1st Time Building

vileguy · Posted: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 22:18:37 Post Subject: 1st Time Building

I currently have my own PC, an HP734n. It's been pretty good to me but I've regretted not building my own computer for a long time; however, I'm determined to this time. I feel pretty comfortable putting everything in a case though I've never done it before, but I'm not sure of everything I need nor what the best place to buy it all is.

My old computer was upgraded with an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro and a new Sound Blaster Card which I just recently got, as well as Logitech USB Mouse and Keyboard, all of which aside from the video card I plan on moving to my new computer. As far as I know PCI-Express is ideal but I haven't done enough research to be assured.

So I plan on buying a case...the Raidmax X-1 ATX Mid-tower looks nice to me, though it sounds heavy. I want something that's got a good amount of space and ventilation but would prefer something that's not incredibly heavy. I'm currently going through Ibuypower.com's system configurator as a check list of what I need for my new comp. I sent my friend there when he wanted to buy a comp cuz he was going to get a Dell or some pos, and he is quite satisfied with what he got, but he paid a lot. There's a good chance I will order my PC from there unless I find a cheaper place to buy parts and do it myself.

I won't spend $2,000 on a computer, i'd like to spend in the range of $1,000, less is fine if I'm getting something that'll last me a few years before I need to upgrade it. I live in San Jose, Ca. if anybody knows a local place. Also, I'm not asking someone to do the work for me, but I'm admitting my extreme lack of knowledge and any advice/guidance is much appreciated, as well as personal opinions on certain parts, cases, web sites etc. First post here and I hope I'm not out of place, I think of myself as a Software guy so this is new ground for me.

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As for my old computer...I'm not gunna pay CompUSA $200 to tell me what's wrong with it, I'd rather throw it out; rather, I want to diagnose it myself. Is there any danger in taking my old hard drive, video card (if the motherboard I get supports it), or sound card and installing it in my new computer when it arrives to pinpoint the problem. The problem is that my computer was freezing while I played a game (the sound would loop and the image would stop on a frame), and after repeated restarts it would freeze earlier, even while booting. I assume this is a heat issue. I had it cleaned because it was pretty filthy on the inside and the issue persisted. After turning it off when it froze and gave a slight odor I quickly unplugged and opened the case and there was a lot of heat near the video/sound cards but I couldn't pinpoint the smell's origin.

Oh and I should mention that I fried a Radeon 9700 Pro in that computer cuz it came with a pos power supply. I replaced that and my video card but the power supply is too big and I have it pretty much glued to the top of my case. It's 550W and it worked for months as I had it set up without issue. I only recently added a new sound card, got my USB mouse and keyboard, and a new speaker/sub system. Even that worked fine a few weeks before the problem occured (I actually drove to Oregon for a LAN and a week after I got there the problem arose.) Thanks to any who give input/links.

Edit1: I use my computer mainly for gaming; I play more hours a week than most people work, but I really enjoy watching movies on it and occasionally burning CDs (don't care about burning DVDs).

**Doctor Feelgood** · Posted: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 22:48:10 Post Subject:

Hi vileguy... Welcome!

So... what is the plan? Are you looking for input on components? That $1000 budget could go a long way! Might get away with something nice for way less.

How serious into gaming? Do you need SLI (multiple PCI-E cards linked together for maximum power) or just one PCI-E card?

So... You need a motherboard, processor, power supply, video card, memory, hard drives, optical drives... and you have a case picked.

Even if you don't burn DVDs, getting a DVD writer is the way to go, since they are so cheap $30-$50ish and you can burn CDs anyway.

There are many good stores to 'window' shop at... Try www.newegg.com and www.zipzoomfly.com for starters.

Please ask more questions, or let us know if you have a processor type in mind, video card type, etc...

Grin

vileguy · Posted: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 23:17:23 Post Subject:

Well fixing my computer is priority for me, or at least salvaging parts from it. Seeing as I have no 2nd computer in the house I can move parts into and my computers a bit old anyways, buying a new computer sounds like a good plan. My dad doesn't believe in upgrading so he's all for it (though I'm gunna be dishing out the $$) but I know if my computer was working I could use it for another year at least, even with only 80GB HD space.

I figure I can buy a whole new machine, either assembled for me or in parts, sans the sound card, mouse, keyboard, speakers and monitor, and have a good machine. I can then move my old HD into the new case and check it for problems as well as the old video card (don't know if a new mobo will accept an AGP card though) so I can at least know if the old mobo/cpu is trash. Does that sound safe or smart to put old parts from a freezing odiforous machine into a new one?

As for gaming, I'm very serious about it. I don't play EQ2 or DDO and if I did I wouldn't care if I had to lower the settings for performance, but I definitely want at least 1G of fast ram, fast cpu(s) and enough wattage to feed everything. I'm not picky about cases but like I said the Raidmax one looks nice. Read an article here on it too.

I play FFXI, WoW, CS, HL2, WC3...and many other titles. I wouldn't mind having a larger hard drive either though I've gotten used to my tiny 80GB. I don't need multiple VPUs to run 2 outputs or anything and I don't know the pros or cons of hypertreaded this or dual-processed that or whatever. Any personal experiences or preferences from a gamers perspective as to a Intel Core 2 Duo Processor versus an AMD Athlon 63 would be helpful. Thanks for your opinion on a DVDR Drive.

