Help Building A New Computer

im going to start to build a computer for myself (my 1st obviously) and need some help on what im gonna need and what specs to look for. i know the basics, but dont know every little detail (if there are any) that i might need so im just gonna ask about everything.

its gonna be used for gaming, photography, videos, music, dvd burning....basically the lot.

id like to know in parts though, cos otherwise id get confused with 12 different people telling me 12 different things about 12 different parts.

so 1st off is a case. my only requirement for this is that id like a white case (not the usually standard beige ones) so any help form anyone on what to look for will be very much appreciated.

frank

I think that you should go to Fry's - they have everything you need to built your own PC

whats frys?

[quote87228189b4="theysayjump"]whats frys?[/quote87228189b4]
i think its a west coast thing

Fry's Electronics. it's a Store like Compusa, BestBuy, BUT they have everything you need to built your PC, they have experts and shit.

Website

http//www.outpost.com/

thanks cart....the thing is know WHERE to get the shit from, just need help on WHAT shit im gonna need.

newegg.com

[quoted1a147ac48="theysayjump"]thanks cart....the thing is know WHERE to get the shit from, just need help on WHAT shit im gonna need.[/quoted1a147ac48]

just looking for specifics on the shit im gonna need.

[quote5d07f7e258="theysayjump"]thanks cart....the thing is know WHERE to get the shit from, just need help on WHAT shit im gonna need.[/quote5d07f7e258]

OKay, you need a CASE, motherboard, HDD, MEMORY, Video CArd, Power Supply, DVD or Cd writer or player. Floppy thing, Sound Card, ethernet thing. solder, processor

mmmmmm, I am fogetting some things

BUT you can start with the motherboard, that is the most important thing, then get the processor then the power supply then RAM, and then look for th other stuff

usb, sound card,

[b2d9ef9b468]BTW, if you need the software to install on that PC, I have all you need

OS (windows XP, 98, 200, 95), software like Microsoft Offer (97, XP, 2003) software like Adobe Acrobat 7.0, Photoshop CS 2, PaintShopPro, Antivirus (full things, firewall, etc)


any software youw ant, I have it[/b2d9ef9b468]

ok im really trying to not sound like a dick, but its my fault for not explaining myself better.....i know what parts to get or what im going to need...but its the specs of the specific parts i need help with...whats a good motherboard to get?, what kind of a cache size on and HDD is good? what do all the letters and numbers on the video cards refer to?

that kinda shit.

oh and cart, i appreciate you offering the software you have but i get mine by other means wink

Frys is ok for some stuff, but I have had nothng but problems with all 4 of my motherboards that got from there.

For the motherboard I reccommend Asus[=http//www.asus.com/]Asus from the manufacturer or PC Club[=http//pcclub.com/]PC Club (Prices are a little higher but worth it...).

For the Power Supply, PC Power & Cooling[=http//pcpowerandcooling.com]PC Power & Cooling, I recommend them not only because they have awesome rating on their power supplies, their website is very informative and accurate in helpng people know what to look for in a power supply.

Tom's Hardware[=http//www.tomshardware.com/index.html]Tom's Hardware for hardware reviews and computer related information.

Hope it helps, good luck

thank you peksim.....yes that has helped. one thing i was wondering about was the power supply actually so yeah....thanks for that.

just buy the stuff that has the highest numbers

I got it, so you need specific items (from specific brand, what type, name, etc) I can help you with that.

I have to go to bed right now (she is wiating for me) <-- my bed, the name of my bed is Xniye <-- I say SHE becuase my bed is all aboput confort and girls are all about confort, so yeah thats why


I'll try to help you with this tomorrow, night to all of ya

[quoted4a4083739="theysayjump"]thank you peksim.....yes that has helped. one thing i was wondering about was the power supply actually so yeah....thanks for that.[/quoted4a4083739]

Power supply is the one that Gives power (supplies power) to your system

is that BIG box inside the PC

Oh, just one last thing, is not abot your PC [b9b96b8240a]theysayjump
[/b9b96b8240a]

I was looking at this guy computer, it's crazy, you know that you need a FAN or something for your processor (so it won't overheat) people uses fans to keep it cool, correct.

