The (new) Official PC building thread!

I almost bought an aftermarket fan from Zalman. It was at a computer store and they wanted $50 for it. I didn't know if that was a good price or not at the time, so I didn't get it. I already have NTune from Nvida to overclock my GPU but when I did I had to crank the fan on it up to keep it cool. The card came pre overclocked so I couldn't really do alot with it since it was stock cooled. I didn't notice much a performance increase and the new fan speed made my computer a lot louder, so I took it back down. However it might be something to do if I upgrade the fan on my GPU. The Ntune program seemed to have alot of useful features but I didn't have a supported motherboard for most of them so I couldn't do much with it. And with it being a stock HP bored it was locked so I couldn't change anything anyway.

 

OKAY i decided to just forget the laptop and go with a desktop, how does this computer fair against world of warcraft and such?

AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 3600+
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Basic
15 inch E157FP Analog Flat Panel
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs
160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
48X CD-RW/ DVD Combo Drive
128MB ATI Radeon X1300
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Dell USB Keyboard and Dell 2-button Scroll Mouse
No Floppy Drive Included
56K PCI Data Fax Modem

 

It's a lot better than the laptop. But what brand is it, or are you going to build it? The only reason I wondered is because if it is a built computer you could get XP which I highly recommend over vista. But if it is a factory computer than you have no choice unless you just buy a copy and install it. The the thing I wondered about was the graphics card. I know that card will play World of Warcraft. But I would get a better one, especially if he is going to play other games. If it is a custom built computer that is. If you are configuring it from Dell or somewhere and that is your only option, yes it should play World of Warfraft fairly well. If you are configuring this one from a company, how much are they overcharging you for that card, and what are your other options. I have a friend that I installed a X1300 for. And his computer now plays World of Warcraft fine, well I don't know about fine because he lags quite a bit but I think that is caused by not having enough ram. His main specs are......

I don't know his exact specs but main things, and it is a Dell.

Pentium 4 @ 2.4 GHz
512 MB ram. But not quite that because some was used up for onboard graphics adapter, and sound.
Nvida 950 graphics adapter.

For the most part I think he could play World of warcraft then. But he said it lagged a lot and had already bought that card and wanted me to install it. Personally I think the more ram would have helped him more than anything. But after he installed the card I don't think he saw much of an increase in performance. I suppose he might have if he would have had 1 gig of ram already. Then again I'm really not sure since I don't play World of Warcraft, and have never owned anything even similar to a X1300, besides installing his so he could (play World of Warcraft).

 

X1300s are slow and not even very cheap. For powerful graphics on a limited budget you want something like a 7600GT.

 

Thats what I was going to recommend. But I didn't know if it was an option or not since I didn't know if he was building it or weather he was configuring it from a company. I didn't think the X1300 was a very good card, but I didn't want to say anything because I wasn't fully sure since I've never owned one and don't know a lot about ATI cards.

@sammorris,(or anyone), here is my question from another thread that I figured I should continue here.

"So do you guys think it would be worth trying to just rebuild my current computer in a few months when I get some money. Or should I just leave that one and start over."

My current specs are:
HP Pavilion m7580n
AMD Athlon 4600+ X2
Nvidia 7950 GT
2 gigs ram (stock)
standard motherboard that came with it
2 Seagate 320 GB 7200 RPM Sata
standard HP DVD Writer
TV Tuner
Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU ATX 12V 2.0 500W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CUL, TUV, FCC, and CB certification

I know those aren't exact specs, but I will post a link when I find (it's in m bookmarks somewhere) with exact specs of everything.

I know you all will need a budget and everything but I will post that later with the link, and some parts I was looking into.

Edit: here is the link to pretty much all of the specs of my computer.

http://www.geardigest.com/2006/09/11/hp_m7580n/


Here are some of the parts I am looking at. I don't know a lot about ram so I didn't pick any out yet. And I don't know much about motherboards either. But I picked those two out from what knowledge of them I do have. I will accept and recommendations for motherboards, ram, or any other parts you all recommend.

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115003

GPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130082

Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681112902

Motherboard -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813141002

Or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130082


I think my budget should be a wide range between $500 - $700. I don't know if I can use any of my old parts or not, but you all can look at the geardigest link and see if any of my current parts are worth anything.

Thanks.

 

It is a Dell and i dont have a choice other than that card. I cant really order from any other company since my parents wont let me for reasons unknown. If it can handle wow at decent speeds and stuff itl be great. As i said hes used to a 256 ram comp.

