Build Advice For Newbie

D

Dark Sorrow

Geek Trainee
Little background information.

Target OS : Dual boot Windows 10 (preferably)/Windows 8.1 with Cent OS 7.1

I have no experience in building a desktop till date except the videos of other guys building desktop on you-tube. This is my first attempt.

I am open to all advices/options.

I have chosen AMD based processor as I find economical compared to Intel processors.
I have looked in mother board. I have prefer with 990FXA chip-set based mother board.
I have chosen 24 inch LED Monitor Full HD (1980 × 1080).
I have chosen AMD Radeon Rx300 series GPU.

This is a one time investment. I don't plan to upgrade it for at-least 10 years except of refilling liquid cooling solution.

Processor Selected :
  • AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W FD8350FRHKBOX Desktop Processor
Graphic Card Selected :
  • MSI Radeon R9 390X R9 390X GAMING 8G LE 8GB 512-Bit GDDR5 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support ATX Video Card
OR​
  • MSI Radeon R9 390 R9 390 GAMING 8G 8GB 512-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
    OR​
  • MSI Radeon R9 380 R9 380 GAMING 4G 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support ATX Video Card (2 Units crossfire enabled)
Mother Board :
  • MSI 990FXA-GAMING AM3+/ AM3 AMD 990FX & SB950 6 x SATA 6Gb/s 2 x USB 3.1 ATX AMD Motherboard
OR​
  • ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 8 x SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
RAM :
  • 4 x Kingston FURY Memory - 4GB Module - DDR3 1866MHz CL10 DIMM
Display :

  • BenQ RL2455HM 24 inch LED Monitor Full HD (1980 × 1080)
Hard Drive :
  • WD BLACK SERIES WD2003FZEX 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
I/O Ports :
  • Enter E-2S PCI To 2 Serial ( RS-232 ) Port Cards
Internal Optical Drive :
  • Asus DRW-24D3ST/BLK/G/AS DVD Burner Internal Optical Drive
Power Supply Unit :
  • CORSAIR AX860i Digital ATX Power Supply — 860 Watt 80 PLUS® Platinum Certified Fully-Modular PSU (EU Plug)
    OR​
  • Cooler Master V1000 - Fully Modular 1000W 80 PLUS Gold PSU with Silencio FP Silent 135mm fan
Liquid Cooling Kit :
  • Corsair Hydro Series™ H100i GTX Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
    OR​
  • Cooler Master Nepton 240M RL-N24M-24PK-R1 All-in-One CPU Water Cooling System
Chassis :
  • Cooler Master HAF XB EVO Windowed Gaming Case
    OR​
  • Cooler Master Storm Trooper/Stryker Cabinet
    OR​
  • Graphite Series™ 780T Full-Tower PC Case
    OR​
  • Obsidian Series® 750D Airflow Edition Full Tower ATX Case

I have the following question :
  1. The graphic card I have selected are PCI 3.0 based, however all the specified motherboards are PCI 2.0 based. Are PCI 3.0 based graphic card compatible/work with PCI 2.0 based motherboards? If yes what is the performance penalty it will suffer?

  2. Kindly suggest if their is an noticeable performance between R9 390X and R9 390. Also will it be advisable to get 2 Cross-Fire enabled R9 380 4 G.B. video Card or a single R9 390X/ R9 390 8 G.B. video card?

  3. Kindly advice me on motherboard. I am strongly inclined to MSI 990FXA-GAMING AM3+/ AM3 AMD 990FX & SB950 6 x SATA 6Gb/s 2 x USB 3.1 ATX AMD Motherboard.

  4. With regards to power supply unit I am having a feeling that CORSAIR AX860i Digital ATX Power Supply — 860 Watt 80 PLUS® Platinum Certified Fully-Modular PSU (EU Plug) will be adequate as per my calculation. I am getting power supply requirement of about 600Watts. Will their be a need currently unseen by me to have have a higher rating power supply. Also I wish to know if their will be compatibility issue if I get power supply of Corsair and cabinet form cooler master or vice versa.

  5. Kindly suggest most appropriate build with Windows 10 compatibility.

  6. I wish to know is it really worth investing in liquid cooling kit?

  7. I really am confused regarding which chassis and water cooling kit to pick.

  8. Information about newegg.com credibility is also welcomed.

  9. Also inform me if I am missing something.

  10. Any advice regarding better/economical build is welcomed.

  11. Their is a a lot of talk on Internet that a new Generation of CPU are going to be launched by AMD. Should I wait or its going to take a long time. I plan to stay on FX type CPU only no APU.
 
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1. Yes, PCI Express 3.0 cards work on 2.0 motherboards. Performance penalty is 0.0%.

2. Noticeable difference on 1080P no. Crossfire is not advisable, so pick one card.

3. That MB is OK.

4. You need only about 500W power supply. So buying about 650W PSU is best choice because max load will be about 60-70% range of PSU's maximum and on that range effiency is usually at it's best. UNLESS you are planning to put 290 Crossfire, then 750-860W range ios OK choice. Usually there are no compatibility issues between cases and PSU's, unless PSU is very long.

5. No problem with Win 10.

6. In my opinion, no. Unless overclocking or want ultra silent system, it's not worth the hassle.

7. As for cases, almost all ATX cases are OK except those that have limited PSU/Cooler/graphics card space. Rest is mostly personal preference. I don't recommend water cooling because you ask that way.

