How easy is it to build a pc for a complete novice ?

tamzzy said:
the z9 comes with 4 fans (more than most if not all other cases) a temp reader and a fan controller as standard. pretty smashing deal for south of 50 quid if you ask me ;p
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You forgot to mention the P4/8 aux power extension lead supplied free as well.

Your spec isn't bad. I don't think you've ever used a Z9 case otherwise you would be spec'ing a modular PSU.

As the OS is out of stock anyway, I'd suggest using the developers copy of windows 8 now and choose an OS in october once Win 8 is officially released.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £173.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £169.99
1 x ASRock Z77 Extreme4 M Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £101.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (ST2000DL003) £89.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £79.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £65.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £39.95
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £836.86 (includes shipping : £12.50).



I think you might need to add a sata cable to the above build unless you have one spare.

However that is Xfire capable, Good sized SSD for the OS and games, 2TB of storage is more than plenty. I prefer the Coolermaster 612S myself over the matterhorn. Comes with a tube of paste (rather than a sachet with the matterhorn), fans are easier to attach as well. The cooler is tweaked towards being quiet, if you want better cooling performance you could consider attaching two of the LED fans from the case instead ;)
 
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no, i cant say i have used the z9 ;p
but if its like the midi towers i've used previously, i just leave the cables on the floor of the case
 
Ive just been looking at the power supplkies that people have suggested, is a modular power supply one where you just plug in what you need rather than having loose spare connections dangling in the case ?
 
The Matrix said:
Ive just been looking at the power supplkies that people have suggested, is a modular power supply one where you just plug in what you need rather than having loose spare connections dangling in the case ?
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Yes mate indeed :) The mobo power cables are "hard wired" all the other cables required can be connected seperately.....everything you need comes in the box :)

You'll notice the OCZ ZT 550W isn't much more than Tams non modular suggestion. The Coolermaster modular PSU is only slightly more than the OCZ, the mobo I used is Xfire capable and 600W is enough to Xfire the 7850, which makes the extra few quid worth while.

I've installed the CM pro into plenty of Z9 cases, it comes with rubber strips to dampen vibration, the unit is quiet (the OCZ ZT isn't). The cables are indeed modular and a flat design which is quite neat. There is not a lot of room between the back of the mobo tray and the panel. So the modular cables are a big help, any excess cables you'd have to "hide" in the HDD bay at the front and this would restrict airflow meaning higher temps ;)
 
honosuseri said:
Yes mate indeed :) The mobo power cables are "hard wired" all the other cables required can be connected seperately.....everything you need comes in the box :)

You'll notice the OCZ ZT 550W isn't much more than Tams non modular suggestion. The Coolermaster modular PSU is only slightly more than the OCZ, the mobo I used is Xfire capable and 600W is enough to Xfire the 7850, which makes the extra few quid worth while.

I've installed the CM pro into plenty of Z9 cases, it comes with rubber strips to dampen vibration, the unit is quiet (the OCZ ZT isn't). The cables are indeed modular and a flat design which is quite neat. There is not a lot of room between the back of the mobo tray and the panel. So the modular cables are a big help, any excess cables you'd have to "hide" in the HDD bay at the front and this would restrict airflow meaning higher temps ;)
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i wouldnt xfire on the cm silent pro 600w tbh, 480w on the 12v is a bit too close for my liking
 
tamzzy said:
i wouldnt xfire on the cm silent pro 600w tbh, 480w on the 12v is a bit too close for my liking
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Don't talk soft! lol

The 6850 uses more power than the 7850 in some benchmarks! 600W with 36amps or greater is recommended to xfire the 6850. The CM pro has 40amps on the 12V

The OCZ ZT 650W is £5 more with 54amps on the rail. Depends wether Xfire is appealing or not as to wether he wants to play safe with the PSU. I used the CM unit as it was the best compromise to go modular whilst still allowing Xfire support.

tamzzy said:
both the boards that me and hono specced have spdif optical outputs
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The asrock mobo has THX rated onboard audio (so it must be good) and optical output :D
 
honosuseri said:
Don't talk soft! lol

The 6850 uses more power than the 7850 in some benchmarks! 600W with 36amps or greater is recommended to xfire the 6850. The CM pro has 40amps on the 12V

The OCZ ZT 650W is £5 more with 54amps on the rail. Depends wether Xfire is appealing or not as to wether he wants to play safe with the PSU. I used the CM unit as it was the best compromise to go modular whilst still allowing Xfire support.



The asrock mobo has THX rated onboard audio (so it must be good) and optical output :D
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running psu at 80-90% at load is ewww ;p
thx certification is useless outside of cinemas lol. my thx speakers are **** =x so much grounding hiss
 
honosuseri said:
You forgot to mention the P4/8 aux power extension lead supplied free as well.

Your spec isn't bad. I don't think you've ever used a Z9 case otherwise you would be spec'ing a modular PSU.

As the OS is out of stock anyway, I'd suggest using the developers copy of windows 8 now and choose an OS in october once Win 8 is officially released.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £173.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £169.99
1 x ASRock Z77 Extreme4 M Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £101.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (ST2000DL003) £89.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC128B/WW) £79.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £65.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
1 x GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £39.95
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £836.86 (includes shipping : £12.50).



I think you might need to add a sata cable to the above build unless you have one spare.

However that is Xfire capable, Good sized SSD for the OS and games, 2TB of storage is more than plenty. I prefer the Coolermaster 612S myself over the matterhorn. Comes with a tube of paste (rather than a sachet with the matterhorn), fans are easier to attach as well. The cooler is tweaked towards being quiet, if you want better cooling performance you could consider attaching two of the LED fans from the case instead ;)
Click to expand...

I'm leaning towards this spec, i prefer the modular power supply as i like the idea of just plugging in what i need, the motherboard seems to be good but i'm no expert in this area, are Asrock well regarded for motherboards ? Its just it has no reviews on the product page.
 
If you go to 6 mins 20 seconds in this youtube video that was posted on the previous page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxaVBsXEiok&feature=player_embedded

I like that Asus bios, are Asus motherboards better than Asrock ? I like the drag and drop boot order that you can use.

Is there a very good future proof Asus motherboard that i could use instead of the Asrock one which is the Asus budget range that will fit the rest of the components above that honosuseri suggested.
 
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The Matrix said:
If you go to 6 mins 20 seconds in this youtube video that was posted on the previous page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxaVBsXEiok&feature=player_embedded

I like that Asus bios, are Asus motherboards better than Asrock ? I like the drag and drop boot order that you can use.

Is there a very good future proof Asus motherboard that i could use instead of the Asrock one which is the Asus budget range that will fit the rest of the components above that honosuseri suggested.
Click to expand...

If you don't use the Asrock use the GB mobo I linked (click "this" in my previous thread). It's a few quid more but has a better warranty than Asus or Asrock.

There is nothing wrong with the Arock mobo. We can get very anal over spec'ing components. Some say doing Xfire on mATX mobos is a bad idea as the GPUs are close together, which affects their temps. However as we are using a midi tower, using an ATX mobo and xfire the second GPU will be butted up against the PSU which also affects it's "breathing". So it's catch 22.

We can seriously overcomplicate things if we aren't careful. The trick is keeping the spec balanced, I tried to do that in my spec and maintain a nice appearance. I do love the styling of the Asrock, with my beige trousers on I'd pay the lil extra for the GB mobo as it's on offer :)
 
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