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Anybody up to helping me build a new comp?
BigPeeler
Member Posts: 1,270
well, im gonna be getting a good sum of $$$ next month so i've decided to finally drop this old POS i've been gaming with for the past 2 years and finally buy something i can brag about...
im CURRENTLY using...
- AMD Duron 1.1ghz
- 768MB DDR RAM
- 32MB geforce2
and what i WANT is...
- 2.5ghz+ processor
- 256MB vid card
- 2ghz RAM...
the thing is that aside from that im not really sure what else i need... im also not too great when it comes to fitting it all together, but buying pre-assembled is crap... bassically i want to order EVERYTHING i need online (probably newegg or something) then get this local shop i know (they give me sweet discounts) to assemble it for cheap...
SOOO... if somebody who knows what im gonna need and doesnt mind bassically "holding my hand" while i buy the needed gear, it would help alot...
im willing to spend roughly $2000 CAD, although i dont mind going over as long as its not like... too much...
btw im giving my old comp to my little brother, so i cant really use anything from it... all i really have are the WinXP Home Edition install, mouse, and keyboard... everything else i gotta get =P
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Games Played - Too many to list~
Games Currently Playing - City of Heroes
Favorite Game So Far - Lineage 1 ^^
Waiting For - WoW (OB is gonna be hell T_T l337 d3wdz everywhere =_=)
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Comments
You don't need 2 gigs of RAM. Not unless your doing some code compiling or movie encoding. Drop it down to 1 gig and get a 3+ ghz CPU. I would still recommend P4 because they are more compatible than AMD and the performance is about the same. I would go with GeForce for the exact same reason. Get a good fast HD also. 5400 RPM should be good. Get the parts of www.pricewatch.com. There are even pre-built or customizable computers there.
"Feel free to hate me, but hate me for the right reasons."
"Your still ignorant if you believe the first thing you see when the blindfold is removed."
"Be smart enough to know I'm smarter than you."
First off the best place online to buy IMHO would be at http://www.tomshardware.com/
Now, here is a list of the basics you will need for your complete system. However brand and model are your decision to go with.
I suggest a mid tower case. Usually Antec is a good brand. Even Alienware uses them however they have special orders specifically for Alienware. The case usually comes with a Power supply and should shouldn't have one any less than 500 watts. Plus you will need atleast one intake fan and one outbound fan . Depending on the case you get. The case specs should inform you on the size and count.
Now you will need a 3.5 floppy Which should come with a floppy data cable, if not order one.
Also you will need atleast a CD-ROM drive. But most prefer to go ahead with a DvD R-RW that also can R-RW CD-ROM. Usually they come with IDE data cables and the screws however make sure they do or you will need to order them as well.
Now about the Hard drive I would recommend that you get the SATA and not ATA if you are very serious about gaming and can afford it. You want atleast a 7200 RPM and a seektime/readtime lower than 8ms. I would suggest to either get a Maxtor or Western Digital, however Seagate and a few others are pretty good to.
Now a real important part.
Motherboard, Memory and Processor.
I am not going to tell you which to get but of course your true only good options are AMD or Intel. Now what ever you plan to use then you need to decide what motherboard to get. This is where you will probably need someone with knowledge to hold your hand or you should do so decent research on before you buy so you don't get the wrong thing. However, I can say that FIC, Gigabyte, ABIT, Soyo and some other are typically the ones you want to look at. However depending on the processor you want then you need to look at what motherboard to get. Now once you know the CPU and board you are going to get then you need to findout what type of memory the board supports. Typically it is a good idea to get a board that supports DDR2 DUAL CHANNEL SDRAM. Now as for brand, well I recommend Kingston, but someboards work well with certain brands so you need to look into that as well. When it comes to Board/CPU/Memory there are a lot of things to consider. Also as for being a PC consultant I would have to say I would have to be with you in person to help you the best. If you have a Fry's Electronis or something that is like fry's I would go there and do a lot of talking with their motherboard sales guys. Some of them don't know their head from their arse. But sometimes you get lucky and talk to someone that really knows their boards. Oh and don't forget to get the CPU fan. There are some cool fans out there that help alot including some heat sinks for memory and extra little fans for your Hard drive.
Ok, now once you got this stuff out of the way. You need to look at any I/O devices you need.
Monitor, Keyboard, mouse, printer, scanner, digital cam and other crap. As for brand and model. I hope you know what you want on this since mainly most of this is prefferencial. However as for keyboard and mouse. I prefer Logitech
..Print and scan I prefer HP. Monitor. I would look as size and the DP max refresh and max res. As for dig cam, well that I wouldn't want to steer you wrong.
Now, for the Peripherals. Well this part you will determine a few things. More than likely you are either on cable or dial-up. So you know if you need ethernet or modem. Or like most boards it will have an onboard ethernet card so you won't have to waste money buying one. Same as with modem. So pay attention what comes on your motherboard. Some even come with onboard sound if you don't care to have a hard core 5.1 or 7.1 surround system. Otherwise get a sound card if you do and don't forget to buy that awesome surround sound system. Now, outside of that is the most important outside of the CPU/Memory/Board
Now is the time to pick..... Radeon or GeForce FX. I am sure you already know what you plan to get so I won't get into that.