8. -

9. Only 4GB memory? Where is SSD? And what is this "Enter E-2S PCI To 2 Serial ( RS-232 ) Port Cards" for?

10. Buy cheaper HDD and add SSD.

11. Coming next year, H2/2016 earliest. Quite long wait.
 
Wicked Mystic said:
2. Noticeable difference on 1080P no. Crossfire is not advisable, so pick one card.
Click to expand...
Sir, I want to know which card will be advisable. Is it worth investing in R9 390X or R9 390 will be enough.
6. In my opinion, no. Unless overclocking or want ultra silent system, it's not worth the hassle.
Click to expand...
Sir, if I decide to buy liquid cooling kit. Which liquid cooling kit would be advisable Corsair or Cooler Master?
The problem is that where I live temperature easily goes to 40 degree Celsius plus in summer.
9. Only 4GB memory? Where is SSD? And what is this "Enter E-2S PCI To 2 Serial ( RS-232 ) Port Cards" for?
Click to expand...
Sorry its 4 x 4GB memory. Enter E-2S PCI To 2 Serial ( RS-232 ) Port Cards is an PCI based serial port expansion. Neither the mother board has
a native serial port connector. MSI just have a serial port header.
10. Buy cheaper HDD and add SSD.
Click to expand...
Sir, I would like to if their is a noticeable performance difference if only use WD BLACK SERIES WD2003FZEX 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive and not install SSD. SSD are quite expensive.
If I install SSD and HDD in RAID 0 configuration will this cause problems as both are of between different technologies.
 
Last edited:
Kits like what Corsair and Cooler Master you're looking at are closed loop and don't/can't be refilled. There are a few in that class out there, but I just got up and the names escape me. Traditionally watercooling systems that were assembled would need system maintenance from time to time. High-end air coolers can be cheaper and competitive with the closed-loop water cooling systems. At those levels, you will be using system that bolts through the motherboard anyway. Corsair has been in the game longer in particular segment. If you want better performance, you can easily upgrade the fans on the radiator in either case, and that's a big part of the package. Unless you have a distinctly better price for one over the other, I would lean Corsair.

What Wicked is suggesting on the hard drives is use a smaller SSD for the OS(s) and a few programs and use the larger HDD for the bulk of it. RAID is nice to a point, but SSD tech is much faster. Traditional drives do have improvements, but there are limits to how much more they can do. You won't be able to add another drive into RAID 0 once the array is made either.

I've ordered a ton of stuff from Newegg over the years. I know they've had some problems for some folks, but I've not run into that. Except for one TV that came broken, I've had no problems with the parts coming in. With said TV, they got me fixed up quickly.
 
I have been looking at SSD for couple of days.
I found AMD Radeon SSD Radeon R7 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) RADEON-R7SSD-240G on newegg. Will it be advisable to go with or should I go with Samsung or Intel.
I am also confused of selecting graphic card. Will AMD Radeon R9 390X (compared to AMD Radeon R9 390) will be overkill for Full HD monitor.
 
Dark Sorrow said:
I have been looking at SSD for couple of days.
I found AMD Radeon SSD Radeon R7 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) RADEON-R7SSD-240G on newegg. Will it be advisable to go with or should I go with Samsung or Intel.
I am also confused of selecting graphic card. Will AMD Radeon R9 390X (compared to AMD Radeon R9 390) will be overkill for Full HD monitor.
Click to expand...

Buy Crucial MX200 instead.

390X will be overkill for fullHD uinless it's 144Hz.
 
Guys little help.
I was buying components (preparing my shopping cart) when I noticed that Asus Strix R9-390X cost Rs. 35,000 vs MSI R9-390X gaming costing Rs. 41,000 vs MSI R9 390 costing Rs. 39,000.
Isn't R9 390X should be superior to R9 390??? Then why is Asus Strix R9-390X cheaper compare to alternative. Should I go with the same???
Time is of the essence here as I wish to procure them during Christmas/New Year shopping sale.
 
Last edited:
Dark Sorrow said:
Guys little help.
I was buying components (preparing my shopping cart) when I noticed that Asus Strix R9-390X cost Rs. 35,000 vs MSI R9-390X gaming costing Rs. 41,000 vs MSI R9 390 costing Rs. 39,000.
Isn't R9 390X should be superior to R9 390??? Then why is Asus Strix R9-390X cheaper compare to alternative. Should I go with the same???
Time is of the essence here as I wish to procure them during Christmas/New Year shopping sale.
Click to expand...

Many times "better" product is cheaper than "worse" product. So nothing is necessarily wrong. Go with 390X with that pricing.
 
Build Half Complete

My PC successfully booted and detected proper specification/configureation of my hardware.
  1. Processor : AMD FX-8350
  2. Motherboard : MSI 990FXA Gaming
  3. RAM : Corsair CMY16GX3M2A1866C9R
  4. PSU : Corsair AX860i
  5. GPU : Zotac GT610 2G.B.
  6. Chassis : Corsair Carbide 500R Black
  7. SSD : Samsung EVO 850 250 G.B.
  8. HDD : WD Black 2 T.B.
  9. Display : View Sonic VX2452MH
  10. CPU Cooler : Corsair H100i GTX
  11. Keyboard : Circle Armor Professional Gaming Keyboard with LED Backlight
  12. Mouse : Circle Rude Professional Gaming Mouse
I am still yet to buy a proper GPU. I think I go with MSI R9 390X as I am getting it cheaper than MSI R9 390 and as same cost as MSI R9 380.

Thanking you guys for your advice and support.:):):)

I have couple of question. My mother board has COM port (16550A - high speed communication port). I want to know is there any possible way to convert this port (using some add-on) into a RS-232 port that I can use for external communication.
Secondly, has anyone used StarTech 4 Port PCI Express PCIe Serial Combo Card - 2 x RS232 2 x RS422 / RS485. I am looking for some review/advice regarding the same as I plan to purchase it.
 
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