Help me build a new computer [Archive] - SoonerFans.com Message Boards

Jerk

6/14/2008, 03:48 PM

I'm way over-due for building a new computer. It's been several years since I have done it. Is there anyone here I can ask advice from?

How about a good gaming system for $600...no monitor, and I already have an ATX tower.

I need:
-Motherboard
-Processor
-1GB of RAM
-Video Card
-Hard Drive (I'm using a 40GB from 2003 and I've never filled it up)

I don't do over-clocking or anything like that.

King Crimson

6/14/2008, 03:53 PM

i'd say bump this come Monday AM.

Jerk

6/14/2008, 03:53 PM

How bout this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131275

Jerk

6/14/2008, 03:54 PM

i'd say bump this come Monday AM.

That's a good idea. Thanks.

XFollower

6/14/2008, 06:02 PM

I built this one and added an pciX video card and a CPU fan, and it's a smokin' machine.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3901251&CatId=333

Whet

6/14/2008, 06:28 PM

I just went to Tiger Direct today! Bought a few items for work...

bluedogok

6/14/2008, 06:54 PM

I have built about 30 computers over the years and pretty much stay with AMD processors for cost/performance reasons over Intel. You can build a comparable AMD box a little cheaper. RAM and hard drive space are cheap nowadays, go with as much as you can afford, I would say minimum 2GB of RAM (if you go any higher than 3GB you have to go with a 64-bit OS) and you can get 250-320GB hard drives in the $50-60 range and they will probably write faster than your older drive. You might also need a new case or a new power supply at a minimum, the power requirements are different on the newer processors/motherboards.

I have built new ones and passed old ones onto others, now I am in the process of keeping them to build a renderfarm.

I go to the Fry's (http://www.frys.com/) here for the most part, I still order parts from Multiwave (http://www.mwave.com/) and Directron (http://www.directron.com/). When I lived in OKC those were pretty much the only places that I ordered parts from, always had great service from them.

GottaHavePride

6/14/2008, 08:15 PM

For a hard drive you can get probably 500 GB for $100. If you're talking gaming you'll definitely need more than 1 GB of RAM. Get the best video card you can afford. ATI is probably your best bet, I think they're very slightly cheaper than a comparable nVidia.

yermom

6/14/2008, 08:42 PM

i'm pretty sure you're gonna want more RAM, like 2-4GB it's a generally cheap upgrade, i'd say makes more of a difference than CPU speed

my personal philosophy on processors is to get the slowest version of the architecture you want. i really haven't noticed a difference between 2.0 GHz vs. 2.4GHz Core2 Duos, etc...

the video card makes more of a difference. i really haven't been paying attention here for gaming applications lately, i think i have a 512 ddr2 card, but that probably depends on what you want to play. you can easily spend the bulk of your cost here

if you are worried about performance, you can also get a smaller 10k rpm drive vs. the 7200 rpm drives. i've never gone this route, but i've thought about it.

Jerk

6/14/2008, 08:45 PM

if you are worried about performance, you can also get a smaller 10k rpm drive vs. the 7200 rpm drives. i've never gone this route, but i've thought about it.

Good suggestion. My hardrive is 5 years old and 40GB, and with all the p0rn, movies, and games I have on this thing, it is still not full. In fact, I've never ran out of space. I think I'd prefer the performance.

