Want to Build a PC?

[jangell2]

I thinking about building my own pc for the first time. I will be running some version of Windows (I currently have XP). I want one that will run Photoshop or a demanding game at full resolution with no problems. Needs to have good sound, but doesn't have to vibrate the walls. Am I correct to assume a system that can do this will also do well running more mundane things like MS Office?

Seems like the motherboard is the place to start. I was reading a PC World review and liked the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe (particularly the part about exceptional documentation). Its a socket 939 board, which according to AMD, will support a dual-core chip when released. If I build this before the dual cores come out, I'm thinking I could still upgrade the cpu in a couple years if I feel the need.

I noticed good remarks on Thermaltake cases in another post. I'd want a full-sized case with good cooling, with at least 2 usb plugs on the front. I think I want one with a full-sized window on the side, unless there's a good reason not to do this.

How do I know the motherboard fits the case? I notice on the Asus site the board's form factor is ATX and on Newegg the compatibility with the Thermaltake case is ATX, ATX Micro AND Extend ATX. Does this mean the case and board are compatible?

I really want this pc to have a good monitor. I'm willing to spring for the Dell 2405 (24" flat panel). I've read good things about it else where. Any one have any experience with it here? What would be a good video card match for it considering my requirements?

I have a logitech wireless keyboard and mouse which I could keep or it could stay with the old computer. Ditto on an Altec Lansing speaker system with subwoofer. I want the old system to be a complete system as I plan to donate it to a favorate humane organization I'm involved with.

I also have a super-drive in my current system which I want to transfer to the new one.

Is there a thread here that dicusses all the different issues to consider when building a system? I can use all the advice I can get. So far, I haven't thought further then what I've mentioned.

johnny

[IneRtia dRaft]

I'll help you out then.

To be honest, you really dont need a dual core PC system. you ain't running anything big.

AMD 64 and the Asus A8N mobos are the way to go. The MSI Neo mobo are good also. I would recommend you to wait for the new Asus A8N SLi Premium. Yet are you planning to run SLi? Or else it will be a waste of money if your not.

I love thermaltake. I love them for their power supply units, and their small accessories.

Each different form factor has different screw position on the case/motherboard tray. You have to MAKE SURE that the form factor is compatiable with the case you want to purchase. Most PC that us use are ATX.

I'm guessing your a gamer right? 24 inch is bad for game. Haha. That's all I have to say. It's nice to have something big as that. Yet it will suck up so much power you'll be paying your energy bill as high as gas is worth nowadays. A 17 inch LCD monitor is the PERFECT resolution for gaming. Even the pro dont game anything higher than 19 inch.

Logitech product are very nice. Wireless system can cause problem if there is anything that can disturb it. Such as cordless phone, radio and etc.

Altec speakers are downgrading. I would never recommend for it. Try something like a Klipsch Pro Audio 2.1 or 4.1 or even 6.1. Whatever fits your price. These speakers sound so nice you'll pissing in your pants. How do I know? I have them. Haha. It's very beautiful work. Beautiful and sturdy material.

Super drive? What harddrive interface is it? ATA i'm guessing? Of course you can keep your old one as long you have the right jumper setting for it.


I am guessing you want to upgrade your PC is to play Half Life 2, CS:S, Doom 3 and etc?

If so I recommend at LEAST:

3500+ or up (do not go 3200+ you'll regret it, few extra bucks wont hurt)
at least 1 GB worth of Pc3200 DDR400 ram. Corsair perferred. Yet up to you.
480 or higher watts power supply unit.
since its a SLi mobo, if your planning to run SLI you need to make sure you have a lot of cooling.
if money is not the issue go for 6800 series. GT or Ultra its your choice. I am currently running under ONE 6800GT and getting over 140 FPS in Counter-Strike Source. I'm going to purchase another one to run SLi soon. So it combining both of these 2 cards. It should equal to the power of a SINGLE 6800 Ultra. Yet of course I tweaked my video card.

[jangell2]

Originally Posted by IneRtia dRaft

I'll help you out then.

To be honest, you really dont need a dual core PC system. you ain't running anything big.

