computer specs wanted!

Hi everyone...

I am looking to build a new computer.
My computer was a store bought pII 400... with 392 pc100 ram - it was about 3 years old, however its gone now, so I am computerless.

I am looking to build a sweet rig - that can support the latest 3d games with ease and do a lot of imaging things such as photoshop and the like.

I have all the software I need, also I have a monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers to use.

I do not have the case or any internal parts.
I have around $2000 to spend (could go as high as 2500 but prefer to stay around 2000)

I have never built a computer from scratch, but I did add ram, a nic card, and a burner to my old comp. I am set on building my own computer, to add it to my life experiences. However, I am a bit clueless to what parts are good and the prices that are good to buy the parts at.

If anyone would care to help me, by listing the parts I would need (specifically, not just motherboard, ram, etc...like the name of the motherboard and the ram), and a good price to buy them at, and even a good place to buy... I would be very grateful.

Any help is apreciated!

ok several things you need to decide:
AMD or Intel
DDR or RDRAM or Dual DDR (boards coming out very very soon)
graphics card: Geforce 4 4600 or ATI RADEON 9700 (the best right now)

sound card: Creative Audigy 2 Platinum or Terratec DMX 6 fire (better quality sound)

hard drive: Western Digital 120GB special edition, if you can for 2000 bucks maybe go for SCSI 18gb drive for OS, hypermicro have a good deal for a 15krpm SCSI which includes a free scsi controller. the IBM 180GXP and new Maxtor drives are also out but no reviews i've seen on them yet. If you want a really really quiet hard drive then look at the seagate barracuda V 120GB

OS: windows XP pro (if you need it)

Cd-writer: Lite-on 52X(very good for backing up games), or Yamaha 44x or plextor 40x. Can use for reading cd's too unless you want a cd-rom too, is so look at the lite-on 166s or toshiba (can't remember model number) they are dvd-roms and are quite cheap around $40.

do research, read many reviews and you'll end up with a awesome machine

Another question is overclock or no overclock. If you do decide you may want to overclock in the future that will influence your choice of motherboard and CPU (lower speed cpu, saves some money, and has more potential to reach high speeds.) Thats the real point of overclocking, buy something cheaper and make it run faster than something more expensive.

Ive been reading the AMD vs Intel thread... and its sure tough to decide.
From what I can gather it looks like its a matter of preference... however I have picked up that AMD's make a lot of heat. But I've read a lot of people saying that if they were going to start from scratch they would chose AMD...
--I am starting from scratch, so I think maybe I'll go with AMD.

I will research all those parts you listed, johnny..

As for overclocking, I deffinatly would like to give it a try in the future... I mean who wouldn't want to buy something cheaper and make it run faster.
But Im not sure if I'm ready to overclock just yet, this will be my first computer that Ive ever built from scratch.

Well tell me what you think, you think i should overclock on my first computer or what?

Yes you should

Welcome to the Forums!

But not at first: buy your components with that in mind for the future though: if you decide not to OC no big deal: at most you may spend a couple more bucks on some things and have a slightly slower computer (that is STILL fast enough to do what you want!) than you would have. Not much difference in either case though.

I differ: if I was going to build a new rig from the ground up right now I would go with an Intel- I haven't messed with P4s much yet and the new ones are rockin' pretty good

But either way, pick one and then look for components that do what you want and ALWAYS keep an eye on bang for the buck, IMO: there are many times that you can find parts that are 90% as good for half the money. And if the cheaper part meets your needs....more money for the high end stuff you really need!

As for individual parts, I like Epox mobos for AMD chips; I think they are top-notch, period.

My only other advice is to GET A GOOD POWER SUPPLY! If you have a 2K budget I say get a PC Power and Cooling unit: they are the best, and you WILL pay for it! In the long run I think its worth it though....someday I'll even buy one

hey roger, thanks for the huge welcome!

I could go with the intel, now that I look back at the AMD vs intel thread, some of the posts I was reading were almost a year ago, but I don't know, either way, could you post a list of each part that you would buy for a sweet rig (names and all)
like:
xxx motherboard
xxx kind of ram
etc...

I also read about bang for the buck, and that is what I am having trouble deciding, I'm not sure what I need to go bang for my buck

that is why I am asking people to post lists of parts with names and all so that I can read about them, and a good price to pay for each part so I know how to budget my money.(the 2k budget)
I want the most bang for my 2000 bucks!

Hey, Welcome to the forums!

