Attempting to build a computer....

[goldfish777]

Hello,

I am quite familiar with computer hardware and software. I have repaired several machines, mostly laptops, and have dissassembled and reassembled computers. Any, put simply, I'm going into this totally blind.

So I have been doing tons of research on building computers and individual hardware componants and would like your guys' thoughts on my current choices.

I also have some questions about cooling, fan placement and the like.


Here are the pieces of hardware I have picked out(nothing has been purchased yet):

Gigabyte 78LMT-USB3 AM3+ 760G USB3.0 MOTHERBOARD
Thermaltake V2 Plus Mid Tower Case
Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATA6G 3.5" Internal HDD
Kingston HyperX Red 4GB Memory Module
Kingston HyperX Red 4GB Memory Module
AMD Phenom II X6 1045T 2.70GHz AM3 Processor
ALL FROM THIS BAREBONES KIT:
Gigabyte 760G USB3.0 MOTHERBOARD. AMD Phenom II X6 1045T Processor, 2x Kingston HyperX Red 4GB Memory Module, Seagate 500GB HDD, & Thermaltake Mid-Tower Case w/450W PSU Bundle at TigerDirect.com

StarTech STANDOFF632 Motherboard Standoff Screws - #6-32, 15 Pack, ATX
StarTech STANDOFF632 Motherboard Standoff Screws - #6-32, 15 Pack, ATX at TigerDirect.com

ASUS ENGT440/DI/1GD5 GeForce GT 440 Video Card - 1GB, GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, VGA, HDMI, DVI, DirectX 11, Dual-Slot
ASUS ENGT440/DI/1GD5 GeForce GT 440 Video Card - 1GB, GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, VGA, HDMI, DVI, DirectX 11, Dual-Slot at TigerDirect.com

Three of these:
Kingwin 80mm Long Life Bearing Case Fan
Kingwin 80mm Long Life Bearing Case Fan at TigerDirect.com

One of these:
Kingwin CFBL-012LB LED Case Fan - 120mm, Blue
Kingwin CFBL-012LB LED Case Fan - 120mm, Blue at TigerDirect.com


I'm not planning on actually buying the parts and putting em together until another month or so.

A question I have: Are the fans sufficient? If so, how should they be configured. Looking at the case one 80mm fan looks like it goes on the side vent and the two other 80mm fans go on the back side and the 120mm fan goes on the front.

I am planning on running linux on these(the only suitable OS ). From the looking I have done they all seem to be fully compatible with Linux. This information is correct right?


Thanks for any and all help.

EDIT 1: Also, any other advice you might have would be much appreciated.
EDIT 2: Am I missing anything as far as parts needed to build a computer? ( I alreadly have a spare CD/DVD-RW drive that will do just fine for the time being).

[rokytnji]

Looks good

 Cooling System    	
Front (intake) : Optional
120 x 120 x 25 mm fan x 1

Rear (exhaust) : Optional
80 x 80 x 25 mm x 2

Side panel(intake) : Optional
80 x 80 x 25 mm x 1

Thermaltakeusa*»*Chassis*»*Chassis + Power Supply*»*V2 Plus With 450W : V2 Plus With 450W VO54521N2U

As far as being Linux compatible. I am not sure about the UEFI specs on that Gigabyte board. Everything else looks cool to me though.

Hmmm joined 2010 and only 22 posts. You must be pretty Linux proficient.

Edit:224 reviews and no way to filter reviews at tiger direct using linux like at Newegg. I guess you will have to search through all the reviews one by one your self.

2nd Edit: from reviews 36-40 (what a PITA tiger direct)

Phenon II X6 1045T - It,s a performer, That's it!

AMD Phenom II X6 1045T 2.70GHz AM3 Processor

After installing it on a Gigabyte GA-MA785GPM-UD2H mobo and running on UBUNTU 12.04 - It is the only Processor I can use Gimp LibreOffice and Inkscape all at the same time- working on either apps and not get stuck or freeze! I tried that with Intel I5 and a similar Giga mobo equivalent and I cannot do that. This processor is superb for multi-tasking!

So Linux looks OK also.

