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Looking to build a new computer heres some parts. Help a noob out :)

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by andmill11, Sep 23, 2007.

  1. andmill11

    andmill11 Regular member

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    Im looking to upgrade from my 11 year old pentium 3 with its whopping 40 gig HDD and over 256 mb of RAM.

    Anyways i was looking on newegg and tigerdirect and made somewhat of a wishlist of parts i wanted. Granted i have no clue if anyone of them are quality, compatible, or just plain crap. I have around 700-800$ (USD) to spend and this is what i came up with. Bear with me i have no clue and if anything beyond this offends you i apologize.

    First off i have yet another question. I dont know whether i should go with an AMD or an INTEL chip. It really doesnt matter i just want which is best for the money. Anything 150$ or less is fine by me. These are two that i have picked out..

    AMD:
    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...ffiliateID=UfJjHJVZB6o-ASVKTSQWae1GbJhCK6JacQ

    Intel:
    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3274224

    Case:
    APEVIA X-Plorer ATXB8KLW-AL Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

    Mobo:
    I have no clue what i should go with. I guess it depends on which chip. Any help is appreciated.

    RAM:
    Transcend JETRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

    HDD:
    Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (its 500 gigs and cheap but i dont know if its compatible or works well)

    CD/DVD drive:
    ASUS Dual Panel Black and Silver 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM ATAPI / E-IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3/A6/ B+S/G/ACI/ - Retail (Im looking to burn Cd's and possibly DVD's so im not sure about this)

    Power Source:
    Anything in the 80$ range would be nice

    Option cooling:
    I dont know if i need it but feel free to post anything useful

    Anything else im missing:
    Im sure there is tons more im missing please post them as well

    Thanks for any help!

    As another side note I WILL be overclocking *Hopefully*
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2007
  2. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    You had a pentium 3 in 1996? Congrats, they didn't come out until 1999!

    Firstly, never use a power supply that comes with a case, they're rubbish, they break and they often destroy your whole PC in doing so, sometimes setting fire to things, I'm not joking either, it happens often. Only get a power supply from a reputable brand.
    The CPU choice boils down to whether you'll overclock or not. If not, go with the FX-62, if yes, go with the E4500. If you do overclock, you'll want a decent motherboard and RAM, not the cheap stuff you've put there. The hard disk is ok, I have one, they're very fast and quiet.
     
  3. andmill11

    andmill11 Regular member

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    Haha i was exaggerating on the 11 years.

    As for overclocking could you explain what that means? If its easy to do then yes i will be overclocking..

    Also for the mobo and ram could you possibly recommend something?

    As for my Case i just went with what was cheapest. Im sure thats not the best way to go so also if you have a suggestion for that.

    *Edit*

    Ok so i just looked up how to overclock and i will definitely NOT be doing that. I really dont use any CPU intensive programs Nor do i play many High-end PC games. halo 1 on PC is great enough for me. I do however use Photoshop quite a bit which is what im mainly looking for.
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2007
  4. socom0000

    socom0000 Member

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    If your useing it for gameing get a SLI Motherboard.
     
  5. andmill11

    andmill11 Regular member

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    Not any high end games really. Just some emulators and i use my brothers subscription to gametap.

    Anything that can run Super smash brothers is fine by me :p
     
  6. Waymon3X6

    Waymon3X6 Regular member

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    Why dont you read the posts socom?

    But back on topic, if you're going to be doing Photoshop/3d rendering then the Quadro Series from nVidia would be your best bet... ATi has the Fire GL series as well. These series of cards are designed mostly for graphic artwork, so with that said, newer games wouldnt run real great on them.

    I would go with a C2D E4500 (the one you picked, its fine)

    For a mobo, something by ASUS, they have really good mobos, and so do gigabyte.

    Ive never heard of Transcent JetRam before, which means it could be something made in china that will break the second you get it... Better off going with Corsair, OCZ, Patriot, Kingston to name a few...

    The HDD you picked looks fine, WD hard drives are real good, and the one you picked is a SATA (the ones with the thin red cables), which are newer and better than the old IDE HDDs.

    As for the PSU, go with something from Antec, OCZ, Thermaltake... They're reliable, and wont break. For your setup, I would go with around a 500watt PSU.
     
  7. andmill11

    andmill11 Regular member

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    i was thinking that i just didnt want to post it..


    For the RAM i was actually going to go with a corsair. Its only 10$ more and of course if Computer Gurus like you have never heard of a brand before that cant be good. (That and the RAM was pink..)

    Ill look for a thermaltake 500w PSU. I have heard those are good from someone else as well.

    Thanks for the reply.

    I still dont know about my CPU or MOBO though :(
     
  8. andmill11

    andmill11 Regular member

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    What about this for the RAM?

    WINTEC AMPO 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

    And this instead for the case:

    Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

    This for the power supply:

    Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU ATX 12V 2.0 500W Power Supply - Retail
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2007
  9. Waymon3X6

    Waymon3X6 Regular member

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    On newegg the ram has pretty good reviews, but I am still leaning towards corsair... But its your computer, so you can get what you want.

