Need Help Building My First Computer

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by §outh§tar, Oct 6, 2004.

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  1. §outh§tar is feeling caustic Registered Senior Member

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    My old computer is down now. I turn it on and the monitor doesn't come on. I already tried checking the cables and using a different monitor just in case. Anyway, I am willing to get a computer that is $800 and under. I would however like to build it myself. I'm a bit anxious because if I by a part and don't know what it does or how to use it, then I have just wasted my money. That's where you come in.

    I'm going to buy the parts from http://www.newegg.com

    I am COMPLETELY illiterate when it comes to hardware and don't know what to get. I'm looking for a computer with:

    CD-Burner (48x and higher)
    512MB RAM or higher
    Floppy Drive
    DVD/CD Drive (whatever speed makes the CDs run satisfactorily)
    And a processor and monitor/videocard (whatever they are called) that is capable of playing games at high resolution without lagging. I don't want it to be like my old computer, which took like 5 minutes to boot.

    So go to the site and look around and post links to products you think will be great for me. And also post some pointers and tutorials that will be useful to me since I probably won't be having too much help on this. Oh, and a list of things I have to buy would be nice too (along with specs).

    Thanks.
     
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  3. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

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  5. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    I recommend what I bought 2 months ago.

    Sony G420 20 inch CRT monitor(this I've had for a year now,CRT's are better for resolution than LCD's are and cheaper)

    Antec mid tower

    AMD 64 FX 53 939 pin Processor, does both 64 bit and 32 bit procesing so your ready for the future. The Intel is faster but only does 32 bit. The SDRAM is what really helps the gaming more than the processor speed to a certain degree.

    ASUS A8V Delux motherboard, it has built in WI FI and 5.1 dolby sound card already.

    ATI Radeon Excalibur X800 Pro Gtaphics card , 256MB's

    Coolmax CT-450 Power supply with 2 fans

    2 GB SDRAM (but I'm getting 2 GB more very soon so get 4GB if you can afford it)

    SATA 7500 RPM, 150 GB hard drive, the ASUS MOBO will take it.

    Sony makes great CD and DVD Burners so take a look at them.

    Hope this helps you.

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  7. §outh§tar is feeling caustic Registered Senior Member

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    Here is the list of components I have so far:
    http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishHistoryReview.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=1009617

    Tell me if there's anything I'm missing on that list or if there are things which are incompatible with each other. Thanks cosmictraveler and repoman for the help.

    I'm trying to build a gaming computer, mind you. And it shouldn't be above $800 so I have a little bit more to allow. What is a CRT monitor also? And cosmictraveler, it would be nice if you could give links on that site where I can find your hardware or give me some more specs and pricing too maybe.
     
  8. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

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    Your list looks mostly good, but you forgot a couple of things.
    Memory, http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=20-146-541&DEPA=1

    And a CPU, http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=19-116-157&DEPA=1
    You can go higher or lower on both, but I'd recommend those as minimums to match the rest of your system.

    The 350 watt power supply that comes with a $25.00 case is going to be a pretty cheap one. I would urge you to buy a bare case in the $25.00 range, and spend at least $30.00 on a power supply alone. The power supply is a very crucial element of a stable system, and is too often neglected.

    The 9600 video card is a good one. But if you look carefully, you could get a Radeon 9800, or an Nvidia 5900 for only a little more money. Either would be a significant step up from the 9600.

    An Athlon 64 system as Cosmic suggests would be a good one. But so would the Intel you've chosen. A Socket A AMD system would be the budget choice, but if you have the cash, I'd go with a Socket 939 Athlon 64. If that is too pricy, I'd stick with the Intel.

    A CRT monitor is a cathode ray tube. Basically a standard monitor, rather than an LCD.

    Also, the CPU I picked out comes with a heatsink (CPU cooler), so you wouldn't have to buy a separate one.
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2004
  9. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    I went to:

    http://www.pricegrabber.com/

    For most of my purchases.
     
