Building my first computer.

[Sean W.]

the only time more ram on your graphics card is going to help you is when you are pushing huge resolutions... basically anything over 1920x1080... i doubt you have a monitor with a high resolution than that because they are crazy expensive... the last gen GTX 470 had 2 verisions if i remember correctly, one was a 1gig and another was a 2gig, the difference between the two was about 1-2 frames a second.

as far as a 6870x2 graphics card beating a 7970, this is what i found...

* ALL BENCHMARKS ARE AT HIGHEST EVERYTHING @ 1920x1200 RESOLUTION *

Call of Duty Modern Warefare 2:
7970: 166fps
6870x2: 140fps

Battle Field Bad Company 2:
7970: 75fps
6870x2: 89fps

Metro 2033:
7970: 44fps
6870x2: 44fps

3dMarkVantage performance:
7970: 30758
6870x2: 27821


ALL BENCHMARK SCORES WERE TAKEN FROM Guru of 3D: PC Hardware Reviews and tests...

So, take it for what its worth to you...

 

[Silencio]

I read that microsoft offers extended support for the professional version of windows 7 until 2020 but only 2015 for windows 7 home edition. Will the extended support keep windows 7 pro safe from viruses and glitches? (Assuming I use a virus protector and don't go to dangerous websites of course)

I don't want to buy windows 8 in only 3 years to stay safe, but if I have no choice, then I will. I am using xp pro still on this old computer and I love it to death.

I read somewhere that certain SSD's can't be used to install operating systems. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I was thinking I would use an SSD only and keep my big files that I almost never use on my 2 external hard drives that have 2 TB each. I use 2 external hard drives to keep 2 copies of each file that I have in case 1 of the drives fail.

Also I heard that I should get a case with a removable, washable dust filter. How often would I need to clean the dust filter and how often would I need to clean the whole computer? Also is it safe to use a leaf blower on my pc to clean it? I have been using one on low speed from a long distance away to clean my current old pc of dust. What about a vacum is that safe?

I read that the dual 6780 gpu counts as 2 gpus on the driver, which is the max you should try to use on a driver in most cases, so adding another card would not be smart. However by the time I need to upgrade my graphics card the top of the line cards will be less than half the price they are now, so I am thinking the dual 6780 would be the right choice to save money in the short term and in the long term. By the time I need to update my graphics card I will probably need to build an entirely new computer anyway.

Will I need a fan for my graphics card if I plan to overclock it in the future?

I don't plan on overclocking the motherboard or ram, cause from what I read they are not a bottleneck and will not help my system by overclocking them.

 

[tj_extreme]

I read somewhere that certain SSD's can't be used to install operating systems. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Where did you hear this? That's a bunch of BS. I have Windows 7 Ultimate installed on my 60gb SSD, no problems whatsoever.

 

[Silencio]

Ok I think I have all the parts decided now. I based this on lots research and lots of advice from several pc building forums. Don't be upset if I didn't use your suggestion, because I received suggestions from many people and I had to chose only 1. Even if I didn't choose your suggestion, you all still helped me a lot and I appreciate all the advice.

It was a struggle between speed, price and reliability, with reliability being first, speed second and price 3rd.

I am still open to advice, cause I am a noob and my reasoning for buying certain parts may be wrong. Maybe you know a website or store with cheap parts that aren't listed on Computer Part Selection For DIY PC Builders - PCPartPicker .

My new build is here - System Build - PCPartPicker

The price on that link says 1,820, but it will actually be 1,745.

I added an air cooler since it doesn't void the warranty, unless you tell intel you used it. Also someone said cpus rarely go bad nowadays even when overclocked, as long as you don't super overclock it, so I would be interested in trying that down the road.

I used the ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard instead of the ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard, because microsoft doesn't sell the extreme 3 and I get 50 dollars off on a motherboard/cpu combo deal.

I decided to use the cheapest cas 8 ddr 3 1,600 ram I could since my cpu is designed specifically for 1,600 as its sweet spot. Apparently the cas is more important though for speed.

I used the crucial m4 128gb SSD, because it is cheap and doesn't have many dead on arrival shipments like OCZ has. I don't want to deal with that and I don't mind this drive being slower than the OCZ since SSD is insanely fast anyway.

I chose the saphire brand of the amd radeon 7970 cause it is cheapest of all available and I can overclock it to match the other cards speeds myself, if I need to.

I chose the Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case, because of the removable dust filters and apparently a mid tower case will fit all of my computer parts, so why not save some money.

I chose the Corsair 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply, because I want plenty of power for overclocking everything and this particular model had lots of reviews and barely any dead on arrivals or instances where it destroyed other computer parts. Also 850 watts is futureproof for another videocard if needed later on.

The Asus VS247H-P 23.6" Monitor is almost exactly the same as the other one I posted, but it has a higher contrast ratio for the same exact price. If 2 monitors are the same price and almost exactly the same, I will choose the one with a better contrast ratio.

I was convinced to use windows 7 home since the extra features for pro are useless and won't help me in gaming.