Well this guy used WATER (you know that you can use it right) it looks crazy on his PC, he used different color and shit, it's crazy, I don't remember the website BUT his pc was awesome. here are some PICS i just found, I'll try to find a PIC of the PC I am talking about (it's crazy)

http//www.water-cooling.com/gallery2/tom9bm/images/DSCF45654.jpg[" alt=""/img9b96b8240a]

If one of those things gets hot that PC will die so fast


[img="9b96b8240a]http//www.water-cooling.com/gallery2/BlacKnighT/images/Open-Side1.jpg[" alt=""/img9b96b8240a]

[img="9b96b8240a]http//www.water-cooling.com/gallery2/MarkScoular/images/final3.jpg[" alt=""/img9b96b8240a]

http//www.water-cooling.com/gallery2.php

thanks cart'....yeah i know about water cooling...i saw one guys computer had been modded to a half life 2 theme. it was cool as fuckin shit!

and yeah i know i need a power supply but whats a good amount of power? im trying to stay on a budget, i dont have a shitload of money the stuff cant be too expensive.

[quote58580e52f6="theysayjump"]ok im really trying to not sound like a dick, but its my fault for not explaining myself better.....i know what parts to get or what im going to need...but its the specs of the specific parts i need help with...whats a good motherboard to get?, what kind of a cache size on and HDD is good? what do all the letters and numbers on the video cards refer to?

that kinda shit.

oh and cart, i appreciate you offering the software you have but i get mine by other means wink[/quote58580e52f6]

In terms of motherboards you need to find one that matches your needs, i personally recommend Asus boards for all around stability. DFI if you want mad overclocking power.

It really depends on your budget and what type of computer you want to get, as old as socket A motherbaords/cpus are they are still very powerful, a 2500+ Barton AMD would be sufficent for most things still. And not to mention a lot cheaper then the A64 ones.

If your looking forward to upgrading this computer in the future (DDR2, PCI-E) then i would recommend the intel 915Chipset and the Socket 775 Intel CPU. But if this computer is only made to be powerful now and your not looking forward to upgrading it in the future then Socket A/Socket 939 should be more then enough.

Depends on which video card your looking at, in terms of numbers the bigger the model # the more powerful it is wink , like the Nvidia 6600GT is weaker then the 6800 Pro. But this also factors down to your budget and which motherboard your getting, if you getting a socket A motherboard i would personally recommend the ati Radeon 9800 Pro, i can hook you up with ATI Employees discount (50% off their retail price) if you desire.

In terms of catche size on hard drives, 8MB is sufficent. You should look more at the brand/RPM then at the catche size. Maxtor hard drives are the only 16MB Catche hard drive, which i would not recommend. But there are also 2 different types of hard drive interfaces (basic, in terms of ATA) Ata and Sata. This also means one is more expensive, and one is cheaper. Ata is extreamly cheap compared to Sata, i personally use Ata and dont plan on using Sata hard drives. Brands i would recommend would be Seagate then Hitachi. Just a note, Seagate is the quietest hard drive around, and the only one to offer a 5 year warranty.

Case and power supply wise i would recommend the Antec Sonata, as it also comes along with a powerful/excellent power supply. Not to menion the price isnt bad.

Anyways after all this i have one comment, arnt you suppose to be saving money?

EDIT Pics of my comp

http/" alt=""/img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/compfreak999/DSC00728.jpg[/img58580e52f6]

THANK YOU COMP'!

i knew you would see me straight. everything you told me is a great help especially the motherboard stuff....would you recommend AMD over Intel then?

and yes i am supposed to be saving money.......just dont tell the wife lol[/sizedbd98872b7] wink

but im trying to get an idea as to how much it will cost, how much stuff im gonna need, how long it will take to save up to get certain parts etc. so i thought id get it (my questions) out of the way before i get a job and have no time anymore.

but thanks again! D

i love my current computer setup, and its powerful enough for games

Recommend parts (similar to mine)

A7n8x-E Deluxe (lotta goddies for this motherboard)
Antec Sonata (Case/Power Supply)
Seagate 160GB hard drive 8mb buffer 7200 RPM
Ati Radeon 9600 or 9800 pro (both decent, 9800 better of course)
Amd Sempron 2800+ OR Amd Athlon 2500+ Barton chipset
Nec Dvd burner 3520
Corsair 1GB Dual Channel PC3200 Value Ram (you dont need XMS or HyperX, espically dont get HyperX it dosent like this motherboard, i can testify to that since i own it, so i have to run at 2.5-3-3-8 timings instead of the rated 2-3-2-6 timings)
Spend another ~$70 to make it a dead silent computer