TheUnnamedSooner

6/14/2008, 08:55 PM

check this website out:

www.pricewatch.com

It's where I get stuff for computers.

soonerboomer93

6/15/2008, 02:39 AM

I've built over 5,000 computers

buy from newegg. fry's has questionable products all the times.

actually, my next one, i'm just buying a dell xps most likely

check their refurb site, it's hard to beat their prices

yermom

6/15/2008, 02:46 AM

i bought some $299 dual core Athlon machine (debadged HP refurb) from compgeeks the last time, added RAM and a video card, and it's been great

i'm of the opinion that building from scratch is a tad overrated, i like the Dell desktops, for the most part

i like having a good OEM case instead of some cheap flimsy thing, also having basically just one place to go to get drivers if you need them is pretty nice

the main thing i like about Dell is the support site with all the drivers for the various operating systems

soonerboomer93

6/15/2008, 02:54 AM

if you're going to build

go with AMD X64 processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194
2-4 gb ram (I prefer mushkin, or corsair but do not buy the cheaper memory brands)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146726
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731

512mb vid card I would recomment nVidia chipset BFG tech, but high end gaming cards a expensive) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143116
abit or asus for the system board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127035 (sli versions if you want 2 vid cards is more expensivve)

each of those componenet setups is in the $100 range

10k rpm drive is the raptor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136033
if you get a new drive, make sure it has atleast 16mb cache (32 if you can find it)
i would go with a 3.0 SATA drive 16mb cache.

you might have to replace your power supply and or case, some boards are btx now, so you have to check that.
also, the raptor drives are pretty sweet.

Jerk

6/15/2008, 11:06 AM

sb93, what power supply do you recommend for this set-up?

Also, any opinion on this MB with your set-up?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128090

bluedogok

6/15/2008, 11:30 AM

sb93, what power supply do you recommend for this set-up?

Also, any opinion on this MB with your set-up?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128090
I have that same mboard in my Home Theater PC (Fry's pacakge deal), seems pretty solid. I pretty much build on either Gigabyte or Asus motherboards. I have one ECS board (that was a cheap package deal from Fry's) and it is still fine after 4 years as my wifes computer. I may start buying some of the package deals at Fry's to build renderfarm nodes but for my desktop I prefer to select a higher grade mboard than the ECS they usually bundle with them.

I started building computers back when you had to build a special computer to run AutoCAD, that is not the case now as 90% of the users could buy something off the shelf at Best Buy (or elsewhere) that would more than meet their need, such is not the case for running Revit/3DSMax. I build because the Dells we have at work are in the $6,500 range and I need to build something comparable for less as I start to build to a future on my own. That way I can pick/choose the parts that I need and it will be cheaper than buying a high-end Dell or what I would buy if I had the cash, a Boxx Technologies (http://www.boxxtech.com/) computer. I hope to get to a point where I can just order a Boxx and be done with it, but needing about $15,000 in software I need to save somewhere else at the moment.

Jerk

6/15/2008, 11:48 AM

I have that same mboard in my Home Theater PC (Fry's pacakge deal), seems pretty solid. I pretty much build on either Gigabyte or Asus motherboards. I have one ECS board (that was a cheap package deal from Fry's) and it is still fine after 4 years as my wifes computer. I may start buying some of the package deals at Fry's to build renderfarm nodes but for my desktop I prefer to select a higher grade mboard than the ECS they usually bundle with them.

I started building computers back when you had to build a special computer to run AutoCAD, that is not the case now as 90% of the users could buy something off the shelf at Best Buy (or elsewhere) that would more than meet their need, such is not the case for running Revit/3DSMax. I build because the Dells we have at work are in the $6,500 range and I need to build something comparable for less as I start to build to a future on my own. That way I can pick/choose the parts that I need and it will be cheaper than buying a high-end Dell or what I would buy if I had the cash, a Boxx Technologies (http://www.boxxtech.com/) computer. I hope to get to a point where I can just order a Boxx and be done with it, but needing about $15,000 in software I need to save somewhere else at the moment.

I'm wondering if the onboard video on this MB would enable me to put off buying a PCI Video Card until either I need it or I can afford a really good one.

Jerk

6/15/2008, 12:16 PM

If the MB supports DDR2 1066 memory, can I still use DDR2 800?

