Building a computer?

[MC Fatigue]

Not sure what forum to post this in - this seems like the best.

I'm curious if people have tips for building a good gaming computer. Right now I've got a laptop that does great for slightly older games, but sucks for the new generation.

So - I'd like to build a desktop computer.

I'm just curious if people have links and/or suggestions on building.

I've never done it - but I'll be able to figure it out - I've also got great resources at my school that I'm going to ask (just thought I'd ask here too).

Maybe ideas like where to buy pieces, what pieces to look for (ie motherboard, video card, etc - even the obvious things), and maybe what kind of specs I should consider... Also - would someone tell me how I could tell if certain pieces would be compatable with another?

[Stu]

Re: Building a computer?

I can't really help you with specific components, as I havn't really been keeping up with the latest and greatest.

It's fairly easy to do though. The most important things are to do your research and buy compatible hardware. Keep things in mind like which processor and RAM should go with what motherboard. Power requirements of the processor in order to get a power supply that can run it. The biggest problem I had was the cooling fan that came with my processor wasn't powerful enough to cool it, so it was shutting down constantly when gaming. I put a new fan on though and havn't had a problem since.

When I built my computer I got all the parts from www.newegg.com. They're pretty cheap, have great customer support and fast delivery. They'll also let you browse processors and motherboards by brand (intel, AMD, etc) so you'll know if you're getting compatible hardware. It's still a good idea to google that combination and maybe look on a site like Tom's Hardware to see if people have had problems.

[choadler]

Re: Building a computer?

A good place to buy components is newegg.com. Cheap prices and pretty fast shipping. Newegg is alot less expensive for things than Best Buy and CompUSA.

Now as for building a solid computer, it is really a matter of how much money you want to spend. Go with a PCI express motherboard and graphics card for sure, as regular AGP (graphics) is done. Minimum of 1 gb ram, I would recommend 2 gb. S-ATA hard drive at the minimum. A good high end processor like AMD 64 3.7 or higher should be very solid.

Here are good websites for instruction and information on products:

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/default.aspx

and

http://www.tomshardware.com/index.html

One note. Do not skimp on the power supply and research good cooling system for your PC (good case with fans). Heat is a killer. Graphics cards need good power supplies to work. Check the minimum requirements in the manufactures specs to make sure you meet the power requirements.

Hope this was somewhat helpful.

[MC Fatigue]

Re: Building a computer?

Very helpful. I'll look over those sites and see what I can do.

As for money, I wasn't sure, since I'm not quite sure how much a good computer should cost. I can spend over $1,000 though.

[mudtiger]

Re: Building a computer?

Not sure what forum to post this in - this seems like the best.

I'm curious if people have tips for building a good gaming computer. Right now I've got a laptop that does great for slightly older games, but sucks for the new generation.

So - I'd like to build a desktop computer.

I'm just curious if people have links and/or suggestions on building.

I've never done it - but I'll be able to figure it out - I've also got great resources at my school that I'm going to ask (just thought I'd ask here too).

Maybe ideas like where to buy pieces, what pieces to look for (ie motherboard, video card, etc - even the obvious things), and maybe what kind of specs I should consider... Also - would someone tell me how I could tell if certain pieces would be compatable with another?

newegg.com

hardocp.com (specially the forums)

If you take your time and you are reasonably good at following directions or know the basics of IDE cables and power connectors, you will be fine putting it together.

Are you building completely from scratch or do you have left over parts? You'll need a case, power supply, motherboard, RAM, hard drive, video card, cd/dvd drive, operating system, and monitor.

Basic choices to make
AMD vs intel chip. I'd go with AMD. Look to spend 150+ on the chip. If you want to try your hand at overclocking, something in the area of an AMD 3200 would be nice. If the sky is the limit go for a dual core. I built my cpu in december and have an AMD Athlon64 3500 Venice.

After deciding on chip brand, you now have narrowed your motherboard list down. I'd look at asus, gigabyte, abit, dfi, epox, msi to name a few. You have to decide if you want SLI or crossfire (2 video cards) enabled motherboard. Look to spend about 100+ on the motherboard. I got an epox 9npaUltra, a very nice overclocking friendly mobo.

Don't lowball the powersupply if you plan on adding lots of hard drives or if you want the latest graphics card. Shoot for 500 watts or more.

Go for the new nvidia 7900gt or 7900gtx vid card, 300 to 500 bucks. If that's way too much, look for a 6800 or 7800. Don't know about the latest ATI cards.

Shoot for 1 gig or more of ram. 2 sticks of 1 gig ram would be great. If you want to overclock, special attention and research should be done to figure out ram speeds. If no overclock, get cheap ddr400 ram

The others are pretty easy to figure out. Cheap cases are ok, but will be easily dented, loud, hard to work in....50+ bucks here at least. Shoot for a SATA hard drive, but IDE is fine if you need to save the cash somewhere.

As far as figuring out what is compatible, do research and ask questions.

If my incoherrent rambling helped you, feel free to ask more questions and I'll try to help.

