Is there some reason that you're looking to use up 10%-20% of your budget on hiring some other company to use a screwdriver for you rather than doing it yourself?
That is a silly remark bub. I wouldn't tell the kid to go and assemble his own PC if he has no knowledge of doing it.
To the OP: Don't listen to this guy.
First off, I rather you not refer to me as a kid. Secondly I have a general idea on how to build a gaming pc, and also the ability to do so with help. Finally, If your going to post on my thread, at least post something constructive, or helpful.
Quizz has already provided me with a list of parts which was kind of him, and also knowledge, such as the processor will not work with the motherboard unless both sockets are the same, whether he meant to or not. My intentions are not to be rude, it has just takin me 6 months to save up enough money for a new computer, and I'm not here to listen to your drama or opinion when it come's to not accepting advice from someone, when I can make that decision for myself.
You want for all of your memory modules to be the same size, and for your total memory capacity to be a power of 2, and to have at least two memory modules. It's nice to have all of your memory modules identical (which is what memory kits are there to ensure), but not strictly necessary. The typical approach is to get a kit with two identical modules of whatever capacity you want.
The reason I picked out the memory for you as I did was that one module came in a combo deal, which made it a good value. But you need two modules, so I picked another module identical to the first as a separate purchase. While you could pick a different 8 GB module with the same or better specs (higher clock speed, lower latency timings, 1.5 V or lower) if you prefer, it needs to be another 8 GB module, so that you have two 8 GB modules, not one 8 GB and two 4 GB.
Is there some reason that you're looking to use up 10%-20% of your budget on hiring some other company to use a screwdriver for you rather than doing it yourself?
That is a silly remark bub. I wouldn't tell the kid to go and assemble his own PC if he has no knowledge of doing it.
To the OP: Don't listen to this guy.
I'm not arguing that no one should buy a computer elsewhere rather than assembling it himself. To the contrary, there are some good reasons to buy a desktop elsewhere:
1) Some people are completely clueless about technology. Such people may also need to hire someone to come to their house and plug the computer in for them.
2) Some people have a lot more money than time. If you work 60 hours per week and make $200k per year, paying an extra $500 (as compared to building it yourself) to get something nice from a boutique vendor that really takes care of their customers may well be worthwhile.
3) For some enterprise uses, having to troubleshoot a computer beyond some simple, obvious things simply isn't worth the trouble. Rather, you have a bunch of identical computers, and some extras laying around, and if one computer starts acting up, you replace the entire box with one of your spares while sending the original back to the vendor for warranty service.
That's not an exhaustive list, either. However, a lot more people should build their own than realize that they should build their own.
1 more thing though will I need this: ARCTIC MX-2 (4g) Carbon-Based Thermal Compound, Non-Electricity Conductive, Non-Capacitive
Short answer is no. Unless you are going for an extreme OC on the CPU where every individual degree of temperature matters it's not worth the money because that is literally all it will equate to, 1 or 2 degrees cooler temps. Not to mention the compound that comes with the Coolermaster CPU cooler is more than adequate.
I'll add to this that what matters is that you use thermal compound, not which thermal compound you use. Let's talk about what thermal compound does.
Processors put out a lot of heat when they're under heavy loads. You need to get that heat away from the processor so that you don't fry it. If you're going to conduct heat away, you ideally want to use a good conductor such as copper or aluminum. Both the heatspreader built into a CPU package and the heatsink placed on top of it typically do this.
The problem is that while both the heatsink and heatspreader may look flat at a macroscopic level, they're far from it at an atomic level. Rather, there are many small air bubbles. And air is a terrible conductor--about four orders of magnitude worse than aluminum or copper.
The purpose of thermal compound is to fill those air bubbles with something other than air. The need to be able to fill arbitrary shapes at a microscopic level means that you can't use a solid, but need to use a (rather viscous) liquid. So what you use isn't going to be a great conductor; it will typically be about two orders of magnitude worse than aluminum or copper. But that's still two orders of magnitude better than air.
If one potential thermal compound conducts heat twice as well as another, that's not terribly important. What matters is that you use thermal compound to force out a lot of the air pockets, while not using so much that you prevent much heatsink on heatspreader contact.
That's why the results of using one thermal compound rather than another typically amount to a rounding error. Look here, for example:
Household mayonnaise came in at 35 C. Out of dozens of thermal compounds tested, only two didn't end up within 3 C of that. And that's in spite of measurement and rounding errors that would tend to spread out the test results. Most of the results near the bottom are random household goods, not actual thermal compounds.
