Need advice for my first build (ordering tomorrow!)

[Robotics Guy]

I need a new desktop pretty quickly and have decided to build it myself, but as this is my first time building a computer (and considering that I really have no clue what I'm doing), I would really appreciate your advice regarding my parts selection.

I will use the computer for moderate to serious photo editing in Photoshop, so the processor needs to be pretty good. I occasionally play games (not too often), but I do use several CAD packages, such as Autodesk Inventor, which are fairly graphics intensive, so the GPU would need to be pretty good as well. I will be purchasing two Dell U2412M monitors and as they only have display port and DVI connections the video card would need to have two display port or DVI ports.

My budget is $700-1k. Cheaper would be better, but I'm willing to pay up to 1k to ensure I get a good computer. I already have all of the peripherals that I need, as well as a copy of Windows, so that budget is for the computer only. I am located in the U.S. and would prefer to order from Newegg.

Here are the parts I am considering:

CPU & MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1029178
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127696
PSU & RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1020318
Case: To be determined

I have a HDD 1TB 7200 RPM Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 from my external HDD that I can use, as well as a Crucial M4 128 GB 2.5".

Unfortunately, it seems as though many of the discounts end tomorrow or the day after, so I guess I may have to decide rather quickly

As a disclaimer, I am posting this on more than one forum because I don't know how quickly/not quickly anyone might respond on here and, as I mentioned, I will probably be ordering this tomorrow so I need quick advice

Thanks for your help!

 

[E4g1e]

Overall, not a good build for the money (in other words, a poor value) for the following reasons:

1) That Antec Nine Hundred case is extremely cramped on the inside, especially from front to rear. And the hard drive cage is arranged such that any installed hard drives will obstruct expansion slots enough to restrict the maximum length of the cards to be used. For example, if you install a hard drive in any of the three middle drive bays, the GTX 570 would then lo longer fit inside that case because the hard drive(s) would then restrict the maximum length of compatible graphics cards to only 9.25 inches long. The eVGA GTX 570 card, on the other hand, is based on a reference board design using a reference cooler and is 10.5 inches long.

2) I would not purchase a P67 motherboard at this point: That chipset is now outdated and is EOL. You really want a Z77 chipset for that CPU, especially since Z77 comes with native USB 3.0 support (the 6-series chipsets require third-party USB 3.0 controllers to even add such capability).

3) Speaking of the GTX 570, it is now too expensive for such an older GPU. The Radeon HD 7850 is about as fast, but costs $30 less. Plus, the latest version of Photoshop, CS6, is now no longer CUDA-exclusive. Instead, it uses OpenCL for GPU acceleration. What's more, NVidia GeForce's OpenCL performance leaves a lot to be desired compared to otherwise comparable-performance AMD Radeon GPUs.

4) That OCZ PSU is one of OCZ's (or Sirfa's) older and not-so-good designs, barely capable of even its wattage rating with the DC output getting close to being out of spec.

 

[Stupid_Newbie]

I can agree more. No remain to buy a 570 at this point. And z77 is the only chipset is look at. As far as case, it would work, it's not the best, but cases are a personal thing most of the time. And PSU is very important (I'm an electrician, so I'm bias) clean power makes a big difference in performance and longevity of a system.

 

[Robotics Guy]

Overall, not a good build for the money (in other words, a poor value) for the following reasons:

1) That Antec Nine Hundred case is extremely cramped on the inside, especially from front to rear. And the hard drive cage is arranged such that any installed hard drives will obstruct expansion slots enough to restrict the maximum length of the cards to be used. For example, if you install a hard drive in any of the three middle drive bays, the GTX 570 would then lo longer fit inside that case because the hard drive(s) would then restrict the maximum length of compatible graphics cards to only 9.25 inches long. The eVGA GTX 570 card, on the other hand, is based on a reference board design using a reference cooler and is 10.5 inches long.

2) I would not purchase a P67 motherboard at this point: That chipset is now outdated and is EOL. You really want a Z77 chipset for that CPU, especially since Z77 comes with native USB 3.0 support (the 6-series chipsets require third-party USB 3.0 controllers to even add such capability).

