Belated Spec Advice + motherboard question

[Mog]

I've already placed my order and am fairly happy with it but I am now thinking I really should have posted the spec here first to make sure there weren't any glaring errors. I am not a complete computing dunce but there's alot I don't know also. I've already sent a sub order to upgrade the HDD because at the moment my order is in pre production stage and it doesn't cost any extra to amend the order.

Posting here just in case anyone has some last minute advice I should push through before the computer is built.

My aim is to have a budget gaming PC... I'm not loaded with cash but I do like my games... hooked on WoW at the moment! My budget was £700 max and the order total comes to about £680 with the sub order paid for.


Spec:


Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE

Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X4 970 (3.50GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION

Motherboard
ASUS® M4A78LT-M: mATX MAINBOARD, DDR3, USB 2.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)

Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX460 - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - DirectX® 11, 3D Vision Ready

2nd Graphics Card
NONE

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
Change to: 500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)

2nd Hard Disk
NONE

RAID
NONE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NONE

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)

Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Modem
NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND

Floppy Disk Drive
NONE

Firewire & Video Editing
NONE

TV Card
NONE

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE - have my own

Monitor
NONE

2nd Monitor
NONE

3rd Monitor
NONE

4th Monitor
NONE

DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
NONE

Keyboard & Mouse
NONE

Mouse
Logitech® MX™518 Optical Gaming Mouse (£28)

Speakers
NONE

Webcam
NONE

Headsets (VOIP)
NONE

Surge Protection
NONE

Printer
NONE

External Hard Drive
NONE

Home Installation
NONE

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Data Recovery
NONE

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days

Wattage
Maximum Required Power 493W

Production Dates
Processed Date 06-02-2011
Pre-Production Date 08-02-2011


My main questions are:

1. Anything I should obviously change in the spec?

and

2. The motherboard... I don't know whether I did the right thing building the computer with the M4A78LT-M motherboard. What is the difference between that and the M4A87TD option I could have built the computer with. I see USB 3.0 and 6.0 GB/s as the major differences but are they major enough for me to be ringing up and asking for a motherboard upgrade? (that option is not available online). Am I doing myself any harm by using the budget motherboard?


Thanks for any help... hopefully I won't be trying to change my order again but lets see what you say about it

 

[Phoenix]

There's usually a small performance difference between motherboards so the micro atx board won't perform quite as well as the M48A7TD but it will still be good for world of warcraft, everything else looks good.

 

[Mog]

Thanks for the quick reply I'm glad the spec looks good.

I am a perfectionist so still can't decide if I should ring up and get the motherboard changed or just leave it if the difference is minimal, and I am just playing WoW right now.

I am trying to remind myself I have a budget!


Anyways thanks.

 

[pengipete]

The question is - will you be using USB3 and SataIII devices during the lifetime of the PC?

I don't normally worry too much about chasing the next-big-thing on motherboards but those two are here to stay for a while and they're both genuinely useful. If you plan on keeping the PC as-is for more than a couple of years, I'd say that USB3 - in particular - is worth having for even least demanding owner as it's so much faster than USB2 that it's likely that completely new uses for it will emerge - just as USB1 effectively replaced a whole variety of connections when it first appeared. SataIII is definitely in it's infancy and the benefits are currently far less marked.In time, it will become the norm but for now, it's not a must-have.

If you were chosing between two full ATX boards, you's have less to think about as both USB3 and SATAIII can be added later by adding (relatively) cheap PCI cards but one of the major downsides of the smaller boards is the lack of expansion capacity.

Bottom line - if you plan on keeping the PC for more than a year or two and think that you may "get into" computing, go for the best full-sized ATX motherboard for your money - it's the foundation of any PC - and definitely go for USB3 with SataIII as a perk. If price - or even space - dictate your options and you want to have the option to upgrade the specs at a later date, get a micro-ATX board but make sure you have one or more PCI (or PCIe) slots available. If you have no great interest in computing as a hobby or have well defined requirements, there's nothing to worry about and you can focus more on things like a good screen, a set of speakers or a decent gaming keyboard - anything to make using the PC more comfortable and enjoyable.

 

[Mog]

Thanks!

ASUS® M4A78LT-M: mATX MAINBOARD, DDR3, USB 2.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s

Change to: ASUS® M4A87TD/USB3: DUAL DDR3,SATA 6.0GB/s, USB 3.0


That should explain what I decided to do. Still in pre-production so no extra money lost. Most people would want their computer immediately I guess but for me this time to think after ordering has been very helpful.


Thanks for the helpful replies.