PC Build

[Tom Buskey]

On Tue, Jun 2, 2015 at 12:06 PM, Shawn O'Shea <shawn at eth0.net> wrote:

> 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
>

What Shawn says.

The motherboard determines the CPU.

If a CPU has a choice between cores and MHz (GHz now!), most tasks are
single threaded, go for the Hz.

Get the correct RAM.  Bigger sticks are more $$, but you can have empty
slots later instead of throwing all the sticks for new ones.  More RAM
never hurts.  I wouldn't go below 4GB.  If I have a choice between dual
core & 8GB or quad and 4GB, I'll get 8GB.

If you run VirtualBox, RAM will help more then cores.  Cores can
oversubscribe 16x and RAM only 1.5 in clouds.

I haven't seen PCI-X for years.  Avoid it unless you have a specific, older
PCI-X card.  The system is probably a heat sink and you'll recoup the
difference in power savings getting something modern.

Recent off lease, high GHz,  multi core systems are great.  I've used Dell
PCs at work and am familiar searching their web site.  I have a few
Lenovo/Thinkpad laptops I like as well.  Make sure you can go beyond 4GB
RAM!  Make sure you can find everything on the web site.

My son has the Minecraft bug too.  He has a Macintosh Mini and wishes all
the windows plugins would work.  He doesn't like the Linux VMs I give him
either.  My younger daughter is fine with occasional use via Chrome on a
Mint (Thinkpad) Laptop.

Newegg is 1-2% cheaper than Amazon, but Amazon does returns.  I had to
return one thing and decided I'll only use Newegg for its excellent
(technical) customer product reviews.

If he's into Mindcraft, maybe he could be nudged towards MinecraftPI...
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