OUWxGuesser

6/15/2008, 02:56 PM

Just built this for ~$620 if you leave out the case and power supply:

Intel quadcore 2.4 ($215)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

Geforce 8800 GT (512mb) ($170)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150280
(SON OF A **** they lowered price and have a mail in rebate... $130 total now)

2 gig ram ($60)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231144

250gb SATA drive ($60)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262

SATA dvd burner ($25)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151153

motherboard ($90) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337

long live newegg.com

OUWxGuesser

6/15/2008, 02:58 PM

jerk... get the memory speed the mobo runs at...

2gig 1066 mem is only $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231144

One other FYI... make sure your power supply has connectors for SATA devices and the extra 4/6/8 pin adapater for power supply to the PCI-express videocard and mobo.

bluedogok

6/15/2008, 03:12 PM

I'm wondering if the onboard video on this MB would enable me to put off buying a PCI Video Card until either I need it or I can afford a really good one.
Yes, I am using the on-board chip without any issues. I am not doing gaming on it but mainly online video into a 52" HDTV.

If the MB supports DDR2 1066 memory, can I still use DDR2 800?
You are better off using DDR2-800 Dual Channel, right now the 1066 memory reverts to a single channel RAM because of a conflict with the processor. I bought the 800MHz RAM for mine. When they come out with a 1066 compatible Phenom, then you might consider the 1066MHz RAM. As of two weeks ago, they still didn't have a 1066MHz compatible CPU.

From the Multiwave GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H info page (http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA24752&RSKU=BA24752)

Support for DDR2 1066 (Note 2)/800/667 MHz memory modules
Note 2: Whether 1066 MHz memory speed is supported depends on the CPU being used.

Jerk

6/15/2008, 03:49 PM

Damn. Now I don't know whether or not to get the AMD or the Intel.

I'm glad I got to reading about that GIGABYTE MB. It's "Micro" ATX. I take it that won't work in an ATX case?

soonerboomer93

6/15/2008, 04:24 PM

sb93, what power supply do you recommend for this set-up?

Also, any opinion on this MB with your set-up?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128090

um, i'd go with a no on that

it's an ATI chipset (you want either amd or nvidia for the chipset) and the integrated graphics are ATI

frankly, for a while ATI did capture the graphics crown from nVidia, but that's no longer the case.

go with an Antec power supply personally

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371011

and power supply is one of the absolutely most important components you're going to buy.

soonerboomer93

6/15/2008, 04:26 PM

you don't buy your memory based on the mainboard speed. atleast not for an AMD system,

you buy it based on the core speed of the processor.

bluedogok

6/15/2008, 04:28 PM

I prefer the AMD's but it is really personal preference. Both of them can be solid but I prefer to support the the competitor rather than the the leader. AMD is also a large employer here and I knwo several people who work for them.

I have 4 AMD desktops (4, 4.5, 6 & 8 years old), 2 HP/Compaq AMD laptops (2.5 & 2 years old) and 1 AMD HTPC (3 months old) and a Dell/Intel Xeon server that was one from my old office that is about 7 years old.

Many cases can accept ATX or mATX boards, they have different spots for the mboard screws in the bottom panel, most of my newer cases were set up this way. I had to go with a mATX because of the HTPC case Antec NSK2480 (http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=92480) that I wanted to use.

sb93 - AMD owns ATI now, since ATI never made chipsets I would imagine it is pretty much an AMD chipset.

soonerboomer93

6/15/2008, 04:29 PM

oh, i wouldn't go under 4 gigs because well, you really need that much for vista (I know you'll probably put on xp for now) which means you'll need that much for the OS M$ is releasing next year

bluedogok

6/15/2008, 04:33 PM

If you go greater than 3gb of RAM, you need to run the 64-bit OS, either XP64 or Vista Ultimate. Anything over 3gb on a 32-bit system will actually slow you down. Since we are running Revit (32-bit) and 3DSMax (64-bit version) we have had to migrate all of our computers at work to XP64 to take advantage of more RAM and the multi-processor capability of 3DSMax.

