So I'm going to buy this pc...

[d94]

if your goin agp spend $90 and get a 9800pro
http://www.actbuy.com/details.asp?item=AT10030-3

 

[UPCguy23]

Erosion, another thing I thought of, go look at a motherboard on tigerdirect, or at other parts, then scroll down to the very bottom of the page, many times, they will have a thing called computer building tips, you click on that, and it gives you a little bit of a guide what to do, and some hardware tips as well. Might be a good resource for you.

 

[erosion]

So I guess I'm looking for:

- 1GB ram
- Fast AMD Processor since that what a lot of people seem to perfer (i'm going to run stock)
- Decent vid card (not the best of the best, but decent nuntheless, maybe a ATI Radeon or GeForce?)
- Two HDs (Main HD: 40GBish, Slave HD: 100GB or 120GB(if it's not much more) and if it's easy enough I can stick my current 80GB slave HD in there aswell giving me 3 HDs)
- CD/DVD Burner (I burn a lot of CDs)
- CD/DVD ROM
- Floopy Drive
- Ethernet Thing (Cable)
- Decent speakers + sub (i listen to a lot of music)
- Optic Mouse (with the scrolling wheel in the middle)
- Internet Keyboard
- Motherboard (I'd like 4+ USBs, If not I could just get a USB hub.. I have a lot of stuff that uses USB's)
- Sound card? (Unless that comes with the motherboard?)
- Case - I'm not sure what Watt I should get but as it has good cooling (fans) I have my computer on almost 24/7.
Heres a few cases I liked, Not sure if they will work with what ever I get..

Case 1 - i don't think it'll keep cool enough
Case 2
Case 3 - this one looks like it has good cooling
Case 4
Case 5 - This one looks groovy

A lot of the cases I see have like more usb ports/headphone jacks on the front.. Does that stuff come with the case?

Also any other nessary stuff, ie: wires, hardware I'm forgetting etc...

The monitor it'll have will be a ViewSonic UltraBrite A90f+ if that makes any differance in anything.

Also, This comp will be routered. So I don't know if anything else is needed for that. (I don't know crap about routers)





I think I gave you guys a better idea of what I'm looking for heh... Think something reasionable could be built for less then $1,000 (maybe even less then $800)? if I have to cut some costs I could just forget about buying two harddrives and just buy one and use my slave hd from my current comp.


Thanks in advansed.


ps, this comp will be used for everything, not just gaming.

 

[CeeDeeJay]

My Recomendation

I think it would be worth your time to look at this.It gives you a good idea of what to expect for your money (it includes specs):
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1822693,00.asp

 

[Captain Slug]

If he is going to run at stock, then he can do so at inaudible noise levels if he has a capable heatsink.

Is there any particular reason you're going with TigerDirect?
$800 very doable and I'll make the list now. Newegg has a much wider selection of parts and much faster shipping than TigerDirect.

So I guess I'm looking for:

1. 1GB ram
2. Fast AMD Processor since that what a lot of people seem to perfer (i'm going to run stock)
3. Decent vid card (not the best of the best, but decent nuntheless, maybe a ATI Radeon or GeForce?)
4. Two HDs (Main HD: 40GBish, Slave HD: 100GB or 120GB(if it's not much more) and if it's easy enough I can stick my current 80GB slave HD in there aswell giving me 3 HDs)
5. CD/DVD Burner (I burn a lot of CDs)
6. CD/DVD ROM
7. Floopy Drive
8. Ethernet Thing (Cable)
9. Decent speakers + sub (i listen to a lot of music)
10. Optic Mouse (with the scrolling wheel in the middle)
11. Internet Keyboard
12. Motherboard (I'd like 4+ USBs, If not I could just get a USB hub.. I have a lot of stuff that uses USB's)
13. Sound card? (Unless that comes with the motherboard?)

1. You won't see a performance difference between 512mb and 1gb unless you do alot of gaming.
2. I added the fastest one within your budget to my list
3. A Geforce 6600 can run anything at any resolution at medium detail or better depending on the game
4. The list now includes a 40gb main hard drive and a 120gb secondary. Your 80gb hard drive (which I'm assuming is IDE) can go on the same cable (included) as the CD/DVD combo drive
5. Included
6. Is there some reason you need another drive? You only need one drive to copy or burn CDs.
7. Those are pretty useless but I added it anyways
8. Are you saying you need an ethernet cable or an ethernet jack? The motherboard includes ethernet so it's ready for broadband
9. included
10. also included
11. also included
12. The motherboard includes 8 ports
13. integrated into motherboard

- Case - I'm not sure what Watt I should get but as it has good cooling (fans) I have my computer on almost 24/7.
Heres a few cases I liked, Not sure if they will work with what ever I get..