[goldfish777]

Looks good

 Cooling System    	
Front (intake) : Optional
120 x 120 x 25 mm fan x 1

Rear (exhaust) : Optional
80 x 80 x 25 mm x 2

Side panel(intake) : Optional
80 x 80 x 25 mm x 1

Thermaltakeusa*»*Chassis*»*Chassis + Power Supply*»*V2 Plus With 450W : V2 Plus With 450W VO54521N2U

As far as being Linux compatible. I am not sure about the UEFI specs on that Gigabyte board. Everything else looks cool to me though.

Hmmm joined 2010 and only 22 posts. You must be pretty Linux proficient.

Edit:224 reviews and no way to filter reviews at tiger direct using linux like at Newegg. I guess you will have to search through all the reviews one by one your self.

2nd Edit: from reviews 36-40 (what a PITA tiger direct)



So Linux looks OK also.

Ok, thanks for the info concerning the fan setup. What about speed control? There is a motherboard connector for a fan, will that be sufficient?

I will have to look into the UEFI specs on it.

As far as the 22 posts thing, I have accounts on multiple linux distro forums. Not many posts in all, though.
I spend hours and hours on google before I post anything.


Anything else I should be aware of concerning building computer?

[rokytnji]

What about speed control?

I would install lm-sensors and run conky like so( Look below) after installing Linux before worrying about speed control. If talking about over clocking. I don't play with that either. I am not a gamer.

http://i.imgur.com/hPMQJTP.jpg

This computer I dug out of a dumpster.

[goldfish777]

I'm definitely not going to overclock. The few games I play(minecraft, Legend of Grimrock and a few others). These specs will be more than sufficient.

Do they just get plugged into the power supply and run at full speed constantly, or do they plug into the motherboard and get regulated some how?

EDIT 1: OH yes!!! Conky is a must!! I love conky. It's on all my systems. I never really thought about monitoring fans with conky. I will have to edit my conky config files.

[rokytnji]

Do they just get plugged into the power supply and run at full speed constantly, or do they plug into the motherboard and get regulated some how?

Not sure. Be patient and maybe some other member can weigh in on that later. My experience is temp sensors
on motherboards control fan control and acpi in linux plus lm-sensors can handle that.

[goldfish777]

Ok. Thanks for the help so far!

[fanderal]

Looking at the case one 80mm fan looks like it goes on the side vent and the two other 80mm fans go on the back side and the 120mm fan goes on the front.

The fan placement you mention looks right. I've not experimented with airflow on a side vented case, so I cannot suggest an effective configuration. Given a choice, I prefer a case with top venting rather than on the side, as top venting takes advantage of hot air naturally rising... and accumulating if the case has no top vent. Of the several hundred tower cases at Newegg, only 45 of them have a side vent; and only 25 of them at TigerDirect.

I also prefer larger fans to smaller, and fans with a max speed of 2500 RPM or less, as they tend to reduce the noise. My case has four vents: front, back, top and bottom, and included only top and rear fans. To help the airflow I installed three more fans (two where there were no pre-drilled mounts) and use a 5 fan controller to set each fan's RPM. I rarely change the speed except when running Handbrake, compiling or similar sustained CPU time.

Another thing to consider is case width. Many CPU heatsinks are tall and having the room inside the case will keep your options open.

Good places to look are the build articles and forum at SilentPCReview, and the user feedback for specific hardware at Newegg.

Agree with you about the ton of research yet it's a fun project. Good luck.

[goldfish777]

ok, great!!! None of this hardware is set in stone yet. Still got plenty of research left to do and, since I'm not buying anything for another month or so, my choices may changes depending on how the prices fluxuate.

Thanks for the advice, I will definitely keep researching and find a nice combination of hardware. You know, maybe the case I mentioned was designed to sit on its side with the vent up. Not a very common practice but some people do do it. I will probably have my case sit on its side so it should be fine. I will just have the fan on the side draw air out along with back fan. the front fan will suck the air in. That should give me good airflow. If it runs hot I can always at more fans.

[goldfish777]

rokytnji, good call on the UEFI settings. I looked on the driver download page for the that motherboard and they do not offer linux drivers so I'm going to go with another motherboard.