Building a new PC for the first time

[Research]

Hi!

I just got a Antec SX835II with 350 W case. This is the only thing I have till now to start a new PC. Can anybody please suggest the components/methodology to build a PC?

I'm especially interested in a P4 processor (2.4 or above) and a good mobo to support it with lots of PCI slots. I intend to use this PC primarily for video editing.

Thanks

 

[AtomicDude512]

Congrats on building your first PC! Here is a good linkon how to build your own PC.

Two good places to go on the web are NewEgg and GoogleGear.

 

[techfuzz]

First of all, start with a plan. You mentioned video editing, that's a good start. Video editing usually requires lots of RAM and a good processor (or two). Lots of hard drive space is also probably required if you're dealing with large video files. A good video card might also be a requirement for you.

Second, draw up a budget. Decide how much you're willing to spend on everything and how'll you plan to pay for it all. I myself put everything on the credit card and try to get at least 90% of it payed off the next month. Some people spread their purchases out over 2-3 months if they can begin with parts from an existing computer. Once you have an overall budget, break down how much you'll spend on each component. Your'll have to decide which components get more of the pie than others if you're working with a small budget. Play around with the numbers and change out the components. Eventually you'll find the right combination.

Start buying parts! If you're going to buy online, check out this site: Reseller Ratings. They will help you to decide if the place you want to buy from is legit and what other people who have bought from them in the past think about the store. Make sure you know what each sites return policies are BEFORE you buy. Some places charge restocking fees that can be quite high, up to %20 in some cases. Some don't allow returns of certain items, other only give you 15 days.

If you have any more questions feel free to PM me or post them here and anyone else I'm sure will lend a hand!

Welcome to AT!

techfuzz

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I hope I don't come off like a shill by recommending that you just buy all your components at Newegg. Their prices are always among the lowest and their service is unsurpassed.

 

[CaptnKirk]

S V C is a good source for Heatsinks, Fans, & Round Cables.

 

[Research]

Thanks a lot for your ideas ... I guess I can get started now:

Well here's the initial plan (still a lot to decide) and costs:

1. Case: Antec SX835II with 350 W and 2 fans + Extra 3rd fan from my old HP Pavilion

2. P4 2.4 or above (advice needed) ($200)

3. mobo: Intel (but which one? advice needed) ($100)

4. Memory: 2GB (no clue about type or price - advice needed)

5. HD: WD 120 GB (I already have in my old PC) + 200GB Maxtor (to be bought) ($200) + 10GB (from my old baby)

6. Video card: Vodoo5 (I have an old one ... got some private party XP drivers from the web)

7. Firewire card (Pinnacle DV)

8. Sony CR-RW (32,40) from my old computer

9. Sony DVD+-RW ($300)

10. Sound/Audio and Fax/Data Modem: Rockwell Riptide combo card (an old one with XP drivers)

11. XP Professional (I already have)


Am I missing something? (I hope the mobo includes the LAN, paralles, serial and USB ports). Please give your suggestion!

Thanks!!

(p.s.: I have an HP Pavilion 8533z desktop PC which I plan to tear apart. (Celeron 500 MHz, PC100 256 MB SDRAM). Can anything be reused?

 

[Research]

Can anyone please give some suggestions, especially about any Intel brand mobo?

Thanks!:frown:

 

[logers]

You're going to get answers all over the spectrum on that one. Nothing beats doing cold hard research to find the best one for you! A few months ago when I was researching, I found the Anandtech cpu page http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/index.html very useful for reviews.

If you're a bleeding edge kind of a guy, and you're not sold on Intel, then the AMD XP 3000+ Barton rocks, but it's $606. For less you could stay on the 333 FSB speed and drop down to the 2500+, it's only $180!

The Intel side is pretty much the same. If your driven by the bottom line then you should definitely pick a price curve winner (the ones with the most cpu bang for your buck like the 2500+). But you mentioned video editing and it sounds like you're putting some pretty hefty equipment in so you may want to go all out.

I spent around 3 months pricing and researching my system last year, but now I know that my $1400 machine outperforms the $2-3k heavyweights at the time because I took the time and built it right. GL!

 

[AtomicDude512]

Originally posted by: Don_Vito
I hope I don't come off like a shill by recommending that you just buy all your components at Newegg. Their prices are always among the lowest and their service is unsurpassed.

LOL, I was going to do that

 

[nick1985]

2 gigs of RAM?!

 

[CaptnKirk]

PC Mechanic has a comprehensive, step by step guide to use for a first time builder.

I hapen to like the Abit Motherboards and for a P-4 the BE-7 is an excellent performer. Both ASUS and the EPoX make good boards as well. The BIG THREE are Abit, Asus, & Epox.
Intel look them over and choose one that suits you needs - I make no reccomendation on that, except the PC2700, DDR333 and the PC3200, DDR 400 is less expensive than RAMBUS Memory.

Processor wise a Northwood 2.66 with a fan and heatsink comes to $ 240, which is only $ 3 more than the OEM CPU, and you can't buy a heatsink and fan fot the price difference - you get a three year warranty with the retail package too. If you have a budget constraint the 2.53 retail package goes for $ 193

Myself for memory I use Crucial, but many enthusiasts use the Samsung with excellent results, but there are other brands that work well - Corsair especially for overclocking, but expensive.
Make sure you get the right type/design of memory for the motherboard - RAMBUS won't fit in a board made for DDR.

Between the DVD burners, it's a toss-up between the Sony and the Pioneer as they are the leaders of the pack now.

 

[Research]

Thanks a lot for the ideas. It seems I'm still stuck to the idea of Intel. I guess the mobo Intel D845PEBT2 is pretty good. Anandtech "experts" seem to recommend Epox EP-4PEA+ a lot too. It seems that these are the most stable - good value mobos for P4 2.4 and higher. True?

