Hey guys i'm looking for some help on choosing hardware for a budget wrokstation computer. I've got no problems installing the hardware its simply just a mater of matching up the right hardware so everything works. I've been using Newegg.com to search for some hardware but then i heard that different types of hardware might not work together. I was wanting to build a computer that could run photoshop, do word processing and play music and video. I'm not that into games but i do need the computer to be able to run a game like Second Life. Oh and i've done a bit of searching and this is what i have come up with MOTHER BOARD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186070 PROCESSOR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116004 HARD DRIVE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144171 CASE (INCLUDES 585W POWER SUPLY AND FANS I THINK): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121032 RAM (X3) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161675 After you have reviewed the above hardware could you please tell me if this would actually work?
That motherboard appears to only want SATA harddrives, so unless I missed it somehow, I'd get a SATA one, not IDE. Coming from a reviewer of that case, they say the power supply that comes with it only has one SATA cable as well...it will be fine if you just want to stay with one harddrive forever, but it will give zero room to add another harddrive if you ever wanted to. As for ram...this motherboard DOES support dual channel, so if you were to get 3 1gig sticks, it would effectively disable dual channel, making it slower. To keep dual channel going you would either need to get 2 sticks or 4 sticks. Problem with getting 4 sticks is that you are probably running WinXP, which won't recognize all 4 gigs...and may give you problems. Those are things to remember, but the only real incompatibility is the harddrive.
Foxconn motherboards are a bit rubbish, go with this board instead http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128079 CPU is also a poor choice, there have been known issues with these CPUs going bad. This one's not only more reliable, it's also about three times as fast. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116036 Buying an IDE hard drive in this day and age is silly, get this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136113&Tpk=WD2500AAJS - your motherboard will come with the cable required NEVER, EVER use a power supply that comes with a case. By all means keep that case, but the PSU that comes with it will be positively dangerous, many of these units are known to catch fire randomly. Get this PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052 That RAM is a bit naff too, for nearly the same price, get this instead http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146580 - Much better stuff I assume you already have a CD/DVD drive?
sammorris that really concerns me that the PSU's that come with the case randomly catch fire. thanks thats good to know. And Grimstar thanks for your advice. I think Sammorris knows more that me lol so i'll go with his hardware choices and see how it pans out i'll keep you guys up to date. It might be a while though cos i'm off on holidays on as of tuesday so it might be a week to a week and a half till you guys get a response. Thanks for you help so far. Oh and you just think its better if i keep it at 2 sticks of ram?
