Building my first PC. Does this sound like a good built?

[ocmdiaz714]

Hey, guys. I just signed up and would appreciate any advice or recommendations on building a new kit. My main PC was just stolen, sad thing is that I bought it under credit for over a thousand dollars and I'm still paying it off. I was going to upgrade my old storage PC, but decided it would be best to build a new PC. I would buy a retail desktop, but It will obviously be cheaper to build my own.

I don't do gaming and need something that will run strong and reliable for years to come. I need something powerful enough to encode HD videos at ease and load up CS5 at the same time, and run without a hitch, all while playing music off iTunes and watching a video from YouTube at 1080p. Here's what I've come up with so far:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Callisto Dual-Core Desktop Processor
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
PSU: Antec earthwatts EA500 500W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply
CASE: Thermaltake V3 Black Edition VL80001W2Z Black SECC / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
CPU COOLER: Thermaltake TR2-R1 / AMD Socket AM2/939/754 / Aluminum / 92mm Fan / CPU Cooler

 

[jasonalwaysready]

seems fine if you dont game, though for the activities you described, a quad core would be great if you could afford it.
Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,AMD,Processors - Desktops,Socket AM3,Phenom II X4
another $50-70 would do it, but based off from what youre doing, would really pay off.

perhaps a giant chain and padlock with a length of barbwire would be a good investment too. :/

 

[johns622]

That's a good start. As mentioned above, a cheaper end quad-core wouldn't be a bad idea either if you're going to do a lot of editing / processing. The CPU cooler could probably go too and instead, just get some fans. For what it's worth, I upgraded 3 120mm case fans to higher cfm ones and got an additional 4th 80mm one and temps dropped 20-30ºC. No CPU cooler.

Also, what OS are you going with?

 

[GhOsT1321]

That's a good start. As mentioned above, a cheaper end quad-core wouldn't be a bad idea either if you're going to do a lot of editing / processing. The CPU cooler could probably go too and instead, just get some fans. For what it's worth, I upgraded 3 120mm case fans to higher cfm ones and got an additional 4th 80mm one and temps dropped 20-30ºC. No CPU cooler.
Also, what OS are you going with?

I went from no case fans to 4 high CMF 120mm fans, and one high CMF 140mm fan. My temperatures dropped nowhere close to 20-30, more like 8-10. I doubt that whetever you used to measure the temperatures was accurate.

 

[ocmdiaz714]

I'll be running Windows 7 Ultimate x64. I presume that's the best option available to suit my needs. I'll look into the quad core CPU. Will the motherboard support it? My budget is $370-$420. Also, I wouldn't know how to go about installing fans, but I'm sure it's simple enough for YouTube to teach me. This is my firt built. The only previous expierence I hold is swapping a motherboard and CPU on my current storage PC. Thanks for the help, guys.

 

[johns622]

I went from no case fans to 4 high CMF 120mm fans, and one high CMF 140mm fan. My temperatures dropped nowhere close to 20-30, more like 8-10. I doubt that whetever you used to measure the temperatures was accurate.

I just went with SpeedFan *shrug*. Maybe it wasn't accurate, but my temperature drops are that extreme. My computer used to get REALLY hot, to the point where the temp warning setting in BIOS would go off. My computer shut down a couple times because it got so hot. And my exhaust fan literally blew hot hot air. My room got hot VERY fast when I kept the door closed. Now it blows cool air, even when I dual box WoW for 5 hours and keep the CPU usage above a constant 75%. After I got my new fans installed, I tested it with WoW. My room doesn't get hot anymore either. I was VERY amazed at how much of a difference they made.

I'll be running Windows 7 Ultimate x64. I presume that's the best option available to suit my needs. I'll look into the quad core CPU. Will the motherboard support it? My budget is $370-$420. Also, I wouldn't know how to go about installing fans, but I'm sure it's simple enough for YouTube to teach me. This is my firt built. The only previous expierence I hold is swapping a motherboard and CPU on my current storage PC. Thanks for the help, guys.

Most people will recommend Win7 64-bit nowadays.

Here is the CPU supported list from Gigabyte's website for your motherboard (this is rev 3.3. I don't know which rev you'll get, but I'd assume it'll be the latest which is 3.3):
GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Socket AM2+ - AMD 785G - GA-MA785GM-US2H (rev. 3.3)

Installing fans is very simple. It comes with screws and as long as you get the right size fan, all you do is screw the holes into the fan and connect the fans to the PSU. If you don't know which size fan to get, the specs of the case on newegg might tell you. If not, you can contact thermaltake or maybe even newegg and ask, or just wait until you get the case and measure the holes yourself.

 

[ocmdiaz714]

I'll be using revision 1.0 as I can't find any later models. As for the CPU, I'm now thinking of upgrading to a AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, that's if I come up with the money.

 

[johns622]

In that case, here's the CPU support list for rev 1.0:
GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Socket AM2+ - AMD 785G - GA-MA785GM-US2H (rev. 1.0)

The Phenom II X4 965 is a good pick.

 

[-RockMan-]

Hey john, if your pc is getting hot to the point to where it sounds like a car alarm and shuts down for 10 minutes....

Bewarned, that is your cpu trying to tell you it's over heating buddy.
Look inside your case now and make sure your heatsink is fastened up correctly and also make sure you put a tiny drop of tuniq-x2 in the middle of the cpu and put the heatsink back on.
For a normal phenom ii x2, x3 temps for it new or recent should be averaging about 28c-36c.
Phenom ii x4's and x6's mainly mine should be around 28c- 44c full load and also depending on which aftermarket heatsink you got for it.