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First SSF Build

K

Kastang

n00b
Joined
May 29, 2007
Messages
27
I am building my first SSF computer. I am hoping for a little help filling in the gaps I am missing.

It has been awhile since my last PC build. This PC will mainly be used for CAD applications such as Autocad(2D) and Solidworks(3D). Also, some gaming, Steam, WoW, and Others. (I am Mac person, but using Windows via Parallel Desktops just isn't working for my 3D CAD work.)

Other then the Case, I honestly have just looked up parts via Newegg looking at reviews. If there are more cost efficient products or better please let me know.

Case: Lanbox Lite
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2L
Ram: 4GB G.Skill
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache
HDD: WD 500GB (Tempting purchasing two and setting up a Raid configuration since I will have no backup solution.)


Due to the size restrictions, I am unsure which Graphic card to get. I am looking for the best bang for my buck. I don't need top of the line. Same goes with the PSU. Also, I am looking for a quality CPU cooler that will fit in the case.

Also, I am planning on swapping out the fans that come with the case and replace them with quality ones. I have AS5 here already.

Any help and suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Any help would be great
 
I'm not one to bitch but, what does everyone see in that board? The layout is horrid.
 
Due to the size restrictions, I am unsure which Graphic card to get. I am looking for the best bang for my buck. I don't need top of the line. Same goes with the PSU
Click to expand...

Quite easily, a HD4850 and a Corsair 450VX or similar.

Also, I am looking for a quality CPU cooler that will fit in the case.
Click to expand...
Not in this case, I'm afraid. You're better off with a Lian Li V350 if you want something awesome like a Mini Ninja.
 
@Private_Ops - It has the highest rating and positive reviews on newegg. That is why I picked it. Do you have any other suggestions?

@Leman - Thanks! Question though, Do you happen to know a case off hand that would support the Mini Ninja that has a clear side panel on it? From what I read, it looks like the Lanbox Lite has about 100mm to fit under the PSU, I haven't been able to find many to fit in that space like you said.

Thanks!


EDIT:

I found the Thermaltake Blue Orb II in this thread. One member says that it just fits and works well. What is the overall opinion on this fan? Will it indeed fit into the Lanbox Lite? If it is chancy, I would rather not attempt it and find another case with a side window. I am not too picky on cases, just looking for a well built one, black, with a side window.
 
Kastang said:
@Private_Ops - It has the highest rating and positive reviews on newegg. That is why I picked it. Do you have any other suggestions?
Click to expand...

ASUS P5K-VM

More expensive, yes, but, Its got better features.

Even has its own thread.

I've personally thought about getting this board myself, since I'm in the market for a mATX board that can support my E7200. The ratings aren't the best I've seen on newegg but, with ASUS, usually when you get a working board, it works great. (kinda like an old ASUS P4 board I got.)

Or maybe this to.

But, if you want the gigabyte board for financial reasons, by all means its your choice.
 
Thankyou Priate_Ops. Financially I would like to keep this below 1K (USD). I have read up some more on the Asus board and it seems like a good board, so I switched the ram and board. I will keep it like that, If I am getting close on money, I will swap to the other board.

I took Lemans advice and added the HD4850(Visiontek) and the Corsair 450VX PSU (I may swap to a similar one with a LED fan. It depends on what route I go case wise)

Currently I am still looing for a case that will accept a quality CPU cooler. Or if the TT Orb II will fit into my lanbox and play friendly with my Motherboard choice, I will keep the LL Lite.
 
Kastang, if you are not looking to overclock, I'd just use the stock cooler.

If you wanted to upgrade something, maybe put a 3rd case fan on the back? I read somewhere it is possible on that case.
 
brons2 said:
Kastang, if you are not looking to overclock, I'd just use the stock cooler.

If you wanted to upgrade something, maybe put a 3rd case fan on the back? I read somewhere it is possible on that case.
Click to expand...

I'd personally recommend he look for an after market HSF. The stock Intels (even though they work good enough) seem inadequate and the experiences I've had with them they can annoyingly loud.
 
SSF? Super Street Fighter? Two of them on this board now... ;)

I would get the Caviar 640GB. Newer and faster drive. Arguably the fastest 7200RPM drive and essentially silent. RAID 0 really doesn't do all that much, access times make a bigger difference.
 
The Lian Li V350, PCDLabs QMicra V2, and maybe Mountain Mods Twice7 (14" cube, but small by some people's requirements) will all fit decent coolers.
 
Private_Ops said:
I'd personally recommend he look for an after market HSF. The stock Intels (even though they work good enough) seem inadequate and the experiences I've had with them they can annoyingly loud.
Click to expand...

I'll second this. I got a Core 2 Quad Q9300 a couple months ago and they downgraded their coolers from the Q6600, I guess in anticipation of less heat generation, but it did not perform adequately at all. Idled at around 60C.
 
@sleepeeg3- Okay I will add that to my list, A little extra space cant hurt.

