My Very First PC

[Business Scrub]

Well, the first one I'm building, anyway.

Hello playground! I'm going to build a PC pretty soon (in the next couple weeks), which will be the first time I've done something of this sort. Sadly, my classes have been very helpful in some aspects (here's exactly how the Intel x86 processor works) and severly lacking in others (oh, you want to know how a processor and motherboard interract?)
Needless to say, I've been doing a lot of research on my own. I'd love a second set of eyes and opinions before committing a decent sum of money to this project.

Anyway, my intent is for this to be a Linux system used primarily for server hosting (possibly including game servers, such as TF2 and Minecraft) and software development (probably including some openGL)

All that being said, here's what I've got so far:
- Processor: i5-4570
- Motherboard: Asrock H81M-HDS
Aaaaand... actually, that's it. I know I need atleast a cooling system, power supply, case, RAM, and hard drive to go along with it. I also figuring I'll need some little tools (tiny screws and whatnot, right?).

Any and all opinion is greatly appreciated, as I'm looking to learn more practical things about computer hardware during this project, not just get a working desktop out of it. I'm trying to keep it below $600, but I'm flexible on that.

[factotum]

ASRock H81M-HDS: Only has 2 RAM slots, which might be a limitation for you since you're intending to use this as a server. You also mention you want to get into OpenGL programming, in which case, I would suggest that getting a separate graphics card would be a good option--the on-board graphics capabilities of motherboard chipsets are often not that great. That being the case, you might want to look at getting a motherboard that doesn't have on-board graphics at all, since you're not going to be using them!

Also note that the motherboard specified is micro-ATX, which is fine if you want to build a really small PC, but if you're planning on a normal sized one then a full ATX motherboard would probably come with more expansion slots and connectors.

Cooling system: if you purchase the boxed CPU then it comes with a perfectly functional CPU cooler, and you shouldn't need any more than that unless you're intending to overclock it or you live in a really, really hot country.

Power supply: Make sure you get something which is adequate for your needs, but not stupidly overpowered--PSUs are generally most efficient when delivering about 70% of their rated power. Having said that, do not skimp on this bit! The PSU is attached to all the other components, and if you get a cheap one that decides to short out and dump mains voltage onto its outputs, that's a heck of a lot of expensive kit that just went up in smoke.

RAM: Make sure you get the right type and speed--the motherboard you specified requires DDR3 memory at 1066, 1333 or 1600MHz speed.

Tools: the screws you need to put a PC together are not usually all that small--we're not talking jeweller's screwdrivers here. A single screwdriver with interchangeable bits is probably the easiest way to go. A small pair of needle-nosed pliers for inserting power switch and LED connectors to the motherboard would probably help, too.

[Peelee]

Buy a 10 gallon aquarium from Walmart, fill it with vegetable oil, and dump your finished computer in it. Add fans to increase efficiency, and toss in some lights and even a bubbler if you want for looks. Liquid cooling on a budget, and you don't need a case.

You don't need to access any ports, right?

[tyckspoon]

Buy a 10 gallon aquarium from Walmart, fill it with vegetable oil, and dump your finished computer in it. Add fans to increase efficiency, and toss in some lights and even a bubbler if you want for looks. Liquid cooling on a budget, and you don't need a case.

You don't need to access any ports, right?

Note that while this does actually work (although I'm not sure if vegetable or mineral oils are preferred as the liquid medium) it's probably not really cheaper than setting up a traditional liquid cooling system. And it's definitely not cheaper than a decent self-contained liquid cooler.. 'tho if I remember the reviews correctly those aren't all that much better than a high-grade air cooler. Quieter, at least.

[Peelee]

Note that while this does actually work (although I'm not sure if vegetable or mineral oils are preferred as the liquid medium) it's probably not really cheaper than setting up a traditional liquid cooling system. And it's definitely not cheaper than a decent self-contained liquid cooler.. 'tho if I remember the reviews correctly those aren't all that much better than a high-grade air cooler. Quieter, at least.

From what little research i did when i considered it a viable option for what i wanted, it seems most people cut costs by getting oil marketed as horse laxative, since it's the same solution and you can buy in bulk for much cheaper than picking up those tiny bottles in Walmart. Never did an actual price breakdown, though. And it's with noting that if a traditional liquid cooling system fails, water damage is a possibility, which is bout possible with these designs. Also, part of the savings is not having to get a case, so long as you can lay everything out well enough (though that might be iffy. It's with noting this was a major concern when i was considering it) Lastly, it looks really cool.