3) Speaking of the GTX 570, it is now too expensive for such an older GPU. The Radeon HD 7850 is about as fast, but costs $30 less. Plus, the latest version of Photoshop, CS6, is now no longer CUDA-exclusive. Instead, it uses OpenCL for GPU acceleration. What's more, NVidia GeForce's OpenCL performance leaves a lot to be desired compared to otherwise comparable-performance AMD Radeon GPUs.

4) That OCZ PSU is one of OCZ's (or Sirfa's) older and not-so-good designs, barely capable of even its wattage rating with the DC output getting close to being out of spec.

Thanks for such a comprehensive reply!

I'm surprised that the Antec Nine Hundred is cramped on the inside. It has nearly 6,000 good reviews on newegg. What case would you recommend?

I've updated my original post with a new motherboard, GPU, and PSU.

Thanks for all of your advice!

 

[Dangman]

Yeah thats proof that there are 6000 people who dont know any better. I recommend the Corsair 300R or 400R case instead.

The Corsair CX500 still isnt good enough for your proposed setup. Go for the Antec Neo Eco 520C 520W instead. It is of higher quality and provides more power on the +12V rail than the Corsair.

Mobo wise I recommend the more reputable Asus P8Z77-V LK.

 

[Robotics Guy]

Yeah thats proof that there are 6000 people who dont know any better. I recommend the Corsair 300R or 400R case instead.

The Corsair CX500 still isnt good enough for your proposed setup. Go for the Antec Neo Eco 520C 520W instead. It is of higher quality and provides more power on the +12V rail than the Corsair.

Mobo wise I recommend the more reputable Asus P8Z77-V LK.

The Antec Neo Eco's extra 20W would make a significant difference?

 

[E4g1e]

The Antec Neo Eco's extra 20W would make a significant difference?

You see, that Neo Eco 520C actually provides 72W more than the Corsair CX500v2 on the +12V rail. The extra 20W might not seem like much - but an extra 72W on the +12V rail is significant. The Corsair CX500v2 provides only 408W on the +12V rail while the Neo ECO 520C provides 480W on the +12V rail. Besides, modern systems draw most (if not all) of their power from the +12V rail(s).

And yes, what I stated about the Antec Nine Hundred case is based on my very own experience with that case. It claims to house up to six internal hard drives - but graphics cards longer than a lower mid-range model will effectively reduce the maximum internal disk capacity to only three hard drives. That's not much more than a typical microATX case. In my book, the Nine Hundred does not utilize its usable interior space efficiently at all: The hard drives are oriented such that they will severely limit at least some of the expansion slots.

 

[Dangman]

You see, that Neo Eco 520C actually provides 72W more than the Corsair CX500v2 on the +12V rail. The extra 20W might not seem like much - but an extra 72W on the +12V rail is significant. The Corsair CX500v2 provides only 408W on the +12V rail while the Neo ECO 520C provides 480W on the +12V rail. Besides, modern systems draw most (if not all) of their power from the +12V rail(s).

And yes, what I stated about the Antec Nine Hundred case is based on my very own experience with that case. It claims to house up to six internal hard drives - but graphics cards longer than a lower mid-range model will effectively reduce the maximum internal disk capacity to only three hard drives. That's not much more than a typical microATX case.

I agree with everything here.

 

[Robotics Guy]

Thanks for your advice, everyone.

I think I'm going to go with the following parts:

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff481/RoboticsGuy/NeweggcomShoppingCart3-1.jpg

How does that look? Is there anything else I need to buy in order to have a fully operational PC?

 

[azeem40]

That builder series PSU might not have enough power to run the 660ti. I recommend the Seasonic 520W instead.

 

[tiraides]

You should never ignore Danny Bui....

Go with the following motherboard/processor combo deal instead:

$480 - Intel Core i7-3770K and Asus P8Z77-V LK combo deal

While you're paying $20 more for the motherboard, you're also buying a more reliable board. [H]ard|OCP found inconsistent performance with AsRock boards in general during its review of multiple models. Worse, AsRock boards come with one- to two-year warranties versus the three-year warranties from major manufacturers like MSI, Gigabyte, and Asus.