But look how terrible not using any thermal compound at all is. And chocolate is even worse, largely because it isn't a liquid that can fill arbitrary shapes.
That's not to say that you should use household mayonnaise as your thermal compound. But the problem isn't that it will fail to perform; it's that it will go rancid pretty quickly. Proper thermal compounds won't do that.
Whatever heatsink you get will come with some thermal compound, and that's plenty good enough unless you're going for an unreasonably large overclock and need an extra degree or two of cooling.
If you do want better cooling, then the place to start is with a better CPU cooler, not better thermal compound. A better CPU cooler can make a big difference in your cooling performance. Buying aftermarket thermal compound is a waste of money unless you're already spending at least $70 or so on a heatsink.
I have used Arctic silver 5 for years. The first time I ever built a computer the friend helping me had some that we used. I guess I just got stuck on using it.
Either way its a $5-$10 purchase, but interesting to see that chart you posted Quiz.
OP make sure you get two or 4 of the same memory module. You dont want 3 sticks totalling 16gb. Either four 4gb or two 8bg if your going for 16g RAM. If you only want eight then go with two 4gb sticks.
Also keep in mind that if you reach a point where you cant assemble the comp yourself you can almost always find a mom and pop computer store to assemble it for you at a small charge. Especially since you have all the parts. If you go that route then having them physically assemble it should be cheap, as you can install drivers, OS and all that after the fact.
One of those little tubes of Artic Silver has enough compound to do a dozen or more CPU installs. I have a couple laying about that have come with various heat sinks. It really takes a very very little bit.
Like butter on toast, not like Peanut Butter on bread.
I wouldn't call it a bad purchase, that $5 is enough to last for years and through several computers. But given that most heat sinks come with a little bit for free that works 99.8% as well, I would hardly call it a necessary purchase.
Alright thanks, I went ahead and ordered the parts but I did not order a hard drive. I will go to a local computer store and buy one there, and have them test it before I do, because I dont want to end up with a hard drive that is doa.
Even if you did end up with a hard drive that was dead on arrival, you could use just the SSD for a while until you were able to get the hard drive replaced. 250 GB on the SSD is a good bit of space, and enough that some people wouldn't even need to also buy a hard drive.
Originally posted by H.A.M.A Then what should be installed on a ssd compared to a hard drive?
I have 240g of SSD space and 2.5 TB of HDD space total.
My SSD has OS, main programs and most played games. My HDD has other games, programs, movies, music, pictures, ect.
You want the OS on the SSD for sure, as this will make the computer much faster in general. Other than that put whatever you want on it. Use the HDD for your media and other files that do no need the speed of an SSD.You do not need a fast hard drive to watch a movie download, or listen to music, view pictures, word / excel documents, and what not.
Comments
First off, I rather you not refer to me as a kid. Secondly I have a general idea on how to build a gaming pc, and also the ability to do so with help. Finally, If your going to post on my thread, at least post something constructive, or helpful.
Quizz has already provided me with a list of parts which was kind of him, and also knowledge, such as the processor will not work with the motherboard unless both sockets are the same, whether he meant to or not. My intentions are not to be rude, it has just takin me 6 months to save up enough money for a new computer, and I'm not here to listen to your drama or opinion when it come's to not accepting advice from someone, when I can make that decision for myself.
You want for all of your memory modules to be the same size, and for your total memory capacity to be a power of 2, and to have at least two memory modules. It's nice to have all of your memory modules identical (which is what memory kits are there to ensure), but not strictly necessary. The typical approach is to get a kit with two identical modules of whatever capacity you want.
The reason I picked out the memory for you as I did was that one module came in a combo deal, which made it a good value. But you need two modules, so I picked another module identical to the first as a separate purchase. While you could pick a different 8 GB module with the same or better specs (higher clock speed, lower latency timings, 1.5 V or lower) if you prefer, it needs to be another 8 GB module, so that you have two 8 GB modules, not one 8 GB and two 4 GB.
I'm not arguing that no one should buy a computer elsewhere rather than assembling it himself. To the contrary, there are some good reasons to buy a desktop elsewhere:
1) Some people are completely clueless about technology. Such people may also need to hire someone to come to their house and plug the computer in for them.
2) Some people have a lot more money than time. If you work 60 hours per week and make $200k per year, paying an extra $500 (as compared to building it yourself) to get something nice from a boutique vendor that really takes care of their customers may well be worthwhile.
3) For some enterprise uses, having to troubleshoot a computer beyond some simple, obvious things simply isn't worth the trouble. Rather, you have a bunch of identical computers, and some extras laying around, and if one computer starts acting up, you replace the entire box with one of your spares while sending the original back to the vendor for warranty service.
