building mod for 1st time

OK, Just bought my Hardware (should be here Wed.), and ready to build a mod for my first time. I’m really just needing to talk this out, and get advice on something that might have slipped my mind or just not aware of. Advice/second opinion would be greatly appreciated.
So here’s what I got:

Case: Personel taste here and I liked what I’ve seen from some other people’s mods.
—UV Clear Blue, Logisys CS888UVBL Acrylic Mid-tower Computer ATX Case w/ 4 UV Fans, Two Front USB and; Audio, Pre-Assembled!

RAM: OK, I admit, overkill, but dude, for $100…
—Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz (PC3-12800) 240-Pin Dual Channel Kits Memory, 9-9-9-24, P/N: CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9.

MOBO:
—Asus P8Z77-V PRO Intel Socket 1155 ATX Motherboard, Intel Z77 Chipset, Support Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs, Dual Channel DDR3, SATA RAID, PCI-E 3.0, USB 3.0, Gigabit LAN, Wi-Fi, 8ch Audio

CPU: Already checked and confirmed that yes it does come with a fan, but being an acrylic case I would like to go with a UV fan. But, being an Ivy Bridge I can’t find a fan and I’m not sure if Sandy Bridge fans are compatible. Kinda’ looking for some help here.
—Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz DMI 5GT/s LGA1155 Quad-Core 22nm Processor, Model: BX80637I73770, Retail

PSU: I’m concerned about this one. Once again, being an acrylic case, of course I’m wanting to do some lighting inside. I couldn’t find
anything over 680W that I liked. I know 500W is fine and I don’t really plan on overclocking or anything (right now!). It’s just I’ve never done any LED lighting so I’m not really sure of what my power limitations are going to be.
—Apevia / Aspire 680W Iceberg Power ATX12V and EPS12V Computer Power Supply ATX-IB680W-BL, SLI Ready, Supports PCI-E and SATA.

HDD: Good enough. I wont have anything but OpenSUSE on this thing. Advice needed: Is there really any difference in SUSE (Enterprise) and OpenSUSE. I’m going to get the box set of one of the two (just to give some love back to my favorite distro). I really don’t do anything major; some graphics, LAMP Server (dev only), and basic user stuff. Any lessons learned? But all-n-all I’m cool, I’ll figure out which way I want.
—Western Digital Caviar Blue 3.5in 320GB SATA 3Gb/s Internal Hard Drive, 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache, Model: WD3200AAJS. OEM

JUST SOME PRETTY STUFF:
—Blue Link Depot 1.5 ft. SATA II Cable with Locking (90 Degree), UV Blue, RoHS Compliant, Model: SATA2L-1.5-UVB
—Logisys Lazer LED for Computer Case, Color: UV, Model: LL-UV, Retail box

The only thing I think I might have goofed on is the PSU. As far as a UV CPU Fan, the only difference between the Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge is 32mn verse 22mn. Right? The 22nm would use less energy, but does that mean, its going to get hotter? I don’t know enough to know enough to decide. I really don’t want to burn up a CPU, just because I cut corners on a fan. I could use some feedback on those two things.

So what do you thank? What should I look out for? I have yanked parts out of computers and parts back in to get a little practice,
but this is the first time to build a complete system so thanks in advance for any feedback.

TTFN
JohnP

OK, Just bought my Hardware (should be here Wed.), and ready to build a mod for my first time. I’m really just needing to talk this out, and get advice on something that might have slipped my mind or just not aware of. Advice/second opinion would be greatly appreciated.
So here’s what I got:

Case: Personel taste here and I liked what I’ve seen from some other people’s mods.
—UV Clear Blue, Logisys CS888UVBL Acrylic Mid-tower Computer ATX Case w/ 4 UV Fans, Two Front USB and; Audio, Pre-Assembled!

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/directron_2219_511865265

I have always wanted to try a clear case, but they have been too expensive for me. This one looks very nice to me. Since its plastic, be very careful to not over tighten anything. You might want to run ground wires from the power supply to every major metal component. Use 18 ga. Green stranded wire and get some spade connectors at the local hardware store.

RAM: OK, I admit, overkill, but dude, for $100…
—Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz (PC3-12800) 240-Pin Dual Channel Kits Memory, 9-9-9-24, P/N: CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LbsiEX7YL.SL500_AA300.jpg

16 GB sounds good to me, I am running 16 GB on my rig. Be careful with the Vengeance heat sink as it can be squashed off I have discovered as its just stuck on.

MOBO:
—Asus P8Z77-V PRO Intel Socket 1155 ATX Motherboard, Intel Z77 Chipset, Support Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs, Dual Channel DDR3, SATA RAID, PCI-E 3.0, USB 3.0, Gigabit LAN, Wi-Fi, 8ch Audio

http://cdn4.mos.techradar.com///art/motherboards/Asus/P8Z77-V%20Pro/Asus%20P8Z77-V%20Pro-380-75.jpg

I like ASUS a lot and my present board is ASUS. Its super fast, but grub often does not see my keyboard on a reboot and someone else reported the same. but mine is a P8P67 and not the same model.

CPU: Already checked and confirmed that yes it does come with a fan, but being an acrylic case I would like to go with a UV fan. But, being an Ivy Bridge I can’t find a fan and I’m not sure if Sandy Bridge fans are compatible. Kinda’ looking for some help here.
—Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz DMI 5GT/s LGA1155 Quad-Core 22nm Processor, Model: BX80637I73770, Retail

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/19-116-502-TS?$S300W$
Please send me a dozen when you get the time …

PSU: I’m concerned about this one. Once again, being an acrylic case, of course I’m wanting to do some lighting inside. I couldn’t find
anything over 680W that I liked. I know 500W is fine and I don’t really plan on overclocking or anything (right now!). It’s just I’ve never done any LED lighting so I’m not really sure of what my power limitations are going to be.
—Apevia / Aspire 680W Iceberg Power ATX12V and EPS12V Computer Power Supply ATX-IB680W-BL, SLI Ready, Supports PCI-E and SATA.