Danny Bui and E4g1e both mentioned that the Corsair CX500 V2 was a bad choice, so why are you sticking with it? If you want to stick to a Corsair-centric theme, do it right:

$152 - Corsair 300R and Corsair TX650 V2 combo deal

The TX650 V2 is a much more reliable power supply than the CX500 V2.

The Corsair Vengeance RAM is generally fine, but its tall heatspreaders may interfere with any third-party CPU cooler you plan on using. I recommend either the Vengeance LP or the G.Skill Ares instead.

Save yourself $5 and go with the Hyper 212 Plus instead of the 212 EVO. They both perform about the same. Hell, save yourself another $10 and go with the EVGA version of the GTX 660 Ti instead of the MSI version.

 

[Robotics Guy]

Thanks for your advice!

Regarding the PSU, it is rated (according to E4g1e) at 408W and the CPU is 95W at stock and the GPU is 170W stock = 265W. If the rest of the computer takes, say, 40W, then that's still only 305W. What am I missing? I don't know anything PSU brands, so I'm not limiting myself to Corsair; that supply was recommended to me by someone, which is why I was thinking of going with it.

As for the motherboard, on another forum someone said:

The ASRock looks like it has a better power phase design so that is a plus for overclocking.

Not that I'm planning on overclocking.. Do you think the ASUS is still the right choice?

On the RAM, the fins are vertical, so why would they interfere with the heatsink?

 

[Dangman]

What am I missing?

Quality and headroom for future upgrades. The Antec Neo Eco 520C is a Seasonic built PSU. Ask any computer hardware enthusiast worth their salt and they should tell that Seasonic makes some of the best PSUs out there on average. The CX line is based off an older CWT budget PSU. So in other words, if you want something that has a higher chance of lasting and higher chance of not killing your hardware should you start overclocking or adding more parts, the Antec is your best bet.

Not that I'm planning on overclocking.. Do you think the ASUS is still the right choice?

Yes.

On the RAM, the fins are vertical, so why would they interfere with the heatsink?

Those fins happens to be very tall. The Coolermaster Hyper 212+ is a tower-style HSF, not the low profile stock Intel HSF, that's a little large. As such, parts of that HSF actually hovers over 1-2 of the RAM slots. To fit most cases, the Hyper 212+ isn't made to be tall and therefore isn't tall enough to compensate for tall RAM heatsinks.

Something else I've been thinking about today is whether I should go for 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM. Originally I was thinking 16 GB would be overkill, but what do you guys think?

Overkill yes. However RAM is cheap now and it has been going up in price. So personally, I'd say go for 16GB of RAM.

 

[tiraides]

The amount of power in the 12V rail(s) and the overall quality of the PSU design are factors you haven't taken into consideration. In both cases, the Antec NEO ECO 520C and the Corsair TX650 V2 are superior choices to the Corsair CX500 V2. I recommended the TX650 V2 for the combo deal with the Corsair 300R, but if you really wish to save money on the PSU front, go with the NEO ECO 520C.

So there's no further confusion: Don't even consider the Corsair CX500 V2.

I believe that Asus is still superior to AsRock. Even though they're considered sibling companies, Asus has the better warranty and the better track record in regards to quality and reliability.

The fins on the Vengeance RAM are tall enough to interfere with tower-style CPU coolers to the point that you may have to reposition the CPU cooler or not use it altogether. That issue varies per CPU cooler model, but I can't remember which ones are severely affected.

 

[wtourist]

The CX500 is an entry level power supply, The design and the capacitors are built to a price, there are better power supplies out there.
That said I have been using CX400 and CX430 power supplies for some time. They work quite well.
I only buy them on sale though. evil laugh.

 

[Quartz-1]

I need a new desktop pretty quickly ... and considering that I really have no clue what I'm doing

I would advise you to speak to Dell & HP and not build it yourself.

