Hardware Recommendations

[kslinux]

I am planning to build a PC.  This will be my first build.  I have a list of components below of which I would appreciate your feedback.

     Case: Corsair Series 300R
     MB: Gigabyte Model GA-78LMT-USB3
     CPU: AMD FX-4130 (AM3+ Socket)
     Ram: Corsair XMS 32GB DDR3 Memory at 1333 Hz, 240 pin
     Hard Drive: Western Digital WD1002FAEX 7200 rpm, SATA
     Optical Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner, SATA

Any thoughts?  Also, please provide this novice any hints / tips for building a PC.

Thanks for the feedback.

Alan

[µT6]

what video card, the one in the mainboard or one on the pci express?  the onboard one is a ati hd3000, not sure if it plays nice with linux atm

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4305#ov

the ram is 4 8gbs ram modules, seems to be perfect for this mainboar that has the 32 gb limit

32 gbs of ram seems to be too much to me but if you plan on keeping it on use for a long time, then it is ok, i would put just 8 or 16 maximum but since ram is cheap this days, then i think it is ok

does the case has a psu?  in the site it says it doesn't, any brand planned?

http://www.corsair.com/carbide-series-300r-compact-pc-gaming-case.html

is the case big? this mainboard is rather small, you could take advantage of that, choose a smaller case, more space on the desktop but if that is not a issue, then it looks like a good choice

i tend to choose lg for optical drives but recently i haven't bought any drive, we only buy external drives so no idea about the asus drive

the cpu seems to be fast enough, but if you can get something faster or that uses less watts, i would choose it, this one is tdp 125w

this fx is meant to be overclocked, this mainboard, not sure if can do it at all or not

[docnascar]

I would not use that mother board. One, your processor is not on the supported list.   Two. For the memory you will have to overclock  (OC) it just for 1333 memory which makes the motherboard work harder and get hotter. I would pick a mother board that natively (ie no OC) supports the memory you want. Also, ensure you get a mother board that can support a 125W CPU.

DDR3 1333+ (O.C.)/1066

That processor supports up to 1866mhz RAM, so by using 1333mhz ram you are drastically slowing down the system as a whole. At minimum I would use 1600mhz ram but why bottleneck it, just get 1866 memory.
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Bulldozer/AMD-FX-Series%20FX-4130.html
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/processors/amdfx/pages/amdfx-model-number-comparison.aspx

When picking a cpu/mobo/ram setup, check the manufactures websites and make sure the hardware combinations are all cross supported to reduce concerns.

I just recently put together a new system with an AMD FX processor. See my sig. My budget was ~$400. I went over a little but it was <$450. Everything (except case/psu, already had them) came from NewEgg.
Had a few bugs/concerns, but in general its awesome.
http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,114096.0.html
http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,114218.0.html

Have you checked out the benchmarks?
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/

Get a good video card as well.

[jberkpc]

kslinux, I hope you have fun with your new build. When I'm going to a new build, I spend many hours on the net researching hardware. That means not only reading the reviews, but knowing if the reviewer knows what he is talking about. I look at pro reviews, which are often tainted by his preference for one brand or another. I also look for the customer reviews on the large online vendor sites. Many trash a brand new product because they don't what they are doing, so I dismiss those, but if I see a problem common to most, then I pay attention. Your selections sound pretty good, but I heard someone mention on board video and I would stay completely away from that. You are going to get more performance and less compatibility problems with an add on video card, plus you can upgrade it in the future.
I also noticed that you list didn't include a Power Supply. IMO this is the most underrated and overlooked part of a PC build. If you don't have adequate (for your system) power and if that power isn't clean and well regulated, then no matter how much you've forked out for the other products, you will have issues.
Good luck and I hope this helps

[kslinux]

Thanks all for the feedback!

I had a Corsair Series CX430 power supply picked out --- just forgot to put it on the original post.

Looks like I've got a lot of research to do.  I'll post a revised list for additional comments when I've completed my research.

Thanks for all the links!

[sling-shot]

I heard someone mention on board video and I would stay completely away from that.

I feel it is good to have some on board video as backup in case of video card fail emergencies. Have both but generally keep the onboard disabled. Is there any problem with this idea?

My desktop has an onboard nVidia card and I have a discrete ATi card. On many occasions I had to switch to onboard video while waiting for some free time to open the box and clean-up and reset the internals.

[µT6]

"I feel it is good to have some on board video as backup in case of video card fail emergencies. Have both but generally keep the onboard disabled. Is there any problem with this idea?"

no, no problem, especially if the onboard video card is ati, amd or nvidia, that usually is disabled as soon as you put another video card and linux doesn't have to worry about it

usually a mainboard without video card is more expensive, and mostly better quality so it has to do with have options in price and in parts more that if right or wrong

[jberkpc]

I heard someone mention on board video and I would stay completely away from that.

I feel it is good to have some on board video as backup in case of video card fail emergencies. Have both but generally keep the onboard disabled. Is there any problem with this idea?

My desktop has an onboard nvidia card and I have a discrete ATi card. On many occasions I had to switch to onboard video while waiting for some free time to open the box and clean-up and reset the internals.

It might be wise, if that suits you, but my experience (and  because I've read it) is that Linux probes deeper for hardware than Windoz. For example: I have on board sound that I have disabled, because I have a nice Creative Sound card that I use, because of better sound and it uses less PC resources. When I install the meta package: task pulse audio and go to the PCC to tell it I want pulse audio with 5.1 surround (for the sound card), It also has listed, the on board sound (even though it's disabled in the BIOS) so I enable the pulse audio for that as well because, if I don't pulse audio doesn't work. When installing pulse audio, I also grab the pulse audio volume control utility. I have a volume control with Kmix already, but the Pulse Audio Volume utility has a configuration tab where my other sound hardware; (on my Nvidia 680 GTX video card) is listed, and once I tell it to turn off the HDA nvidia sound off and select Pulse Audio 5.1 sound on my sound card, then and only then does pulse audio work perfectly each and every boot.
My point is: that for ease of configuration; I stay away from, having more that one piece of hardware that does the same thing, be it sound video or anything else.

[ks4ua]

Just to throw a little curve ball into the discussion, I recently spent WAY too much time recently specifying a new AMD-based home-media-oriented system.  While I've built many systems in the past, I wasn't aware of how good the AMD Lllano and Trinity quad core chips had gotten.   

For under $400, using top-notch parts, you can build a general-purpose home machine or high-end home-theater system.  The AMD A10-5800K, especially, I think has a real price/performance advantage right now.  At least that is how I was leaning.

The on-board AMD GPUs add a LOT of great things, for only $20 more than a comparable FX chip, (like playing smooth 1080p HD video, transmitting uncompressed digital audio through HDMI, having excellent 2D graphics and decent 3D game performance). 

Some people don't like ATI graphics on Linux, but I've used it for years and do not have a complaint.  Yes...I know Nvidia is probably still better supported overall, but AMD/ATI has really come a long way.

Anyway, if you want absolute maximum CPU performance and want a discrete 3D graphic card, then AMD FX is good, but the Intel line is probably worth looking into as well.  I was not that sold on picking an FX chip over the Intel i3 or i5, but I did feel the A series AMD GPUs were great bang for the buck.