@Kil3Thril - Thanks for the list. Looking at all of them, it looks like the Lian Li V350 is going to be my best choice. LEDs aren't that big of a deal.

Lets see, So far the Modifications bring me to:

Case: Lian Li V350
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache
CPU Cooler: Mini Ninja
RAM: 4GB G.Skill
HDD: Caviar 640GB
Mobo: ASUS P5K-VM OR MSI G33. Leaning towards the ASUS board from what I have been reading.
VC: HD 4850
PSU: Corsair 450VX

Are there any pros/cons to getting a Modular PSU. I am considering getting just because it may make cable management better for better airflow. Is the extra money worth getting a Modular PSU?

Also, Does Brand of the 4850 matter? Most seem to have high ratings and roughly the same cost.

How is the updated list looking?
 
Remember, with 4GB of RAM, you will only see 3GB (or maybe 3.25GB at most), if you use a 32-bit operating system like Windows XP or Vista. You need a 64-bit operating system to address the entire 4GB.
 
@Calroth - Oh, I didn't know that! Hmmph.. Well that sucks. Are 64-Bit Windows Operating Systems still "unstable" I remember reading a year or two ago that they were unstable(sorry, not sure if thats the correct wording or not).

@mrmylanman - Well, with all this hard drive space it looks like I can finally try out Ubuntu :D. Other then using a VM to use it, I haven't had much of a chance to use it.

Thanks for informing me, Better to find out now rather then later!
 
Kastang said:
@Calroth - Oh, I didn't know that! Hmmph.. Well that sucks. Are 64-Bit Windows Operating Systems still "unstable" I remember reading a year or two ago that they were unstable(sorry, not sure if thats the correct wording or not).

@mrmylanman - Well, with all this hard drive space it looks like I can finally try out Ubuntu :D. Other then using a VM to use it, I haven't had much of a chance to use it.

Thanks for informing me, Better to find out now rather then later!
Click to expand...

Here's my experience with both 64-bit Vista and XP. XP is the worse of the two, ONLY because iTunes doesn't work on it without some help. So that's not a big con at all. Make sure BEFORE you buy your OS that your vendors supply 64-bit drivers. They should, I know nVidia obviously does, but it's best to make sure before you're stuck in a situation where it won't work.

Another thing I realized is that the eHome remote that Microsoft sells with TV tuners will not work, and neither will pretty much any others I heard but I don't know if I am right or not.

Aside from a few 2 minute headaches I haven't had any problems really. I am using 64-bit XP to write this right now.
 
Some required reading:

Ask Dan: What's with the 3Gb memory barrier?
Ask Dan: 32 or 64 bit Vista?

As long as you get the drivers right (or are willing to experiment with hardware), a 64-bit OS should work for you. I am going to go out on a limb, and say that Windows Vista x64 actually has better driver support than Windows XP x64... Microsoft really has been working hard at the whole driver thing. However, you can't run "unsigned" drivers in Windows Vista x64, so that's a black mark.

AutoCAD has a 64-bit version available of their most recent release (AutoCAD 2009 version 17.2) but I don't know if that's required or if you can just run the 32-bit version.

Or, you could use a 32-bit Windows XP or Vista, and accept that you'll lose some RAM. Actually, that's what I do. The point of my post was to gently remind you that you can't see all your memory, to prevent you from flipping out when you go to System Properties and see "3120MB of RAM installed" :)
 
Kastang, make sure you are getting the newest revision of the LL V350. It apparently has better support for the larger coolers. Or, if you wanted to go QMicra, it will hold a Zalman 9700 series straight from the box. Both are good looking cases (and the 2 I'm going back and forth on :) ).
 
Thanks for the information on the 64 bit systems. If worse comes to worse I will just move down to 32 bit, bit it appears that I will be able to manage fine with 64 bit.

@Kil4Thril - If I am ordering off of Newegg can I assume that they would have the latest revision? I looked on newegg and they only have 2 V350's available (Silver and Black). Nothing about revisions, unless I am missing it.
 
I don't know. I've seen pictures of the new revision, but IDK how to tell if that's what you are getting. Maybe call them, or order from a place like FrozenCPU that will actually open one up and look.
 
Kastang,
It looks like we've got a fairly similar setup. I just built my sff a couple weeks ago and it's been rock solid since. I went with the Gigabtye board and have been pleased with the purchase, especially the price. Like the other posts stated, you'll need a 64 bit OS to read the 4GB of ram but it's no biggy. I've run XP-32, Vista-32, and now Vista-64 and for normal use I haven't noticed any difference between them all which is all that I ask for. I was doubtful myself on the 64 bit rumors of a troublesome OS but it's been just as easy to setup and run. I'm not sure of the dimensions for your lanbox but my silverstone fits a 8800GTS just fine. After that I believe the cards get longer. I'm using a Silverstone NT06-LITE passive cpu cooler and it JUST fits. And my Corsair 520HX modular power supply's fan helps to cool the cpu heatsink. If you were to go with a NT06-LITE, it might fit by taking out the dual fans in the back of the case.
 
