The (new) Official PC building thread!

No Problem...here to help...if you need anything feel free to PM me...

Latter...

 

lp531

is there a hard drive that i can buy that is not oem. i was reading the reviews from newegg and tigerdirect and they are saying that these drives dont come with any cables or disc wizzard or documentation on how to set it up. i want a drive that has everything. any suggestions?

 

taz1974,
I did a search at www.newegg.com and found these retail hdd. Man are you really trying to find this stuff on your own? lol. j/k Hope this helps.



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&N=2010150014&Submit=ENE&Nty=1&SubCategory=14

 

@greensman

i know, so newbie right. hey i get tired of searching for it. so why not ask some friends right. thanks for your help. as i was searching in google i did find a site called pcstats that has alot of interestings guides in it. so i was able to better understand the difference in ide and sata drives. it showed me the type of cables that i needed in case i could not find a retail box for the sata drive. i also found where to get the disc wizzard if i need it. im learning it. just takes me awhile. lol. so now im good to go. bring it on.

thanks again

 

@taz1974 & greensman
What type drives do your boards support...ATA, SATA, SATA II?..
What are your storage requirements?..

 

@Lp531,
I have my drives already, just trying to direct taz down the right path. Hopefully he will respond or knows what he needs. Thanks for getting back to us.

Got the 250 WD sata from newegg.com on sale for $59.99. 2 of them but they were refurbished/recertified and are working like a sewing machine. Sorry they don't have them anymore to link to.

........c

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for responding to my post about my Viewsonic monitor problem.

I hooked up a CRT monitor to my computer and it worked, so that indicates that the computer and graphics card are OK. Next I connected my flat panel monitor with an analog cable to another computer and that worked as well (so the analog port on my flat panel monitor is good and the monitor itself is good in that respect). Then I noticed in my monitor box that a DVI to Analog connector piece was included, so I used that and hooked my monitor up to the D-Sub port to my own computer and that worked as well. So my monitor works with my computer via the analog D-Sub Port.

BUT...the DVI still does not work. So this indicates to me that the DVI cable is bad.

It was not noticeably wet when I plugged it in...but I hooked it up a day or two after the steam cleaner came. I'm going to check with ViewSonic and see if they'll replace teh cable (just bought the monitor in June). I'll just tell them I had been using the D-Sub since June until I bought a DVI graphics card (so the cable defect is not due to mis-use). Maybe they'll hook me up.

But maybe I should buy a DVI cable from Best Buy first and test it out to make 100% certain that the cable is truly the problem.

I'm surprised that a DVI cable would defect so easily. But due to my troubleshooting, I can't think of any other reasonable possibility.

Any thoughts?

 

@Lp531 or whoever wants to take a crack at this,

I have an AGP ATi 9250 Radeon and want to upgrade to a newer video card but don't want to spend an arm and a leg doing it. A friend and I just ordered new components to build him a new computer so this has me thinking that the video card in my system is a little behind the times. lol.

I have an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz with 1 GB RAM and want to step up in video experience. My monitor is a ViewSonic VG175. I don't play that many games but a step up I think is needed. Ati or nVidia doesn't matter to me unless it does with the mobo.

Here is a link to my mobo for questions on compatibility.

http://www.machspeed.com/specs/viper/MK8-939A.html

TIA for your help and answers.

........c

 

@dougisjc
Looks like cable...Glad that the monitor is Ok..
Do the best buy option while you see what manufacturer will do...

@greensman
what are you looking to spend on card?..link to board isn't working...

Is it an 8X AGP?

 

@Lp531,
The board has AGP 4x/8x capabilities and PCIe x16. I don't care which one I use just want to step up a few notches. I would like to stay under $100 if possible and the lower the better. Wife and 3 kids, nowatimean. lol.

Thanks.............c

 

@greensman
Use the PCI express...faster transfer speed...cheaper cards...I'll take a look around for you...

Just say the post in comments section of my homepage...In Laws in Tracy...Just down the road from Mo-Town...I see your in Texas now...My business partner & friend is from Brownwood...have some friends there...