The keyboard and mouse got good reviews from massive amounts of people and they were recommended by other people. The lights on the keyboard also attract me a lot since I play in the dark and struggle to find keys sometimes.

I did not add a cooler for the video card, because nobody said it was necessary even when overclocked.

 

[Roark]

Everything looks good except the RAM.

While 1600 is the sweet spot for MHz, 1.5 is where you want to look for voltage. Your CPU uses an internal memory controller and the higher voltage will put a strain on it, as well as cause your CPU/RAM to run hotter.
Also, those really tall heatspreaders may interfere with the CPU cooler (which hangs over the RAM slots).

 

[Silencio]

Ok I switched my ram to this - Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM

It it the cheapest ram with 8 - 8 -8 - 24 timings 1.5 volts and 1600.
______________________________________________________________
I am confident in everything else except my motherboard since they still don't make sense to me. I tried doing google searches for about 8 hours over the past 3 days and I am still confused.

I found the following quote about the p67 extreme 4 gen 3 on post number 3 here - ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3? - [H]ard|Forum
_____________________________________________________________
"There are really 3 differences between the P67 chipset and the Z68 chipset.

-Intel® SRT (Smart Response Technology) also known as SSD caching.

-Support for the IGP (Intergraded Graphics on Processor) allows you to use the IGP for back up graphics and if the board has the Lucidlogix Virtu software can switch between the Intel Quick Sync and the dedicated video to give best performance on the application you are using.

-Intel SATA III controller.

On most Z68 boards (Gigabyte has some that dont support the IGP) you have all of this advantages over P67 boards. "
____________________________________________________________

I don't need ssd caching since I am using ssd only and everything else is stored on external hard drive.

I don't care about the IGP since my video card is awesome.

But the intel sata III controller is faster than the marvell controller and the marvell controller will bottleneck my ssd preventing it from reading/writing at its max speed.

Post number 2 talks about the Intel sata III being faster than marvel at this link - Crucial M4 on the way...Intel SATA 6 gb or Marvell 6 gb?

________________________________________________________

My initial motherboard plan was the asrock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3. But since it is not for sale at microcenter where I get 50$ off on a cpu/motherboard combo someone mentioned the ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 as a cheaper board with the same stats. However according the above review the p67 doesn't have intel sata III and all my google searches don't seem to tell me what kind of sata ports it has.

My question now is what motherboard has the intel sata III and the same specs as Z68 Extreme3 Gen3, while still being for sale at microcenter?

The microcenter motherboard needs to be 170 dollars or less for it to cost me equal to or less than the z68 extreme3 gen 3. (I factored in 50 dollars off and taxes from microcenter compared to newegg with shipping costs and no taxes for the extreme 3 gen)

 

[Silencio]

Please ignore my last post. I read a link that falsely stated that the p67 motherboards did not have intel sata III, but apparently they do. I wasn't able to find this information on my own, because I was specifically looking for the words intel sata III on my motherboard and I did not know that there were other words being used which meant the same thing as intel sata III.

I will be sticking with the asrock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 and it definitely has intel sata III.

***edit below here***

I guess my last post did not show up. Anyways there is nothing to worry about I just read some wrong information and my build is not changing since my last post.

I am gonna order all my parts now. Thanks for the help everyone.



***edit again***

I forgot to mention I switched to this ram here - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...KILL-_-20231445&AID=10440897&PID=3938566&SID=

cheapest 8-8-8-24 1.5 volt 1,600 ram available. 75 dollars minus 10% discount (discount ends today)

But other than that 1 change nothing else in my build is changing from the last post you guys saw.

 

[Roark]

Sounds good, grats on the new hardware
Post back if you have any issues, or with pictures when you finish.

 

[Silencio]

I ended up paying someone to put my computer together. They only charged me 65 dollars and that is after tax. They also installed windows no extra charge.

My computer keeps giving me this warning message "The Catalyst Control Center is not supported by the driver version of your enabled graphics adapter. Please update your amd graphics driver, or enable your amd adapter using the displays manager."

I got the driver update for the radeon 7970 from amds website and I even downloaded amds auto detect program and it told me drivers were intalled for my specific video card. I did not download the graphics drivers that came with the windows 7 update because I don't want it to interfere with my radeon 7970 graphics drivers.

I watched videos on youtube and on my external hard drive and they look great. But I tried to play a demo of a video game called torchlight and the screen was just black with a box in the top left.

Do I need to download the windows 7 graphics driver update?

How do I fix my system so that video games work and my warning message goes away?

Where can I find a stress test to see if all of my computer components are working right?

I use avast free anti virus, I use latest mozilla firefox with adblock plus and no script. I plan on getting spybot search and destroy also.

Do I need an advanced firewall?

Is there anything else really important I should for my new computer for functionality, speed and overall best experience?

 

[jasonalwaysready]

is your monitor plugged into integrated graphics instead of your graphics card?
since it is a new install, download and install all windows updates.
otherwise, i would:

uninstall ccc and the driver
restart
download driver only from the amd site
restart immediately after installing