This is the system I built in december, maybe it will help to get you started.

epox 9npaUltra motherboard
amd athlon64 3500 venice
1 gig of ram (added to 1 gig of ram from previous system)
MSI 7800GT video card
200 gig sata drive
antec P180 case
antec 500W power supply
xp media center

other parts like monitor and dvd burner were used from previous system.

[choadler]

Re: Building a computer?

Very helpful. I'll look over those sites and see what I can do.

As for money, I wasn't sure, since I'm not quite sure how much a good computer should cost. I can spend over $1,000 though.

Well I can pretty much confirm that if you spend $1000 to $1200, you will have a very solid gaming computer. You might not be able to max out every little detail on the newer games, but it should be very satisfying.

[Stu]

Re: Building a computer?

The best thing about building your own PC is the ability to upgrade it as needed, rather than buy a whole new unit. For example, I'm starting to look for a new processor and motherboard, but I can just use the vid card, hard drives, RAM, dvd drive, monitor, etc from my current PC. I'll be getting a much faster PC for about $300 rather than spending $1000+

[MC Fatigue]

Re: Building a computer?

mudtiger - very helpful.

A question - how do you like that processor? I was looking it up and it seems pretty cheap.

How important would you say dual-processing is? Something I could probably not worry about now for a while or what? It seems quite a bit more expensive.

I was looking at this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103546

although it doesn't seem that fast (2.2GHz). I'm kind of behind on what I know - would you be able to explain what makes it so much faster (as people are saying).

[choadler]

Re: Building a computer?

mudtiger - very helpful.

A question - how do you like that processor? I was looking it up and it seems pretty cheap.

How important would you say dual-processing is? Something I could probably not worry about now for a while or what? It seems quite a bit more expensive.

I was looking at this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103546

although it doesn't seem that fast (2.2GHz). I'm kind of behind on what I know - would you be able to explain what makes it so much faster (as people are saying).

I know you asked mudtiger, but my opinion is that processor is overkill. Stick to a AMD Athlon 64 in the 3.5 to 3.8 range. You will save a lot of money and still get great performance.

[choadler]

Re: Building a computer?

mudtiger - very helpful.

A question - how do you like that processor? I was looking it up and it seems pretty cheap.

How important would you say dual-processing is? Something I could probably not worry about now for a while or what? It seems quite a bit more expensive.

I was looking at this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103546

although it doesn't seem that fast (2.2GHz). I'm kind of behind on what I know - would you be able to explain what makes it so much faster (as people are saying).

AMD measures their speed a little different than Intel. They produce more instructions per clock cycle than Intel chips do. So while the 2.2 ghz may sound slow, it is performing more instructions per tick of the clock cycle. The 3700 or 3500 or 3200 part of the AMD processor name basically indicates that it runs at the equivalent of a 3.7 ghz or 3.5 ghz or 3.2 ghz, and so on.

[mudtiger]

Re: Building a computer?

I agree with choadler on it being overkill, but if you have the budget to spend 460 on the cpu, then go for it.

If it came down to getting a cheaper cpu (cheaper than the 64x2 4400 you linked) so you could get a better video card though, I'd get the cheaper cpu so I could get a better vid card. If you can swing a X2 4400 and a 7900 GTX, go for it.

The 3500 I have is great. Like choadler said, AMD's 2.2 ghz is a bit misleading. It measures much closer to 3.5 ghz when compared to an intel. I like it a lot. I have it overclocked to run at 2.6 ghz and it's a champ. I ran call of duty 2 at 1680x1050 with full 8x anti aliasing at the highest detail, so I like it (7800gt video card). It's much faster than my previous computer's intel 2.6 ghz.

[MC Fatigue]

Re: Building a computer?

Ahhh, ok! I was never sure what those numbers meant.

So something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103533

would probably be a pretty good choice - and it's pretty cheap, leaving money to spend on the video card (which I understand should probably be the priciest piece I get).

I'm curious - at the bottom when it says the cooling devices - does it come with those, or do I need to buy them?

[Stu]

Re: Building a computer?

It's Retail so it comes with a heatsink and fan. I'd recommend buying the OEM version of the same processor, and buying a better heatsink and fan since the ones that come with it are usually pretty cheap.

EDIT - nm, there isn't an OEM. You can always upgrade the heatsink later if its an issue.

[choadler]

Re: Building a computer?

I agree with choadler on it being overkill, but if you have the budget to spend 460 on the cpu, then go for it.

If it came down to getting a cheaper cpu (cheaper than the 64x2 4400 you linked) so you could get a better video card though, I'd get the cheaper cpu so I could get a better vid card. If you can swing a X2 4400 and a 7900 GTX, go for it.

Exactly what mudtiger said. For a good gaming system, a really good graphics card will give you better bang for your buck than a really good processor. Spend that extra $200 you saved on the processor on a $300 video card. You won't be disappointed.

[mudtiger]

Re: Building a computer?

That's the exact cpu I have and I love it.

I wouldn't worry about after market heatsinks for the cpu unless you plan on overclocking or you want to make an extremely quiet cpu. The stock amd heatsink and fan is just fine.