New PC for friend

blibbax · Sep 22, 2008, 10:48 PM

Hi, I'm doing a gaming PC for a firend. He's pretty sure about what he wants, and knows a fair bit about hardware, but I'd just like to check that there are no known major issues with these parts:

-Thermaltake Tsunami
-MSI P35 NEO-F
-Intel E8400
-Novatech (Palit) GTX260
-Samsung S202J
-OCZ 2x2GB DDR2 800mhz 5-5-5-18 Gold Editon
-Corsair TX650
-WD3200AAJS
-Vista Premium 64 Bit

It's gunna come to about £650.

Any thoughts?

**kris23** · Sep 22, 2008, 10:59 PM

for the price, thats difficult to beat,

though id swap out the P35 board for a P45 board with ICH10R, it can handle more RAM and OC better

the OCZ gold series is a little overpriced for what you get, try looking into G.Skill or even Kingston as CAS 5 DDR2 is very cheap

id also swap the Palit GTX 260 for an EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 SC its only a bit more expensive than the regular one and is very close to GTX 280 performance

lastly the case, by todays standards the tsunami isnt all that great, but it does look nice, id go for the Cooler Master HAF 932 as it cools better and costs around the same...
where are you going to get this stuff from? yoyotech?

OldBuzzard · Sep 22, 2008, 11:55 PM

Looking at pics of that case on Newegg, I'd say that you will will have a problem fitting that vid card into it. It's an 'old style' mid-tower, and there's not very much room in it. Especially from the MB to the HDD bays. If you are careful, and make sure that you put the HDDs in the right slots, you can probably squeeze in a long vid card, but it's going to be close.

For a mid tower, he would be much better off with either the Cooler Master RC-590 Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

or CM-690 Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

I prefer the CM-690 for the way the HDDs mount. I like the sideways mounting as it gives even more clearance for the Vid card, but both of them have more than enough room for long vid cards. My 3870 X2 fits in the CM-690 with 2+" room to spare.

For a full tower Kris's recommendation of the HAF932 is a good one too.

blibbax · Sep 23, 2008, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kris23

for the price, thats difficult to beat,

though id swap out the P35 board for a P45 board with ICH10R, it can handle more RAM and OC better

the OCZ gold series is a little overpriced for what you get, try looking into G.Skill or even Kingston as CAS 5 DDR2 is very cheap

id also swap the Palit GTX 260 for an EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 SC its only a bit more expensive than the regular one and is very close to GTX 280 performance

lastly the case, by todays standards the tsunami isnt all that great, but it does look nice, id go for the Cooler Master HAF 932 as it cools better and costs around the same...
where are you going to get this stuff from? yoyotech?

That ram is actually the cheapest 4GB kit we can find. For Graphics, we're restrained by cost. The stuff is coming from ebuyer and novatech. The ram is £55 and the video card £170, from memory. Incidentally, he'll be playing on a 22" monitor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldBuzzard

Looking at pics of that case on Newegg, I'd say that you will will have a problem fitting that vid card into it. It's an 'old style' mid-tower, and there's not very much room in it. Especially from the MB to the HDD bays. If you are careful, and make sure that you put the HDDs in the right slots, you can probably squeeze in a long vid card, but it's going to be close.

For a mid tower, he would be much better off with either the Cooler Master RC-590 Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

or CM-690 Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

I prefer the CM-690 for the way the HDDs mount. I like the sideways mounting as it gives even more clearance for the Vid card, but both of them have more than enough room for long vid cards. My 3870 X2 fits in the CM-690 with 2+" room to spare.

For a full tower Kris's recommendation of the HAF932 is a good one too.

My friend wants to get the Tsunami for the visual appeal rather than for any practical reason. He's not a big fan of other designs, though I did try to persuade him.

I am a little worried about fiting the video card in the case, but a little internet research has suggested that this should be possible, as long as I stick to just the one HDD. This pic shows an 8800GTX in a Tsunami. The GTX is the same length as the GTX260, and has a space restricting power connector location. I use a 9600GT that I am assured by numerous internet sources does not fit in my case, and should in fact cause it to explode, but it just about squashes in along with three hard drives.