 

[Robotics Guy]

Alright, you guys have convinced me that the Corsair CX500 is a bad choice

It seems like there isn't much of a savings when buying 16 GB of memory compared to buying two sets of 8 GB of memory, so to save a bit of money I guess I might just go for 8 GB now and then upgrade later if I need to. Does that sound like a good plan?

If the Vengeance RAM is too tall, would the this G.SKILL Ripjaws be better? It has a lot of really good reviews..

OK, so here's what I now have for parts:

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff481/RoboticsGuy/NeweggcomShoppingCart4.jpg

Links:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112322
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127696
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1029293

The total slightly exceeds my budget, but oh well..

Any more advice or suggestions? I really appreciate all of your help!

 

[Dangman]

I have that exact RAM and HSF: They work together. As for the RAM upgrade plan, that'll work if you can upgrade the RAM soon.

I don't recommend that case since it has somewhat bad cable management and looks fairly ugly to me. I'd recommend the Corsair 300R or 400R instead.

 

[Robotics Guy]

If I go with a Corsair case, do you think the 500R would be worth an extra $15?

I'm planning on putting my 2.5" SSD and HDD from my laptop (which I'm using as a desktop since the battery died) in the computer -- will I need any kind of adapters to allow them to fit in the case or connect to the motherboard?

 

[Dangman]

If I go with a Corsair case, do you think the 500R would be worth an extra $15?

Yes.

I'm planning on putting my 2.5" SSD and HDD from my laptop (which I'm using as a desktop since the battery died) in the computer -- will I need any kind of adapters to allow them to fit in the case or connect to the motherboard?

The 400R and 500R cases can fit 2.5" drives just fine.

However, do you have another Windows key? I ask because you cannot reuse the OS key from your laptop in your new desktop.

 

[Robotics Guy]

Yes.


The 400R and 500R cases can fit 2.5" drives just fine.

However, do you have another Windows key? I ask because you cannot reuse the OS key from your laptop in your new desktop.

Great! Do I need to buy any kind of cable or adapter so that they can connect to the motherboard?

And yes, Windows 7 did not come with my laptop (it came with Vista, ugh..) so I have a non-OEM key.

 

[Dangman]

Great! Do I need to buy any kind of cable or adapter so that they can connect to the motherboard?

No, those 2.5" drives still uses the standard SATA and SATA power connectors like 3.5" drives do.

 

[Robotics Guy]

Someone on another forum mentioned that the ASUS P8Z77-V LK has a "4+2 phase design" and may not be good for overclocking. I'm not sure that I want to overclock the CPU (I don't even know how..), but I would like to keep that option open for the future. The ASUS P8Z77-V (8+4 phase design) was suggested.

What are your thoughts on that?

 

[Dangman]

Someone on another forum mentioned that the ASUS P8Z77-V LK has a "4+2 phase design" and may not be good for overclocking. I'm not sure that I want to overclock the CPU (I don't even know how..), but I would like to keep that option open for the future. The ASUS P8Z77-V (8+4 phase design) was suggested.

What are your thoughts on that?

The LK is still a solid overclocker. Phase design isn't as much of a big deal as people think when it comes overclocking. Granted the LK may not be able to OC as high as regular -V, it doesn't sound like you're a hardcore overclocker or even actually sure that you're overclocking to where that would matter.

IMO, overclocking is a yes or no question nowadays. If overclocking, then spend the extra cash. If not overclocking, don't spend the extra cash. At the end of the day, there's a big price difference between an overclock capable setup and a non-overclock capable setup (note that you can drop down to the regular Core i7 3770 for $30 less if not overclocking).

 

[Robotics Guy]

If I did buy the P8Z77-V, would the setup be capable of overclocking? Would overclocking significantly increase the performance of the system?

The price difference between the processors, as you mentioned, is $30, and the difference between the motherboards would end up being $80. So the question is whether the extra $110 is worth it?

 

[E4g1e]

Someone on another forum mentioned that the ASUS P8Z77-V LK has a "4+2 phase design" and may not be good for overclocking. I'm not sure that I want to overclock the CPU (I don't even know how..), but I would like to keep that option open for the future. The ASUS P8Z77-V (8+4 phase design) was suggested.

