I need help with a build

[krnasaur]

1. What is your budget and does that include shipping/taxes?

a loose 1250 USD, can go up to 1500 if needed

2. Where do you live?

South florida

3. What do you need this computer to do (like gaming, Photoshop, and so on)?

gaming mostly

4. What parts will you need for the computer? Please list what parts specifically.

specifically, everything. all the internals, case and monitor.

5. Are you reusing any parts for this computer? If so please say what parts.

No

6. What kind of monitor/resolution do you have or want to get to use for the computer?

Dont have a monitor, around 23" or 24" is something I'd want. Also If there is a monitor that i can hook a xbox up to it as well that would make my life alot easier

7. Do you have a legit OS? If so what OS and is it 32-bit or 64-bit?

Going to use win 7 64 bit

8. What are you looking for the motherboard to have feature wise? Like SLI, Crossfire, Firewire, USB 3.0, Sata 6.0 Gb/s, and so on.

Im a novice with tech stuff, I'm not sure what I would want lol

9. Any plans to overclock the CPU or GPU?

No

10. What time kind of time frame are you planning on ordering these parts?

By Dec 1, If there is a new release of some kind between then and January 2012 id be willing to wait alittle bit later.

[Goku]

Can you get either of these seagate hard drives from Best Buy the 1TB (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Seagate+-+Barracuda+1TB+Internal+Serial+ATA+Hard+Drive/8490625.p?id=1186003683968&skuId=8490625&st=seagate%20hard%20drive&cp=1&lp=3) or 2TB (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Seagate+-+Barracuda+2TB+Internal+Serial+ATA+Hard+Drive+for+ Desktops/9419382.p?id=1218102739460&skuId=9419382&st=seagate%20hard%20drive&cp=1&lp=2). Just due the prices on the current hard drive market you should avoid paying top dollar if you can. Once I know I can post up an entire build.

[krnasaur]

yes, there is one right by my house, i planned on getting the rest of the extras from there. keyboard mouse speakers et certera..

And id get the 1 TB one, not the 2

[Goku]

I would get that ASAP. HDD prices are only going to go higher.

[krnasaur]

ok

[Goku]

For your build I would recommend a 2500K/Z68 due to it easily fitting in your budget, but if you are 100% sure you are not overclocking best off with a 2400 to save $$$. The motherboard I have in the build has USB 3.0 and Sata III. USB 3.0 allows for far better transfer times on USB if you say have a USB 3.0 flash drive. Sata III comes into being useful if you have a SSD. Your budget allows for one, but I wasn't sure if you wanted one or not is why I didn't put one in.

Here is what I came up with:

ASUS VH236H Black 23" Full HD Widescreen LCD Monitor - $179.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236059)
EVGA 012-P3-1571-AR GeForce GTX 570 - $339.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130621)
SONY Black SATA DVD-ROM - $16.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118031)
Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W - $69.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371031)
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB - $41.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231422)
MSI PH61A-P35 - $74.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130609&Tpk=MSI%20PH61A-P35)
Intel Core i5-2400 - $189.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - $99.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986)

Total = $1,013.92 not including tax/shipping/MIR/Discounts

For a case choose one of these (prices are not up to date):


$70 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112238) - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$90 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112235) - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216) - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112154) - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112099) - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197) - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$110 (http://www.amazon.com/Whisper-Black-Power-Aluminum-Computer/dp/B001H9ALF2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1295436362&sr=8-1) - NZXT Whisper WHI - 001BK ATX Full Tower Case
$110 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112251) - Lian Li PC-60FN ATX Case
$110 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112249) - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$120 (http://www.amazon.com/Velocity-GX2-W-Silver-Classic-Aluminum/dp/B00292BQRI/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1273830564&sr=1-13) - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$127 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352002) - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$140 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146067) - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146068) - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112304) - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$143 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146073) - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$150 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139003) - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case

[krnasaur]

Just ordered the HD, Ill have all the other ones ordered by the end of the week, thank you for your help

[Goku]

Bump this thread the day you are going to order. I'll go through and see what combos/coupons are available so you can get the best price.

[krnasaur]

Some of the stuff is on sale now, So i was going to order it tonight. I was just wondering, isnt the processor cooler missing from your list?

[Goku]

If you do not intend to overclock you do not need one. The 2400 comes with one.

I think the only coupon was with the monitor, so you can go ahead and order if you wish.

[krnasaur]

edit: lol didnt read the last post. Thanks for your help

[krnasaur]

One last question, Wired connection will be tough, i was looking at wireless PCI adapters, which is a good one?

[Goku]

I do not know anything about wireless cards to be honest. Have you done any research into them?

[krnasaur]

I was going to, wanted to see if you knew anything first :D



EDIT: I did some fiddling with my furniture, a wired connection will work. :D

[Goku]

Much preferred for gaming :D.

[Bags]

I use wireless and get 20 - 60 ping on most games and never DC.

Just throwin that out there.

[Goku]

I use wireless and get 20 - 60 ping on most games and never DC.

Just throwin that out there.

What kind of connection do you have?

When I was on DSL attempting to use wireless it was horrific. 100+ pings. When I on the rare occasion use wireless on my cable now it is works far better. I still prefer wired always though, personal preference. I do not have issues with wires.

