Building a computer

[TNT]

Well me and my friend have made the choice to each build a computer, here are a few things i am having in mind. it must be pretty good at gaming, be my "back up" storage (50-80gb), and be cheap

i picked up this case \/\/ at a close out of a near by CompUSA. they still have some grahpic cards and cooling stuff. but before i get any farther i thought i could get some input from you all on what parts and where i should get the parts. name brands don't matter to me, and its not going to be used everyday, just some avg. computer gaming and storage mainly.

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15139#
http://www.antec.com/images/400/Sonata2_q_r.jpg

(by the way i get the case for 85 dollars)

[dutchmasterflex]

A gaming PC and a PC for back up storage are pretty much on the extreme sides of building a PC. All you need to run a decent back up server is a Pentium III.

Since yo uwant to be gaming, and I'm assuming you want some of the latest stuff (core 2, etc) for cheap. The best way to go is the Intel Core 2 Duo E4300. Runs at 1.8ghz but can be easily over clocked to 3.0ghz.

Pick up a the gigabyte ds3 motherboard that anandtech.com and tomshardware.com mentions when reviewing the E4300. Cheap motherboard, great for overclocking stability.

All you need to find is some cheap DDR2 800mhz ram, and figure out how much you want to spend on a video card.

Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8ghz - $160
Gigabyte Motherboard - $120
Crucial DDR800 RAM - $200
GeForce 8800GTS 320mb - $300

I just bought the listed hardware minus the motherboard, I went with a more expensive Asus P5B Deluxe board.

[TNT]

well when i say storage it mean HD space. but its main purpose is cheap but quality gaming.


so on the power supply that came with the case those parts listed will work fine? and what is the best video card for that setup? also what is a good combo motherboard? i am worried about installing all this, since its my first build ever. so the fewer the parts the better.



edit: anything on this page? (i am leaning to AMD b/c they are cheaper)

http://www.newegg.com/Special/Combo.aspx?Subcategory=22&Brand=0&SaveCompare=0&SaveAmount=&item=&ListType=combo&action=search

[dutchmasterflex]

the graphics card is 267 shipped from newegg if you get the evga one!!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130082

You can get the factory overclocked one for 15 more bucks, which is the one I got.

These are all the parts you WILL need... can't really skip out on parts when building a computer just like everything else.

Building a PC yourself might proved to be a bit of a nuisance if its your first tie. Make sure you have a computer nerd by your side to lend a helping hand.

[TNT]

well budget not including some fancy bits (graphics card and cooling) i would like to keep near 500 dollars if possible.

but what parts do i need that are a must to run the computer?

motherboard/CPU, video card, sound card, cooling, etc?

[TNT]

it came with a power supply.

also my major question is should i get a motherboard/cpu/video card combo (one item) or just put them together?

I was looking at AMD more so with ATI graphics card, but what else is needed and what is a good stable set up.

edit:

what about this set up?

ASUS A8V-XE Socket 939 VIA K8T890 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
EVGA 256-P2-N412-LX GeForce 7100GS 512MB(256MB bn Board) GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Venice 2.2GHz Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3400DAA4BY - OEM
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2000JS 200GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

[TNT]

what kinda gaming do you plan on doing?? what size monitor do you have??

depending on the monitor size, that will help determine the best gc for you!!

no monitor yet, but racing games are going to be the biggest games played maybe some Flight Sim.


s939 is an old technology, you have to be really stupid to invest in that now...

Nothing forbids you to wait an extra month or so that you have a little more money for it...

well i was looking for low prices first, this is why i am asking b/c i am not sure what is new what isn't. i mean i know basics just from the amount of time i spend on a computer everyday. but models etc. of parts i am not sure on.

Also i am looking to at what OS i should run? vista or XP? the three games i will most likely have are R-Factor, Flight Sim., and Unreal Tournament 3.

[dutchmasterflex]

If you're making a budget gaming PC, stick with XP.

What are the prices for the stuff you picked out already?

[TNT]

all that i have right now is a power supply and case, total spent so far is 85 dollars. nothing else is set in stone.

just did some researching what about this set up

MSI K9A Platinum Socket AM2 ATI CrossFire Radeon Xpress 3200 ATX AMD Motherboard - x1
AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 Windsor 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor - x1
ATI 100-437509 Radeon X1600PRO 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 CrossFire Support Video Card - x2
Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - x1
Kingston HyperX 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1200 (PC2 9600) Desktop Memory - x1 (for now)
LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model LH-16D1P-187 - x1


I still need some help on a sound card. the speakers i have now are a subwoofer and two small speakers.