Definitively not for everyone, but all ideas are welcomed, so i figured I'd throw that out.

[Alent]

Buy a 10 gallon aquarium from Walmart, fill it with vegetable oil, and dump your finished computer in it. Add fans to increase efficiency, and toss in some lights and even a bubbler if you want for looks. Liquid cooling on a budget, and you don't need a case.

You don't need to access any ports, right?

From the reading I've done on this, this is a bad, bad, baaad idea.

The tech magazine covering the guy that tried this reported after a few months that while the oil starts out non-conductive, it eventually sours, turning conductive. Since the chips are porous, the oil will eventually soak into them, sour, and be ruined.

Even if it doesn't short out (somehow), the stench will be such you no longer want to be around it.

I believe there's a variation of this that uses distilled water (or some manner of purified water, Look up the articles before you consider implementing!) that's also non-conductive, but still has to be changed every so often as it slowly turns conductive again.

In general, unless you live some place stupidly hot, or overclocking, you're fine with the stock cooler that comes with your case. What Factotum said is pretty good advice.

If you're serving minecraft from it, remember Minecraft is single threaded and wholly dependent on having huge gobs of RAM available. I can't speak to TF2 since I don't play FPS games.

[Reddish Mage]

You know I was thinking you wanted to build a totally different sort of PC and was in the wrong forum. :smalltongue:

[Max™]

What was said about the mobo is spot on, get one with more ram ports, DF is also single-threaded and heavily ram-based, first time I've really ended up using all 8 GB and definitely the first time I've EVER thought about wanting more. I'm only on an i3-3220 myself, but it does fine and only starts to chug when I end up with like 150 dorfs running around, blood everywhere, moving magma and water through several different tunnels, massive excavation projects taking place, and all of the caverns exposed. Even then "chug" just means "gets down to 60 fps regularly" and that is with the stock intel cooler in a big repurposed HP media center case.

Good airflow and room makes cooling easier to deal with, mineral oil submerging is neat looking, but not a "my first pc" project at all.

Swap to a mobo with 4 RAM slots as the i5 should make use of the multiple channels effectively, sticking 4x4GB on the right board should work better than 2x8GB in the one you mentioned. Stick at least a low end video card in there, I've only got a GT 440 and it handles this stuff fine, Minecraft is a bit more card intensive but not vastly so as I recall.

Last thing that might help is knowing a budget, but I'd suggest pcpartpicker (http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/) nonetheless, as it will check for the part compatibility automatically.

[Drumbum42]

From the reading I've done on this, this is a bad, bad, baaad idea.

The tech magazine covering the guy that tried this reported after a few months that while the oil starts out non-conductive, it eventually sours, turning conductive. Since the chips are porous, the oil will eventually soak into them, sour, and be ruined.

In general, unless you live some place stupidly hot, or overclocking, you're fine with the stock cooler that comes with your case. What Factotum said is pretty good advice.

If you're serving minecraft from it, remember Minecraft is single threaded and wholly dependent on having huge gobs of RAM available. I can't speak to TF2 since I don't play FPS games.

Yea, I've looked into oil cooling before, and it's not as easy as it looks. Veggi oil goes bad, so you need Mineral Oil. Unfortunately Mineral Oil eats the glue used to keep fish tanks together, so you can't just pick one up at the store, unless you want to clean up a tank load of oil off the floor 3-6 months from now. The tank either has to be one physical piece or specific kinds of epoxy need to be used.

As for the computer build itself, what is your target? To build a computer that will also be a server from time to time? Or Build a server on a budget? If you're building a PC that's going to be doing some server stuff, Max is pretty much spot on:

Swap to a mobo with 4 RAM slots as the i5 should make use of the multiple channels effectively, sticking 4x4GB on the right board should work better than 2x8GB in the one you mentioned. Stick at least a low end video card in there, I've only got a GT 440 and it handles this stuff fine, Minecraft is a bit more card intensive but not vastly so as I recall.

Air cool, 8 GB RAM, a 1/2 decent video card, and a ~650W power supply (This is dependent on # of drives and Video Card, so it may need more). Pretty standard build, A mid sized case with a couple fans should be more then enough.

But if you're looking for a reliable server that needs some horse power and lots of space some times it's actually more cost effective to buy a used server (a real server). Things like having a reliable RAID card, the option for 64GB RAM or 2 CPUs. I actually just bought one for myself. Should be coming in the mail any day now, and they aren't that pricey if you know where to look.