  10. river-wind Valued Senior Member

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    2,671
    first off, what are you going to do with your machine?
    what kind of games are you going to run? the very latest first-person shooters like Doom3?

    You can build a very capable machine for running 2-3 year old FPS and all new non-FPS games for around $400.

    As for Repo Man's suggestions, they are all good ones. The motherboard you've selected is very good, the CPU he chose (as he said) is on the lower end. that MB can handle much more powerful CPU's. However, you have to make sure that the CPU/motherboard "socket" matches if you decide to pick a different CPU.
    The motherboard RAM speed and the RAM speed much match (in this case, both are DDR 400, so again, Repo Man's suggestions are good).

    The only point I dissagree with the the 64bit question. While AMD's 64bit chips are very powerfull, and very low-cost for 64-bit chips, they are more than most people would need. You may want to either stick with an intel CPU, or, if you DO decide to go with AMD, go with an AMD Athlon 3000+ or so. Should be more than enough for your needs, and noticably cheaper.
    I feel that AMD is often cheaper for identical performance over Intel motherboards/CPU's; but many people prefer Intel. It really up to you.

    edit: also, if you aren't trying to pusht he performance envelope, like Cosmic

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    , it might be worth the reduced hassle to buy a pre-built. a similar system from dell might only run $350 after the annoying, frustrating rebates.
    http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dim24min&cs=04&dgvcode=ss&c=US&l=EN
     
  11. §outh§tar is feeling caustic Registered Senior Member

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    4,832
    Repo Man,

    I made a few changes at the same link. Is the memory the same thing as the RAM? And are there any 800MHz FSB AMD processors? I don't seem to find any. BTW, the Athlon is a teeny bit too pricy..

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    And also what power supply should I get? And for the CRT monitor which one should I get? I don't know of a reasonably priced one with a good gaming resolution.

    Does my new RAM speed match my motherboard's RAM speed? I'm thinking strongly of getting a lower priced AMD, will I have to change MB's? I am going to be playing mostly sports games like NBA Live, Madden 05, Need for Speed and maybe the occasional Max Payne or something. Nothing terribly taxing.

    And then for cooling I might need something better since I have upped many of the specs and might be changing processors.
     
  12. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

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    4,955
    RAM is an acronym for Random Access Memory, so they are the same.

    AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) processors do more work per clock cycle than Intel processors. There are no 800 MHz FSB AMDs, but they don't have to be equal in MHz to be equal in performance.

    If you can afford the Intel setup, I'd go with it. AMD Socket A based systems are still very good. I'm using an Epox 8RDA3+ and a mobile Barton XP running at 2,380 MHz. But the XP3200 Barton is the high water mark for Socket A, AMD are focusing on Athlon 64 CPUs now. If I had $800.00 to spend on a new computer, I wouldn't go Socket A. But you could have a very good computer using a Barton XP.

    Do you need a new monitor? Look closely at local retailers prices, shipping on a CRT monitor will kill you. I've been pretty happy with my Samsung, but I'm sure the 955 DF is obsolete by now. It's succesors should be good though.

    PC3200 is the right choice for the sweet spot between price and performance right now. It will be what you want for either AMD or Intel.

    This Antec Power Supply Unit (PSU) is the minimum I would consider. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-917&depa=1

    Fortron/Sparkle PSUs are also good for the money. But the Antec I've listed should be good enough for the system you've put together.
     
  13. vslayer Registered Senior Member

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    4,969
    AMDs are a must, everyone i know that has had an intel has had to take it back within a year coz it died
     
  14. Fenris Wolf Banned Banned

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    Intel processors are more reliable than AMD's if anything. They also handle graphics slightly better ( a swing from earlier times) and have the advantage of better bus speeds. While the AMD might outperform it in many areas, Intel's advantage comes from those peripheral areas. I haven't seen any major advantage in using SATA drives though, as yet. Not worth the extra money in my opinion. Tidier though.