One thing you should also decide is where you want to order your parts from once you know what you want to get. There are a lot of bad companies on the net selling computer parts. Trust me, I’ve dealt with some of them, and it’s not been fun. Here’s 5 very good places that I recommend:

Newegg One of the best sites on the web. They’ve got a great selection of products, and lot of their stuff they ship for free via FedEx.

Directron Another great place. They have a good selection of cases here.

Pcmods A good site to get modding accessories from.

Nexfan Get all your fans here.

Sidewindercomputers All kinds of cool stuff there.

I'll see if I can post some links to some good parts in a bit. I hope this helps you out a little.

if you're not overclocking, look to maxamize stability.
go for a AMD 1600+ if you're looking for cheap or a 2400+ if your looking for some speed
512mb or more of corsair XMS2700 RAM would be good. go for 3200 or 3500 if you have some extra cash. but keep in mind, more ram is more noticiable than faster ram.
Tyan motherboards don't have many overclocking features, but have hellacious stability. they also have a lot of onboard accessories, like onboard LAN and sound.
an nvidia ti4200 (the alberton turbo with the fast (3.3 nanosecond) ram is a great buy for the money, but if you have some extra cash, go for a ti4600, or an ATI 9700 if you have a boatload of money.
Western Digital Special Editions with the 8meg cache are great.
you'll need at least 350w for the power supply. i reccomend a Enermax 350w or above.
get quality CD and DVD drives. they make all the difference, and last.
for cooling, a SLK-800 would be great, with a medium powered (around 50cfm) 80mm fan. delta fans are nice, but remember to get a quietish one. if you can't afford a SLK-800, go for a SK-7.
if you have any more questions, just shoot an email to me, or just browse around on the board. you'll find a wealth of hardward knoweldge, and even a few lies =D

the above setup should be good from anywhere to 11000 to 13000+ 3dmarks, meaning enough power to run just about anything you can throw at it smoothly.

oh, order everything from newegg.com if you can. can't go wrong with newegg. I dont think anyone will disagree with me here.

EDIT: almost forgot, a good case is a gorgerous thing. look into Lian-Li's, expecially the PC-60/61s.

if your willing to spend around 2 grand for just internal components u can get a p4 2.8 maybe even 3.06 and all the top-o-the-line components and still have money left over for ur wife or gf or whatever radeon 9700 pro is a sure thing.. and for first comp from scratch imho intel is safer cause u cant crack the core nor fry it...
and i agree wit nanagomi, newegg is teh 1337

edit: u quoted: I want the most bang for my 2000 bucks!
well for that money u can only get top of the line p4 and still have money left over, u could prolly get an amd and have even more left over

max

yea it helps alot I was looking for some good places to shop.

also I was thinking about going to the computer fair this weekend, I heard they have some good deals on parts.

hey Namagomi, thats a great list.
yea i will deffinatly like to chat with you a little more.

I wouldnt mind if i cant overclock right away, but would like to leave it opent as a possiblility in the future. but right now its not my main concern.

I will read up on those parts and definatly check out newegg.com

mcprescot said:

hey Namagomi, thats a great list.
yea i will deffinatly like to chat with you a little more.

I wouldnt mind if i cant overclock right away, but would like to leave it opent as a possiblility in the future. but right now its not my main concern.

I will read up on those parts and definatly check out newegg.com

Click to expand...

of course it's a great list. i'm l33t if you wanna o/c in the future, you defiintly want the PC3200 or PC3500 ram, and an expensive heatsink. but you can't spend too much on ram maybe 1024mb of pc3200?
and it's definitly a stretch for me to reccomend an ATI video card, i'm such a nvidia fan boy i can't imagine i'd ever reccomend a Intel, however if you want the best bang for the bank, you definitly want an amd chip.

anywho, for the cash amount you listed, definitly go for a 2400+ or higher. definitly a lian-li case, too. ya can't beat em.

can't go wrong with newegg. i can't stress this enough.

EDIT: Aw hell, i'm a retard. Tyan dosn't even make a single CPU socket A mobo. Abit makes nice stable stuff, EPoX is a little better o/c board, tho. i'd reccomend the AT72-Max. the AT71-Max is truely legacy free (which i LOVE!) but the at72-max has the newer chipset. hell, you might want to look into an nForce2 board if you dont plan on building this box tommrow.

and, for the record, bush beer is complete swill

I say go all out. newegg's got the hyper-threading 3.06 for $720. I thought $540 for my 2.8 was alot

Pop that in ASUS's new P4PE (to support hyperthreading) with a Radeon 9700Pro and a 512meg stick of Corsair's XMS PC3500, set the memory divider to 4/6, and give it a few more mhz fsb.