Any personal favorite parts (mobos, power supplies, whatever) would be great. I'm browsing threads and it sounds like Seagate HDs have a good rep for being fast. I'd rather have something I can count on than a no-name 400GB HD that will slow me down. I was eventually going to get a new case, motherboard, and cpu as those were what I thought the weakpoints to my computer, but because of PCI-E I decided to just make a new computer and transfer peripherals.

Motherboard?
Processor?
Power supply?
Video card?
Memory?
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB
Case: Raidmax X-1 ATX Mid-tower

I guess a mobo is a good place to start...I have a slight preference for AMD but without foundation. I also have no idea whatsoever as what to look for in a mobo.

BeerCheeze · Posted: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 23:24:02 Post Subject:

Motherboard? Asus, MSI, DFI, ABIT (in order)
Processor? Toss up, big AMD fan but Intel's Core Duo's are really looking good.
Power supply? Seems there are a lot of good ones now. Look for something 500W+, and cost at least $50 (This is an area where more $$$ = better PSU)
Video card? Nvidia 7xx0 series or ATi x1x00 series will work well for you. Look for 256MB ram minimuim.
Memory? Corsair, OCZ, or Crucial
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB
Case: Raidmax X-1 ATX Mid-tower

vileguy · Posted: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 23:41:34 Post Subject:

Really helpful so far but I feel like I have much further to go. Thanks for a list of good manufacturers, but there are way too many items for me to choose from Bang Head

Am I looking for support for Athlon 64 X2 / Intel Socket 775 or something else, and beyond that what should I look out for? (number of sockets, bus, ??)

Is DDR2 800 optimal and worth the cost?

I know the least about motherboards but thanks so much so far.

edit: ok here's my shot at a list of parts, I have no idea where to get them from though

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ABIT AT8 32X Socket 939 ATI CrossFire Radeon XPRESS 3200 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127234

Crucial DDR2-400 1GB (x2)
http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.Asp?IMODULE=CT2KIT12872AB40ES

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo 2000MHz HT 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103546

ASUS Atlas A-55GA ATX12V 2.0 550W Power Supply 100 - 240V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817712003

ATI 100-435800 Radeon X1900GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814195016

Please let me know your thoughts on these! I'm leaving the house for a bit but will check later, thanks to all.

**Modulok** · Posted: Sat, 26 Aug 2006 11:41:27 Post Subject:

could save a little money on PS with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817709003

I have it from a review and it is nice and quiet as well as stable.

edvallie · Posted: Sat, 26 Aug 2006 11:59:55 Post Subject:

I would highly recommend Intel Core Duo, The benchmarks that they are putting out are simply amazing. Not sure if they're widespread available yet, but I've gotta believe you'll be able to get your hands on one.

EDIT - Your putting DDR2 RAM into a mobo that is only capable of running DDR, that's a big no-no. I'll post a few suggests for replacement parts in a moment

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115005

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136168

http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustRatingReview.asp?Item=N82E16820134046

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130016

Didn't pick out a power supply, the one above this post is fine Cool

vileguy · Posted: Sat, 26 Aug 2006 16:19:45 Post Subject:

Well looks like I obviously overlooked a detail, thanks for pointing that out. The motherboard looks fine matches with the CPU and ram, but is there a reason for using the Nvidia video card over the ATI? The power supply looks fine too. I'll look into compatability of everything before making any final decisions but anyone wanna help double check for me?

Package it all with the HD and I'm looking at...about $1,000-1,050 whether I get the Nvidia or ATI card.

Looks good to me. Not interested in overclocking or anything just want something to perform pretty well and last me a few years minimum.

So is the Evga card just Nvidia preference or issues with the mobo.

Thanks again for pointing out my mistakes and helping me so far.

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Ok here's what I currently own to go into my PC:

Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811156179

Sound
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102188

Monitor
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=318020

Keyboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823126179

Mouse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826104191

Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136168

The motherboard I'm pretty much going with the given suggestion because I don't know how to choose one. I wouldn't mind explanation of the perqs to this product.

Power
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817709003

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115005
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003

Now one of these is $150 more for a bigger cache and a faster speed, but 1: would it make a difference and 2: would it work with the aforementioned mobo.

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustRatingReview.asp?Item=N82E16820134046

Video
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130016
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814195016

Hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148142

$10 bucks difference, ATI vs Nvidia. Is there a compatability issue with the other hardware or is this just up to me?

CD Rom Drive(s)? No idea I'll look around the forum see what people have.

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So I have a case, power supply, motherboard, cpu, pci sound card, pci-e video card, ram, monitor, mouse, keyboard, hard drive, and I need to pick out a CD-Rom drive, I guess a DVD burning drive but I like having a second drive, especially if the DVD-R doesn't read fast.

Any thoughts or comments and would all this work together well? Would it be difficult to set up?

edvallie · Posted: Sat, 26 Aug 2006 18:18:42 Post Subject:

I've just been a fan of nVIDIA lately, no real reason why i picked it.

**Doctor Feelgood** · Posted: Sat, 26 Aug 2006 18:26:26 Post Subject:

If you couple an nVidia card with an nVidia based motherboard you can see some performance boost... even if you are not using SLI. Same deal with ATI cards on ATI boards.

If the same company is developing the chips and the drivers, they can optimize efficiency / performance.