[SOLVED] Help first pc build

[gallagher111]

My old pc recently died, ipibl-la mobo, q6600 gtx 750 ddr2... Ancient i know
So around comes the task of building a low budget pc before i go crazy, i've done some research and think i have everything down and was hoping someone could cross check what parts im about to order before i regret anything. I know this stuff is still outdated so no 'better saving etc' please

So parts i plan to order are as follows;
Asrock z77 pro4 motherboard
Intel i5 3550 - Cpu
Aerocool cylon 500w (the 400w version i suspect might be enough-my old psu was 300w) Psu (pretty sure i have the right thing, 24pin+8
Ionz k706 black case blue led fan
Arctic alpine 12 cpu fan
And some cheap ram ddr3 1600mhz

My old hardrives hopefukly didnt fry and same with gtx 750 so i'll carry those over
As i said ive done what research i can, i dont think im missing anything but it'd be much appreciated if somone with more experience than myself can cross check incase i missed some incompatibilities or let me know if i've missed anything for this build in general
(edit) also ik the psu comes with all the power connectors but are there any others i nee seperately like cables to front case etc?

 

[Eximo]

An odd mix to be sure.

PSU I would actively avoid.

You don't mention the case, but it should already have the cables needed to connect to a motherboard, presumably your setup was working in that regard?

Why a Z series board with a locked processor? Why Third gen? I get you are replacing on a budget, but I think you could probably do better buying something already put together. A used workstation PC for example.

Budget and Country?

 

[gallagher111]

An odd mix to be sure.

PSU I would actively avoid.

You don't mention the case, but it should already have the cables needed to connect to a motherboard, presumably your setup was working in that regard?

Why a Z series board with a locked processor? Why Third gen? I get you are replacing on a budget, but I think you could probably do better buying something already put together. A used workstation PC for example.

Budget and Country?

Ah i didnt realise the cpu was locked, ik it had that intel turbo boost technology stuff, tbh i can grab that processor for like £15 and i had some trouble finding lga 1155 socket mobos with 3rd gen support, some either didnt have sata III ports or maxed at 1333mhz ram slots, i spotted that z77 for £60 which was about as decent as i could find
This whole build came to roughly £120 which i couldnt find any old pc's much better for roughly same price
Also i did mention the cash though i worded badly, it was the Ionz kk706 case, blue led case fan included i found for like 25 on amazon
Also england and budget say 140 max i guess
Thanks
Ps whats so bad with that psu?

 

[Paperdoc]

Check a detail or two. The Amazon.co.uk page I found for the ionz KZ06 case (NOT K7...) show it has space for four fans, BUT does NOT include any, even though it is illustrated with LED fans. I'm not sure whether that is the right case - you say yours DOES include one blue case fan.

Just to help understand fans and lights. The popular lighted fans these days come in two different designs: plain RGB that uses a 4-pin header with a 12 VDC power line, and the more complex Addressable RGB or ADDR RGB or ARGB type that uses a 3-pin header and a 5 VDC power line and a VERY different display control design. Each design is capable of MANY colours in various display patterns. Both of these really amount to two devices in one unit: a fan, and a set of lights. Each device has its own separate power cord, so the unit has TWO cables from it to go to different mobo headers. The LIGHTS part requires connection to a Controller of the correct type, either built into the mobo and accessed by a suitable header, or as a separate Controller box from a third party supplier. BEFORE those types came to market, the earlier lighted fans were the LED Fans (the phrase you used). In these, the SINGLE colour of LED's in the frame are simply connected in parallel with the motor and light up whenever the fan has power. In many cases this means the lights get dimmer when the motor speed is slowed down. Such a fan has only ONE cable that supplies power to both motor and lights and plugs into a standard mobo fan header, so there is NO separate lighting Controller, and no way to do any control of the lights. The addition of LED's to such a fan increases its power consumption somewhat, but this is not normally an issue. It does become a factor to consider IF you are trying to feed several fans of this type via a Splitter from a single mobo fan header. If you need details on that, post back here.