So yea i think thats about it, kinda like my system

PS I prefer AMD over Intel for these following reasons

1. AMD is a lot cheaper
2. AMD is 64 Bit (if your going for 64 BIT)
3. AMD is a cooler (in terms of heat) cpu, the prescott is just insane
4. My buddy that works at Intel goes for AMD instead of Intel, that should tell you something right there.

nice....so if was to get/build/buy etc a computer just like yours, how much would it cost?

all parts being new.

for the specs i listed ~500-600

shit i thought it wouldve been more expensive than that.....the thing that confused me about AMD was that i could never actually tell how fast their processors were just by looking at the name.....2800 would lead me to think that it would be 2.8GHz but its not.........is it?

and if not, is there an easy way to figure out the actual speed?

[quote56cd349019="theysayjump"]shit i thought it wouldve been more expensive than that.....the thing that confused me about AMD was that i could never actually tell how fast their processors were just by looking at the name.....2800 would lead me to think that it would be 2.8GHz but its not.........is it?

and if not, is there an easy way to figure out the actual speed?[/quote56cd349019]

lets say its rated at 2500+, but it actually runs at 2.12 Ghz. The 2500+ is rated against a p4 CPU, so therefore a amd running at 2.12Ghz would be equal to a p4 2.5Ghz (if it exists), so amd decided to use the rating to show it it compares to a Intel CPU.

ahhh ok!

fuck that makes sense now lol

are AMD 64's alot more expensive than regular ones?

[quoted2b295fe7b="theysayjump"]ahhh ok!

fuck that makes sense now lol

are AMD 64's alot more expensive than regular ones?[/quoted2b295fe7b]

yes, they are also faster. But they have not been fully implimented. They are still fairly new. Not many programs support them, windows is about to suppor t them fully. Only reason to get it is

1. Future upgrades/bragging rights
2. Need a lot of CPU power. (Encoding and such)

ok, ill keep that in mind....maybe ill switch to AMD then.

so do you know anything about cases? what sizes, what kinds etc?

or should i just get one that looks purdy? lol

[quote9b8e4a7cb2="theysayjump"]ok, ill keep that in mind....maybe ill switch to AMD then.

so do you know anything about cases? what sizes, what kinds etc?

or should i just get one that looks purdy? lol[/quote9b8e4a7cb2]

Antec Sonata (or Antec Sonata 2, about to come out)

Get a basic ATX case if your going to choose your own, buyt i personally prefer the Sonata.

i would sugest getting a motherboard that supports SATA (serial ATA) and the hard drives that are SATA, if you get 2 or more you can have raid 1 or raid 0, i forget which one does which but one makes an exact copy on the fly on the second hard drive and the other spits the data up between the two, much faster becasue the hard drives are taking turns. Then i would look for a PCI express motherboard, maybe dual pci express 16x if you want to but dual graphics cards in there (nVida and ATI now have that option but you will have to look for special motherboards with the right northbridge i believe), next is your ram, probably gonna be DDR2, get about a gig of it, no less than 512 mb, processor, depends on what motherboard you have, intel, go for the higer speeds that have hyper threading, AMD go with the FX if you have the money (if you go with the FX, you may not be able to get dual graphics) hard drive, doenst really matter, sound, most motherboards have them built in, unless you want like 8.1 dobly digital surround sound, it sounds fine to me(the built in one), power supply, go with about a 500 or more wattage, and the more expensive ones, the cheap ones wear out in like less than a year. that about it besides any addon cards or drives you want.

[quotee84d20d888="Cow-Tipper"]i would sugest getting a motherboard that supports SATA (serial ATA) and the hard drives that are SATA, if you get 2 or more you can have raid 1 or raid 0, i forget which one does which but one makes an exact copy on the fly on the second hard drive and the other spits the data up between the two, much faster becasue the hard drives are taking turns. Then i would look for a PCI express motherboard, maybe dual pci express 16x if you want to but dual graphics cards in there (nVida and ATI now have that option but you will have to look for special motherboards with the right northbridge i believe), next is your ram, probably gonna be DDR2, get about a gig of it, no less than 512 mb, processor, depends on what motherboard you have, intel, go for the higer speeds that have hyper threading, AMD go with the FX if you have the money (if you go with the FX, you may not be able to get dual graphics) hard drive, doenst really matter, sound, most motherboards have them built in, unless you want like 8.1 dobly digital surround sound, it sounds fine to me(the built in one), power supply, go with about a 500 or more wattage, and the more expensive ones, the cheap ones wear out in like less than a year. that about it besides any addon cards or drives you want.[/quotee84d20d888]

Did you forget hes on a budget? And the Fx series (Fx-53/55) are so expensive. 500+ per a CPU. And 8.1 dobly is useless, no computer speaker system supports it, the s750 from cambridgesoundworks is the only one that supports anything remotely close to that.