You should purchase a case and power supply as units of individual merit. NEVER settle for the power supply that is included with any particular case. Generic power supplies are complete junk and there are certain brands that perform worse than others.

A lot of the cases I see have like more usb ports/headphone jacks on the front.. Does that stuff come with the case?

Yes, those ports plug into the motherboard.

Also any other nessary stuff, ie: wires, hardware I'm forgetting etc...

The motherboard comes with the majority of the cables you need.

Also, This comp will be routered. So I don't know if anything else is needed for that. (I don't know crap about routers)

If the router has an integrated switch or is plugged into one and already setup then all you need is an ethernet cable to go from your new computer to the switch itself.

I think I gave you guys a better idea of what I'm looking for heh... Think something reasionable could be built for less then $1,000 (maybe even less then $800)? if I have to cut some costs I could just forget about buying two harddrives and just buy one and use my slave hd from my current comp.

Current price total is $827 (because you wanted a more beautiful case)
http://secure.newegg.com/Oldversion...w.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=1548004

And if you want to shop around newegg for a case yourself check their selection of over 200 models: http://www.newegg.com/OldVersion/app/viewproduct.asp?submit=list&catalog=7&DEPA=0

 

[erosion]

Is there any particular reason you're going with TigerDirect?

Nope thats just where I happend to look.

1. You won't see a performance difference between 512mb and 1gb unless you do alot of gaming.
2. I added the fastest one within your budget to my list
3. A Geforce 6600 can run anything at any resolution at medium detail or better depending on the game
4. The list now includes a 40gb main hard drive and a 120gb secondary. Your 80gb hard drive (which I'm assuming is IDE) can go on the same cable (included) as the CD/DVD combo drive
5. Included
6. Is there some reason you need another drive? You only need one drive to copy or burn CDs.
7. Those are pretty useless but I added it anyways
8. Are you saying you need an ethernet cable or an ethernet jack? The motherboard includes ethernet so it's ready for broadband
9. included
10. also included
11. also included
12. The motherboard includes 8 ports
13. integrated into motherboard[/url]

1. If theres not a big difference between 512mb and 1gb then i could go with a 512
6. Eh, if it'll burn cds and run cdroms I only need one... when I got my current comp (5 years ago - yeah I know its old) I remember the guy saying that I shouldnt use my burner rom for anything other then burning stuff or it'll wear out faster
7. floops arn't completely useless.. theres been times when ive needed it
8. I'm just saying I have cable

and uh...

Current price total is $827 (because you wanted a more beautiful case)
http://www.newegg.com/OldVersion/ap...price=&maxprice=&mfrcode=0&DEPA=0&InnerCata=7

And if you want to shop around newegg for a case yourself check their selection of over 200 models: http://www.newegg.com/OldVersion/app/viewproduct.asp?submit=list&catalog=7&DEPA=0

both of those links goto the same page

but yeah, big thanks for the help

 

[Captain Slug]

List link (same URL as before): http://secure.newegg.com/Oldversion...w.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=1548004

I'm on AIM now if you have any questions

 

[UPCguy23]

You'll likely find that your pc, if it's built for gaming, will handle almost anything you throw at it. The way I got into computers, was back in 1997 or so, I got a 200mhz AMD k6 computer for Christmas from my parents. I would tweak it, trying to squeeze the most power out of the components I had, short of overclocking, added hard drives and memory, etc. Within a couple years or so, I wanted to upgrade, so dad bought one of these wintergreen upgrade kits, it was a 400mhz chip, designed to plug into my old motherboard, but it did not work, but my bday was coming up, and so as my Christmas and bday presents, dad, mom and I went out, and got a new 450 mhz AMD k62, and a new case, might have gotten an S3 video card, and all that, I have been an AMD fan ever since basically we looked at chips building that pc, and the Pentium 2 400 mhz chip was like 2-300 bucks. Dad was not going to pay that, not that I blame him, and best buy had the faster AMD chip for 100 bucks. So yeah...lol.

The one thing I do not like about newegg, when I was still using power supplies that came with cases, particularly on cheap ones, trying to save money, I once had newegg ship one that came with a power supply DOA. They wanted the whole case shipped back, understandable, but then they wanted the buyer to pay return shipping. Which was aggravating, especially for a 30 something dollar case, and the shipping was going going to be like 25. Went out and bought a PSU from a local shop.

Newegg is still great, good prices, and like video cards, great deals on those. Tiger seems to have good service though, and the prices are comparable.

