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Motionless

Junior Member
Jun 19, 2008
6
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I read the Computer building resource thread. And I fall in the "I'm a noOb and I want help picking out my parts kit!" category.

your budget: I can budget up to 1,600~ dollars.

what items you need the budget to cover:

# Power supply
# Case
# Motherboard
# CPU
# Heatsink/fan for the CPU
# Memory
# Primary hard drive
# Primary optical drive
# Video card
# Monitor
# Mouse/keyboard
# Operating System


basicly everything. I don't need speakers or headset, and I think i'll go with a type of windows vista.


any particular specs you've already decided upon (e.g. a certain CPU or GPU, or a certain amount of RAM): I honestly have no idea, I would assume this would be dictated by what I would like to do with it.



what types of uses you want to use the computer for (e.g. gaming, office/student work, video editing, HTPC, or whatever): The focus would be gaming, maybe some audio editing with adobe audition as well as things like just streaming videos, talking on vent, having firefox and winamp open.

Overall I understand the best thing to do is to buy the parts seperatly and assemble it yourself, but i'm not sure if that's a good idea when I know so little about what can be used with what and what I actually need for cooling and things like that.
 
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engiNURD

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2004
3,975
0
76
Read mechbgon's build guide and you'll be fine.

Here's something to start you off... rough price estimates...
$250 - 22" LCD Monitor
$160 - Asus 8800GT ($30MIR) (vidcard)
$135 - Intel Core2Duo E7200 (CPU)
$110 - WD 640GB WD6400AAKS (HDD)
$100 - MS Windows Vista Home Premium OEM (OS)
$70 - Corsair 450W (PSU)
$50 - CM Centurion 532/534 (case)
$90 - Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L (mobo)
$20 - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (CPU HSF)
$45 - 2GB DDR2-800 G.Skill (RAM)
$30 - Samsung SH-S203B (optical)
==========
$1060 + tax and shipping...

so you have room to upgrade. ;) Don't forget a keyboard and mouse. If you'd like to upgrade, I'd suggest... CPU to Q6600 (+65), GPU to 8800GTS (+40), PSU to Corsair 520W (+40), CPU HSF to Xigmatek HDT-S1283 w/ retention kit ($37+7), and RAM to 4GB (+40). That should put you at $1290 before tax, shipping, keyboard, and mouse.
 
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ther00kie16

Golden Member
Mar 28, 2008
1,573
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look at some of the other threads
i'll get u started
PSU: any corsair on buy.com $80
Case: your preference; many gamers like Antec 900 $100
MB: Gigabyte EP35-DS3L $90
CPU:e7200/e8400 for dual; q6600/q9450 for quad $130-$350
HSF: Xigmatek S1283/OCZ Vendetta 2/Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer $40
Ram: 4GB Gskill ddr2 1000 kit $85
HD: WD 640gb or Samsung 750gb/1tb $100-$180
optical drive: any dvd burner unless you want blu-ray then get LG blu-ray/HD dvd for $160. you can find blu-ray only for $120ish at times but some of those don't burn DVDs so beware.
Video card: read up upcoming reviews on Radeon 4850 & 4870. But best deal will probably be 8800gts 512mb $180
monitor: a non-TN 24" or larger; people recommend Doublesight 26" at $700 if that fits your budget
Mouse/keyboard: Logitech Wave is a nice one but this is a personal thing so get a feel at a local store before buying if possible $60
OS: Vista home premium
 
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Motionless

Junior Member
Jun 19, 2008
6
0
0
Where is it normally suggested to buy some of these components? or does it not matter as long as the price is right.
 
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engiNURD

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2004
3,975
0
76
Newegg mostly, but also buy.com (esp for PSUs). Other etailers to check out are zipzoomfly.com, clubit.com, directron.com, mwave.com, ewiz.com, ncixus.com, etc. Check the deal sites regularly (fatwallet hot deals forum, slickdeals.net, bensbargains.net, hot deals subforum here and other forums -- eg HardForum), too.
 
DSF

DSF

Diamond Member
Oct 6, 2007
4,902
0
71
Quality of customer service and fairness of shipping prices and times varies from site to site, so just because a site has the best price doesn't mean it's the best place to buy. Generally speaking Newegg has the best reputation for service, price and shipping, but there are other good sites out there.

resellerratings.com and shopping.google.com will give you reviews of different sites if you want them.