    As for the case, I have the Antec 900, and thats the computer I'm on now. Its a great case! Really cool, and I mean COOL! There are 4 fans that come pre installed, 3 120mm fans and a huge fan in the top (not sure how big, I think 240mm) The fans also have a 3 stage fan controller hooked to each of them, so you can controll the speeds. They light up too! Oh yea, and you can install another 120mm fan in the door to cool your gfx card, like me... But yeah, awsome case. Just dont show up at a LAN party though, as everyone will have one of these cases (taken from sammoris)

    The power supply looks good, good reviews on newegg. 500watts should be enough.

    PS, I think you should decide on a mobo first before you go to ram, because you may find some ram that you really like, and then find a mobo you really want, and then find out that they're not compatable with each other. This will narrow the search down a bit.
     
  10. andmill11

    andmill11 Regular member

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    Ahh thats my huge problem though! I have NO clue about Mobo's at all. All the other stuff is fairly easy to figure out but i have no prior experience with them at all. All of my previous computers have had everything pre-installed and all i have ever done is upgraded RAM. Looking to delve a bit deeper into customization this time around.

    Any recommendations for a Mobo? Anything at all really.

    The RAM i chose seemed fairly priced. Unless you can find a Corsair to match it. As far as the case goes everyone i know has Dell's. (been to a whopping 0 LAN parties) I dont hang out with much people who care about computers its kind of my own thing. ;) (Ps. Lights are always a plus in my book)

    So lets see that brings me to still needing a..

    Graphics card (ATI radeon?)
    Sound Card (im not too too much into HD audio perfection but something thats decent)
    CPU (Im leaning towards an AMD but i still have no clue. Basing it off of what MOBO i end up with.. Which i also have no clue about)

    Im still shooting for the 800$ and under price range though which seems fairly unlikely at this point. (Case alone is 120$ although it does look pretty sweet)

    Once again thanks for your help.
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2007
  11. 0Nobody0

    0Nobody0 Guest

    Build this easily for that amount........

    EVGA 650i single pcie slot....
    intel core 2 duo e6600
    ddr2 pc 6400 2 gigs
    the caviar se is good
    a samsung dvd rom lightscribe....SH-200 series
    an 8500 or 8600 gt video 512 mb

    this will be around $550 - $600 total
     
  12. 0Nobody0

    0Nobody0 Guest

    One addition....if you do torrents don't install n=tune system...
    That is the overclocking program for dummies.

    All i did was run it once...copied down the settings..uninstalled and adjusted my bios to those numbers....works awesome.

     
  13. mikeh0303

    mikeh0303 Regular member

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  14. andmill11

    andmill11 Regular member

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    WOW.. That um.. Works perfect? Geez thanks for all of that. The only thing i have against it is Seagate HDD. I have yet to have a good experience with them and i might as well up the price by 20$ and get the 500 gig i had earlier. Other than that wow nice..

    I think i can manage finding my own operating system ;)

    Oh that and the case doesnt have any nifty lights :( (Can i buy some? :)

    That and it comes out to 813$.. But whose counting?


    And finally is there any other random doodads i would need to build it? NIC card, USB somethings, Sound card or anything like that?

    LOOK WHAT I FOUND!
    http://www.directron.com/mdled5bl.html
    http://www.directron.com/ldkmtuv2.html
    http://www.directron.com/ca4pmlgn.html

     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2007
  15. andmill11

    andmill11 Regular member

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    I realize this is a double post but i think it deserves its own.

    Just wanted to give a big thanks to you guys that helped. Other forums usually arent this nice to n00bs like me and i really appreciate it. Im sure i will be back asking how to put this thing together next time anyways.
     
  16. mikeh0303

    mikeh0303 Regular member

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    no need to ask, just watch
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=lVJ5ZEbf6F4
     
  17. andmill11

    andmill11 Regular member

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    Haha mike strikes again..

    Thermal Paste?! Uh where do you get that and is it necessary?

    And would i need any optional cooling fans with that case?
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2007
  18. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Heyyyy, Someone else that plays smash bros on their PC, legend!
    With the exception of socom0000, most people around afterdawn are willing to help, mikeh and me in particular are happy to spec up lists of components. Just so happens he got there first! :)
    Those components are all pretty sound. Case is of course, personal taste.
    if you have any problems, get back to us!

    Thermal paste, Arctic silver V (here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007) is the stuff I use, definitely potent. Since you're not overclocking though, you probably won't need it. It'll still make your CPU run cooler though, which is never bad. Just rememebr if you're using it on the same cooler that came with the processor, you'll need to clean off the existing stuff first.
    It's a good idea to have as many cooling fans in your case as you can usually, not just to add extra air, but to do so quietly. (more fans less noise? huh?) If you have more case fans, you can turn them down to half speed, which results in a lot less than half the noise.
     
  19. mikeh0303

    mikeh0303 Regular member

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  20. andmill11

    andmill11 Regular member

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    Haha as far as lighting goes anything thats easy to install and when you turn it on people go :O snap it lights up!

    And yea me and some of my buds play SSB when they come over. However my current computer can barely handle 2 people on screen at once. I do have two xbox 360 wireless controllers which work quite nicely with it though. Best 15$ i spent on that wireless adapter thing.

    How do the sound activated cathodes work? And whats the difference between that and the cold cathodes?

    That neon blue thermaltake fan looked mighty sweet..
     
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2007

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