Erosion, you can go with a Pentium if you want, but the prices are seem higher on them. And all I hear about the Athlon 64's are good things. I personally have an AMD Athlon XP 2800+. For our church, we built a computer, put an AMD Athlon 64 2800+ in it, 512 megs of pc3200 ram, a dvd burner, roughly 200 gb of storage, and I donated my old ATI Radeon 9000 Pro 128 mb graphics card. My system I run is in my signature. I have twice the memory, faster video card with twice the video memory, and an Athlon XP chip rated at the same speed you would think mine would be faster right? No...it was not. That one with those specs was comparable to mine, in fact, I think it felt a little faster. I want one eventually, but until I get $$$$, I think I'm going to overclock and maybe upgrade small things here and there.

Look on newegg, as a comparison, a 3 ghz Intel Pentium 4 will cost you 175 bucks. That's retail with fan. But no 64 bit support. An AMD Athlon 64 rated at 3000+ can be had for 146-148 bucks. This does have the 64 bit support, also has the fan and heatsink, and has great performance. In my mind, a better buy. Not only that, but you can use your 32 bit applications and software with it, and then when a 64 bit version of Windows has been perfected and can run everything sufficiently, and you get that, and install it, you should see a performance increase. Plus, with the money you save, you can put it into something else. More bang for the buck my friend.

You say you were looking at wanting a nice case like a gaming case? How about this, it's on ebay, I can't tell you much about the company making the case, but the people have a good feedback rating, I like it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=51063&item=6778628083&rd=1



Yet another....one of my favorites................

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=51062&item=6778579875&rd=1

Just look on ebay and newegg and tiger. On ebay there are tons of nice looking cases, just watch the shipping, you'll notice many of them are cheap prices, but big bucks on shipping, but if your are going to spend 60-80 dollars for a case, it evens out.

Also, to everyone, not just Erosion, I am kind of thinking in the back of my mind maybe he should look into Socket 939 instead of Socket 754? If he is going to go for a nice motherboard toward the lower end, as he says he is going to run stock, he will probably pay a little more, but my thought is that maybe Socket 939 would be a better idea for him, as there will probably be a longer lifespan in that Socket type, and so if he is looking for upgradeability, then he would have it. Also, perhaps if there is something reasonable in the PCI Express flavor of graphics cards, perhaps he should look into that, that way, if in a year or so, he wants a faster chip and faster video card, he's not stuck, but is able to move up. It may cost him a little more now though, and that's up to him, but what does everyone think of this?

 

[UPCguy23]

Oh.....side note....what do you guys think about sound? He's wanting speakers with a sub, and most decent motherboards have good sound cards built in, but if he's like into music or anything, should he look into a pci sound card?

 

[erosion]

List link (same URL as before): http://secure.newegg.com/Oldversion...w.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=1548004

I'm on AIM now if you have any questions

hmm I nocited the holes on the platething on the back of the case dont appear to line up with the motherboard...

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-133-142-10.JPG
http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/13-136-147-07.JPG

edit: I started looking at other cases to see, and none of the cases I seen seem to match the motherboard sockets

edit #2: I just noticed the motherboard comes with a plate thing, Witch I'm guessing fits where the other one would go
http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/13-136-147-04.JPG heh, that was one of my moments of retardism I noticed it didnt line up but didn't notice the plate that fits heh. go me go me.

 

[UPCguy23]

Erosion, you have to look at what it says will fit, lke if the case says it will take ATX, micro ATX, or another flavor, or all of them, and your motherboard is listed as one of the(example, ATX, etc.) flavors that case accepts, it should fit no problem.

 

[Captain Slug]

hmm I nocited the holes on the platething on the back of the case dont appear to line up with the motherboard...

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-133-142-10.JPG
http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/13-136-147-07.JPG

edit: I started looking at other cases to see, and none of the cases I seen seem to match the motherboard sockets

edit #2: I just noticed the motherboard comes with a plate thing, Witch I'm guessing fits where the other one would go
http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/13-136-147-04.JPG heh, that was one of my moments of retardism I noticed it didnt line up but didn't notice the plate that fits heh. go me go me.

1. The case is ATX, The motherboard is ATX. The hole pattern is standard. If you pick an ATX motherboard, you have to pick an ATX sized case. If you pick a Micro ATX motherboard (which is slightly smaller) you can pick Micro ATX or ATX sized cases.

The brackets shown in this image: http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-133-142-10.JPG
are for mounting hard drives and optical drives (the CD Burner)

2. The "plate thing" is the I/O cover and you use whichever one fits the motherboard. The one that comes with the case is removable.

 

[Scott9027]

If you get a 939 board w/ PCI-E don't jump straight to 6600's. Depending on the level of gaming you do, you could be served just as well by an X300. I know some people here play games with it. Anyway, just mentioning that spending over $150 on the video card is not a necessity if you don't need it.

 

[Captain Slug]

Agreed, but so many people have told him it's what he needs and his budget is large enough to accomodate it without sacrificing anywhere else that I decided not to point that out. He could do just fine with a $100 video card if he wants to save an extra $50 or spring for a faster processor.
However, with the number of qualifications he has for this build at the moment, jumping to socket 939 adds a bit of a cost difference ($100) on its own.