You're getting pretty good advice as far as individual components, so I'm going to take my advice in a different direction and cover some things a first-time builder might not think of.

1) If you're sending in mail-in rebates, keep copies of everything associated with the rebate. Copy the form you filled out, copy the proof of purchase, copy the receipt, etc. If they only ask for a copy, don't send them the original. If they ask for the original, make sure you keep a copy in a safe place. You'll need things like proof of purchase if you need warranty service later on.

2) Some video card companies are now requiring that you register your video card with them within 30 days of purchase to be fully covered by the warranty. I know EVGA and XFX do this, and other Nvidia/ATI partners may as well. Don't forget to take the five minutes to register.

3) The excitement to build the computer can be pretty intense, and it's hard to wait if you have all the boxes stacked up in front of you. Take your time and do it when you can devote your undivided attention to it, like on a Saturday afternoon. If you try to do it when you're getting home tired from work on Thursday night, bad things may happen. Computer equipment needs to be treated with care, so don't rush it.

4) Read up on ESD or electrostatic discharge, as it can be deadly to computer components as you're assembling the machine. The risks are generally overstated, but you need to take some basic precautions. Some people like to wear an anti-static wrist strap and work on an anti-static mat, which brings the risk down quite a bit. If those would give you piece of mind they can be had for less than $20, but they're not really necessary. Most people simply make sure to ground themselves regularly as they're working.

5) Since this is your first time, I would suggest finding a friend who can look over your shoulder while you do things, if that's possible. It never hurts to have a pair of experienced eyes/hands, especially if things don't go perfectly right the first time you hit the button.

6) If you've determined that a part doesn't work and needs to be returned, some times the retailer will charge you shipping for the return and sometimes they won't. Personally, I don't think it's fair for them to do so unless the damage was the fault of the end user. On the occasions that I've been in that situation (part arrived damaged) a simple, polite email explaining the situation got Newegg to waive the shipping. It's always worth a try.

There are plenty of other tidbits people could add, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.
 
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engiNURD

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2004
3,975
0
76
Oh, I forgot... new vidcards are out from NVIDIA and ATI's are coming out next week. So, wait for some reviews on those. gpureview.com is a good resource for vidcard info.
 
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Motionless

Junior Member
Jun 19, 2008
6
0
0
Lots of good info from everyone. I'm just trying to sort it all out, it's quite a lot. As far as new video cards coming out, should I generally be concerned with this? I'm not sure if the 'newest' thing out there is right for me or not, depending on my budget.
 
DSF

DSF

Diamond Member
Oct 6, 2007
4,902
0
71
Originally posted by: Motionless
Lots of good info from everyone. I'm just trying to sort it all out, it's quite a lot. As far as new video cards coming out, should I generally be concerned with this? I'm not sure if the 'newest' thing out there is right for me or not, depending on my budget.
Click to expand...

I would at least wait and see what ATI comes out with. The HD 4850 is supposed to be in the range of $200-230 MSRP as I recall, and should compete favorably against the current video cards in that price range.

Waiting a week can't hurt.
 
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Motionless

Junior Member
Jun 19, 2008
6
0
0
A quick question about compatibility. What do I look for when seeing what video cards I can use with what MoBo?

Example:

GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128337

EVGA 512-P3-N845-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) KO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130337

As far as I understand, PCI express card like this needs a PCI slot, I assume I can tell if they're compatible by the abbreviations in the MoBo's name, but i'm not sure what exactly.
 
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nanobreath

Senior member
May 14, 2008
978
0
0
PCI and PCI-express are two different types of connections. Similar yes, but pci-e is made for video cards. I'd say 99% of all current motherboards have pci-e slots. Look in the specifications of the MB will list the slots.

I.E. on that motherboard:

Expansion Slots
PCI Express x16 1
PCI Express x1 3
PCI Slots 3

PCI Express x16 are the slots for the video cards.




On a side note, it seems that you not only know little about the best parts, but little knowledge of the workings in the computer. As such I'd say you have two options, buy from a pc manufacturer or start doing research into how to properly build a computer.

Take time to read up and learn the parts, what they do, how they work, and what they look like. Don't just get us to pick out some parts for you, then have no idea what youre supposed to be doing with them and as a result plug something in wrong and fry half the computer. Places like dell, or your local pc store are for people that don't want to do this research. If you are willing to put in the time to learn about it, building your own can not only save money, but quite frankly be a much more rewarding experience...not to mention addicting.
 
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