Need help building new a desktop PC

[sesselpupser]

I'd look at changing the motherboard, because:

- It only has two RAM slots, not a huge deal but I'd be uncomfortable with that personally.

- It only supports SATA 3Gb/s, the hard drive you've picked is 6Gb/s so that's bandwidth you can't take advantage of. It'll work, just not as quickly as it could.

- There's only VGA output, no DVI or HDMI.

- It's mATX sized, you'll need to check to make sure your case has the right mounting holes for that.

Apart from that it all seems fine to me.

Unfortunately you may have to go over your budget but if you shop carefully you might be able to squeeze it all in, who knows?

 

[HE1RO]

I would go with the H77 if it was me, the H61 is an older board (its a 2nd gen chipset) and it doesnt support SATA III which you would need to get the full performance from the HDD you chose. The H77 is designed for 3rd gen CPU's (like the one you chose), and extra ports is something i think is good to have imo lol If you want to stay with the H61, choose a SATA II HDD and save some more money.

Now you just need a PSU, and an OS. You should do well with a PSU ranging from 400-550 watts. Anything over that is a bit overkill imo. Just saying, but most higher end GPUs minimum requirement is a 500 watt PSU, which you have stated you wont be getting a GPU anyways lol.

To stay cost efficient and still get a quality product, look for a Rated (Bronze, Silver, Gold etc) PSU with good reviews.
Another thing to look for is if it is Semi or fully Modular, which means you can choose to have only the chords you need to hook your PSU to your components. Makes sorting wires easier.

You can always buy more HDD's in the future. If you are mostly going to be picture editing, by the time you fill a 1TB drive they will be cheaper lol

Edit: Neema_T does have a point, do you mind telling us what kind of case you have?

 

[nick09]

- It only supports SATA 3Gb/s, the hard drive you've picked is 6Gb/s so that's bandwidth you can't take advantage of. It'll work, just not as quickly as it could.

Actually hard drives don't even hit the SATA 3Gb/s bandwidth limit. It's a feature that is just a marketing term to sell hard drives. For SSD's it is important feature to make use of but not for hard drives.

 

[35mm]

The guy at the store told me that the only disadvantage of the H61 would be not having USB3.0 and only two RAM slots. And I resigned to that.
He did not mention the "no HDMI output" part or not being compatible with SSD's... In fact, he specifically said this one also had HDMI output. Damn.

For all the reasons you listed, I may have to shell out an extra 50€.


Also, my case is a NOX-MEDIA. Their website only has the newer "MEDIA 2" now apparently, but mine is the one with the circular, blue button in the middle.

Next week I'll take my current PC to the store to check if it all fits and if my PSU is OK for the job.

Thanks again.

 

[nick09]

You can fix both ATX and Mini-ATX motherboards in that case.

 

[35mm]

^ That is good to know, thanks.

Would you guys spend the extra 30€ and go for the Intel i5-3550 instead (3.1 GHz vs. 3.3GHz)?

(In reality I know I should go for the i5-3570k, because since I won't have a dedicated GPU, the HD Graphics 4000 should be a better choice over the HD Graphics 2500...)

 

[nick09]

Keep the i5-3450 if you save money. I would rather put the extra money into the 2TB HDD. I'm thinking without question that you will eventually need it. The HD 4000 is not really worth the upgrade. It's only a small upgrade(Still integrated graphics) and by then you should be buying a dedicated GPU if you wanted to game. The HD 2500 will be fine for your needs and if you really need to upgrade, low end GPU's are cheap to buy to get a little extra grunt in the graphics department.

 

[NissanSkylineN1]

I don't think H61 can overclock..

 

[35mm]

Keep the i5-3450 if you save money.
...
The HD 4000 is not really worth the upgrade. It's only a small upgrade(Still integrated graphics) and by then you should be buying a dedicated GPU if you wanted to game. The HD 2500 will be fine for your needs and if you really need to upgrade, low end GPU's are cheap to buy to get a little extra grunt in the graphics department.

That is very reassuring and good to know. My mind is at peace now. Thanks! 👍

I would rather put the extra money into the 2TB HDD. I'm thinking without question that you will eventually need it.

I should have explained this before, but I have a 1.5TB external HD connected to my PC. At another home, I have another external HD (1TB) for backups. That is why I'm not so worried about space.
Even so, I'm still considering the extra 30€ for double the space...

I don't think H61 can overclock..

I will not be doing any overclocking, but still (and thanks to you, guys) I've already decided on the H77.

 

[HE1RO]

You know, if you wanted too, you can take the case off of the external hard drive and mount it internally like any normal drive, just lookup online how to because some cases may be different. I had a 2TB Seagate microwave oven (what i call external hard drives lol) that all i had to do was jam a screw driver and pry XD.

Good luck on the build if you are assembling it yourself, hope it turns out exactly if not better than what you are wanting

 

[35mm]

You know, if you wanted too, you can take the case off of the external hard drive and mount it internally like any normal drive, just lookup online how to because some cases may be different. I had a 2TB Seagate microwave oven (what i call external hard drives lol) that all i had to do was jam a screw driver and pry XD.

That's a good a idea, but I really need this 1.5TB external hard drive to be portable (exactly so I can take it to my other home and backup there as well).

Good luck on the build if you are assembling it yourself, hope it turns out exactly if not better than what you are wanting

Haha. Thanks!
I'm not doing it myself, the store is. But they charge almost nothing for doing it. And it's better that way, trust me.


Is there room for one last question...?
Since I'll have four RAM slots, will I gain anything from buying 2x4GB RAM, instead of just one of 8GB?

 

[dice1998]

Is there room for one last question...?
Since I'll have four RAM slots, will I gain anything from buying 2x4GB RAM, instead of just one of 8GB?

Dual Channelness

 

[35mm]

^ So, in a word, yes, since a dual-channel configuration may help reduce the "botleneck" effect. 👍

Since I'm guessing there's no disadvantage, I'll go for 2x4GB then. Thanks.

 

[35mm]

Just to wrap this up, I want to let you know that I got my new PC last Friday.

I've used it all weekend long, doing the things it was bought for and everything looks OK and it's running smoothly. No regrets whatsoever about not having the dedicated GPU.

Thanks again to everyone here who helped me.