I looked at the very PSU you just linked earlier! Funny how that works. I'll consider it for a replacement in a few months along with the ram It depends on how things go, I suppose.

[D.A.R.K.[CotC]]

I don't get it, I've had the same computer with the same power supply for 3 years now, and I've never had a problem

[SLIDER]

Just like Mav they try to be BIGGER than they are!!

[TooLBlue]

I don't get it, I've had the same computer with the same power supply for 3 years now, and I've never had a problem

That's pretty nice. I suspect it's a well known brand PSU?

Some Power Supply Units are built cheaply (sometimes the ones that come with the cases fit into this category) and will fail on you. Lots of different things can happen when a PSU fails... None of them are fun unless you have a lot of cash and you like fireworks

This particular comp I'm on has had two PSU burnouts. The current one has lasted for about a year and is showing no signs of fatigue. Kind of lucky we didn't lose any hardware other than the old PSUs, I think...

edit: Oh, scratch that. I think we had a stick of ram or two burnout along with it... Ah, I don't remember exactly...

[Neophyte]

Power Supply's are extremely critical in a computer. All of your calculations are being done based on good power coming in. Plus we're talking about statistics too. Whereas generic power supplies are like 1 in 100 with failure rates. And recommended brand power supplies have failures in more like 1 in 200,000. And all Power Supplies don't simply burn out and quit working. Their job is to switch your house AC current in to a steady supply of DC current so that your computer can do those calculations properly every millisecond. Most motherboards load capacitors near critical components because they are used to crappy power. But those capacitors only hold enough power for about 100 milliseconds of power drop. Your job as a good system builder is to never rely on those capacitors. Otherwise you might have software errors, unexplained reboots, not starting, freezing, drives that fail and other errors.

[TooLBlue]

Been poking around a bit more since yesterday...

What do you think of this PSU: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... 97&CatId=0

with this case?
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... 31&CatId=0

[Neophyte]

The PSU should be fine. They have a big cooling fan which makes them quiet, and that one should fit the duty of a fully loaded system.

The case looks nice. I like the front air intake and the large fan for exhaust. But I'm a little concerned about flex. (not a whole lot) Just be careful when handling the case, don't move it around too much, and there won't be any problems with that. And not all the edges are rolled, so watch your fleshy bits when working on it! Some of those corners think they are scalpels.

Your Biostar Mobo won't support the Firewire port. So watch out for camcorders from Sony and such were they require firewire to import video. (If that's a concern at all for you.) You can later add a firewire PCI card if needed. Otherwise you should be able to use all the ports on the front media bay. Which I would try to do since they put it in a smart place.

[TooLBlue]

I noticed that one reviewer recommended poking a hole in the rear of the case to take full advantage of the air flow. Seems like a good idea ^^

While I don't really think I'll have a use for the firewire port, I'm looking at this mobo, also http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6813136162

. But I'm a little concerned about flex.

Flex?

[KrAzYdAvE]

cheap metal