 

It will work. But I would highly recommend a 7600 GT over it, and their pretty cheap. Even though you can't get one with your computer, could you not just leave off the graphics card and get something integrated, and then buy the card separately and install it. But I mean if you can't do that then I'd say it will work alright. I have another friend that plays World of Warcraft and his specs are pretty good except for the graphics card, and his doesn't lag at all.

Pentium 4 @ 3.4 GHz
1 gig of ram
Integrated Nvidia 950 Graphics Adapter

Once again I don't know what his specs are exactly but those are some of the main ones, and he runs World of Warcraft with basically no lag, and I think his settings are up pretty high.

 

To be fair, if he can't order from anyone but Dell, I doubt the option of self-installing a graphics card is available. I can't say I know what the requirements of Wow are, but it'll certainly be pretty poor at any recent games.
Spenman91, your PC is pretty fast already, a cheap Core 2 Duo upgrade and you're done. Upgrade the graphics at your leisure.

 

Yea, I didn't think about that. So I guess he's pretty much screwed. But at least it's something, actually he should notice a pretty big jump from a computer of 2003.

But as for me, I want a Core 2 Duo but I will at least need a new motherboard since the one I have is AMD. And with a new motherboard I didn't know if I would need a new case or not.

 

You almost certainly won't need a new case, but new motherboard is necessary, and if you currently use DDR1, new RAM too.

 

Nope, it's DDR2, everything is pretty much up to date except the processor which still isn't that bad. But I had just heard some things about some ram being faster than other ram. Obviously DDR2 is going to be faster than DDR1, but I didn't know if there were other things to look for when buying ram or not.

 

just like with DDR, DDR2 obviously is available in different speeds and cas latency's. I wouldn't recommend anything less than DDR2 PC2 6400C4 with a C2D.

 

There is room for at least a 7600 in even the tightest Dell cases.
I've upgraded a few friends of mine when they were too afraid to build one themselves. When you get into bigger cards like 7900's is where the problems lie.

 

I don't think he meant it like that (I could be wrong). But I think he was stating that if his family would only let them buy computers from one brand that they wouldn't like him opening it up and messing with it.

 

Lol that's exactly what I meant.

 

well call me different or whatever but I'm no longer much of an antec fanboy. I now prefer aluminum over steel and 100% tooless cases.

 

I kind of agree and kind of disagree with all of those. I like Antec cases for quality and design, but not always for looks. I like tool-less cases as an idea but not when that causes more of a hinderance than a help like with my case. The Aluminium vs steel debate, I like the lower weight, but increased vibrations are an issue.
By the way on the replacement graphics cooler discussion from earlier, THERMALRIGHT HR-03. Always.

 

I thought about getting a replacement fan for my GPU, but after playing games tonight for a while my temps haven't went above 65 C. The only game that makes my temps go above that is GRAW, and they go to about 80 C or 85 C after a while. But all of my other games that used to make my GPU run hot now (for some reason) don't. So really I don't see a need in a new fan any more. Although I really don't know what caused my temps to go down.

 

My builds (I am only 15 so i havent made too many computers):

1. AMD computer (built for my familys office):

-Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard
-AMD Athlon 64 X2 5800 2.8GHZ
-Patriot DDR-2 Dual Channel 2gb RAM
-320gb Seagate Barracuda SATA hard drive 3.0Gb/s
-LG dual-layer dvd drive
-nVidia GeForce 7600GS Graphics Card
-Antec 450watt PSU
-Terrible no name case
-Artice Freezer Pro CPU cooler
-Vista Ultimate (didn't pay for it, and I don't like it)

2.Intel Computer (built for grandpa, he does lots of things with stocks)

-Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus Socket 775 (650 chipset) -if you ever get the mobo and try to install windows xp sp1 you lan will never show up, not even after an upgrade to sp2, I am 100% sure of this, I spent 3 days all day up to about 1am or 3am figuring this out! and you need to make a floppy too!
-Intel Core 2 Duo E6420
-Radiant P4 ATX Mid Tower Case
-LG GSA-H62N(Black) SATA
-Seagate Barracuda SATA 3.0Gb/s 160GB 8MB Cache (OEM)
-Antec 450watt PSU
-Asus EN7100GS512/TD/128M PCI-Express Graphic Card
-Windows XP home 32 bit
-Patriot DDR-2 Dual Channel 2gb RAM


I know the second system is way overpowered for my gradfather, but he wants it to last a long time. The total cost was less then $1000 each.


Tell me what you think, I am going to be doing another build for myself, i am going with Intel

 

both comps. look pretty good based on the components used...are you looking for something even "higher-end" for your own personal next build? because both comps you have currently (for your home office + grandfather) are quite good...

being at the young age of 15, i would also like to commend you for building 2 highly capable rigs already thus far...