The Tsunami he wants has a side window - am I going to be ok with cable management?

**kris23** · Sep 23, 2008, 12:31 AM

sleek?Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER COSMOS CX-1000WRTH-01-GP Color Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower CSX Limited Edition Wraith Computer Case - Computer Cases

lol i know you cant get that....

blibbax · Sep 23, 2008, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kris23

sleek?Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER COSMOS CX-1000WRTH-01-GP Color Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower CSX Limited Edition Wraith Computer Case - Computer Cases

lol i know you cant get that....

/drools
/drools some more
/extra drool

dude... you've flooded my room...

/further droolin'

Anyone wanna buy me this ultra high throughput drool extraction unit?

**kris23** · Sep 23, 2008, 12:49 AM

well...... i cant really find any good performance silver case...

nobody really liked silver so companies never got too many out.... except thermaltake but thats about it.....

cozumel · Sep 23, 2008, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blibbax

That ram is actually the cheapest 4GB kit we can find. For Graphics, we're restrained by cost. The stuff is coming from ebuyer and novatech. The ram is £55 and the video card £170, from memory. Incidentally, he'll be playing on a 22" monitor.

Just quickly checked and memoryc.com, overclock.co.uk and scan.co.uk are all selling alternative 4GB memory PC2-6400 from repitable brands at less than the OCZ. I haven't checked what special offers any of them may have...I'm tired and need to sleep...

Quote:

Originally Posted by kris23

well...... i cant really find any good performance silver case...

nobody really liked silver so companies never got too many out.... except thermaltake but thats about it.....

Lian-Li do silver cases.

**kris23** · Sep 23, 2008, 01:13 AM

not "sleek" ones...

Lian-Li are just boxes

cozumel · Sep 23, 2008, 01:19 AM

Incidentally, I hate this design, but I've read some users get good performance with it - Pulls a load of air through keeping things cool.

XClio A380Plus

Edit: 'Sleek' is in the eye of the beholder lol.

blibbax · Sep 23, 2008, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cozumel

Just quickly checked and memoryc.com, overclock.co.uk and scan.co.uk are all selling alternative 4GB memory PC2-6400 from repitable brands at less than the OCZ. I haven't checked what special offers any of them may have...I'm tired and need to sleep...

I can't find a substansial saving anywhere.

Quote:

Lian-Li do silver cases.

And they cost more than my enitre PC.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cozumel

Incidentally, I hate this design, but I've read some users get good performance with it - Pulls a load of air through keeping things cool.

XClio A380Plus

Edit: 'Sleek' is in the eye of the beholder lol.

OK, I'll propose this. Scan's delivery charge takes me over budget, but it might be cheaper elsewhere. Anyone else know anything about it? What's the difference between the A380Plus and the A380?

Also, are tha MSI drivers all likely to be 64 bit compatible?

PangingJr · Sep 24, 2008, 07:44 PM

don't forget to introduce this forums to your friend, blibbax.

blibbax · Sep 24, 2008, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PangingJr

don't forget to introduce this forums to your friend, blibbax.

Lol, I might, though I'm pretty sure it's not his kinda thing. That's why I'm helping him with his build.

blibbax · Oct 1, 2008, 09:19 PM

We have a problem.

All the parts arrived at his house, I wnet round today to assemble the PC. Seemed to go really well, all fits neatly inside the case (ended up getting a relativley cheap case, but that's another story).

Before turning the PC on, I made double sure that everything was exaclty how it should be.

We plugged in his screen, mouse, keyboard and power cable and pressed the on button.

The LEDS came on, all the fans turned, all the usual sights and sounds. We get as far as the screen with the MSI logo and the options of press tab to post or press del to enter bios.

And here we have our problem.

If you press nothing at this point, it stays on this screen. If you press anything, it stays on this screen. I've tried every solution I can think of, including other keyboards and mice, one ram stick at a time and resetting the cmos, everything short of actually replacing components.

