Hello I am an casual pc hobbiest(sp). I have decided to build my own pc because A. I think it would be fun B. I have pretty much maxed out on what I can do with my pc, and I have a mix matched system (ugly) And C. I want a kick @$$ system that can do pretty much anything. But I have a few questions, Motherboard and processor compatibility, is there much drama here or do they have to match up perfectly? is there a site that keeps up with top of the line mother boards/proccessors? thanks for the help guys.
www.tomshardware.com +best site review I have seen yet Check out www.newegg.com for good prices. The biggest thing to do is make sure the motherboard you buy matches the cpu. i.e socket 939 is the newest for amd so you have to get a 939 cpu and 939 socket mobo. Make sure the fsb speed matches the speed of the chip or you will have a bottleneck. Most new mobos support pc3200 memory and are backwards compatible to pc2700. So check the specs carefully. Newegg is good cause they have the specs listed and also a link to the mobo or products site. Give ya a rough idea...I bought this board http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813123243 and this chip http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103539 Then I used kingston pc 2700 one gig. I know...slower than pc3200, but I had it lying round. Then I picked up a ati x800l vid card since the mobo doesnt have onboard video. Im running 90 fps with divx to dvd and all I have this sytem is oc by 15%! So I feel this is a good combo and the mobo has the newest socket...so I can upgrade easily without no problem. You probaly can use some parts i.e hard drive...memory...psu...monitor from your old sytem if its compatible with what your building. It isnt hard...just choose carefully (dont just grab something...research and make sure everything matches good) and when you put it together.....take your time and relax. Wear a anti static strap or keep a hand on the case. Thats the best advice I can give. All together mine cost bout 1500.00 with a flat screen 17 inch dell monitor, but I will tell you one thing. Its kicking the shit out of a hp with a 2.8 ghz chip that I had..he he he :> But you choose whats right with you. I am amd man for life. Amd rocks...:>
Looks pretty good, the only problem is the lack of expansion slots, only pci and pci express kind of limits me as I have not seen alot of pci express hardware out there yet. but I have just started this. From the looks of it one is going to be taken by the video, which is ok because no onboard graphics will do for wht I am planning. though from the looks of it the onboard audio looks really good. But I think I will need a few more options. The function of this pc will be the following, 3D intence games 3D heavy Graphic design Basicaly a render machine, so 4gig memory etc. I also plan on it handling all my home entertainment as well. Digital television reciever/recorder I am looking into inigrating my xbox 360 when they come out and when I get one. I do plan on taking my time for this long and costly project. I was thinking two mother boards connected some how. Maybe I am just dreaming but I thought I saw it some where on the net. and of course a really good tower, thinking water cooled as I have got to have the dustiest house and want to keep the air flow to a minimum if I can. But I live in the southern Hemosphere so cooling is a magor issue. besides, the water cooled systems look way cool.
Yes I agree agp is gone...welcome pci. I only listed that mobo to give ya a idea on what are ther latest technology. But you decide what you need. Gigabyte and asus are good I heard.
Thanks for all the help, I am going to start the buying process next month. I was going to go in this order to start Motherboard cpu then tower. just to start then cooling system. But now doubt I will be back for some help. Thanks guys
You really dont need a cooling sytem unless your gonna oc. The case I bought for 60.00 had 2 fans already in including the psu. Then the cpu came with its own heat sink. (make sure the cpu you buy says it has heatsink and fan). Amd claims they will void your warranty if you dont use the stock fan. Then I threw one old generic fan in the back of the case to suck air out. So i have one in front drawing air in that came with the case and one in back I installed to suck air out. Plus the vid card has its own heatsink and fan. With all of this Im holding 89 f and under load 110 f...which aint bad. And i am oc by bout 15% or better. So in my opinion you dont need nothing extra unless your doing some serious oc. But its up to you. Good luck to you and let us know how it turns out.
It is the dust problem. I opened my case after acouple months and pulled a fist size lump of dust out. ( after gathering it ) Any dust solutions I do not know of? I'll look on the net, but the water cooled systems look so cool with there uv dyes, and leds and the spacey look they give the PC. As you can tell i'm just a 30+ kid, LOL
Easy enough. Find a case with a built in air filter that isd reusable. Check over at newegg. I have seen them. Personally water cooling systems seem feasible, but i dont trust it. I work as a mechanic and if I have learned something....is its very hsrd to contain water so it dont leak. It will eventually find a way to leak and ruin your system. Think bout it. You got water pouring all over a grand in gear....dont mix does it? Not me, but it might be for you. Look for a case with air filter and wash once a month. :>
Good point, it does leak at some point. It just looks so cool. But cool accidents can cost $$$. So I am thinking fans, somehow filtered with those disposable dust cloths that attract dust to cut down on the dust. One cut to fit the intake fans with holes cut to allow air flow and a whole one on the access panel "inside" to attract any that gets through. Just take it out when it is covered. Just a thought, I hate dust. or I could just live with my PC in a bubble
There ya go. Thats using your head. Make your own. Its a lot cheaper than ruining your rig cause the cool looking water pump sprung a leak..lol. Sniff...sniff....oh shit...my pump sprung a leak.....and my rigs on fire....lol. No seriously....they do have some cases that are airtigh and have filters. Check it out. :>
The assumption being made is that you will be using an AMD chip. Last year when I traded up from a 3.04 GHZ P4 to a 3.4 GHZ P4, my CPU temperature went from 100 degrees F , to 120 degrees under normal use to nearly 140 degrees F when I stress out my machine. You should hear the fans kick in !!! If you go with an Intel chip you may want to seriously consider a water cooled system. You may want to consider a Raid 0 setup with SATA 150 drives running at 7200rpm. There are 10,000 and 15,000 rpm drives , but they get a little pricey in a Raid setup. One additional advantage of Sata drives over ATA drives is that they do not use ribbons to connect to the mobo. This improves the air flow and allows the computer to cool off better, especially with 4 gigs of ram. Make sure you get a good power supply, around 500 watts . You may want to consider a SATA DVD burner, they have a faster transfer rate , compared to ATA drives. If you are going to do some heavy duty 3D gaming then you are going to have to check out a system with a SLI dual video card setup, with PCI Express. Go here to read more : http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040628/ Good Luck and build what you want, Not buy what they mass produce for every one else.....
My main problem is going to be getting over the lack of any slots agp or pci express, I have my eye on this card here http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI...2MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail as you can see It will take up one slot but the room of two. How do you suggest I get around this? Not just this card but the audio card, tdigital reciever, fire wire,( if not onboard that is just for starters.
The one I posted...if thats the one you talking bout,.... has a pci xpress slot in it. So there is no probs. There is a more expensive version here that has firewire ports in it.... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131524 Its a asus which is very good. It has firewire and supports 2 pci express...so you can run to vga cards in sli...so you get extreme performance. Or there is a jumper on the board to set it to use one pci express vga card. IU doubt you will find one with a bunch of reg pci express slots...but ya never know.:>
Just saw this post. If you want to use SLI, you have to use an Nvidia-based card, not ATI. Also the Nvidia card has to specify that it is SLI compatible. I don't want to see you wasting money on a card (that ATI card IS nice,though), and then having to completely replace it if you decide to upgrade to SLI later. good luck.