Raid also has its complications.

Try Tigerdirect for pc parts,they have some good deals on pc cases and drives.

If you're on a budget, I'd wait for a crazy deal from Dell. They often put their sc420 (P4, 2.8ghz) on sale for around $250 (yesterday it was $278 after rebate but now it's back up to $300 something). Even though they say they can't be used as a desktop (BS), people add vid cards to it and make pretty nice systems for cheap.

It comes with only 40GB HD (make it 80 for $10 more) and 256 MB RAM so you'll need to add some storage and memory. A DVD writer too for under $50 at newegg, a vid/sound card to suit your needs and you're set!

Plus, this way you still have the satisfaction of building the PC since you have to add some components. Fry's also has good barebones systems. Tigerdirect has good prices on barebones after rebate but they never really give you the rebate lol.

Compfreak's setup is good too, if you can do it for $500. My setup is similar, except with a P4 (but same Zalman AlCu cooler!). I added stuff to keep the PC silent as well...

i didnt know he was on a budget, i missed that part

thanks guys!

ive always wondered wtf RAID is....could someone explain?

[quote09b87d964b="cartrenroy"][b09b87d964b]BTW, if you need the software to install on that PC, I have all you need

OS (windows XP, 98, 200, 95), software like Microsoft Offer (97, XP, 2003) software like Adobe Acrobat 7.0, Photoshop CS 2, PaintShopPro, Antivirus (full things, firewall, etc)


any software youw ant, I have it[/b09b87d964b][/quote09b87d964b]Cart, where do you get your software? Is it just cracked or do you have certs. and stuff.
I am also looking at building a new computer. I think i will partition the disk and run XP and Linux. This will be my first experiance with running Linux so any help would be appreciated.

its easy to get it cracked, or to crack it yourself, but it depends if you would be willing to do that or not. it would basically just be the same as buying them from cart, or someone else.....unless he has multiple license keys available.

Is he selling cracked copies? Yikes...

lol i didnt say he was....and neither did he...im just saying that buying from cart or from anyone else who isnt an authorised seller or anything like that, is basically just the same as downloading the programs and cracking them yourself.

[quotef3f3a996b7="cartrenroy"]the name of my bed is Xniye <-- I say SHE becuase my bed is all aboput confort[/quotef3f3a996b7]

Hey you know if you actually get a real girl in your bed you can say you had a threesome. lol

ah ok heh heh. in any case I agree with you.

[quote0ae24ad7f3="good2speed"][quote0ae24ad7f3="cartrenroy"]the name of my bed is Xniye <-- I say SHE becuase my bed is all aboput confort[/quote0ae24ad7f3]

Hey you know if you actually get a real girl in your bed you can say you had a threesome. lol[/quote0ae24ad7f3]

cart isnt old enough to date girls yet so he has to stick to beds for now. lol

[quote0d02032cd8="theysayjump"][quote0d02032cd8="good2speed"][quote0d02032cd8="cartrenroy"]the name of my bed is Xniye <-- I say SHE becuase my bed is all aboput confort[/quote0d02032cd8]

Hey you know if you actually get a real girl in your bed you can say you had a threesome. lol[/quote0d02032cd8]

cart isnt old enough to date girls yet so he has to stick to beds for now. lol[/quote0d02032cd8]

Figured by 32 his mom would let him date by now. Guess hes just not ready yet.

some people are really nervous around girls......apparently he is one of them. cry

It is OK, I get nervous too... my wife and daughter REALLY scare me sometimes.

At TigerDirect.com you can get bare bones if you want. It Pretty much just comes with the "bare" basics

Dont use tigardirect if you can avoid them, they suck. Also if your going to use them dont expect any rebates to come in, cause most dont arrive.

Barebones are not that great in my mind, you get a good deal yes, but you get a horrible motherboard and ugly case, and not to mention bad power supply

ok, i thought i had heard about tigerdirect a while ago but their site is too busy, too much stuff all over the place...it made me not wanna look any further.

how upgradable are the PC's from freedesktoppc.com?