Final Look Over

[Spartan2529]

I've been picking out parts for computers for the past eight months now but never had the money. Now i have the money and have spent the past week putting together a build. I would just like somebody who knows more that I do to look over this and tell me how it all looks, where I can save money, and if there are any compatibility issues. It's costly but i'm willing to put the money out there for it.


///////////////////////////////// COMPUTER BUILD \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 04-07-12

Operating System ::: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
- $99.99

Power Supply ::: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139022
- $119.99*

Case ::: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119240
- $89.99

Centeral Processing Unit ::: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
- $219.99

RAM ::: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104250
- $49.99

Motherboard ::: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271
- $121.99

Hard Drive ::: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6076939&CatId=2459
- $119.99

Video Card ::: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130768
- $509.99

Optical Drive ::: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
- $17.99

///////////////////////////////// ACCESSORIES \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Keyboard: http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.169417900
- $79.99

Mouse: http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.231103900
- $79.99

Monitor ::: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236153
- $204.99

Red Sleeve ::: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812170031
- $17.99

Computer Price - $1,349.91
Total Price - $1,732.87

* - Price after Mail In Rebate

[RickyTick]

Power supply is a bit of an overkill, but it will work fine. You could save a few bucks and step down to a 650 or 750 watt.

The ram is wrong. That's triple channel ram designed for the X58 chipset. You should be using dual channel ram. Something like this would be great.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

The GTX680 is in short supply everywhere. Good luck.

[Spartan2529]

Thanks for the reply and for telling me about the RAM. I'll go with the one you've suggested.

As for the power supply i could downgrade to a 750 but i would only save about 15 - 20 dollars so i'm just going to stick with my 850 watt and be sure i can run anything in the future.

And for the GTX680 I've found a website that has had it in stock over the past week and a half and they are not very popular so it should stay that way for a while. It's one of the first things i'll but so I don't have to worry about waiting.

[Spartan2529]

One more question. How can I connect my external USB on my case onto my Motherboard? I know my case comes with the cables to connect it but i want to make sure i can connect it to the motherboard because looking at the pictures of my motherboard the USB 2.0 and 3.0 are both on the back of the mobo where i believe it would stick out the back of my case at the I/O area.

My Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

[RickyTick]

There are USB connections coming out at the I/O plate which will be at the rear of the case, but there are also USB connections at the front-top of your case near the power button. Are you wanting to connect an external hard drive or something like that?

[zburns]

At the same time Ricky was posting, I was copying your spec list from your online manual. Here is the data: First, here is the URL for the pdf on line copy of your manual: ftp://174.142.97.10/manual/Z68%20Extreme3%20Gen3.pdf

Here is the actual specification that covers USB 'midboard' connectors (or 'onboard' depending on the manufacturer) in the manual:

Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

User Manual

Section: 1.2 Specifications
- . . . .
- . . . .
- . . . .
- 8 pin 12V power connector
- Front panel audio connector
- 4 x USB 2.0 headers (support 8 USB 2.0 ports)
- 1 x Dr. Debug (7-Segment Debug LED)
(end of specification listing in manual)

-----------
Read carefully:

According to the user manual, there are no 'midboard' or 'onboard' USB 3.0 headers. This means that the present motherboard will support case front USB 2.0 plugs but will not support case front USB 3.0 plugs. BUT you do have 2 rear panel (mobo) ports usb 3.0 that the present mobo will support.

The reason for this is the low cost of the motherboard. If you go up slightly in the cost, I assume you will find an equivalent As Rock mobo with 'midboard' or 'onboard' usb 3.0 connectors.
---------------
I just took a look at your case specs and it does have 2 - usb 3.0 ports on the front panel. But you also have 2 usb 2.0 ports.

You need to upgrade on the motherboard to get internal usb 3.0 headers to allow for connection of the case front panel usb 3.0 ports.

[Spartan2529]

Thanks zburns. I will look around some more and find a mobo with 2.0 and 3.0 headers. My case also has a thing for a audio out and mic in. I want to use that as well so i'll look for that. What would they call it so i know what im looking for?

I don't plan on using an external hard drive.

Edit:

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293)

I did find this motherboard which i believe has internal 3.0 and internal 2.0. It also has something called a "Front panel audio connector" and from the name of it and some google searches i think that it should connect to the Audio Output on my case. What i'm not sure about is if it will also connect to my Microphone jack that is also on the case.

If it does not connect to the microphone input, but does connect to the Audio Output that will be good enough for me. When I do but a headset i'll just make sure it's wireless and connect it to the back if my computer. I can live without it on the front and i really don't want to make my motherboard more expensive than it is right now.

[zburns]

This is a new mobo and I do not even know right now if it has been released. I think I read April for availability. I did look at the audio internal and external ports, and, I think you are ok there except that mic may be on the back panel, and front case panel is one speaker and one audio out. The audio stuff is pretty standard in that it is supposed to meet an Intel ATX spec, meaning all mother boards that meet ATX requirements thruout includes meeting the Intel audio standard. I did see some reviews on this board but I did not read any of them -- generally a good review is a lot of pages in length.

So a few questions. How soon do you want to order the mother board? Because it is new, it will take a day or two to read up on it and get comfortable with features and specs. It is very helpful to see what a 'reviewer says about any computer component'. Sometimes you get a 'negative' surprise. Most of the time good comments. There are about 15 very good reviewers. Hardware Secrets is one of them and I did give a short glance at their review on this mobo, but no detail reading, yet.

[Spartan2529]

I'm still saving up money. I won't be ordering any parts at the very soonest 2 - 4 weeks and at the latest 8 weeks probably.

I've looked at a few reviews so far but need to look at more later today.