Computer help pt. 2 (build new)

Grim/Don

Grim/Don

Joined
Feb 1, 2003
Messages
1,221
I'm thinking about replacing the dead one in the other post with a built-by-me one. (then shuffling this one down the family tree). My last three computer's have been Dell's and I've loved them, but I'm looking to get more bang for the buck. I'd like one that can play Doom 3, as I got it last Christmas, but my main computer doesn't have the steam to run it. I'd like a 150-250 gig HD in it. If I could get it with TV input, that would be killer. Also, I'd like the multi card reader, but that's not crucial, as I have a USB one I can plug in. Won't need a monitor as I have a 20 inch one I got a sweet deal on. I'd prefer to spend less than a grand; in fact I'd have a hard time talking the wife into something close to that.

If someone can list the components (or link me to a ready made list), give me some pointers, maybe tech help with the build; I've got some knives in the For Sale forum I'd be happy to trade (nothing too fancy over there).
 
ok you gave me one of the two things I ask for, needs, now whats the budget? I can put a list together for ya very quickly and offer up any advice or help you might need building it.
 
Heya Grim.

The most crucial piece of equipment you will need for high end video games and the like is your video card.
Pretty much any good processor/moboard combo you buy will fit the bill , just make sure your over 2ghz. There are a lot of choices you'll see.
Here is a good vid card that is AGP http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1786748&Sku=B52-7812 this way you wouldnt be forced to buy a mo board that is PCIe (pci express). Really which one is better is a matter of cost vs opinion. On vid cards you want to worry more about the GPU (graphics processing unit) than the amount of RAM the card has. For instance a card with only 128 mb and a better GPU is better than a 256 mb card with a lessor GPU.
Your HD you want http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2145270 should be something like this , 7200 rpm... Seagate rocks , we use them at my work.
A decent soundcard , here http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1870098&CatId=107 that's not near top of the line but it is good , you can spend as much as you want... Creative rocks , pretty much industry standard.
Get yourself at least a GB of ram , since Tiger is so cheap , get two GB :)

Now you could forgo all of this and buy an Alien but IMHO they are $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and worth it but you can build a comparable system for a fraction of the cost , yourself.

Not trying to pee in anyone's cereal but if you need more help I'll do it for nothing... mostly because the Grimace makes me want to do a little dance.
 
Cool, I appreciate the help. I can change/add memory and have swapped out video cards and a hard drive before, but never did something this complete before.

So... can someone send me a list of all the stuff I'll need and where to buy them from. I'm concerned that if I tried to get the parts myself, I'll get something that's not compatible and end up making smoke and melted plastic! :eek: I'll need the case, power supply, motherboard and the whole shooting match (beside keyboard, mouse and monitor) Oh, I'm running Roadrunner, so I'll need a lan port. If there was a full package deal out there that I could get, that would be cool. I had planned on doing this for my next computer, just not quite so soon.

And again, I really appreciate the help, and I haven't even gotten a sniff on the knives I have for sale, so I won't mind saying "thank you" that way.
 
thats why I said just give a budget and I'll get you squared away with a parts list. you can IM me at Newegg. I need a budget because I can build a system from $300 - $3000+. don't know what you're willing to drop on it.

hit me up on AIM at ZJChaser as well if you want.

Also do you have any preferences towards intel or AMD and Nvidia vs ATI? I personaly go with Intel/nvidia combo for 90% of my builds along with Asus motherboards.
 
I'd like to stay under a grand. (Under $750 would be even better) No preference on brands, as long as they all play well together.
 
ok..if you can IM me on AIM with your email addy and I'll email over a pdf of the specs I put together, then you can just click the links in the pdf and not even have to worry about looking up the parts.

edit: I just realized you said under a grand in the first post..my bad man, sorry bout that
 
a newegg.com cart for ya. Just recommendations. The only thing I don't really have much experience with is the TV tuner, the one I choose seems to be highly praised especially for the price.

BenQ 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With exclusive SolidBurn Technology Black ATA/ATAPI Model DW1650 BK - OEM
Model #: DW1650 BK
Item #: N82E16827101010
$34.99

Antec Solution SLK3800B Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Rackmount Case 400Watt (SP400) SmartPower 2.0 ATX 12V 2.0 for AMD™ & Intel systems Power Supply - Retail
Model #: SLK3800B
Item #: N82E16811129163
$89.99 -$10.00 Instant
$79.99

MITSUMI Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal USB 2.0 digital card reader with Floppy Drive - OEM
Model #: FA404M BLK
Item #: N82E16821104104
$19.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3250824AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: ST3250824AS
Item #: N82E16822148111
$94.00

KWORLD VS-LTV7131R(RF W/FM) PCI Interface TV Tuner Card - Retail
Model #: VS-LTV7131R(RF W/FM)
Item #: N82E16815100129
$27.89

XFX PV-T73G-UDD3 Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: PV-T73G-UDD3
Item #: N82E16814150140
$199.00

pqi TURBO 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model PQI24200-1GDB - Retail
Model #: PQI24200-1GDB
Item #: N82E16820141200
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate
$86.50(before rebate)

ASUS P5LD2 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 945P ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #: P5LD2
Item #: N82E16813131538
$116.99

Intel Pentium 4 631 Cedar Mill 800MHz FSB LGA 775 EM64T Processor Model BX80552631 - Retail
Model #: BX80552631
Item #: N82E16819116004
$175.00

Subtotal: $834.35
Tax: $60.49
Shipping
Zip Code:GO FedEx Express Saver -- $61.52 FedEx 2Day -- $65.05 FedEx Standard Overnight -- $94.68 UPS Guaranteed 3 Day Service -- $45.39 UPS 2nd Day-- $53.06 UPS Next Day Saver -- $90.10

Total: $940.23


I choose these things because:

- budget

-the floppy drive double as a multi card reader, its great, I use them in all my builds.

