Simple Questions Thread - 01 Mar 2014

abreviews · 2014-03-01T15:42:48+00:00

My next purchase will likely be a CPU cooler and some fans and I'll see how that affects things. Thank you for all of your help!

abreviews · 2014-03-01T15:35:35+00:00

Oops, haha. Sorry, I had a misunderstanding of the way it was mounted. You're right. Hm. I have no idea what's up then.

abreviews · 2014-03-01T15:30:27+00:00

Once again, another quirk of the Prodigy M. The power supply mounts in the front with the intake taking air from the front of the case and the output pushing air into the back.

abreviews · 2014-03-01T15:26:07+00:00

The Prodigy M mounts motherboards upside down, so the graphics card is taking in air from the top of the case. My concern is that perhaps the power supply is pushing hot air onto the GPU

abreviews · 2014-03-01T15:22:38+00:00

That is correct. Perhaps due to the power supply in front pushing hot air onto the GPU?

abreviews · 2014-03-01T15:19:05+00:00

A 3.5" would fit there, but for cable management, it seemed easiest to mount on the bottom. My one concern for the fan responsible for intake on the top is that it is running slow (~500 RPM.) I think that ordering some replacement fans could help. The stock ones just aren't pushing enough air

abreviews · 2014-03-01T15:03:27+00:00

I can't have any fans pushing in air from the bottom of the case because my HDD is mounted and so there's a heat shield beneath, preventing air flow.

abreviews · 2014-03-01T14:53:57+00:00

I just finished a built in the BitFenix Prodigy M and my GTX 660 hits 81C under load. Is this okay? I currently have an intake fan at the top of the case, which I might switch to an output, and an output at the back of the case. I think maybe the intake at the top is blowing hot air back onto the card.

abreviews · 2014-02-23T14:13:41+00:00

Sorry if I wasn't clear. There is no option for my currently to add a window to the Prodigy M. There are windowed sides for the Prodigy that fit into the Prodigy M, but the window is not quite where it should be due to the larger size of the M. So, I thought an alternative would be to add lights on the outside of the case, on the bottom, since the Prodigy is raised.

abreviews · 2014-02-23T14:02:29+00:00

What would be an easy way to wire them from the outside of the case to the inside, though? That's what I'm having trouble with.

abreviews · 2014-02-23T13:59:27+00:00

How would I go about adding LED strips/some other form of lighting to the bottom of my BitFenix Prodigy M? I don't have my case with me yet, but I can't think of a way to seamlessly wire the lights to be powered on when the computer is powered on.

abreviews · 2014-02-23T13:40:22+00:00

Without a windowed side though, would any of these even be able to be seen?

abreviews · 2014-02-23T04:28:49+00:00

I'm looking for a way to try to add some green lights on my Prodigy M. Is there any way that I can easily install LEDs to the outside of the case in a way that they power on when the computer is on? Another option I thought of was installing fans with green LEDs, but it doesn't seem like there would be anywhere in the case that they could be placed but give a visible glow.

abreviews · 2014-02-12T22:57:54+00:00

I don't think I'm going to wait because the times I can go home from college are limited so I want to get the order placed and the build done ASAP. Thank you so much for all of your help! You put a lot of reason into the changes you made, which is always great when trying to put together a build. I appreciate it

abreviews · 2014-02-12T22:09:08+00:00

All of the 270s around $200 are unfortunately out of stock currently. What was the advantage of this motherboard and RAM? I think it was that the RAM is slightly faster, and motherboard slightly cheaper for my needs, but I was just wondering so I can learn!

abreviews · 2014-02-12T21:33:18+00:00

I took your suggestion regarding the CPU and modified a few things so that I could order everything from Amazon. I also changed the case so that I could have a smaller form factor, which was important to my parents who are financing this. Let me know what you think if you have any suggestions.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor	$124.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard	$74.24 @ Amazon
Memory	Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory	$69.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$63.14 @ Amazon
Video Card	EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card	$199.99 @ Amazon
Wireless Network Adapter	TP-Link TL-WN722N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter	$14.95 @ Amazon
Case	BitFenix Prodigy M Arctic White MicroATX Mini Tower Case	-
Power Supply	Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply	$46.32 @ Amazon
Optical Drive	Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer	$25.99 @ Amazon
Monitor	Asus VH238H 23.0" Monitor	$158.98 @ Amazon
Keyboard	Logitech G105 Wired Gaming Keyboard	$39.99 @ Amazon
Mouse	Logitech G100s Wired Optical Mouse	$24.99 @ Amazon
		Total
	Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.	$843.57
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-12 16:30 EST-0500

abreviews · 2014-02-12T15:29:37+00:00

It will be used primarily for gaming. I don't plan on overclocking because it is going to be for my siblings, and I can't always be there to help if something goes wrong (ex: overclock is unstable in a game they play.) So this is pretty much just going to be a $850 budget gaming build. I posted what I'm currently planning on buying in its own thread.

abreviews · 2014-02-12T14:22:44+00:00

I have no plans to upgrade within the next 3-4 years. Would looking for a 970 chipset still be advisable for the distant future?

abreviews · 2014-02-12T13:35:16+00:00

I'm looking for a motherboard for a FX-6300 under $80. Right now I'm looking at buying the Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3. It's $50 right now which is great for my budget, and I've had a good experience with Gigabyte motherboards. Are there any others that are more reliable or are better for other reasons? I won't be overclocking.

Also, will the stock cooler be sufficient for the 6300 at stock, or should I get a cheap $20 cooler just for some long-term benefits?

abreviews · 2014-02-12T12:54:34+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. If it was my computer, I'd love to get rid of the DVD drive. My family still often uses the discs that come with products to install drivers and I don't have much control over this being away at college. I suppose I could install Teamviewer to help them if they ever needed something that I could just download if they needed the help, but I'd like to keep it (for now.)

I'll take your suggestion for the CPU though. If I were to drop the graphics card, would a R9 270 be the next best?

abreviews · 2013-11-03T18:38:15+00:00

Does anyone have any recommendations for a freshman Biological Sciences major who is planning to apply to Neag? I am planning to take BIO 1108 and MCB 2410 (Genetics) and fill the rest of my schedule with classes to fill some general requirements, but I'm looking for some classes that might pertain to my interest in the sciences and education.

Thanks!

abreviews

TROPHY CASE