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Final Build

FSP Group AURUM GOLD 400 (AU-400) 400W ATX12V v2.3 /EPS 12V 80PLUS GOLD Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104096

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

HEC 6K28BB8F Black 0.8mm SECC Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121003

ASRock 880GM-LE AM3 AMD 880G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157199

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBRM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231275

LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX450WFGMBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103886

$400

I might have made some 'mistakes' in terms of quality/power (i.e. too powerful or too much money) of the components I bought for my grandfather, but after deliberating with a friend who I trust when it comes to these things I came up with the following final list.  I will give you my rationale for certain parts I chose and I would appreciate your opinion to help me in choosing parts for any future computer builds.


The PSU was about $75 bucks for a 400W which seems like a lot of money for that power, but he told me that its gold plus certification maintains the best efficiency and should eventually pay for itself in terms of electric bills. How true do you think this is? 

Although I had originally chosen a 500GB WD, This 1TB Samsung was highly recommended to me and went for the same price as the 500GB, so I chose it instead. 

The motherboard I had trouble picking mostly because I still don't understand what features each one has over another and which of these features are actually of importance to me.  I just picked this one because it seemed to have everything I needed and few specific problems as opposed to the Biostart I was looking at before.

I probably could have gotten cheaper and equally powerful RAM.  I think I should have looked more at those offered with rebates.

The CPU I was the one Knooger had chosen originally for me.

So Lennard, where do you think I went wrong/right and thanks again for the heads-up on buying a computer from eBay :)

Alright, thanks for your input. I've changed some components to reflect what you've said. We'll see how building this thing actually works out.

Thanks a bunch for the heads up. You've convinced me to build it myself.

This is my tentative build:

Cooler Master Elite 371 Mid Tower ATX Case
www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Elite-Tower-RC-371-KKN1/dp/B004RJJJW0/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp

Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX12V V2.2
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023

AMD Athlony II X3 450

ASUS M4A785-M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131595

(2) LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner iHAS124-04
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

PowerColor Go! Green AX5450 512MK3-SH Radeon HD 5450 (Cedar) 512MB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131339&cm_re=radeon_5450-_-14-131-339-_-Product

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

PNY XLR8 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model MD4096KD3-1600-X8
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178265


Questions:
Should I buy more case fans or hard drive fans? I have no idea how much I need?

What other accessories do I need to buy? I think I would need just 3 SATA cables for the the 2 optical drives and the hard drive.

Is there a better case? I like this case because it has all the inputs and power button on the top, but can you think of a better alternative?

Looks like the M4A77T is not available, the next cheapest thing is an M4A785-M. Reviews look fine but I just wanted to confirm this one last item prior to my purchase. And thanks for all your input KroogeR

What about the "Thermaltake TR2 430W Core i7 & Core i5 Ready"?

Ok, I am looking at this build over here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Barebones-PC-AMD-Phenom-II-925-X4-QUAD-CORE-Asus-M4A77T-/110694512329?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item19c5e836c9#ht_4716wt_1135

Seems to have a 3 year warranty


Cooler Master Elite 370 Mid Tower Case
550W Heavy Duty TOUGH Series SATA Power Supply
ASUS M4A77T
AMD Athlony II X3 450
Radeon HD 5450 (PowerColor GO! Green) (around $25)
(1) Kingston ValueRAM 2GB DDR31333 (around $21)
(1) WD 500GB 7200rpm 16mb cache SATA 3.0Gb/s (around $44)
(1) LG DVD Burner SATA (around $20)


What do you think? He doesn't need more than 2GB Ram. All four items above the GPU would be bought from the link on Ebay.

Thanks for the setup, Krooger, but the motherboard has no integrated video. Any reason why I should go with a dedicated GPU over an integrated one? For instance, will watching 1080p vids on youtube benefit from a dedicated GPU?

I also planned on moving the 80GB EIDE 7200rpm WD into the new computer from the old one. He has plenty external drives for storage but should I instead opt to find this is a SATA version?

He's worked on my computer and he wants the snappy response time. Even on a freshly installed Windows it feels like the computer constantly hangs longer than he'd like.

Well, if it were for myself, I might have chosen to build it. I just assume that if someone else builds it, who does this all the time, then we will run into less problems. And I don't want my grandpa to complain that we should have gotten some name brand.

So I've never bought a computer off of eBay before and my grandfather is sick and tired of his Pentium 4 that we've had since 2004, I believe.  Now, he doesn't want to spend over 400 bucks on this and he definitely doesn't want a used computer, so I was wondering if I should buy one of those no name customizable ones that are offered on eBay.

My computer currently has an e6850 processor and I wanted to get him something of equal or greater power, so I was looking into the e8400 (and I don't need to overclock anything for him).  I also wonder if I need to get him a dedicated GPU; can he watch 720p movies on his computer without one. I suppose he only needs two GB ram.  I want the computer to feel snappy, but keep in mind, grandpa doesn't game :).

What do you think about something like this one: (note, whatever values you see there weren't set by me, but I would appreciate some help in choosing the right motherboard and other components if, of course, it is prudent to purchase new computers over ebay.)

http://cgi.ebay.com/INTEL-E8400-DUAL-CORE-2-MINI-TOWER-BAREBONES-SYSTEM-NEW-/370264190659?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item5635772ec3#ht_6740wt_1134

You PC will explode because your username is Doom_Fist

Alright, thank you all.  I've put everything together using the sekisui tape Knooger recommended (seems to hold heatsinks really well), and the arctic ceramique.  Everything went well except for the arctic ceramique bit, because apparently the recommended application instructions are different from those of other thermal pastes.  I may have added a bit too much but I don't think that it produced an appreciable effect.  the 8800gt idles at 43 degrees Celsius and hits a high of 55 degrees on Crysis 2 which is good enough for me.  Once more, thanks for all your help.

Well, the tape has been ordered.  Now about the paste for the main chip.  I read that the silver in arctic silver 5 can short out the GPU if applied improperly.  Since I am a newb, should I instead opt for arctic ceramique or mx-2?

I am not sure exactly why the card died but perhaps you can help me figure it out.  My friend had assembled the vf1000 for me and it was great: completely quiet and temps wouldn't ever go above 50 degrees Celsius or so.  The thing is that I think he did a poor job with these little guys:

http://www.overclock.net/attachments/nvidia-cooling/61240d1196960129-vf-900-enough-cool-8800gt-88gt-heatsinks.jpg

because my heatsinks were 1.25cm by 1.25cm.  I am not sure if they were making proper contact, especially on the little guys on the bottom right.  The card was functioning for a month and a half.  Then suddenly, one of the monitors stopped displaying anything.  Upon reboot, neither of my two monitors were getting a signal from the GPU. 

Thanks a bunch Knooger, this Sekisui stuff seems to be the way to go.  I will order some when I get back home.

So I can just remove the old tape off the heatsinks, and stick this sekisui one right on? Anything I should note in particular?