I tend to keep my pc's for a long time, so I'm just trying to think into the future, to have something that could be upgraded without replacing the motherboard.

Originally Posted by IneRtia dRaft

I would recommend you to wait for the new Asus A8N SLi Premium. Yet are you planning to run SLi? Or else it will be a waste of money if your not.

What's special about the Premium and when will it be available? I don't plann on running two graphics board in the beginning, but again, going with this type of mobo gives me that option should I find it necessary.

Originally Posted by IneRtia dRaft

I love thermaltake. I love them for their power supply units, and their small accessories.

Do power supplies automatically come with the case? Can I specify which ps I want?

Originally Posted by IneRtia dRaft

Each different form factor has different screw position on the case/motherboard tray. You have to MAKE SURE that the form factor is compatiable with the case you want to purchase. Most PC that us use are ATX.

On the Asus site, the boards form factor is ATX and on Newegg the case compatability lists ATX. Does this take care screw position or any other issues?

Originally Posted by IneRtia dRaft

I'm guessing your a gamer right? 24 inch is bad for game. Haha. That's all I have to say. It's nice to have something big as that. Yet it will suck up so much power you'll be paying your energy bill as high as gas is worth nowadays.

Actually, I'm not much of a gamer, but every so often I get the bug to play. Mostly I want the monitor for use with photoshop. Do you really think an lcd would suck up much power?

Originally Posted by IneRtia dRaft

If so I recommend at LEAST:

3500+ or up (do not go 3200+ you'll regret it, few extra bucks wont hurt)
at least 1 GB worth of Pc3200 DDR400 ram. Corsair perferred. Yet up to you.
480 or higher watts power supply unit.

Agree to at least 3500+, 1GB ram, 480 or better ps. See above question regarding case & ps.

Originally Posted by IneRtia dRaft

since its a SLi mobo, if your planning to run SLI you need to make sure you have a lot of cooling.
if money is not the issue go for 6800 series. GT or Ultra its your choice. I am currently running under ONE 6800GT and getting over 140 FPS in Counter-Strike Source. I'm going to purchase another one to run SLi soon. So it combining both of these 2 cards. It should equal to the power of a SINGLE 6800 Ultra. Yet of course I tweaked my video card.

I took a quick look at new egg and the most expensive Ultra was about $100 more than the most expensive GT. Seems likes its cheaper in the long run to get the Ultra right off the bat. If I start out with just one card, how many fans should I have, if two, how many fans?

One thing that makes me most nervous about building my own system is installing the cpu on the mobo and applying fans or heatsinks to cpu. Can the mobo be bought with these already installed?

johnny

[IneRtia dRaft]

The A8N SLi Premium finished it's design on March 2005. I'm saying around May or June it should come out. Info abou the new mobo is here: http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20050323/

Running SLi is a good thing espically if your gaming. Are you a gamer? If so, huge FPS difference in the game depending on your settings.

Depending what cases you want or where you buy it some cases dont come with a power supply. Some do. Try here: www.monarchcomputer.com they can help you test the equipment before sending it out to their customer. For me, I had to purchase the case and the PSU seperately.

For my PSU, I have a fan build inside the supply unit and it has a external bay fan controller. Which basically means I can control the PSU fan to high or low depending on how much stress my PC is going through. Such as gaming and etc.

As long the mobo and the case HAS THE SAME FORM FACTOR. You are fine.

No LCD won't suck up as much power as the CRT monitor. Yet if your going for photoshop any monitor will fit your need. It's based on your money budget.

If your a wealthy guy and you can afford 2 video cards at once. Go ahead. Yet unlike me, I bought just one and saving up for the other one to run SLi. The Ultra is at least $100-200 more than the 6800 GT version. Depending on the brand of the video card and the modification to it.

Cooling is very important. Running 2 video cards can circulate heat which is bad. You should have 3 intake fans and 2 exhaust fans. Try putting on an aftermarket video card fan than stock.

If your running 1 video card, 3-4 fans should be good enough. (Not including PSU fan) thats if your planning to have a PSU that has a fan in it.

