I have been planning for some time on building a computer to replace my aging Dell Dimension desktop. Last week the last of the parts I had ordered for the build arrived via UPS. Below is a list of the parts I ordered:
- NZXT H2 Silent Mid-tower case
- ASUS EVO USB 3.0 AM3 socket full sized motherboard
- 8 GB Crucial memory in two sticks
- AMD Phenom II x4 955 black edition quad core processor
- OZC 500 watt modular power supply
- OZC 60 GB solid state drive
I planned on using my DVD reader/burner, gpu and 640 GB Sata hard drive from my old Dell. I waited until this weekend for my son Jason to come over and help me with the build. It has been some time since I last built a computer and a few things have changed over the years. I know my son is up on all the latest technology as he is a geek like me and builds all his computers.
I figured if all went well it would take us 4 hours to build the computer. It actually took only 2 hours. I underestimated how good my son was at this kind of stuff. By myself, it would probably taken 6 hours and a lot of yelling and cussing. Luckily no yelling and cussing was required at all. What made it all really easy was the NZXT H2 case. What a beautiful case! With room for 8 3.5″ drives, 3 5.25″ drives, and great cable management, it was a breeze to get the motherboard in, mount the processor and heatsink/fan and install the memory. Hooking up all the required cable was also very east. The OZC modular power supply helped reduce cable clutter considerably. I can’t recommend the NZXT case enough. It is the best case I have ever seen.
The only problem we encountered were with a couple of bios settings that pertained to the OCZ solid state drive. I installed Windows 7 with no problems and it has been performing flawlessly since. Windows Experience Index numbers are:
- Processor 7.3
- Memory 7.4
- Graphics Aero 4..6
- Graphics 3D business and gaming 5.5
- Primary Hard Drive 7.8
As you can see, performance is great, except for graphics. I am currently using the embedded graphics, so the figures are actually quite good. Since I do very little gaming, I am not sure if I need to upgrade to a discrete gpu. Maybe if I get some free cash someday. Anyway, bottom line is I am very happy with the way things turned out. Now I just need to get rid of my old Dell. I might recycle it or maybe sell it on Craigslist for 25 bucks.
That is all.
What the Hell Is Going On 