That mobo has two CPU_FAN headers: one with 4 pins, and one with 3. The CPU cooler you listed is of the new 4-pin PWM design, so use that 4-pin header and ignore the 3-pin CPU_FAN2 header. It also has a 3-pin PWR_FAN1 header that is NOT common any more. Its sole purpose a decade or more ago was to allow you to connect to it a set of wires that comes out of certain PSU's that look like a normal 3-pin fan connector. Unless you have one of those from your PSU, ignore that header.

The mobo has two headers for case fans: CHA_FAN1 has 4 pins, CHA_FAN2 has 3 pins. Look closely at the female connector on your case fan(s). If it has THREE holes, connect to the 3-pin CHA_FAN2 header. For a 4-hole connector, go to the 4-pin fan header.

 

[gallagher111]

Check a detail or two. The Amazon.co.uk page I found for the ionz KZ06 case (NOT K7...) show it has space for four fans, BUT does NOT include any, even though it is illustrated with LED fans. I'm not sure whether that is the right case - you say yours DOES include one blue case fan.

Just to help understand fans and lights. The popular lighted fans these days come in two different designs: plain RGB that uses a 4-pin header with a 12 VDC power line, and the more complex Addressable RGB or ADDR RGB or ARGB type that uses a 3-pin header and a 5 VDC power line and a VERY different display control design. Each design is capable of MANY colours in various display patterns. Both of these really amount to two devices in one unit: a fan, and a set of lights. Each device has its own separate power cord, so the unit has TWO cables from it to go to different mobo headers. The LIGHTS part requires connection to a Controller of the correct type, either built into the mobo and accessed by a suitable header, or as a separate Controller box from a third party supplier. BEFORE those types came to market, the earlier lighted fans were the LED Fans (the phrase you used). In these, the SINGLE colour of LED's in the frame are simply connected in parallel with the motor and light up whenever the fan has power. In many cases this means the lights get dimmer when the motor speed is slowed down. Such a fan has only ONE cable that supplies power to both motor and lights and plugs into a standard mobo fan header, so there is NO separate lighting Controller, and no way to do any control of the lights. The addition of LED's to such a fan increases its power consumption somewhat, but this is not normally an issue. It does become a factor to consider IF you are trying to feed several fans of this type via a Splitter from a single mobo fan header. If you need details on that, post back here.

That mobo has two CPU_FAN headers: one with 4 pins, and one with 3. The CPU cooler you listed is of the new 4-pin PWM design, so use that 4-pin header and ignore the 3-pin CPU_FAN2 header. It also has a 3-pin PWR_FAN1 header that is NOT common any more. Its sole purpose a decade or more ago was to allow you to connect to it a set of wires that comes out of certain PSU's that look like a normal 3-pin fan connector. Unless you have one of those from your PSU, ignore that header.

The mobo has two headers for case fans: CHA_FAN1 has 4 pins, CHA_FAN2 has 3 pins. Look closely at the female connector on your case fan(s). If it has THREE holes, connect to the 3-pin CHA_FAN2 header. For a 4-hole connector, go to the 4-pin fan header.

Appreciated this was quite insightful, the whole lights/fan thing is totally new to me, i imagine its ok to post a link here but this is the case i was referring too, it does mention it has space for four fans but also stated it supplied a blue led fan but was not fitted, https://www.amazon.co.uk/ionz-BLACK...s=Atx+case&qid=1618249986&s=computers&sr=1-41

Im sure it should be simple enough to figure which it jacks into once i see how many pins the fan has once i order it, be it 3/4 pin, i may be confused that was abit to take in but being single colour light it should just run with the motor right, is there any chanve the cpu fan may use the same connection as the case fan will require?

Apart from this i think my only concern now is the psu im not sure why to avoid said psu earlier, not sure exactly what to look for

Also to earlier response, 3rd gen and lga 1155 i think is mostly down to budget, 1151 etc and later cpu's break budget by alot, the 3550 seemed a decent uograde for the games i will be playing etc, im not sure if perhaps going for a 2500k for thr sake of it being unlocked would be better, i think id manage my purposes without overclocking

Appreciate the insights and responses btw thanks

 

[Vic 40]

Maybe for not alot you can go for this case?
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/kpn8TW/sharkoon-vg7-w-rgb-atx-mid-tower-case-4044951026869
comes with three fans and from what i can see at least a decent layout inside. Mean psu at the nottom, maybe even some space to hide soem cables behind the motherboard tray.