Yeah baby. Sweeeeeeeeeeet.

Stumpjumper5200 said:

I say go all out. newegg's got the hyper-threading 3.06 for $720.

Click to expand...

haha. that's better than 1/3 of his total budget. haha. I'm telling you bro, if you want best bang for your buck, AMD is where its at. 720 bucks for a CPU is retarded. they make entire SYSTEMS for less than that. i'd just go for the top of the line AMD, and just spend what you would have wasted on an overpriced CPU on a ATI 9700 =P Hell, you could get two AMD cpus and a Tyan MPX board and STILL not pay as much as if you bought a single 3.06 setup.

Warning: Namagomi is posting under the influence

Well yeah, but he's going for the most bang for 200 bucks.

A new 3.06 system with either 1066rdram or some really pumped up DDR would beat pretty much anything out there.

Maybe a sweet 3.06GHz P4 system @ $2000 would beat out a great 2700+ XP system @ $1500 by a bit, but I'd bet the AMD one would be better bang for the buck overall. I'm with Namagomi, go for an AMD system.

I'd go with:
Athlon XP 2600 or 2700
nForce2 motherboard
2x256MB or 2x512MB Corsair XMS3200
Thermalright SLK-800 with good fan, lot of options for that
Onboard sound
Onboard LAN
GF4 Ti 4600, not sure what the best is. (You also could go with the current performance king, the ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, but I've had nothing but trouble and zero support with my only ATI card, so I can't recommend them from my experience.)

And for HDDs either:
Adaptec 29160 SCSI controller
18GB Seagate Cheetah 15kRPM U160 HD for Windows, apps, etc.
60-200GB IDE drive for storage

Or:
2x80GB WD SE drives in RAID0

Then a case to put it all in, lots of choices for that, depends on your needs/prefs. I'd go with a full tower aluminum, but you may prefer something smaller. Lian-li makes good ones I've heard, don't have one personally. My only aluminum is a Cooler Master mid-tower, which is pretty good, but a little cramped.

Those parts should come in somewhere in the $1500 range, give or take a little depending on what you choose. I'm going to be getting everything except the video card sometime in the near future, and that's basically what I'm planning on getting.

yeah, you might want to get an nForce2 mobo. or, if you want mad powah, you could get a dual CPU motherboard and slap two XP2400's on there. SCSI is VERY un-bang-for the buck, if ya ask me. RAID 0 or 0+1 will serve the desktop users needs very well. Go for like two 80gig Western Digital Special Editions (or 100gig or 120gig if you need the space/bragging rights). Oh yeah, and definitly get a Lian-Li case. they are great.

Maybe you could wait for the MP version of the new 2800+ and a dualie board that does the 333mhz bus, if you want the AMD way (whenever that stuff comes out, might be a while).

But DEFINATELY get a Lian-Li case, I got the black PC-61 from www.xoxide.com it's a REALLY nice case. Or you could go full tower if that's your thing.

Not to hijack the thread for a storage debate, but...

SCSI is pricey, but I think even my old 10kRPM U2W SCSIs beat out my 80GB WD SEs in overall speed. Granted I haven't RAIDed the WDs, but the SCSIs weren't RAIDed either. I'd take an 18GB 15kRPM U160 SCSI an a cheap big IDE over a couple fast IDEs any day. Total cost isn't that much more, and performance is much better, I think.

$150 for SCSI card + $200 for SCSI drive + $100 for big, slow IDE drive = $450

$50 for IDE RAID card + $300 for pair of fast IDEs = $350

If the mobo already has IDE RAID onboard, then it's a little different, but I'd still go for SCSI.

$100 more for, IMO, much better performance (and 5 year warrantee on the SCSI!) is pretty good bang for the buck. No way will a 7200RPM IDE even dream of approaching the 3.6ms seek on a 15kRPM Cheetah.

Regardless, it's up to mcprescot what is best for him, I just recommended what I thought best. It's just my opinion, after all.

hassmh said:

$150 for SCSI card + $200 for SCSI drive + $100 for big, slow IDE drive = $450

$50 for IDE RAID card + $300 for pair of fast IDEs = $350

Click to expand...

With onboard RAID, I only paid 240 bucks for 200gigs of Special Edition Goodness, putting the price difference around 200 bucks If he was building a CAD workstation, I'd be all about SCSI, but since it's a gaming box, and he is working on a budget, there are better things to spend money on than SCSI, like more ram, a faster CPU, or a better vid card. but if ya can afford an otherwise top of the line, buttkicking rig AND scsi, i'd say go for it.