In all my home stuff I am still running 2gb in all the newer stuff on either 32-bit XP Pro or Vista Home Premium. The new build is going to be for XP-64 or Vista Ultimate so I can cram as much RAM in it as possible since those programs are so memory/processor intensive.

soonerboomer93

6/15/2008, 04:34 PM

soonerboomer93

6/15/2008, 04:35 PM

If you go greater than 3gb of RAM, you need to run the 64-bit OS, either XP64 or Vista Ultimate. Anything over 3gb on a 32-bit system will actually slow you down.

vista ultimate does just fine with 4 gb

Jerk

6/15/2008, 04:38 PM

I'm sticking to XP for now, SP3. So, I should probably stick to 2GB RAM?

bluedogok

6/15/2008, 04:39 PM

oh yeah, unless you're current case/power supply supports pci-x and has all the correct headers for the mainboard
you will need a new power supply

do not under any circumstance use any sort of adaptor to go from older style to new style especially to the mainboard (unless you want to short your mainboard)
That is very much the situation, you might be better off just buying a new case since you can find some decent ones for a decent price with a suitable power supply.

For now, 2gb would be fine, just make sure the mboard has upgrade capability for more RAM.

yermom

6/15/2008, 04:50 PM

Jerk

6/15/2008, 06:40 PM

Last question and then I think I'm ready to order:

Can I use a new ATX12V power supply in a regular ATX case? I'm pretty sure that the answer is 'yes' but I want to make sure.

Thanks.

bluedogok

6/15/2008, 07:21 PM

you spent much time in the 64bit Windows OSes?

i'm just wondering how the software compatibility is...

i'm only running 64bit Fedora and Leopard so far
At work we have 20 running XP-64 and 2 running Vista Ultimate-64. My computer has XP-64 pre-installed, a Dell single Quad-Core Xeon with 8gb of RAM, Nvidia Quadro FX1700, it is almost a year old. Our new ones are dual Quad-Core Xeons with 16gb of RAM, Nvidia Quadro FX3700 and Vista Ultimate-64 pre-installed. The only program that I have had any issue with is iTunes, it gives me an error when starting and will not burn discs from iTunes which I don't need anyway. According to the Apple sight they have a 64-bit version for Vista but it doesn't work for XP-64. It still does everything else (play files/playlists), everything else seems to work fine. The only 64-bit dedicated programs that we use is 3DSMax and Revit 2009.

Last question and then I think I'm ready to order:

Can I use a new ATX12V power supply in a regular ATX case? I'm pretty sure that the answer is 'yes' but I want to make sure.

Thanks.
Yes, I did a swap in one of my old cases and it worked fine, they are mostly standardized unless it is a manufacturer case like a Dell or others.

soonerboomer93

6/15/2008, 09:12 PM

i'd buy the 4 gb right now, paired

that way you're able to upgrade later if you want and still remain paired.

the performance difference, with good memory, properly timed and match and running in dual channel, matched to the core speed of the processor should be minimal

yeah, you're ok with 2gb if you're running xp though

Jerk

6/19/2008, 10:38 PM

Thanks SB93.

I got the box of stuff today and spent all afternoon putting it together. (I haven't done it in 5 years).

The only thing I wasn't sure of is to use FAT or NTFS when formatting the drive. I went with NTFS.

The MB was very simple...no jumpers to mess with, except CMOS reset.

Jerk

6/19/2008, 10:43 PM

Actually, i think I completely screwed up on partitioning the hard drive.

I'll worry about it this weekend. I'm just glad I got the hardware all working without any problems.

yermom

6/20/2008, 12:31 AM

yes, NTFS over FAT32

how do you think you screwed up the partitioning?

soonerboy_odanorth

6/20/2008, 12:45 AM

uuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

soonerboomer93

6/20/2008, 01:09 AM

yeah, NTFS was correct,

I wouldn't partition it, or I would partition main drove and then about 40gb for a secondary drive that you can back up important infor onto. Actually, you get better performance with a single partition. If you want to back up, use a dvd, flash drive or usb hard drive would be my recommendation.