What are your thoughts on that?

My thought is that it's worth it primarily if you intend to take that i7-3770K past 4.4GHz or so. The cheaper LK would suffice for an overclock to 4.2GHz.

 

[Dangman]

If I did buy the P8Z77-V, would the setup be capable of overclocking? Would overclocking significantly increase the performance of the system?

Of course. If the lower-end -V LK can OC, then the higher -V can OC higher.

The price difference between the processors, as you mentioned, is $30, and the difference between the motherboards would end up being $80. So the question is whether the extra $110 is worth it?

Whoa, how the hell did you get a $80 difference? Did you miss the fact that there's a combo deal with the -V and 3770K as well? So the mobo price difference would be $25 to $30. If you're overclocking, yes that extra $60 is well worth it. If you're not overclocking, no, that $60 is not worth it. Again it comes down to this: Will you be overclocking?

 

[Robotics Guy]

Of course. If the lower-end -V LK can OC, then the higher -V can OC higher.

Well, I just meant the computer as a whole, not specifically the motherboard.. But I guess that's a "yes"?

Whoa, how the hell did you get a $80 difference? Did you miss the fact that there's a combo deal with the -V and 3770K as well? So the mobo price difference would be $25 to $30. If you're overclocking, yes that extra $60 is well worth it. If you're not overclocking, no, that $60 is not worth it. Again it comes down to this: Will you be overclocking?

Nope, I didn't see the combo. I'm actually rather confused on how you guys keep coming up with combo deals For instance, for the P8Z77-V I only see a combo deal for an i5 processor.

 

[Dangman]

Well, I just meant the computer as a whole, not specifically the motherboard.. But I guess that's a "yes"?

Yes

Nope, I didn't see the combo. I'm actually rather confused on how you guys keep coming up with combo deals For instance, for the P8Z77-V I only see a combo deal for an i5 processor.

Go to the Newegg page of a part you like, scroll down and sometimes you'll see "Browse More Combos". Click that and it'll show you all the combo deals for that part.

 

[Robotics Guy]

Go to the Newegg page of a part you like, scroll down and sometimes you'll see "Browse More Combos". Click that and it'll show you all the combo deals for that part.

Great, thanks!

So, here's what we have:

Newegg cart:

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff481/RoboticsGuy/NeweggcomShoppingCart5.jpg

Newegg links:

Case: Corsair Carbide Series 500R
GPU: MSI N660 Ti PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit
PSU: Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
CPU fan: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
CD/DVD: ASUS 24X DVD Burner
CPU & Mobo: Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 & ASUS P8Z77-V LGA 1155 Intel Z77

How does it look?

Any last minute suggestions or advice? Am I missing anything?

 

[Dangman]

So I take it that you're planning on overclocking past 4.4Ghz?

 

[Robotics Guy]

So I take it that you're planning on overclocking past 4.4Ghz?

Not necessarily, but since the cost of allowing myself that option is negligible compared to the cost of the entire build I might as well buy the more expensive motherboard.

 

[Robotics Guy]

Should I put thermal paste on the CPU before placing the heatsink over it? If so, what kind would you recommend?

 

[Robotics Guy]

I'm about to place my order! Any last minute thoughts?

As a side note, will this desktop it be able to handle Photoshop, CAD programs, and an occasional game fairly well?

 

[Robotics Guy]

Sorry to post so many times in a row, but I just wanted to let you know that for better or for worse, I placed the order!

Thanks so much for your help, everyone!

 

[Dangman]

Should I put thermal paste on the CPU before placing the heatsink over it? If so, what kind would you recommend?

The Coolermaster Hyper 212+ already comes with pretty decent thermal paste. So no need to buy more.

I
As a side note, will this desktop it be able to handle Photoshop, CAD programs, and an occasional game fairly well?

Yes otherwise we wouldn't be recommending it now would we?

Sorry to post so many times in a row, but I just wanted to let you know that for better or for worse, I placed the order!