Or,
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/2RJmP6/riotoro-cr400-atx-mid-tower-case-cr400
comes with more fans as well (2 or 3) and with mesh at the front might airflow be likely decent.

Might be good to invest in something better, a case can be taken to a completely new build.

The mobo has two headers for case fans: CHA_FAN1 has 4 pins, CHA_FAN2 has 3 pins. Look closely at the female connector on your case fan(s). If it has THREE holes, connect to the 3-pin CHA_FAN2 header. For a 4-hole connector, go to the 4-pin fan header.

There is a third channel fan header next to the powerfan header, think the powerfan header could also be used why not?

 

[gallagher111]

Maybe for not alot you can go for this case?
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/kpn8TW/sharkoon-vg7-w-rgb-atx-mid-tower-case-4044951026869
comes with three fans and from what i can see at least a decent layout inside. Mean psu at the nottom, maybe even some space to hide soem cables behind the motherboard tray.

Or,
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/2RJmP6/riotoro-cr400-atx-mid-tower-case-cr400
comes with more fans as well (2 or 3) and with mesh at the front might airflow be likely decent.

Might be good to invest in something better, a case can be taken to a completely new build.



There is a third channel fan header next to the powerfan header, think the powerfan header could also be used why not?

Thankyou, both are quite nice, shame the single colours are unavailable on the sharkoon, rainbows are too much for me tbh xD
I quite like the riotoro ones i think ill grab that as long as everything falls into budget, thankyou, altough wouldnt the fans come to more than avaioable channels on mobo?

Really just need some tips on psu atm, first response has me scared now haha

 

[Eximo]

Power supply is not highly rated. Considered a step up from a fire hazard in a box.

With an extreme budget, maybe something like the https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product...-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-ssr-500gb3

Not a great power supply, but definitely better than your typical cheap supply.

Not that familiar with this one, might be worth a look:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product...onze-certified-atx-power-supply-cp-9020209-na

 

[logainofhades]

An odd mix to be sure.

PSU I would actively avoid.

You don't mention the case, but it should already have the cables needed to connect to a motherboard, presumably your setup was working in that regard?

Why a Z series board with a locked processor? Why Third gen? I get you are replacing on a budget, but I think you could probably do better buying something already put together. A used workstation PC for example.

Budget and Country?

3rd gen still allowed for limited overclocking, on a locked CPU, with a Z series board, allowing you to adjust multiplier to the max turbo multiplier. 4th gen Intel removed that.

 

[gallagher111]

Power supply is not highly rated. Considered a step up from a fire hazard in a box.

With an extreme budget, maybe something like the https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product...-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-ssr-500gb3

Not a great power supply, but definitely better than your typical cheap supply.

Not that familiar with this one, might be worth a look:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product...onze-certified-atx-power-supply-cp-9020209-na

Looking at both of them, price seems suitably enough but in the specs i dont see anything about 8pin connection ctor, i see 3x 4pin molex things, mobo i thonk needed 240 pin 8pin 12v, are these compatible? Thanks again

 

[Eximo]

They'll both have 4+4 connectors. Labeled EPS Connector.

These all meet the ATX standard.
20+4 pin (24pin) 4+4 pin EPS (8-pin),
6pin and/or 6+2 pin for PCIe power
SATA power connectors
And the older 4-pin molex connector for older drives, fan controllers, etc

 

[gallagher111]

They'll both have 4+4 connectors. Labeled EPS Connector.