Being afraid to build your own PC is normal. I had that feeling and my hand sweat so much I had to go wash my hand. There are places where you select what motherboard and CPU/fan you want. They will test it and ship it out to you. Go here: www.monarchcomputer.com and click under AMD Combo.

[jangell2]

I went to MonarchComputer and was pleasantly suprised. First think I clicked on was Barebone Systems. I configured a system and got a quote. I had assumed that their individual prices on components would be higher, than Newegg.com, which I've seen praised here.

Here is the quote. The 2nd column of prices is what Newegg wants for the same item. There's a huge difference in the price of the memory. BTW, there are several different types of Corsair memory within the type you recommended so I'm not sure how good the memory I selected is.

I kinda blue-skied this quote. Not sure I can afford it, but it's a starting place.

johnny


Pre-Tested and Setup AMD Athlon 64/FX (939) Barebones System 1 $18.00
Case: 100679 - No PS - Thermaltake VA3000BWA Tsunami Dre $110.00
Power Supply: 100874 - PS 560W - Thermaltake W0023RUC ATX 12V Po $107.00
Case Fan: 100933 - 80mm - Thermaltake 80mm Case Fan w/Flashi $12.80
Motherboard: 110257 - Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe nForce4 SLI Audio/GB- $175.00 $184
Processor: 120468 - AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 512K (939) (Retail Bo $366.00 $373
Heatsink Fan: 800083 - None - Fan REQUIRED - except with RETAIL
Thermal Grease: 800018 - Shin-Etsu G675 Thermal Grease (Cools CPU $14.00
Memory: 140210 - DDR (400) 3200 - 2 GB (2 pcs 1GB) Corsair $355.00 $549
2nd Memory: None
Round Cables: 270157 - Round Cables UV Kit 2-24" IDE 1-18" FDD 1 $29.00
Warranty: 800036 - Motherboard-CPU Warranty - 3 Year w/30 Da $29.95
Far Cry Promotion: 270846 - FREE Full DVD Version of Far Cry - 39.95
Napster Promotion: 270136 - FREE Napster Music Download for 4 Months
Half Life 2 Promotion: 27F854 - FREE Half Life 2 Full Version Coupon with

TOTAL $1216.75

[jangell2]

I looked at the Premium card on Tom's Hardware and the only difference in the boards I see is that SLI is enabled via the rom bios or windows utility, whereas the current board require setting a switch on the board itself.

If you have two graphics cards and have turned the switch on, is there a reason why you'd ever want to turn it off? Unless there's a need to go back and forth, this change seems minor to me.

Read a little more. It seems it would also require two reboots after turning SLI on or off.

BTW, do the mobos usually come with most required cables to hook up components (hard drives, video cards...)?

johnny

[IneRtia dRaft]

Good memories are usually the "Corsair XMS Low Lantencyy" memory.

Good memories are the low lantency memories. which are also good for games.

Mobo usually comes with cables for IDE, SATA harddrives, and even SATA2 cables if the mobo supports them new SATA2.

Also the premium mobo supports SATA2. So thats why. It's also good $300 when it comes out. Hahah.

No video card requires any cables to plug in unless you have a ATi card. MOST ATi card will require a power cord from the PSU to power that card up.

I think it's more convient to be able to control the SLi under the windows utilty than to pop the case and etc. I'm lazy, i'm sorry. My headphones are even USB port cause i'm too lazy to pull the case and do all that junk. I'm just dead lazy. Hah.

Monarchcomputers is where i got my case and PSU. They tested make sure it wasn't a new PSU which I had in the past with Newegg. It was a pain to send it back to them and wait for another PSU to come. Besides, AMD certify Monarchcomputers as their vendors.

[jangell2]

Originally Posted by IneRtia dRaft

Monarchcomputers is where i got my case and PSU. They tested make sure it wasn't a new PSU which I had in the past with Newegg. It was a pain to send it back to them and wait for another PSU to come. Besides, AMD certify Monarchcomputers as their vendors.

I just did a little froogleing and Monarch's price is very competitive. Seems to make a lot of sense to get it from them and have them install it.

johnny

[IneRtia dRaft]

not to mention its tested. it's a LOT of hassle to return a dead item back and wait and wait and wait. its just seem endless.