Kastang said:
@Kil4Thril - If I am ordering off of Newegg can I assume that they would have the latest revision? I looked on newegg and they only have 2 V350's available (Silver and Black). Nothing about revisions, unless I am missing it.
Click to expand...

You can't assume you will get the latest revision from Newegg unless it is stated in the product description. Here's the text of a reply I got from Newegg in response to my query:

Generally, our stock moves so fast that we have the latest version or revision of everything. Unfortunately, we do not have a way to physically get our hands on our most current stock and tell you what revision we have at the moment. Also, we cannot tag a particular item for a particular order. We ship what we have, when we have it, at our discretion. We do not guarantee revision numbers unless it is specifically noted on the description on the website.
Click to expand...
 
Calroth said:
Or, you could use a 32-bit Windows XP or Vista, and accept that you'll lose some RAM. Actually, that's what I do.
Click to expand...

I do that on my laptop also. I was going to get 3GB since it only came with 1GB (2x512) and I wanted to upgrade, but there are better deals on a matched 4GB kit than buying a 1GB and a 2GB stick separately. Vista Home only sees 3GB but Ubuntu 64 bit sees all of the memory, I run in a dual booted configuration.
 
kastang,

so what are the final specs of your build interested cause im building mine too im just having trouble i want the lanbox light but it seems the v350 is spacier so it be easier to put your setup in their im trying to get something to fin in the lanbox lite though. either way post your final specs when you can.
 
Sorry all for the delay in responce:

Case: Lian Li V350
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache
CPU Cooler: Mini Ninja
RAM: 4GB G.Skill
HDD: Caviar 640GB
Mobo: ASUS P5K-VM OR MSI G33. Leaning towards the ASUS board from what I have been reading.
VC: HD 4850
PSU: Corsair 520HX

They are the current specs I am looking at. I have been busy lately and not had much time to look over the parts in detail before I order them. That is most likely what I will be going for though. I plan on ordering within the next 2 weeks to a month.
 
Okay so, I am am finally getting around to buying this.. well actually finally have time to.

The only thing I am thinking about changing is the motherboard to a Asus P5Q-EM

Can anyone see any other changes that should be made? (aka newer products out?)
 
Kastang said:
Okay so, I am am finally getting around to buying this.. well actually finally have time to.

The only thing I am thinking about changing is the motherboard to a Asus P5Q-EM

Can anyone see any other changes that should be made? (aka newer products out?)
Click to expand...

P5Q-EM has been having serious problem running reliably with add on video cards. Enough so that it scared me away that im gonna buy the P5E-VM HDMI instead that has a better track record
 
Yeah, I agree with FB, go with the P5K-VM or the P5E-VM HDMI. They have less problems. The P5K-VM is cheapest but getting harder to find now. The P5E-VM HDMI is a bit more in price but superior performance.
 
Oh okay, thanks guys - Ill just go back to my original idea then.

The only reason I decided to pick the newer motherboard was I happened to see it mentioned on the forums a few times. I didn't decide to switch for any reason other then that.

Just one thing I noticed, My video card says "PCI Express 2.0 x16" - the PCI slot on the ASUS P5E-VM HDMI says "PCI Express x16" on the specs. Someone on the comments say that it doesn't have 2.0 on it. Is there a big performance difference between using a 2.0 card on a non-2.0 slot?

Thank you.


Also, If I decide to get a Q6600 CPU (2.4 ghz) will my 520W PSU still be able to handle everything?
 
Kastang said:
Oh okay, thanks guys - Ill just go back to my original idea then.

The only reason I decided to pick the newer motherboard was I happened to see it mentioned on the forums a few times. I didn't decide to switch for any reason other then that.

Just one thing I noticed, My video card says "PCI Express 2.0 x16" - the PCI slot on the ASUS P5E-VM HDMI says "PCI Express x16" on the specs. Someone on the comments say that it doesn't have 2.0 on it. Is there a big performance difference between using a 2.0 card on a non-2.0 slot?

Thank you.


Also, If I decide to get a Q6600 CPU (2.4 ghz) will my 520W PSU still be able to handle everything?
Click to expand...
yes the q6600 is only about 30 watts more, but if your going to OC id get a better cooler, because i have the v350 and a q6600, and the stock HSF isnt cutting it at all, might suggest something better than the mini ninja for OCing.
 
Kastang said:
Just one thing I noticed, My video card says "PCI Express 2.0 x16" - the PCI slot on the ASUS P5E-VM HDMI says "PCI Express x16" on the specs. Someone on the comments say that it doesn't have 2.0 on it. Is there a big performance difference between using a 2.0 card on a non-2.0 slot
Click to expand...

On a single video card setup, you won't notice crap difference between PCI Express 2.0 and non 2.0 , neither bandwith is used fully, no matter what the card at this point in time.
 
Thanks very much vertigomhs and Freezebyte!

This computer is going to be great thanks to all the great suggestions I have gotten. Can't wait to build it!
 
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