-Dual layer DVD burner, why because they are cheap and work well

-motherboard has 7.1 channel audio built in with digital and optical audio output. gigabit lan, SataII(3.0) ports and will do RAID.

-the memory is nothing special, just decent cheap memory, intel chipsets aren't as picky about the speed of the RAM as AMD

-Antec cases and power supplies are just quality, rubber hard drive mounts, the side duct for the CPU. the 120mm rear fan is a nice touch as well.

-cedar mill core processor because the 65nm is a more efficient and cooler running chip than the older intels.

-the video card because its a decent midline card that fits nicely in the budget

-seagate hard drive because they are the most reliable, I've got stacks of dead drives in my office and only 2 are seagates, not bad considering the many many maxtors, samsungs, hitachis, and WDs.....put a front fan in the the case blowing over the hard drive and that will prolong the life, keep em cool.

-just a baseline you can tweak what you like from there. Video card would be the first thing to go cheaper on if you want to cut prices, but that one will play doom pretty well, but that does depend a lot on what resolution you are running. The higher the resolution the tougher the video card will have to work.

edit: update the components with links. Can you tell I'm bored tonight.
 
I don't know ZJChaser, but I'd like to say that Newegg is a completely dependable and honest place to shop - great selection and very competitive prices too.

Best Wishes,
-Bob
 
www.rseven.com is my company. I build everything from dumb terminals to corporate servers. I buy most parts from newegg. I mainly only purchase processors from my vendors so I keep my intel credits up. Newegg is great and has by far the easiest RMA process I've seen and dealt with. When you order as much as I do you are bound to get some DOA parts or run into problems time to time, I've never had a problem with getting any issues taken care of with newegg, not to mention their ship crazy fast. PS I don't mean to plug my company, if its against rules or something delete it. Just wanted him to know that I'm not talking out of my ass when it comes to these things.
 
ZJChaser,
Since you're in the computer building business, perhaps you could comment on a major irritation of mine. Why can't I find a 'plain' motherboard with NO onboard/integrated components? I hate that stuff - don't need it, can't use it, and don't want it on my board!

The last time I found a plain motherboard was a D875PBZ a couple of years ago... Darn irritating...

Just wondering if you understand why plain boards aren't more popular. It seems to me that most people building a machine would want to add their own sound and graphics.

-Bob
 
I spend a lot of time building systems on www.secret.net.au ...use the system builder on that page. It is really good. The costs are all in Aussie dollars but you can work out the part numbers from there and take it to someone local in your area.
 
Bob W said:
ZJChaser,
Since you're in the computer building business, perhaps you could comment on a major irritation of mine. Why can't I find a 'plain' motherboard with NO onboard/integrated components? I hate that stuff - don't need it, can't use it, and don't want it on my board!

The last time I found a plain motherboard was a D875PBZ a couple of years ago... Darn irritating...

Just wondering if you understand why plain boards aren't more popular. It seems to me that most people building a machine would want to add their own sound and graphics.

-Bob
Click to expand...

What are you looking to get rid of? Audio and Video? Everything else SHOULD be part of the board. lan, USB.............

and besides that its really tough to find a board without audio, but either way it is all very easy to disable the onboard components in the bios which will also speed up the bios post(boot)

looks like the best you're gonna find in regards to what you're looking for on the newer boards will be Abit boards. they have the audio on a seperate card that you can just leave off and put in whichever audio card you choose.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127213
 
What are you looking to get rid of? Audio and Video?
Click to expand...
Yep. For audio I've bought a Soundblaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum, so I don't need or want the onboard audio. For video I definitely want a real graphic card.

The last motherboard I bought was two years ago, a intel D875PBZLK that did not include sound nor graphics. I couldn't find any AMD-compatible board at the time. Now I can't a modern Intel without that stuff either...

I know the onboard stuff can be turned off (unlike the old days), but it seems a waste to have unwanted 'features' to begin with.

-Bob
 
Bob W said:
Yep. For audio I've bought a Soundblaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum, so I don't need or want the onboard audio. For video I definitely want a real graphic card.

The last motherboard I bought was two years ago, a intel D875PBZLK that did not include sound nor graphics. I couldn't find any AMD-compatible board at the time. Now I can't a modern Intel without that stuff either...

I know the onboard stuff can be turned off (unlike the old days), but it seems a waste to have unwanted 'features' to begin with.

-Bob
Click to expand...

ya take a look at the the abit boards, most of them have the audio on a seperate card. Much cleaner install, especially when you don't use that card.
 
ZJChaser, thanks for the list, that was exactly what I was looking for. Will the operating sytem be included, or will I have to purchase that to? I've heard of Newegg before and have seen the recommendations about them, so I have no worried ordering from them.

I mentioned to a co-worker that I was going to do this, and now may have to do it twice! :D Her computer is about 7 years old and her husband hates it...
 
ya take a look at the the abit boards, most of them have the audio on a seperate card. Much cleaner install, especially when you don't use that card.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for the tip. I've asked many places about audio-less motherboards and no one's ever mentioned that.

Grim/Don,
The operating system is sold seperately. But by ordering hardware at the same time, you'll save a bunch of money because you'll be qualified to buy the OEM operating system. Buying OEM vs. Retail means that the product may not have the store-shelf packaging, since it's designed to be sold to computer manufacturers instead of end consumers. Hard drives, processors, etc. can also be bought in OEM packages instead of Retail.

Best Luck in your build,
-Bob
 
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