That's not an exhaustive list, either. However, a lot more people should build their own than realize that they should build their own.
I'll add to this that what matters is that you use thermal compound, not which thermal compound you use. Let's talk about what thermal compound does.
Processors put out a lot of heat when they're under heavy loads. You need to get that heat away from the processor so that you don't fry it. If you're going to conduct heat away, you ideally want to use a good conductor such as copper or aluminum. Both the heatspreader built into a CPU package and the heatsink placed on top of it typically do this.
The problem is that while both the heatsink and heatspreader may look flat at a macroscopic level, they're far from it at an atomic level. Rather, there are many small air bubbles. And air is a terrible conductor--about four orders of magnitude worse than aluminum or copper.
The purpose of thermal compound is to fill those air bubbles with something other than air. The need to be able to fill arbitrary shapes at a microscopic level means that you can't use a solid, but need to use a (rather viscous) liquid. So what you use isn't going to be a great conductor; it will typically be about two orders of magnitude worse than aluminum or copper. But that's still two orders of magnitude better than air.
If one potential thermal compound conducts heat twice as well as another, that's not terribly important. What matters is that you use thermal compound to force out a lot of the air pockets, while not using so much that you prevent much heatsink on heatspreader contact.
That's why the results of using one thermal compound rather than another typically amount to a rounding error. Look here, for example:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Thermal-Compound-Roundup-February-2012/1490/5
Household mayonnaise came in at 35 C. Out of dozens of thermal compounds tested, only two didn't end up within 3 C of that. And that's in spite of measurement and rounding errors that would tend to spread out the test results. Most of the results near the bottom are random household goods, not actual thermal compounds.
But look how terrible not using any thermal compound at all is. And chocolate is even worse, largely because it isn't a liquid that can fill arbitrary shapes.
That's not to say that you should use household mayonnaise as your thermal compound. But the problem isn't that it will fail to perform; it's that it will go rancid pretty quickly. Proper thermal compounds won't do that.
Whatever heatsink you get will come with some thermal compound, and that's plenty good enough unless you're going for an unreasonably large overclock and need an extra degree or two of cooling.
If you do want better cooling, then the place to start is with a better CPU cooler, not better thermal compound. A better CPU cooler can make a big difference in your cooling performance. Buying aftermarket thermal compound is a waste of money unless you're already spending at least $70 or so on a heatsink.
Interesting chart on the Thermal compound.
I have used Arctic silver 5 for years. The first time I ever built a computer the friend helping me had some that we used. I guess I just got stuck on using it.
Either way its a $5-$10 purchase, but interesting to see that chart you posted Quiz.
OP make sure you get two or 4 of the same memory module. You dont want 3 sticks totalling 16gb. Either four 4gb or two 8bg if your going for 16g RAM. If you only want eight then go with two 4gb sticks.
Also keep in mind that if you reach a point where you cant assemble the comp yourself you can almost always find a mom and pop computer store to assemble it for you at a small charge. Especially since you have all the parts. If you go that route then having them physically assemble it should be cheap, as you can install drivers, OS and all that after the fact.
Good luck on your 1st build.=)
One of those little tubes of Artic Silver has enough compound to do a dozen or more CPU installs. I have a couple laying about that have come with various heat sinks. It really takes a very very little bit.
Like butter on toast, not like Peanut Butter on bread.
I wouldn't call it a bad purchase, that $5 is enough to last for years and through several computers. But given that most heat sinks come with a little bit for free that works 99.8% as well, I would hardly call it a necessary purchase.
Alright thanks, I went ahead and ordered the parts but I did not order a hard drive. I will go to a local computer store and buy one there, and have them test it before I do, because I dont want to end up with a hard drive that is doa.
I have 240g of SSD space and 2.5 TB of HDD space total.
My SSD has OS, main programs and most played games. My HDD has other games, programs, movies, music, pictures, ect.
You want the OS on the SSD for sure, as this will make the computer much faster in general. Other than that put whatever you want on it. Use the HDD for your media and other files that do no need the speed of an SSD.You do not need a fast hard drive to watch a movie download, or listen to music, view pictures, word / excel documents, and what not.
Ok thanks.
Just another question when I did the order I actually went with a CORSAIR Hydro Series H110 Water Cooler.
....I know I should of let you guy's know before I changed parts, but the Thor v2 is pretty big so I figured that can be installed on the case.
I also did a little research and I found this. http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/bigham1980/builds/
That person has the same case as I do with the H110 so ya....