Thanks so much for your help, everyone!

Good luck with the build.

 

[JayJapanB]

I think an i7 over an i5 is a bit overkill in this budget.

Edit: probs a bit late on the discussion.

 

[Robotics Guy]

I think an i7 over an i5 is a bit overkill in this budget.

Edit: probs a bit late on the discussion.

Ha ha, yes a little late

I'm not sure it will be overkill, though, because some things I do in Photoshop, such as image stacking, take around 10 or 15 minutes to process one image with my current computer's Core 2 Duo T9300. I'm hoping the i7 will drastically reduce that time, as it really adds up when I have a lot of images to work on.

 

[Robotics Guy]

I received all of the parts today and started building it this evening!

This is my first time building a computer, so I've been taking it slow and researching things I'm confused on to make sure I'm doing things correctly (that's the idea, at least ).

I think I've made pretty good progress, but I'm unsure of a few things:


1. There are two types of data transfer cables that came with the motherboard: ASAP cables and SATA 6Gb/s cables. There are two types of SATA ports on the motherboard: SATA 3G and SATA 6G. I have a SSD, a HDD, and a DVD/CD drive that need to be hooked up. Does it matter what cables I use, or what ports I plug the devices into? Here's a picture of the cables:

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff481/RoboticsGuy/PC/t20120823_205655.jpg

The one on the left is an ASAP cable and the one on the right is a SATA 6Gb/s cable.


2. There are three cables from the case that I don't know what to do with:

• 1394 - I don't see a FireWire connector anywhere on the motherboard, and I don't see it listed on the Newegg page, so I'm assuming the motherboard doesn't have one.
• A small 3 pin male connector that is very short (barely reaches the motherboard).
• A larger 4 pin connector that is female on one side and male on the other.

Here is a picture of the last two connectors: http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff481/RoboticsGuy/PC/t20120823_210222.jpg


3. I can't find a place for the rear fan connector to plug in. Any idea what I should plug it into?


4. Should anything be plugged into the EATX12V header on the motherboard?


Here are some more pictures:

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff481/RoboticsGuy/PC/t20120823_205826.jpg

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff481/RoboticsGuy/PC/t20120823_205814.jpg

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff481/RoboticsGuy/PC/t20120823_205758.jpg

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff481/RoboticsGuy/PC/t20120823_205749.jpg

I would really appreciate any advice you might have!

 

[Dangman]

1. There are two types of data transfer cables that came with the motherboard: ASAP cables and SATA 6Gb/s cables. There are two types of SATA ports on the motherboard: SATA 3G and SATA 6G. I have a SSD, a HDD, and a DVD/CD drive that need to be hooked up. Does it matter what cables I use, or what ports I plug the devices into? Here's a picture of the cables:

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff481/RoboticsGuy/PC/t20120823_205655.jpg

The one on the left is an ASAP cable and the one on the right is a SATA 6Gb/s cable.

The ASAP cable is just a marketing term by Asus for a SATA 6.0Gb/ cable. They're the same thing. As for ports, make ure that the SSD is plugged into the Intel SATA 6.0Gb/s port for maximum performance. The HDD and DVD drive can be connected to whatever port you want.

2. There are three cables from the case that I don't know what to do with:

• 1394 - I don't see a FireWire connector anywhere on the motherboard, and I don't see it listed on the Newegg page, so I'm assuming the motherboard doesn't have one.
• A small 3 pin male connector that is very short (barely reaches the motherboard).
• A larger 4 pin connector that is female on one side and male on the other.

Here is a picture of the last two connectors: http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff481/RoboticsGuy/PC/t20120823_210222.jpg

Don't worry about the Firewire.
Can't tell what that cable is. I think it's the fan?
Where does that 4Pin connector lead to?

3. I can't find a place for the rear fan connector to plug in. Any idea what I should plug it into?

The PSU.

4. Should anything be plugged into the EATX12V header on the motherboard?

Yes: The 8Pin EPS12V or 4+4 connector from the PSU.