How's she running otherwise? Performance what you want?

oh, and go to www.iolo.com and download a trial of system mechanic if you want. Use that to tweak out some of the windows settings and it should run smooove like butta (especially let it adjust the network settings)

soonerboomer93

6/20/2008, 01:14 AM

oh, i forgot, make sure to read you mb manual so that you know what slots to put the memory in to enable dual channel (you did buy 2 sticks of memory, correct?)

Jerk

6/20/2008, 05:19 AM

yes, NTFS over FAT32

how do you think you screwed up the partitioning?

This is supposed to be a 500GB hard drive, but I can only find about 125GB of it.

Oh, I did screw up one thing on the order: I got new case fan. I figured they're all the same. So I pull this thing out of the box and it is HUGE...way too big for my case.

soonerboomer93

6/20/2008, 11:06 AM

This is supposed to be a 500GB hard drive, but I can only find about 125GB of it.

Oh, I did screw up one thing on the order: I got new case fan. I figured they're all the same. So I pull this thing out of the box and it is HUGE...way too big for my case.

um, you need to boot from a xp sp2 cd in order to see above 130 gb's of drive

you might be able to make a boot cd that will do it, actually, you might check with the drive manufacturer, but if the boot cd isn't xp sp2, it won't see the full drive.

soonerboomer93

6/20/2008, 11:15 AM

oh, and you are going to have to reload because um, it formated the whole drive as 130 gb's

actually, maybe partition magic or another software can fix that. not sure because i've never played with it.

yermom

6/20/2008, 11:17 AM

really? seems when i did that it showed the rest of the disk as unallocated space in Disk Management

i had a 160GB drive at the time and had ~20GB i made into a FAT32 partition

soonerboomer93

6/20/2008, 11:19 AM

i don't remember for sure, but i seem to recall it formatting the entire disk as 130

honestly, when i ran into that problem on my own personal computer, i just said **** it and went and bought xp pro sp2
my previous copy wasn't able to update to sp2 anyways...

yermom

6/20/2008, 11:23 AM

arr!

i'm thinking it just sees the first part of the disk, i could be wrong though

i was using XP pro, probably SP1

i need to find/make an XP SP3 disk

soonerboomer93

6/20/2008, 11:23 AM

avast!

badger

6/20/2008, 11:26 AM

Option A:
http://www.miguelcarrasco.net/miguelcarrasco/WindowsLiveWriter/10BiggestComputerFlopsofalltime_9EEC/xeroxalto_thumb2_3.jpg
Option B:
http://www.chessninja.com/images/computer-toilet.jpg

shaun4411

6/20/2008, 12:17 PM

you want 4gb ddr2 ram. 250gb sata 7200 rpm hd. quad core pentium processor, OR core duo intel chip (not a big fan of company, but they do outperform the amd dual core), a good mouse, a comfortable chair, a nice 21" lcd wide screen monitor, privacy, pizza pockets, and mountain dew.

soonerboomer93

6/20/2008, 12:35 PM

you're later then a catholic girls period after she loses her virginity

he's already bought and assembled it

soonerboomer93

6/20/2008, 12:40 PM

oh, but if you want a gaming mouse, try the razer lachesis

i can't run mine at full sensitivity, it's too sensitive

Jerk

6/20/2008, 05:53 PM

um, you need to boot from a xp sp2 cd in order to see above 130 gb's of drive

you might be able to make a boot cd that will do it, actually, you might check with the drive manufacturer, but if the boot cd isn't xp sp2, it won't see the full drive.

Bummer. I don't think I'll mess with it for now. As stated previously, I couldn't fill 40GB with 5 years of tunes, games, and pr0n, so I think I'm good to go.