 

[JMU1337]

Do yourself a favor and don't buy from GoogleGear. If anything in your system is defective they will charge you a restocking fee to get a refund... In many cases one component in an entire system may come defective.

 

[techfuzz]

Originally posted by: Research
Thanks a lot for the ideas. It seems I'm still stuck to the idea of Intel. I guess the mobo Intel D845PEBT2 is pretty good. Anandtech "experts" seem to recommend Epox EP-4PEA+ a lot too. It seems that these are the most stable - good value mobos for P4 2.4 and higher. True?

Yes that is very true. I am looking at getting the Epox EP-4PEA+ motherboard myself. Right now it's a toss up between it and the Abit IT7-MAX2 v2.0 motherboard. I have to wait until I get some more cash though, I just paid the taxes on my car

If you're looking at 2.4, make sure you get the 533 MHz FSB version of the chip and not the 400 MHz one. As far as the video card goes, you'd be better off buying a new card, something like a GeForce4 Ti 4600 or ATI Radeon 9700. I don't think you'll be happy with a Voodoo5 in such a screaming new computer.

techfuzz

 

[CaptnKirk]

I just built an ABIT IT7-MAX2 complete with the XP Media Panel - tremendous combonation, put an 2.8 Northwood on it with 1.5GB PC2700, DDR333 RAM - this is designed to be a digital picture and video editor system.
Mounted in a CheifTech Aluminum case and a Maxtor 120GB HDD Put a pair of 8.4GB Maxtor's from a previous system into a RAID-0 until I get a handle on who it works, then will be able to add more HDD's as the demand goes up.

 

[StraightPipe]

3dfx is dead, dont buy their cards.. i would definately recomend NVidia or ATI. I have a 2.4 ghz @533 fsb and the ati9700. it's great for gaming and you can do whatevwer you want while burning cds. I dont really do any video editing, just games/filesharing/downloading/programing. but it hasnt lagged much at all (only when I run Unreal Tourn 2003, but i'm bumping te RAM from 256 to 768 this week to fix that)

I actually went through dell (blushing) but got
2.4 ghxz@533 fsb
80 gig HD
ATI9700 tv out 128MB
audigy sound card
256 DDR PC2100
40X CD-r
16x DVD
gigabit NIC
wireless keybaord & mouse
1 year warranty
shtty harmon/kardon speakers (which i dont use)
8 pci slots, 4 usb 2.0 ports, 1394 ports

I love the wireless keybaord and mouse, i've got it runnig through my big screen and over my stereo. I just sit on the couch and play away.


Ive heard good and bad things about XP media center, there are articles at anandtech.

make sure you get 533 FSB. the next bus speed that intel will release is 800 mhz and that will tank a 400 system. 533 is the best you can get for another year or so.

 

[Research]

Thanks straightpipe.

Actually I already have an old voodoo5 3dfx card (it was quite high tech and expensive a few years back). When I upgraded my old computer to XP I downloaded new private party drivers for it .. the card works okay. And I'm making my new computer for mostly for video editing. I don't think I would be playing any video games. I simply import the video using the pinnacle DV firewire card, and burn it on a DVD. Would I still need a good video card?

 

[Research]

I guess, I have decided now:

- P4 2.66
- Intel (D845PEBT2) mobo
- Memory: 512*2 (idea of 2GB was pretty dreamy )

However, if anybody has any experience with the intel D845PEBT2 mobo, I had a question:

The product specifications state that this model has "Three IEEE 1394a-2000 ports (optional)". In the reviews on newegg, I remember one guy saying that, the motherboard he got does not have the IEEE ports. When he called, he was told that this option is only available in the OEM board. Can you please comment on this? Can I use the optional mobo ports in case they are not pre-wired or something? I really want the board with the IEEE ports on it.

 

[everman]

What kind of video editing? Are we talking professional level jobs with giant files? I'm thinking probably not, or else I would reccomend a RAID 0, 0+1, or 5 setup.

One of my favorite stores is newegg.com, and don't skimp on ram quality, make sure you get a good brand as it can matter a lot. Arctic silver 3 thermal compound, and don't use really fast noisy fans. (for a very quiet pc, stay under 26db for fan noise).

 

[Research]

Originally posted by: everman
What kind of video editing? Are we talking professional level jobs with giant files? I'm thinking probably not, or else I would reccomend a RAID 0, 0+1, or 5 setup.

One of my favorite stores is newegg.com, and don't skimp on ram quality, make sure you get a good brand as it can matter a lot. Arctic silver 3 thermal compound, and don't use really fast noisy fans. (for a very quiet pc, stay under 26db for fan noise).

Thanks everman,

Well, I just do simple editing with Pinnacle studio ... but the files are quite huge (2-3 hours of video) in one movie. I'm semi-pro ... kind of thinking of it as a side business.

As far as the memory is concerned .. I have ordered crucial 512 MB .. how much do you recommend?

 

[StraightPipe]

speed is nice, but you need to have a respectable amount of RAM on the card too. 64+ I would say.
you can get this for sub $100.
older Geforce 4 would be fine (ie: Ti-4200)

I'd try to use the 3dfx since you have it.

 

[Research]

Originally posted by: StraightPipe
speed is nice, but you need to have a respectable amount of RAM on the card too. 64+ I would say.
you can get this for sub $100.
older Geforce 4 would be fine (ie: Ti-4200)

I'd try to use the 3dfx since you have it.

The voodoo5 RAM is 64. But do you anticipate any problem in video editing / mpeg conversion with a shabby card?