 

i have a few questions guys. i have a older home built computer. has a FIC motherboard amd duron 800mhz CPU yea old and slow... but it works for my son(8yo)it had windows 98 on it. i had a buddy put 2000 pro on it... i had a bad hard drive he partitioned it off some and tried windows XP but had problems with it shutting down all the time... since then i got a new hard drive for it (100gb segate)it still has 2000pro on it.. but i think something is missing from it. thinks its a downloaded version of 2000 pro... i bought windows xp home.. would i be able to use it on this system seeing i have a new hard drive.. he said something about the mobo not being able to take XP.... im not to smart in this but doesnt the OS go onto the HD??? would that make a difference? i havent tried to put the good verison of XP on it for this reason... i dont know the exact model of the MOBO right now im at work... but when i get home i can find out.
just curious if i can put windows xp home on this HD and it work with the FIC motherboard???

thanks for any info..

@greensman.. boy your all over arent you..lol HOW ABOUT THEM COWBOYS......LOL

 

Lp531,
I've been playing around with the link at Tom's Hardware and watching the pitiful BCS game. Not that I want OSU to win but they are really stinking it up right now. lol.

I'm looking at the 7800 GT as a good card that I would be able to put into SLI on my next computer but that is 2 plus years away and that card may not be available then. lol. I was wondering also why does it only improve 2 frame rates per second when you put that card into SLI. Doesn't seem like a favorable jump to me. lol. I would go with a card that costs about 75% of the 2 SLI cards and get way better performance. Am I wrong here? I really don't know that much about building a computer and need the input of someone that has a clue. btw, that's you in my book. lol.

Thanks for your advice already.

.............c

 

@greensman
You probably had test on halflife 2 still...SLI does not make much diffrence in that particular game...

Look at this in 3d mark:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html?modelx=33&model1=527&model2=526&chart=230

 

Hi all,

I have decided to go with a Core 2 Duo for my new system. I have some IDE drives that I want to also install on the new system (some old data files) and I don't have need for two pci express cards (SLI is the term?) I need suggestions as to what is a good motherboard for my needs. I believe the Intel 975x and nVidia 680i chipsets are SLI compatible, but what chipset is good for only one video card? also, i wont' be buying the card too soon (lack of money) but will do so in the next 3-4 months. So in conclusion, what are good mobos that support both IDE and SATA, have firewire support/usb2, Core 2 Duo compatible and have only one x16 PCI port?

THanks

 

Quick question. I posted here about a year ago for some help on a new pc i want to build. i never built it. I am seriously going to build this time, and i need some help. I am going to go with the Antec 900 case. Thats about all i know so far. I am looking to spend about $1500. I will be doing a lot of gaming and web development, and eventually want to be running 4 screens. This is what i know that i want:

Memory: (2 Gigs) Corsair => Dont know which type or anything...
Video Card: Nvidia (any suggestions on which one for gaming)
CPU: I want to go with AMD and i want duo core (or do I? I just dont know which one to get 4800+, 5000+, 5200+???)

And the thing that really has me is the mobo. I want a really good one that willl allow me to upgrade in the future.

This will be my first build and once i have those things bought and in my possesion, i can go from there as far as hard drives, and psu, and all that.

I am looking to get all this stuff Friday if anyone can help me asap!
TIA

 

@shuboy00
Where are you?..so I know what resellers to look at...North America, Europe, Asia...

May want to rethink using an AMD with Nvidia card...would suggest Intell duo core...with Nvidia 8800GTS or 8800GTX...

Intell has the best performance to price ratio...you will get better performance out of the Nvidia with a Intell based MOBO...

I prefer AMD but Intell is the better product right now...

Is $1500 just for tower...

Good choice on case...by the way...

@Cincyrob
2000 will run better on the duron 800...however you should be able to run XP Home...2000 is a more compact OS...does not have all the eye candy of XP...how much memory does it have?

 

@lp351
i have 2 x 256 sticks on it right now.the reason i want xp on it, i tried to install nortons 2007 and it said i needed a 32 bit?? windows xp

 

@Lp531
I am in North America. (Good ol' Texas)

Will AMD be better with and ATI vid card? I ask cause I have been reading that AMD is better for gaming, i am not too up to date on Intel's new chips, but i will take your word for it?

What is the difference between the Nvidia 8800GTS and 8800GTX

Yes, $1500 is just for tower. I have been looking at frys, newegg, and some on tigerdirect.com

 

Hey rob,
I would check this thread out by rav009 and think twice about using that Norton 2007. jm2c.


............c

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/292257

edit: trying to get the dang link to work!!!