[dutchmasterflex]

List the prices for the hardware you pick out, I might be able to suggest a better setup for the cost.

You should be able to do with out a sound card as onboard (built in to the motherboard) isnt too shabby these days.

[TNT]

that video card isnt that great, yeah its 512mb but its only 128bit and that holds it back some.

the rest looks fine I think.


so, what are you looking for monitor wise?? the bigger the monitor you get the better gc your going to need.


monitor will be my TV if i can hook it up. or a basic CRT. but the video cards has that CrossFire tech. where you run the two cards as one. so wouldn't that help make up that its 128bit?



List the prices for the hardware you pick out, I might be able to suggest a better setup for the cost.

You should be able to do with out a sound card as onboard (built in to the motherboard) isnt too shabby these days.

MB - $128.99
CPU - $369.00
VC - $169.99 (x2)
HD - $32.99
Memory - $198.49
DVD - $17.99

[dutchmasterflex]

I still think you'd get better performance with a overclocked E4300 Core 2 duo, which will cut your costs by $200

And instead of getting 2 X1600's you're better off getting 1 GeForce 8800 GTS 320mb for $300.

Oh yea, 80GB is absolutely NOTHING these days. With game installs taking up 3GB, HD movies, and new applications, you're going to need at least a 160GB.

[dutchmasterflex]

To give you an idea how the current AMD processors run against Intel's stuff, check this out.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/26/the_gigahertz_battle/page14.html

E4300 running at 2.4ghz easily out runs the 2.4ghz CPU's from AMD. With a $50 heatsink fan for the chip you can run it at over 3GHz all for over a hundred less than what you're looking at now.

[Erez]

..nothing to add.. listen to master flex :wink:

also check http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html

[TNT]

thats fine i am not brand boy. but i am not really to sure if i want to overclock though. i mean i will try it but, everything else works well together right? oh about the harddrive i know its not much space, i have my laptop also, so i would really be having 160GB and i wouldn't have anything more then a basic OS and then the games that is it. so space isn't to bad.


edit:
cheaper and better?

ECS PT890T-A V1.0 LGA 775 VIA PT890 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
WINTEC AMPO 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
SAPPHIRE 100129L Radeon X800GTO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

[dutchmasterflex]

Overclocking is as simple as logging on to AOL these days. Don't be afraid.

[dutchmasterflex]

Overclocking is as simple as logging on to AOL these days. Don't be afraid.

Not to sure bout ECS boards, but the gigabyte I've been mentioning has solid transistors which are a must for reliability and really make it great for overclocking.

Get Crucial Dominator DDR800 PC6400, 2GB (x2 1GB) costs about $200 but its worth it.

[TNT]

so what motherboard/chip set should i get, i am really just looking for something to be able to just get me started so the biggest thing that i wouldn't really want to replace is the motherboard, anything else i think i will be ok replacing down the road.

[dutchmasterflex]

What do you want? On board sound? Dual Ethernet? Firewire?

Take a look at the Gigabyte Ronin has mentioned and the ASUS P5B Deluxe.

As for a CPU, if you really do not want to mess with overclocking or installing a serious Heatsink/fan, Go for the E6300's, but check and see if it has 4MB of cache. I know for Q2 of this year Intel is upgrading the cache on those chips for the same price.

But as I keep saying, if you overclock the E4300 it will run as if it were a $700 dollar processor, except you only spent $160 for it.

[TNT]

MSI 945P Neo3-F LGA 775 Intel 945P ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Pentium 4 650 Prescott 3.4GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
MSI NX7900GS-T2D512E-OC GeForce 7900GS 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Over CLock Edition Video Card

[dutchmasterflex]

Dude, forget P4's. Core 2 Duo's are so cheap now it should be the only processor you are looking at, unless you want to wait for new stuff(which will be expensive).

[TNT]

so is this better even though it cost s bit more

MSI 945P Neo3-F LGA 775 Intel 945P ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor

[Erez]

way better

[TNT]

dude i swear that you said Neo 3 FI earlier.

but what is the difference between them?

[TopGearNL]

TNT, 965P Neo2, trust me :)
Watch less porn, work more ;)

LOL! :lol:

[dutchmasterflex]

yup.. quarter 2 price cuts and upgrades

[TNT]

TNT, if you havent bought anything then dont!! there are going to be some price cuts about april 22nd, so if you can wait then do wait and save your self some cash on the cpu!!


heres an article about it!!
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=2963&p=1

cool thanks man