    Another reason to choose Intel at the moment is that you might want to take advantage of the new technology being released. PCI express is already available in the new Intel 915 and 925 boards, and the new Intel graphics chip found built in to those boards would be quite adequate for what you want - it's better than, say, an ATI Radeon 9200SE in terms of gaming performance. A significant improvement over the old Intel Extreme graphics. It's only marginally outperformed by the new X300 cards. Thus, with one of those boards you could save yourself a fair amount of cash, which would offset to some extent the higher cost of the processor, then you could buy a better graphics card if you need it later on, knowing you already have the slots those will be using a few months from now.

    The advantage AMD has over Intel is usually in price. AMD processors with a similar performance to Intel ones are noticeably cheaper. Motherboard prices are roughly the same.

    Another hint - don't use onboard sound if you can avoid it. It'll cost you in framerate - but then the games you listed don't need superfast framerates anyway, so it's not a major issue where you're concerned. Look to the future, though. It may become one.

    And by the way - chips of either manufacturer rarely "die", unless forced to do so or cooked. Warranty repairs are far more commonly involved with other hardware.
     
  15. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    I've had a AMD for over 5 years and never had any problems. Also the AMD does both 32 bit and 64 bit while the Intel only does either 32 or 64 and the 64 bit isn't out yet.
     
  16. Ste_harris Net Ninja Registered Senior Member

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    199
    If you have the patience install one of these
    http://www.cooltechzone.com/reviews/cases/cooldrive4_001.php
    Very fiddly to setup, but once it is it houses and cools your hard drive and can
    be used to monitor and control four of your fans. I’ve had one for a while now
    and my only groan is that it bleeps loudly on start up and I can’t remember how
    to switch the activation alarm off, but it lets you tweak all of your fans
    individually making cooling and noise reduction simple.
     
  17. §outh§tar is feeling caustic Registered Senior Member

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    4,832
    Ok, after hearing consideration from many sides I have changed a lot of things around. This looks like its going to be my final list so take a look and tell me what you think.

    Also for video cards, which is more important: 128MB DDR or 256-bit memory interface (or maybe the other way round)?
     
  18. vslayer Registered Senior Member

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    4,969
    video cards:
    radeons use less power and from the same gpu can do more triangles per second, plus they give you better utilities. only problem is some dont work on windows 98.

    geforce are supported by more gaming companies but radeons will the job same or better. if you want to overclock your cpu get a radeon, with the later catalysts you can overclock the gpu on a radeon aswell

    with the ram, you want at least 128mb, 128bit. if you have the option go for the faster 256bit rather than 256mb, 128mb is enough video memory, your better to have less fast memery than lots of slow memory
     
  19. §outh§tar is feeling caustic Registered Senior Member

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    4,832
    anyone have any other good online vendors just for comparison?
     
  20. vslayer Registered Senior Member

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    4,969
    pricespy.co.nz
     
  21. grazzhoppa yawwn Valued Senior Member

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    A 256 bit memory interface would increase the performance of the video card for games. Example: A Radeon 9500 (not pro) has 128 bit memory with 128 MB; it has 4 pixel pipelines. A Radeon 9700 has 256 bit memeory with 128 MB; it has 8 pixel pipelines. Before unlocking those 4 pipelines in the 9500, the performance of the 9500 is okay, its nothing too special, it's was a good deal for the price of it back then. After unlocking the 4 pipelines in the 9500, essentially making it a 9700 with slower clock and memory speeds, performance increased sometimes it doubled. If you take a look at benchmarks that compare a Radeon 9500 non-pro to a Radeon 9700, you'll see what a increase of memory bandwidth, from 128 to 256 bit can do...clock speeds don't account for the entire performance increase.

    Good old TomsHardware has some recent benchmarks. Look for the Radeon 9500 128 and the Padeon 9700 on their charts.
     
  22. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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