[Rbstr]

The broadband connection is irrelevant to the type of home networking you use, for the most part.
I mean, how many people actually have broadband connections that are faster than wireless g?
(do you have fiber? Maybe. Otherwise, it's not likely)

Wireless works just fine for gaming as long as you have a decent access point/router and good signal strength.
But wired is certainly a no hassle way to get a good connection to the modem. I use it whenever I can.

[Bags]

I've got TWCable, 2 megabit. I'd take wired if it wasn't a pain to setup, but I've never had issues with wireless.

[Goku]

I've got TWCable, 2 megabit. I'd take wired if it wasn't a pain to setup, but I've never had issues with wireless.

100 FT lan wires work wonders ;).

[krnasaur]

Got everything together and working, rather proud of myself for my first computer build :D

thanks for your help goku, i owe you one.

[Goku]

You're welcome. Enjoy the new build!

[krnasaur]

Ive been having some major issues with it.

The computer will randomly freeze. It has happened playing skyrim, sins: trinity, and surfing the web. The time between freezes seem random, one time it lasted 5 hrs before a freeze, another time it was 20 minutes, and everywhere in between.

For fixing it I have tried basically taking everything apart, refitting the RAM, CPU, vid card, rechecking all of the cables. Software wise, updated the bios, got the most recent drivers for everything i could think of. Nothing seems to help its still freezing.

Really starting to get frustrated. What else can I do to get it to work?

[Goku]

You have all the power connecters in place on the video card and motherboard?

Windows 7 is fully updated along with all the drivers for your parts?

Never hurts to triple check.

Make sure the ram is set at its recommended voltage.

Its possible you may have a bad part with in the build. Sounds most likely with the ram, mobo, cpu, or hard drive in this case. Anyway you can try at least the video card or HDD to make sure those aren't faulty in your previous system?

[krnasaur]

Make sure the ram is set at its recommended voltage.

How do i check that?

[Goku]

How do i check that?

Depends on the motherboard. I am not familiar with the H61 settings to be honest. All the boards I have had its in the overclocking options and that one doesn't overclock. Try looking it up in the user manual.

[krnasaur]

So I was looking at the ram sticks and i got this-

Compatible M/B Chipset:
Intel P55
lntel H55
Intel X48
Intel P45
Intel X38
AMD 890 Series
AMD 790 Series


the H61 i have isnt listed there

[Goku]

That isn't the issue. Numerous people use that set actually for the H61/67, P67, and Z68 motherboards. Doesn't entirely rule out the ram of course, but any DDR3 should be able to work on any board if it supports DDR3 ram.

[krnasaur]

So the ram voltage is with .012 of what is supposed to be. (1.5V)

[Goku]

Try only using one of the sticks at one time. Possible one of those are causing the issue. Voltage doesn't seem to be any issue.

[krnasaur]

turns out there was a single mobo driver i was missing for the PCIe... maybe thats what was causing it

[Goku]

Hmm possible. Go for it...

[krnasaur]

Its working so far. No freezes yet. but that doesnt mean i fixed it. we will see what happens

[Goku]

Its working so far. No freezes yet. but that doesnt mean i fixed it. we will see what happens

I will keep my fingers crossed that it was solved then.

[krnasaur]

nope, it froze again today

[Goku]

Have you tried only using one of the DDR3 sticks yet to see if that is causing the issue? Sounds like there is a issue somewhere with one of the components. That is where you are going to have to troubleshoot now.

[krnasaur]

Ill try that tmrw, had a long day i dont feel like messing around with everything at 915 at night

[krnasaur]

How would i test the other components like the HD, vidcard, CPU?

[Goku]

How would i test the other components like the HD, vidcard, CPU?

Easiest way is to normally to put those components in another computer to see if they work properly or swap in other into your current build to see if the computer functions properly. You cannot really test the CPU though of course due to not have another 1155 mobo around.

Have you tried stress testing the GPU (3DMark2011/Furmark) or CPU (OCCT)? If one crashes under that stress it may show that part is at fault.

[krnasaur]

Easiest way is to normally to put those components in another computer to see if they work properly or swap in other into your current build to see if the computer functions properly. You cannot really test the CPU though of course due to not have another 1155 mobo around.

Have you tried stress testing the GPU (3DMark2011/Furmark) or CPU (OCCT)? If one crashes under that stress it may show that part is at fault.


Havent done those tests, i will asap.


Only other computer i have are a laptop. opening that up will be a mess

[Goku]

Don't do that. That will not help anything.

[krnasaur]

didnt crash after the 3d mark 11, running occt now.


edit: finished OCCT. no freeze.


tomorrow I'll take one of the ram sticks out and see if that works.

[krnasaur]

took out one of the ram sticks, working good so far.

[Goku]

How long has it been stable verse the other crash times?

[krnasaur]

lets see... about 10 hrs over 3 different sessions, normally I would have had 2-4 freezes by now.

[Goku]

If it continues to be stable take that one out and put the other in. If it starts crashing a lot sounds like it will be that ram stick most likely. You will have to do a RMA back to Newegg for a replacement.

[krnasaur]

Would I RMA both sticks or just the defective one?

[Goku]

Both.

[Goku]

What is it looking like now?

[krnasaur]

going to send it back to NE after thanksgiving. but its been working really good so far