Building a computer

[superman217]

i'm wanting to build a computer instead of buying a pre-built or upgrading my piece of dell. But there's so many diff motherboards, cpus', graphic cards, memory, that I get a headache just scrolling thru them all. Then there is the compat problems of what goes with what. Im stuck right now and I need some guidance. i'm wanting to build a pretty high end gaming console. I thought maybe I could just build one on alien ware which I did and tryed to search the parts down on newegg, and tiger direct but im not sure if it was even the same parts, then I didnt know what to get for cooling, which memory to buy, and the power supply, please help me if you can. Because im about at this point and I kinda rdy to just do this LoL

From what I understand I needa dual core processor, and at least a 512mb video card, and 2mb memory, and I was looking at two sata Raid 0 hard drives.

[Chewy]

what's your budget just for the tower, video cards for gaming are expensive?

[superman217]

I am willing to spend a lil less then two grand. I plan on buying the parts in pieces over paychecks, or maybe buying all at once on a credit card not sure. But either way around that figure.

[Chewy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115004

start here and see what mobo everyone's using

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128012

or this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128323

good video card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130033

and ram at least this good

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220144

[superman217]

I was looking for a lil higher processor more like

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115002

and maybe a video card along these lines

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150125

Or can I get away with the cheaper ones and still have a kicking gaming computer? What about hard drives? Is raid 0 important? or should I just stick to something with good memory on it? And does mobo mean motherboard im thinking? LoL

And whats the deal with motherboards how can I tell if there compatible with the products I want, or even how do I know if there good?

[anonymez]

and maybe a video card along these lines

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150125

that definitely won't do, unless your thinking solitaire & minesweeeper!

IMHO for a PC to be called a "gaming console" it'll need an nvidia 7900 or ati X1900 at least, you'll be chugging along with that card


@chewy: bought the 7900GT yesterday, though BFG (OC'd), lifetime warranty

[Chewy]

the cpu I chose is half the price and will do 3.2GHz on that mobo with a $50HSF. that's a 1000$ cpu for 300$

I would have picked the 550$ dual gpu vid card but we need to save money for hard drives and a great power supply case

even a slightly slower cpu will do great at video coding for years to come, the vid card is critical,
next years games will need a better card

the 512 megs of memory is not important, having 256 megs that fast as heck is

[superman217]

Ahhh got ya, see thats why I need genious help. I appreciate your help, I want to know though like why these things are compatible because I cant be coming here everytime I want to build a new computer or anything. Thats another thing I need help with understanting it. How do I know the cpu u chose works with the mobo ect. ect.

Oh whats a HSF by the way

[Chewy]

mobo is short for motherboard

hsf heatsinkfan

all I did was look for the hottest cpu at the sweet spot(bangforthebuck) and see what the majority of buyers are using with it(read comments/reviews)
see compatible items.

take some time and read up, a little research goes a long way

I would say you need to get your feet wet before this build anyway.

[ed klein]

I would go with Alienware for the case, they are huge, you can easily get four optical drives in the case and have plenty of room for your hands to make all the needed connections, and plenty of fan locations.

But Alienware is a pain in the a** to work with, especially when it comes to rebates. Alienware is owned by Microsoft.

[Chewy]

new intel mobos only have 1 ide, and alienware power supplies leave a lot to be desired?

[superman217]

I have alot of research into the acutal building proccess, I bought a book with detailed instructions/pictures and found two websites that offer even greater assitance, plus i've messed around inside the case of my comp so many times im surprised I havent broke the dang thing. Im not so worried about the building part, more worried about what I said above. But what do you reccomend for getting my feet wet? Like buying cheap crap and throwing it together before I do my main build? And do you know some resources that offer alot of info on all my issues or should I just google it? Thxs for your continued help. Did anyone have an suggestions how to fix what I did to my computer? (the picture above)

I found the compatible items button, thats exciting.

[ed klein]

Take a loan out and update your budget to $3500. and get the fastest internal parts you can find with the latest technology, because tomorrow your computer will be outdated.

And, don't put Vista operating system in it.

[Budreaux]

I really shouldn't get involved in this, BUT, Don't suggest Pentium for gaming.... AMD is a much cheaper processor, runs much cooler, performs better in gaming, and, well, hell, that's plenty reason why. AMD has several other options as well... like using a Mobile processor in a Desktop... while this sounds absurd, you'd be very suprised at the results. I've seen server processors used for gaming rigs in the past and they would blow the processors intended for the systems away, as do Mobiles today.

There is ALOT of information you need to read before you jump into this. First off, either decide on the processor or the mobo you want and build from that.
I suggest the AMD's, and then chose the mobo from there that fits the socket type. At that point, you just start fitting what ya need into the slots that fit.. simplistic as that sounds, it really isn;t. There are som many variations to use, and considerations.. such as OCing (overclocking).. you can buy lower end hardware and OC or even reflash bios and get the same specs as teh higher end hardware, but to do so, you have to insure you build on a tower that has good air flow for cooling.... then again, you may opt for water cooling, with the options out there, it really pays to take the time to do the research.

As for hardrives, SATA's are faster than the IDE's and running RAID_0 array will speed up loading times during games, BUT, if you chose to go that route, you have to understand, first, you have to use 2 indentical hardrives to do this, secondly, if one of the 2 harddrives fail, you lose everything on both. Even though they are two seperate drives, by running Raid_0, in essence, joins the two to make one. They share the workload, which is how you get the increased load times... two drives performing the task of one, faster.
Anyways, like I said, I shouldn't get involved, I have to many opinions when it comes to building.. be sure and do your homework and also GO AMD!!!

Budreaux

[Chewy]

Budreaux,
you might want to see this, I used to agree with what you said, however

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=430&model2=464&chart=165