hey i never built a computer before and im not exactly sure if i want to get these parts..i just wanted to get a little feedback on the things i chose..any experience with the processor/motherboard and the other components would be great. i also didnt put a video card as i didnt know if i would need it since i wouldnt be playing any hardcore games HARD DRIVE Western Digital WD5000AAKS Caviar Blue Hard Drive - 500GB, 7200rpm, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM 60$ http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...d Drive - 500GB, 7200rpm, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM CASE NZXT Apollo Black ATX Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports 70$ http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...ear Side, Front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports MOTHERBOARD/PROCESSOR Asus M3N72-D Motherboard w/ AMD Phenom X4 9600 Quad Core Processor HD9600WCGDBOX Bundle 210$ http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4843684&CatId=3586 MEMORY/RAM Corsair Dual Channel TWINX 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz E.P.P. Memory (2 x 1024) 36$ http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2206874&CatId=2261 HEATSINK OCZ Vendetta CPU Cooler - Socket, 754, 775, 939, AM2 35$ http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3322946&Sku=O261-7406
It looks like a decent computer. I have the amd phenom 9750 and is a very good processor especially if you do a lot of dvd to avi conversions. The speed is tremendous. Theres probably not too much difference between the 9600 and the 9750. I only have a stock cpu fan on mine, the processor doesn't run hot where it would need anything fancy. According to the specs both processors run at 95 watts. All you need is a power supply, my computer phenom with it's 4 hard drives runs happily on a "works" 400 watt power supply. ($40.00) I also installed a sapphire radeon hd 4350 (cost $40.00) pci-e video card on mine. For the price this card can play every game I throw at it. For me the onboard video was too limiting, and if you are using vista you definitely need a video card. The 500 gb hard drive is a good boot hard drive. But later add another drive or 2 to your computer. All my computer have multiple hard drives inside.
thanks for the replies..i wasn't sure about the power supply because i didn't really know any good brand names since i thought power is the most important things and i should get the best power supply possible..what are some good brands that are reliable and good for the type of computer im trying to build..would i really need another hard drive? i thought 500gb would be plenty..also about the video card..im not going to be playing too many games but i do plan on hooking up my comp to a tv or getting a tv tuner card..also, killerbug, what makes asus worse than other motherboards? can you explain some specs about teh motherboard? thanks a lot
expensive motherboards only come into play if your building a top of the line gaming machine that you will be overclocking. I've used asus before with no problems, my phenom right now is running on a ECS A740GM-M (ecs is suppose to be bargain basement even lower quality than asus but it has been running fine for the past year) I paid $180.00 for my ecs mb/amd 9750 combo. I've been using the "works" (Works 400W W40CN4BL Ultra Quiet)brand power supplys for the past 3 years, they have a large 120mm fan (instead of the 80mm many low price power supplys use). My mediapc which runs 24/7 has been using a "works" power supply for the past 2 years. There are more expensive power supplys available but unless your building a gamming machine it will be overkill to purchase more power than you need. My sapphire 4350 does have an HDMI video out (also vga and dvi), it can be hooked up to large HD flatscreen tv. It's a good $40.00 investment. It's also a very low power video card (under 30 watts) The reason to have a second hard drive in your computer is to save backups to that drive. For instance if you only have 1 drive and that goes bad, you loose everything. If you have 2 drives in your computer at least some of your data is safe. You can't rely on external drives to always be available when you need it. Also if you will be editing videos, it's a good idea to keep your source videos in a seperate drive from the output folders drive. If you get a tuner card get one with built-in mpeg hardware encoders like the pvr-150 or something similar. These tuner cards don't use your cpu to encode video.
thanks a lot of good info..is the motherboard/processor a good selection? what would the processor i chose normally be used for?
The quad phenom cpu's are mainly for heavy video editing. (it will convert video quicker). If you just want to surf the internet and convert the occasional video even a amd x2 4800 (cost about $60.00)or similar will do the job. That's the cpu I use on my everyday computer which I use to surf the internet/play games/convert the occasional video. My mediapc is using a very low budget intel dualcore Pentium E2140 (cost $60.00), and runs fine for that. Even that budget cpu will play every game I throw at it if it has the right video card. If you don't do alot of video editing, it might be too much to spend for a mb/cpu. I have 4 computers but only one phenom (intel e2140, intel e6300, amd x2 4800). I don't see any advantage in upgrading my other computers to phenoms due to price and I won't be editing videos on the other computers. All 4 computers can play games/surf the internet/etc, the only upgrade I'm making is getting sapphire 4350 video cards on all the other computers. I would also stick to the amd cpu's, the cpu fan is easier to install (one lever to move that tightends the fan), on the intels you need to tightend 4 screws, to me it's more of a chance to break something on the motherboard.
HDD: 10/10 Case: 9/10 Motherboard: 5/10 CPU: 1/10 RAM: 9/10 Cooler: 6/10 here's a CPU literally twice as powerful as the Phenom 9600: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115057 and an appropriate board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128380 There is no reason to buy a Phenom revision 1 in this day and age. They're slow as hell, they overheat and they even have serious stability problems.