These all meet the ATX standard.
20+4 pin (24pin) 4+4 pin EPS (8-pin),
6pin and/or 6+2 pin for PCIe power
SATA power connectors
And the older 4-pin molex connector for older drives, fan controllers, etc

Ah i see, alot of new terminology for me, makes sense now though the 4+4/20+4 and so on, much appreciated, i think thats about everything now, best order that mobo now before it sells, thanks to everyone else too
Fingers crossed all goes well
Think im breaking budget by like 30here but oh well deal with thay later haha

Thanks again to everyone

 

[Vic 40]

If you want to spend a little more, or if you can, would i get this psu,
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product...d-semi-modular-atx-power-supply-cp-9020133-na
under 60 pounds a good deal and as i said earlier, can you take something like this to a newer build and be fine with not too high powered parts.

About fan headers, the motherboard comes with at least 3 channel fan headers so you should be fine with that for at least 3 fans.

 

[Paperdoc]

So I assume you are getting the ASRock Z77 Pro4 motherboard. The Arctic Alpine 12 cpu fan cooler includes a 4-pin PWM fan, so that should plug into the mobo CPU_FAN1 header with 4 pins, and ignore the CPU_FAN2.

The Riotoro CR400 case comes with two fans. It appears that the front one in a red LED fan, but the rear one may have no lights in it. Use a Splitter to connect these to the appropriate mobo header. If they have 3-pin connectors, use the 3-pom CHA_FAN2 header; if they have 4-pin connectors, use the CHA_FAN1 header. In either case, get a Splitter like this

https://www.amazon.com/Splitter-Com...ords=4-pin+fan+splitter&qid=1618261762&sr=8-5

That's a 2-pack of 4-pin Splitters with three output arms each. You only need one. The third arm is just in case you decide later to add a second front fan. Even with 3-pin fans you can use this Splitter. And irrespective of the 4-pin design of the Splitter, you plug its female into the mobo header for the type of FAN you have: 3-pin or 4-pin.

Note this is NOT a fan HUB. A Splitter has only two types of "arms": one female input arm to plug into the mobo header, and two or more male outputs with pins. A mob header can deal with the speed signal sent back to it form only one fan. So a Splitter will only send back the speed of ONE of its outputs, and ignore the rest. It does that by the pins in the outputs. Note on them that only ONE output has all four pins, and the others are missing Pin #3. So you MUST plug one fan into the output with all four pins, and additional fans into the others. Your mobo will only "see" that one fan's speed, but this has NO impact on ability to control all their speeds. A HUB has an additional "arm" that must plug into a power output from the PSU, and it can work only with a 4-pin header AND 4-pin fans, so don't get one.

The limit in using a Splitter is that almost all fan headers can supply up to 1.0 A total current max to all its connected load. Most fans today draw 0.10 to 0.25 A max per fan. So three of those can easily be connected to one header. A LED fan with added lights has a higher current, as much as 0.45 A. But still, ONE of those with a couple of fans at 0.25 A or less each comes in under 1.0 A total. The case web page does not give those fan specs, but you can check them from their labels when they arrive.

That takes care of the CPU cooler and case ventilation fans. Just a couple other note FYI. A lot of PSU's now come with modular cables. That is, most or all the cables are NOT wired inside the PSU. They all plug into distinctive sockets on the PSU exterior. But they are NOT universal, so use ONLY the cables that come with your PSU. For the most part they are well labelled so little confusion. Cab;es for add-on devices sometimes are not so clear. The older IDE type of HDD's and many optical drives use a power input called 4-pin Molex. The cable from the PSU has a female (with 4 holes in ones straight line), and the socket on the rear of the drive is male with 4 pins. This power connector has become widely used for lots of things. The newer SATA drive units use a different connector for power. But more generally, both types of drives (and other devices) are Peripheral Devices, so many cables are labelled for "Perif", and do not say "Molex" or "Sata". It is common for a PSU to include two or three identical cables for Peripherals. On each cable set there may be several SATA AND several 4-pin Molex output connectors. On at least one there will be a much smaller 4-pin female connector that looks a LITTLE like a fan connector. But that really is the power input for an older 3½" FLOPPY drive unit if you have one. Don't try to use it for anything else.

