PC Build

[Shawn O'Shea]

I haven't built a system in awhile, but I'm dealing with buying new systems
and dealing with compatibility with existing systems at $dayjob regularly.
I second the suggestions about a barebones system (zotac zbox, shuttle
mini-pc and their ilk) or a second-hand <insert major manufacturer>
(although those can have their quirks.
Just examples from your wiki of things that you need to be thinking about
these days:
* Every store you buy from, don't forget to add more shipping
* The CPU and motherboard don't match up. The CPU is a 1st generation
Core-i processor and the motherboard is a 4th gen. (LGA1156 socket vs
LGA1150 socket)
* You need a heat sink/fan. These *should* come with thermal paste, but if
for some reason they don't, modern CPUs absolutely need it to aid heat
transfer to the heat sink
* The memory looks like it might work based on the general specs in the MSI
motherboard manual, but I've just gotten to the point that there are so
many nuances to memory that I try to only buy based on the "memory
configurator" at the memory manufacturer's website (for Corsair
http://www.corsair.com/en-us/memory-finder I largely buy Crucial and
sometimes Kingston at work but I've heard good things about Corsair). I
entered the motherboard you have there, and for the Vengeance line of
memory, Corsair is saying to use CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9B for the 2 stickx4GB (8GB
total) config. These are 52.99 on NewEgg.
* Less of a concern, but just be cognizant of PCI-X vs PCIe (PCI Express).
Most things have gone PCIe, but there are some stragglers on PCI-X or
things with both for max compatibility. Make sure to check the PCIe speed
too. The video card is PCIe 2.0 x8 and the MSI MB has 2 x16 slots (one PCIe
2.0 and one 3.0) so that's all good.

-Shawn

On Tue, Jun 2, 2015 at 10:01 AM, Greg Rundlett (freephile) <
greg at freephile.com> wrote:

> My 13-yr-old wants to build a PC and came up with a parts list.
> https://freephile.org/wiki/PC_Build
>
> He's big into playing and hosting Minecraft, plus creating Minecraft
> graphics customizations with blender and gimp.  He currently uses a
> chromebook, plus crouton for a chrooted Ubuntu.  (The minecraft _server_ is
> on another host in a VM -- not on the chromebook.)  Although the chromebook
> is good for portability, it's not very powerful when it comes to 3d
> rendering in blender.  And actually, he broke it (he is a 13 yo boy).  So
> he wants to upgrade to a "entry-level" gamer system using his own money.
>
> I put his list at https://freephile.org/wiki/PC_Build and also referenced
> a system build that the blogger "Canton Matt" (Peteris Krumins) put
> together.  There are also a short list of the resources I've found for
> compatibility checking.
>
> I hardly know anything about hardware and mostly buy from newegg or
> tigerdirect.  It's been years since I built my first linux box from
> scratch.  Any comments, advice from regular or recent builders?
>
> Thanks
>
> Greg Rundlett
> https://eQuality-Tech.com
> https://freephile.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> gnhlug-discuss mailing list
> gnhlug-discuss at mail.gnhlug.org
> http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/private/gnhlug-discuss/attachments/20150602/e62fa95c/attachment.html