Is there a faulty part or am I doing something wrong?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

blibbax · Oct 1, 2008, 10:31 PM

My current plan is to initially try my RAM, to see if his RAM is at fault. If this fixes all, I'l be sending off for new RAM. If this fixes nothing, I'll try my processor. If this works, I'll use live update to go to the e8400 bios. If neither the processor or RAM fix anything, I'll be sending off for a replacement motherboard.

Matth · Oct 1, 2008, 10:31 PM

If you have a BIOS logo screen, then at least some of the major parts are semi-working.

Have you tried both USB and PS/2 keyboards (if the motherboard supports PS/2 as well).

I'd also suggest disconnecting all the drives, as BIOS can operate without them, and it is possible to get a drive-related freeze due to a faulty or misconnected drive.

If there are any other cards, strip them out as well, get down to the absolute minimum required to access the BIOS, and if you still can't, then maybe the motherboard has a problem, possibly a dry joint or failed microfuse on the backplate connectors.

blibbax · Oct 2, 2008, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matth

If you have a BIOS logo screen, then at least some of the major parts are semi-working.

Have you tried both USB and PS/2 keyboards (if the motherboard supports PS/2 as well).

I'd also suggest disconnecting all the drives, as BIOS can operate without them, and it is possible to get a drive-related freeze due to a faulty or misconnected drive.

If there are any other cards, strip them out as well, get down to the absolute minimum required to access the BIOS, and if you still can't, then maybe the motherboard has a problem, possibly a dry joint or failed microfuse on the backplate connectors.

I've tried with both USB and PS2 keyboards, and with all non essential devices (including drives) disconnected).

I do fear a motherboard problem, but I'm hoping it's just got the wrong bios version, in which case I can flash it with me E2220.

blibbax · Oct 2, 2008, 10:13 PM

Well the system will pst woth my processor, so I'm presuming it just needa a bios update, which isn't an issue.

However, as soon as I get past the "Windows is loading files" screen on the Vista installation disk, I get a blue screen.

The only way I can prevent this is by disabling funtion acpi or ioapic function. This then causes Vista to refuse to install on account of the bios not being acpi compatible.

What am I supposed to do now?

Sep 22, 2008, 10:48 PM	#1
blibbax What does this do? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 4,230 Rep Power: 254 System Specs	New PC for friend will not post Hi, I'm doing a gaming PC for a firend. He's pretty sure about what he wants, and knows a fair bit about hardware, but I'd just like to check that there are no known major issues with these parts: -Thermaltake Tsunami -MSI P35 NEO-F -Intel E8400 -Novatech (Palit) GTX260 -Samsung S202J -OCZ 2x2GB DDR2 800mhz 5-5-5-18 Gold Editon -Corsair TX650 -WD3200AAJS -Vista Premium 64 Bit It's gunna come to about £650. Any thoughts? Last edited by blibbax; Oct 1, 2008 at 09:56 PM.

Sep 22, 2008, 10:59 PM	#2
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,018 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	for the price, thats difficult to beat, though id swap out the P35 board for a P45 board with ICH10R, it can handle more RAM and OC better the OCZ gold series is a little overpriced for what you get, try looking into G.Skill or even Kingston as CAS 5 DDR2 is very cheap id also swap the Palit GTX 260 for an EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 SC its only a bit more expensive than the regular one and is very close to GTX 280 performance lastly the case, by todays standards the tsunami isnt all that great, but it does look nice, id go for the Cooler Master HAF 932 as it cools better and costs around the same... where are you going to get this stuff from? yoyotech? __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Sep 22, 2008, 11:55 PM	#3
OldBuzzard DH's oldest Geek Join Date: May 2003 Location: Oberlin, OH Posts: 2,783 Rep Power: 145 System Specs	Looking at pics of that case on Newegg, I'd say that you will will have a problem fitting that vid card into it. It's an 'old style' mid-tower, and there's not very much room in it. Especially from the MB to the HDD bays. If you are careful, and make sure that you put the HDDs in the right slots, you can probably squeeze in a long vid card, but it's going to be close. For a mid tower, he would be much better off with either the Cooler Master RC-590 Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! or CM-690 Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! I prefer the CM-690 for the way the HDDs mount. I like the sideways mounting as it gives even more clearance for the Vid card, but both of them have more than enough room for long vid cards. My 3870 X2 fits in the CM-690 with 2+" room to spare. For a full tower Kris's recommendation of the HAF932 is a good one too. __________________ When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY Last edited by OldBuzzard; Sep 23, 2008 at 12:01 AM.