OP, for you and Vic40 above, about the PWR_FAN header (item 37 in the diagram on manual p. 13). You won't have a use for this, because your PSU will not have a wire set for it. 20 years ago or so this was a feature. It looks like a standard 3-pin fan header but is not. Its intended purpose is ONLY so you can plug into it those special wires from a PSU with this feature. All it does is accept the speed signal coming from the fan inside the PSU, so your mobo can show that to you. It does NOT actually control the speed of that PSU fan - any such control is done solely by the PSU as an internal function. However, SOME mobo makers also provided the +12 VDC (pin #2) and Ground (Pin #1) supplies to that PWR_FAN header, even though it could not alter the voltage on Pin #2 as a normal fan header does. That way it could be used as a power output, but ONLY for a fixed +12 VDC supply with no "speed control". So it is best left unused when your PSU does not have that set of speed signal output wires.

 

[Vic 40]

That motherboard comes with at least three additional headers next to the cpu fan header, why would he need a fan splitter cable? It even has two fan headers for the cpu cooler alone, With that psu fan header it has six fan headers.

 

[Paperdoc]

I count 5 fan headers in total on that board.

2 x CPU_FAN: ONE each of 3-pin and 4-pin. Each is dedicated to ONE Mode (i.e., Voltage or PWM Mode) only - no option to change its Mode. OP has one 4-pin CPU cooler, and no other fan requiring control based on the temp sensor inside the CPU chip.

2 x CHA_FAN header: ONE each of 3-pin and 4-pin, same as above, except that these use the temp sensor on the mobo. They are suited for case ventilation fans. IF we assume that OP will get all case fans of the same design (i.e., older 3-pin Voltage Controlled, OR newer 4-pin PWM Controlled), then he has only ONE case ventilation fan header available of whichever type the fans require. Hence the Splitter.

1 x PWR_FAN: as explained above, this has NO fan control ability.

 

[Vic 40]

Fine you're right, point is he doesn't need a fan splitter cable to add to the cost.

 

[Paperdoc]

The Riotoro case comes with two fans - I suspect they are 3-pin, but do not know. Where shuld those be plugged in? BOTH to the ONE 3-pin CHA_FAN2 header, I think. Needs a Splitter for that.

 

[logainofhades]

The Riotoro case comes with two fans - I suspect they are 3-pin, but do not know. Where shuld those be plugged in? BOTH to the ONE 3-pin CHA_FAN2 header, I think. Needs a Splitter for that.

If they have a 3 pin connection, they can go onto any 4 or 3 pin motherboard fan header. 4 pin equipped fans also can work on 3 pin connections, they just lose PWM ability.
https://noctua.at/en/can-i-run-4-pin-pwm-fans-on-3-pin-fan-headers

 

[Vic 40]

If they have a 3 pin connection, they can go onto any 4 or 3 pin motherboard fan header. 4 pin equipped fans also can work on 3 pin connections, they just lose PWM ability.

^ This.

Those ten dollars (he is UK so link something in pounds) can be spend better, on the psu for example.

 

[Paperdoc]

Mechanically, you can plug any 3- or 4-pin fan female into any 3- or 4-pin fan male header. They will fit. The design of the new 4-pin PWM system included three elements of backwards compatibility to aid in the transition, recognizing that both fan types will be on the market. The first is simply that the basic power supply is still 12 VDC max. For MIS-matches, this is what you get.

Plug a 3-pin fan into a 4-pin header that IS using the new PWM Mode of signals, and that fan gets the full +12 VDC power source from Pin #2 at all times, and does NOT receive the PWM signal from Pin #4, although it could not use that signal anyway because it lacks the special chip required to use PWM. So the fan always runs full speed, and you get good cooling, but NO fan speed control.

Plug a 4-pin fan into a 3-pin header (which can only use the older Voltage Control Mode) and that fan gets NO PWM signal to use, so its special chip cannot alter the flow of current from the power line through the motor windings, and cannot change the motor speed that way. However, the power line is NOT the constant 12 VDC for a normal PWM header. It is a VARYING voltage that ranges from 12 VDC (full speed) to maybe 5 VDC (minimum speed without stalling). So this fan's speed IS controlled by the older signal method - it's just not "ideal" for the more advanced motor design.