I would not buy less that 650 WATT these days, but this seems to fill that bill.

HDD: Good enough. I wont have anything but OpenSUSE on this thing. Advice needed: Is there really any difference in SUSE (Enterprise) and OpenSUSE. I’m going to get the box set of one of the two (just to give some love back to my favorite distro). I really don’t do anything major; some graphics, LAMP Server (dev only), and basic user stuff. Any lessons learned? But all-n-all I’m cool, I’ll figure out which way I want.
—Western Digital Caviar Blue 3.5in 320GB SATA 3Gb/s Internal Hard Drive, 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache, Model: WD3200AAJS. OEM

I must admit that 320 GB is a little on the small side. You go with what you can afford but a 2 TB HD would be a better choice.

JUST SOME PRETTY STUFF:
—Blue Link Depot 1.5 ft. SATA II Cable with Locking (90 Degree), UV Blue, RoHS Compliant, Model: SATA2L-1.5-UVB
—Logisys Lazer LED for Computer Case, Color: UV, Model: LL-UV, Retail box

The only thing I think I might have goofed on is the PSU. As far as a UV CPU Fan, the only difference between the Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge is 32mn verse 22mn. Right? The 22nm would use less energy, but does that mean, its going to get hotter? I don’t know enough to know enough to decide. I really don’t want to burn up a CPU, just because I cut corners on a fan. I could use some feedback on those two things.

For cooling I suggest something like a Corsair H50. This is what I am using on my Intel 2600K and the CPU is cool as ice, stays in the 90 degrees F range most of the time.

So what do you thank? What should I look out for? I have yanked parts out of computers and parts back in to get a little practice,
but this is the first time to build a complete system so thanks in advance for any feedback.

It looks good to me. The Hard Drive could be bigger particularly if you decide to use VirtualBox or for media files. One thing is for sure, I envy you and your build. Please go slow, no need to be in a hurry. Don’t start till you have lots of time, like on a Saturday. Make sure to have lots of light turned on or the window shades open. I suggest you lay out the small parts on a table or even in a large box, just to make sure nothing gets lost. And of Course, good luck and come back and let us know how it is running.

TTFN
JohnP

Thank You from James

I am in complete agreement with James observations, a fat power supply has bigger caps therefore a longer decay time before the supply collapses, more time for orderly unexpected shutdowns not to mention a supply @ 60% load will run cooler and increased reliability over a supply @85% load.

The acrylic cases just look so cool but in my world a Faraday shield is really cool and required

CPU cooling, don’t cut corners the Corsair CW-9060002-WW Hydro H70 CORE High Performance Liquid Cooler
is going in my next AMD box, CompUSA.com | CW-9060002-WW | Corsair Hydro H70 CORE Liquid CPU Cooler
1 TB WD’s SATA’s are under a $100.00, 2 TB around $145, a bit of shopping will likely beat these prices

Just food for thought…
Building a computer, ultimately an exercise of patience and perseverance, 2 rules:
You keep building it til it works.
Open SuSE is a great way to avoid excess stomach acid.

May all your aspirations be fruitful
Carl

Got it, but not working yet. Here’s some pics of whats what so far.
case bare : http://reasonablefallibility.com/img/P07-18-12_14-45.jpg
case show : http://reasonablefallibility.com/img/P07-18-12_21-06.jpg
case board : http://reasonablefallibility.com/img/P07-21-12_11-57.jpg

Ran into some issues. One.) This case is beautiful, but the fans stink. For some reason the molex power connector that connects to the board is a 3pin and the only fan connectors on this board are 4pin. Two.) I can’t install an OS because of cutting corners and thinking I got three cd/dvd rw in other cases so pull out one of those, but they’re IDE and no IDE connectors on board. No not kidding on either. In the process of resolving those issues. So no big deal. This thing is done when it’s done! This is my first, a learning experience, and am learning and having fun. Installing the CPU was … scary, heart pounding, eyes watering with tears, gasping OMG. (LOL) You have to push what seems way to hard on that arm.

PSU turned out to be fine, MOBO book says 350W. No worries!

As far as HDD, The drive I have now is 350GBs and I keep most of doc, pic, mp3 on a WD Passport. I don’t even use 10% of either. Besides, when I got to the point of picking out a drive, I was getting down the bottom of my pocket so price became main factor. I would love to have an SSD, but whew, that well have to wait. It’ll be another week, before I get any more done, but if you noticed the links, you can guess I got plenty to play around with until then.

Carl, you are exactly write: Building a computer, ultimately an exercise of patience and perseverance. Exactly!

TTFN
JohnP

Thanks for keeping us abreast of your progress. As I said before, take your time and enjoy the experience. I normally spend a while in determine how the cables can be made neat and clear for proper air flow. I love to use cable ties which can make for a neat install but are easy to remove when you need to. As for the old IDE stuff, I know exactly about that problem. I just stuck an older IDE optical drive in the closet after an upgrade. SATA optical drives are getting much cheaper and motherboards have a lot more SATA connections than they used to, though six seems to be the max on most recent boards.

The pictures are appreciated and keep up the good work.

Thank You,