Sep 23, 2008, 12:31 AM	#5
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,018 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	sleek?Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER COSMOS CX-1000WRTH-01-GP Color Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower CSX Limited Edition Wraith Computer Case - Computer Cases lol i know you cant get that.... __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Sep 23, 2008, 12:49 AM	#7
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,018 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	well...... i cant really find any good performance silver case... nobody really liked silver so companies never got too many out.... except thermaltake but thats about it..... __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Sep 23, 2008, 01:13 AM	#9
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,018 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	not "sleek" ones... Lian-Li are just boxes __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Sep 23, 2008, 01:19 AM	#10
cozumel I'm dangerous but cute... Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Under the waves... Posts: 3,577 Rep Power: 60 System Specs	Incidentally, I hate this design, but I've read some users get good performance with it - Pulls a load of air through keeping things cool. XClio A380Plus Edit: 'Sleek' is in the eye of the beholder lol. __________________ Don't worry about money - Be a beach bum! Scuba Rocks

Sep 24, 2008, 07:44 PM	#12
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	don't forget to introduce this forums to your friend, blibbax.

Oct 1, 2008, 09:19 PM	Thread Starter #14
blibbax What does this do? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 4,230 Rep Power: 254 System Specs	We have a problem. All the parts arrived at his house, I wnet round today to assemble the PC. Seemed to go really well, all fits neatly inside the case (ended up getting a relativley cheap case, but that's another story). Before turning the PC on, I made double sure that everything was exaclty how it should be. We plugged in his screen, mouse, keyboard and power cable and pressed the on button. The LEDS came on, all the fans turned, all the usual sights and sounds. We get as far as the screen with the MSI logo and the options of press tab to post or press del to enter bios. And here we have our problem. If you press nothing at this point, it stays on this screen. If you press anything, it stays on this screen. I've tried every solution I can think of, including other keyboards and mice, one ram stick at a time and resetting the cmos, everything short of actually replacing components. Is there a faulty part or am I doing something wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Oct 1, 2008, 10:31 PM	Thread Starter #15
blibbax What does this do? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 4,230 Rep Power: 254 System Specs	My current plan is to initially try my RAM, to see if his RAM is at fault. If this fixes all, I'l be sending off for new RAM. If this fixes nothing, I'll try my processor. If this works, I'll use live update to go to the e8400 bios. If neither the processor or RAM fix anything, I'll be sending off for a replacement motherboard.

Oct 1, 2008, 10:31 PM	#16
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	If you have a BIOS logo screen, then at least some of the major parts are semi-working. Have you tried both USB and PS/2 keyboards (if the motherboard supports PS/2 as well). I'd also suggest disconnecting all the drives, as BIOS can operate without them, and it is possible to get a drive-related freeze due to a faulty or misconnected drive. If there are any other cards, strip them out as well, get down to the absolute minimum required to access the BIOS, and if you still can't, then maybe the motherboard has a problem, possibly a dry joint or failed microfuse on the backplate connectors. __________________ Mary had a little lamb, Her father shot it dead Now Mary takes her lamb to school, Between two crusts of bread

Oct 2, 2008, 10:13 PM	Thread Starter #18
blibbax What does this do? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 4,230 Rep Power: 254 System Specs	Well the system will pst woth my processor, so I'm presuming it just needa a bios update, which isn't an issue. However, as soon as I get past the "Windows is loading files" screen on the Vista installation disk, I get a blue screen. The only way I can prevent this is by disabling funtion acpi or ioapic function. This then causes Vista to refuse to install on account of the bios not being acpi compatible. What am I supposed to do now? Last edited by blibbax; Oct 2, 2008 at 10:47 PM.