Oh.....side note....what do you guys think about sound? He's wanting speakers with a sub, and most decent motherboards have good sound cards built in, but if he's like into music or anything, should he look into a pci sound card?

Onboard sound is way better than it used to be and in most cases performs the same as the majority of PCI sound cards. The advantage of a PCI sound card nowadays is negligable for playback and would really only be needed if your were either having problems with the onboard sound, or needed to do high-quality recording and mixing.

 

[UPCguy23]

Yeah, I noticed like my onboard sound is about as good as my Creative soundblaster 5.1, in fact, I'm using onboard sound over the creative 5.1, you are correct, it would probably be just fine unless someone is just a pure sound junkie,and you are right about 939 adding cost. It's up to him totally, but depending on how long he will keep his machine it might not be a bad idea. Just because then when he's wanting to upgrade in a couple years, he's not looking at an obselete video card slot and processor socket that he can't find decent parts for, whereas with 939 and PCI-E, when he wants to upgrade, he can just put out the money for a chip and gfx card, and have a fairly current system again. Socket 754 is great and so is AGP, it's just up to him what he wants, if he wants to spend now or later. Just some options.

 

[erosion]

it would probably be just fine unless someone is just a pure sound junkie

heh, as for the speakers... it does'nt really matter to me if my computer speakers are top-notch best of the best aslong as there not total crap.. I save all the good music stuff for my car

 

[UPCguy23]

Hey, if he did wish to look into 939, how about this video card instead of a 6600?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102419

Sapphire, ATI X600 Pro, 256 mb of video ram, and faster speeds on both the ram and memory than a 6600. It's only 89 bucks too. Cheapest 6600 on newegg is in the neighborhood of 120. So maybe go with that. That would drop off some of the sting of going to 939....everyone says the 6600 is good, and I don't know, because I've never used one, but it looks like the specs on this are a little better than a 6600, but not quite as much as a 6600 GT. I didn't see any reviews on that particular card, but sapphire is supposed to be one of the better people with ATI cards.

And for a board, how about this one??

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813152049

Chaintech N-Force 4 ultra....seems nice, and you can get a combo special on ram as well, I think like 33.99 ith that board, not a big price break, but some. That board has 4 out of 5 stars after 71 reviews.

Another one.......

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138249

Biostar N-Force 4 ultra, 102 bucks. I saw some boards as low as 78-80 with the N-Force 4 chipset though. So it's kind of up to you, but with those, I woudl consider going that route, because the processors are not much different in price than 754 if I'm not mistaken, if the performance would indeed be the same or comparable, I'd go with 939 and PCI-E if it were me just for future upgradability so you are not stuck buying a new motherboard, cpu and video card when you want to upgrade and take a huge chunk out of your wallet then.

 

[erosion]

Caption Slug, What do you think of upcguy's suggestions above?


also.. I showed the setup you picked at another forum to see what they'd think... over all they think its a pretty good setup for the price. One person suggested that I should get two of these 80gb Hd insted of the 120 and 40
http://www.newegg.com/OldVersion/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-148-040&depa=1
They over all its a few bucks cheaper and its the same ammout of space and he said should run faster.. then he suggested getting this processor with the few bucks I saved on the Hd's http://www.newegg.com/OldVersion/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=19-103-486&DEPA=1
he said it should give me the best proformance from the video card you picked

 

[Captain Slug]

Captain Slug, What do you think of upcguy's suggestions above?

I shuffled the parts around a little to make the machine more future-proof and the price went up less than I expected it to. The total is now $840, but you're getting a faster system over-all for what you're planning to use it for.

also.. I showed the setup you picked at another forum to see what they'd think... over all they think its a pretty good setup for the price. One person suggested that I should get two of these 80gb Hd insted of the 120 and 40
http://www.newegg.com/OldVersion/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-148-040&depa=1
They over all its a few bucks cheaper and its the same ammout of space and he said should run faster..

Sure it's fater, but it's also louder. 40gb is way more than enough space for an operating system and main program hard drive. You can install all of your games and keep your documents on the 120gb hard drive for safety and speed.

then he suggested getting this processor with the few bucks I saved on the Hd's http://www.newegg.com/OldVersion/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=19-103-486&DEPA=1
he said it should give me the best proformance from the video card you picked

The new list has considerably faster Processor, Motherboard, and RAM
I updated the list with socket 939 parts and went with a more moderate video card and the price difference is only $30 from the previous list.
http://secure.newegg.com/Oldversion...w.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=1548004

 

[erosion]

the price difference is only $30 from the previous list.

Eh, thats not bad if the machine will perform better