Ok, that is basically what you will need. Now about the build process I hope you won't need help on that, otherwise I suggest you just go get a Dell or Alienware.
However on a final note it is good to get a bag of zip ties, usually ones that are pretty thin and atleast 6" long. It is good to zip tie your data cables and wirings after you finish installing most parts to keep the case clean of a wire web. So that in case you need to clear dust or do some repairs it will give you easy access and to help avoid pulling cables when you have your hands in the case. Plus if you get a clear case with cool neon lights it helps make it look nicer inside, hehe.
Anyway, that is about it. I hope I didn't forget anything. However, if you do have a Warehouse store like Fry's Electronics in your town I would suggest you spend time there rather than going online to buy. You will get great assistance and if anything doesn't work or not compatible it is easier to return it for something else.
Well, I hope I helped. Good luck and I will watch this thread just incase you need any other info.
sweet~
thanks for the great info
okay so, i think i've decided on www.tigerdirect.ca for the parts (the .ca because im canadian)...
i'll get what i can together in a cart and post it up here so you can take a look at it...
as for the build process itself, i've never personally put a computer together myself, but im fairly good with computers/electronics, and have put in stuff like modems, CD-ROM's and RAM in comps before... i feel fairly confident enough to pull it off... not to mention i'll still have this comp online during the build so i can get help that way...
so ya... i'll start slapping that stuff together... tomorrow...
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Games Played - Too many to list~
Games Currently Playing - City of Heroes
Favorite Game So Far - Lineage 1 ^^
Waiting For - WoW (OB is gonna be hell T_T l337 d3wdz everywhere =_=)
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ok, cool. Just remember about ESD and maybe even buy a ESD strap. or atleast make a habit of touching the side of the case before touching any parts like the motherboard, memory or any other part that is a visable circuit board that can be touched.
Also try to do what you can to match up motherboard, memory and CPU. Oh BTW, one thing to can do to make sure you get a motherboard, CPU and memory is see if tigerdirect has combo boards where they have the board, CPU and memory already together as a price deal. That way you know you got a compatible setup. Oh Also maybe it is a good time to upgrade to WinXP if you don't already have it. I like it much better than Win98SE and of course WinME was not a option for me. But most I know that didn't want to leave Win98SE, finally did and after getting use to it they would never go back
Also here are a few good links to help you along the way so you don't mess things up and a good resource.
http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/
http://www.motherboards.org/articlesd/how-to-guides/924_1.html
Also if you get a combo deal you more than likely won't have to mess with the BIOS. However, if you are pretty familar with the BIOS and setting up the core voltage, Frequency and such then I think you will be fine.
I will try to come back here tomorrow, it is like 3:30am for me now so I got to crash.
I will check here tomorrow night to see if you need any help. If you need help sooner I recommend the pcmech site, they have a tech forum where you will get a wealth of information.
Good luck and I hope your new system blazes
okay i spent a few hours on tigerdirect.ca and think i have something worked out...
okay here's what i have...
Motherboard/Processor - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1061504&sku=MBM-D915PB-540
Case/PSU - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=934977&sku=AMD-500-BLUF
CDROM - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=234669&sku=A451-2122%20BL
Harddrive - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=322750&sku=THD-80JB%20P
Memory - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=669365&sku=C13-4911
Video Card - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=716809&sku=P450-8511
Case Fan - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=565370&sku=T13-3001
Harddrive Cooler/Fan - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=664351&sku=ULT31048
CPU Cooler/Fan - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1020243&sku=S457-1029
Monitor - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1076549&sku=N122-1706
Keyboard - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1051548&sku=M17-1831
Mouse - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=383572&sku=L23-6146
Floppy Drive - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=313606&sku=TC1-6000%20BL
Sound Card - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=879437&sku=C44-5022%20OEM
Speakers - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1068238&sku=L23-6322
total cost = $1,979.85 CAD ($2,220.39 w/S&H + Tax)
anyways ya... as far as i know, thats everything i really need right?... i mean, aside from cables maybe (which hopefully most of the stuff will come with)...
anyways, what i need to know now is whether everything is compatible... im pretty sure most of it is... was being pretty careful about it =/...
also, any suggestions are VERY welcome... i still have like a month before i can do this so that's plenty of time to change things around... this is just ROUGHLY what im looking for...
anything im missing, or anything i have that i dont need?... (keep in mind i already have Windows XP Home install)
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Games Played - Too many to list~
Games Currently Playing - City of Heroes
Favorite Game So Far - Lineage 1 ^^
Waiting For - WoW (OB is gonna be hell T_T l337 d3wdz everywhere =_=)
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You should consider looking at a different video card. If you are a big gamer... go for atleast a Radeon 9800 series card. However, I would definitely recommend nvidia's 6800 series, the GT is an especially good deal.
--------------------------------
Games Played - Too many to list~
Games Currently Playing - City of Heroes
Favorite Game So Far - Lineage 1 ^^
Waiting For - WoW (OB is gonna be hell T_T l337 d3wdz everywhere =_=)
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