Given those results, OP has some choices that depend on exactly which fan type IS included with the Riotoro case. IF they are 4-pin fans, he certainly can plug them individually into the two CHA_FAN headers and BOTH will have their speeds controlled. IF they both are 3-pin fans, he can do the same, but the result will be that the one plugged into CHA_FAN1 that only uses PWM Mode will always run full speed. OR he can get a Splitter (I suggested a 2-pack, but maybe get only one and save a couple bucks) and connect both to the one header that is ideal for whichever fan type is included. OR, for no money, OP can do a bit of wire splicing and soldering to make his own connections for two fans (or three?) to a single mobo header of the correct type. That's what we did before they sold Splitters. OP, IF you want to do that, it's pretty easy and I can tell you details.

 

[Vic 40]

To me you're creating a problem not there, is all i'm going to say about it. Going to wait till OP has shown he still follows this thread.

 

[gallagher111]

Apologies had a busy couple of days, i got all parts delivered now except cpu and ram atm, ive just put everything togehter
The fans indeed turned out to be 3 pin fans, going through the manuals on installations, it did state i can just put the 3pin onto 4pin i just lose the pwm ability like before mentioned, honestly i dont think id really mind a constant fan as long as it wasnt too loud, i still appreciate all the info and ideas. Currently have frint fan on cha 2, rear fan cha 1 missing the 4th pin ofc. Maybe a splitter is something i can look into in the future if it bothers me so suggestion is still appreciated, id rather keep away from some diy splicing/soldering, never paid enough attention to that stuff.
And as vic said that 10bucks (id guess like £8.0) coukd be put to some other stuff, really iverspent after deliveries etc, but got some thermal paste, sata cables etc for that
As i said always something i can look into in the future.

Now i basically have everything, im correct in thinking thr pcie cables from psu woukd go directly into gpu right? I dont spot any slots for them on mobo and my 750 just ran off mobo iirc
Edit... 1 other thingni cant find anything on in the riotoro cr400 manual is, the logo light at the front of the case has a connector im not familiar with (assuming its just led thing) i see nowhere on my mobo for to connect, cant figure how to upload picture from this tablet to show, any ideas if im just out of luck and its a newer thing than the mobo? No pins like for all these fans etc, more like the gold plating very thin slot as if 2cm of ram

Done some hunting, found that connector on overckockers, just an addressable argb connector it seems, shame i couldnt get a plain light without controller, more digging, took off front panel, light goes to 2pin connector into a 2pin connector which extends to the thing i described before, guess im out of luck.

Other thing, putting 750 into the pcie 3.0 slot means its upside down, think its worth putting into normal 2.0 im guessing slot to turn it the right way, fan heading up towards cpu/rear fan?

 

[Paperdoc]

Your plan looks good. As you say, running with one 3-pin case fan at constant full speed may be entirely acceptable, so you can decide for yourself later whether to change that.

Regarding the PCIe slot for your graphics card, that MAY slow it down a bit, BUT I don't know enough to guess whether the CPU you have will be the actual performance limit. That all may not matter if what you get is all you need.

Regarding the front panel logo light, what is this connector you can't figure out? From the case website it appears to be only s single-colour item that is red. and I would guess it does NOT need anything as fancy as an RGB or ARGB header. I expect it really is a simple two- wire cable ending in a female connector with just two holes. Further, I expect that it really is only a LED indicator for Power On, the same as any other case, although others often use a simple LED spot, rather than a shaped logo. If that is so, then it VERY likely just plugs into a particular pair of pins on the System Panel Header - see item 20 on the mobo diagram, manual p. 13. See its details on p. 34. The pins you use are the top two left-most, and note the polarity of these (+ on the left end, - next to it) and match to labels on the connector.

 

[Vic 40]

Would myself connect the back fan to the second cpu header which is three pin. That should make it run accordingly to the cpu fan so when the cpu get's hot the back fan would start spinning faster.

Think Paperdoc is right when he says that the emblem is likely the powerled.

Guess with the 750 you mean the gpu, it should be going into each pciex16 slot the same way, cannot figure out how you need to turn it to get it into another slot. And yes the pcie power cables connect to to the gpu if that gpu needs the extra power.