i apologize ahead of time if this thread seems long. i want to include as much info as possible.
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
i'll be using it for gaming and interweb use (bill paying, forum reading, etc). not hardcore gaming though, just random fpsing here and there and mmo stuff
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
i'm hoping for under $1,000. based on what i've been looking over and seeing from newegg/other threads, $900 might be possible
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
i'm in the usa, SW usa in ALB, NM to be exact
4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
the last time i built a computer was when i was in HS (6+ yrs ago), i don't know what's good or not now, so there are no brand preferences
5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
i don't plan on putting any old parts into the new comp except monitor, mouse, and keyboard
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
over the past week or so, i have been looking over different sections of this forum as well as reading other sites and reviews. this week long obsession on new parts is on top of many years of hardware ignorance, however
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
pretty much everything will be run at default speeds. i have put together a comp myself before, but i don't feel that i know enough about comps to OC something and make sure it runs at OC speeds w/ longterm stability
as a small background, the first two comps i bought when i was in middle school/HS were a compaq and a gateway. the compaq was pretty horrible. freshman or sophomore year, i put my own comp together. i didn't know a whole lot about comps, but i was told it was like a puzzle, w/ the mobo guide sheet like the top box of the puzzle. that comp has worked for me for the last 6-8 yrs. i think it has slowly deteriorated over that time, however, as its performance has slowly gone downhill. i don't think i had enough cooling in it, so i think the graphics card, most of all, overheated. this means cooling is a big concern for me. my current comp has constantly been restarting itself lately, w/ the vid card being so hot that i couldn't touch it w/ my finger for more than 2 or 3 sec before it seriously hurt.
while doing my small bit of research, this is what i have come up w/:
1. Power supply:
i haven't picked one because tbh, i don't know how much power i'm going to need.
2. Case: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...p?ProductCode=10006342
$64.99 this case, from what i have read, seems entirely adaptable w/ fans so that i can control temp a lot more and keep overall system temp a whole lot lower, which i like
3. Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128059
$89.99 glancing through threads here on anandtech, it seemed as though it was between this and the abit http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813127031 , which is more expensive after the abit's rebate is over after 1/31
4. CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...E16819115037&Tpk=E8400
$229.99 every thread i have seen says that this is the best cpu for gaming, because it's a duo-core, rather than a quad-core, along w/ its high speed and other things. the fact that i marked it in my notes last NIGHT at $224.99, and other sites have it at a much higher price (among some sites listing "out of stock" at some future date"), suggests to me that i should probably buy soon for this item.
5. Heatsink/fan for the CPU http://www.ncixus.com/products...-PRO/Arctic%20Cooling/
$18.69 anandtech itself, in the anandtech reviews that i read, said that this heatsink ran wonderful for non-OC'ing ppl who were looking for economic cpu coolers. anandtech said the freezer 7 pro almost competed w/ better coolers for OC'ing on avg systems, which is way above my needs. my cpu's will receive no extra attention other than what it takes to plop them into my case/mobo and ensure they are running properly. i really hope this heatsink will keep
6. Memory
i didn't pick a set of memory. i was looking through some memory before and saw things like "special for windows vista," etc. i'll admit that i honestly don't know if some memory is better suited for windows vista, simply from its production, than some is for windows xp. so i leave that up to others to advise me, if you please.
7. Primary hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822152052
$109.99 the 500gb spinpoint has been mentioned in a number of threads as an incredible HD for the price. it's more than i currently have as far as HD space, and it's been listed as a quiet drive
8. Primary optical drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827106080
$27.99 this is one of the cheaper dvd writer drives that i found w/ lightscribe technology. tbh, that's fine w/ me. i can't see myself using lightscribe all that often, but so long as it can write a dvd/cd, i will be completely happy w/ it. the fact that optical drives have been mostly ignored in threads/signatures that i've seen leads me to believe that they don't really matter, so long as they aren't $500 overpriced pieces of trash
9. Video card http://www.ncixus.com/products...X/Galaxy%20Technology/
$189.31 after the mail-in-rebate (plus shipping, obv). this should be the most imp component from all that i've read and think. anandtech and something i read on tomshardware.com i think listed the 3870 as the closest competitor to the 8800gt. all the listings i have seen put the 3870 over $210 though, w/o even considering shipping costs. so if i get the 8800gt before 2/20/08, the mail in rebate should make it a fairly ridiculous deal.
so as a final review to this description, i plan on doing no OC, so don't take that into account when considering the equipment i've mentioned.
as i see it, the system's total should come to $710.26. that is w/o a power source or RAM. i will also need a copy of XP or VISTA. i don't know which is better for current mediocre gaming. i don't consider mmo'ing (what i mostly do) to be top end fps gaming, of course.
so please comment on the build. i still need advice on ram and what kind of power source i need for that kind of system. in addition, if anyone has ways to save money on this system but still maintain a decent system, please let me know
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
i'll be using it for gaming and interweb use (bill paying, forum reading, etc). not hardcore gaming though, just random fpsing here and there and mmo stuff
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
i'm hoping for under $1,000. based on what i've been looking over and seeing from newegg/other threads, $900 might be possible
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
i'm in the usa, SW usa in ALB, NM to be exact
4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
the last time i built a computer was when i was in HS (6+ yrs ago), i don't know what's good or not now, so there are no brand preferences
5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
i don't plan on putting any old parts into the new comp except monitor, mouse, and keyboard
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
over the past week or so, i have been looking over different sections of this forum as well as reading other sites and reviews. this week long obsession on new parts is on top of many years of hardware ignorance, however
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
pretty much everything will be run at default speeds. i have put together a comp myself before, but i don't feel that i know enough about comps to OC something and make sure it runs at OC speeds w/ longterm stability
as a small background, the first two comps i bought when i was in middle school/HS were a compaq and a gateway. the compaq was pretty horrible. freshman or sophomore year, i put my own comp together. i didn't know a whole lot about comps, but i was told it was like a puzzle, w/ the mobo guide sheet like the top box of the puzzle. that comp has worked for me for the last 6-8 yrs. i think it has slowly deteriorated over that time, however, as its performance has slowly gone downhill. i don't think i had enough cooling in it, so i think the graphics card, most of all, overheated. this means cooling is a big concern for me. my current comp has constantly been restarting itself lately, w/ the vid card being so hot that i couldn't touch it w/ my finger for more than 2 or 3 sec before it seriously hurt.
while doing my small bit of research, this is what i have come up w/:
1. Power supply:
i haven't picked one because tbh, i don't know how much power i'm going to need.
2. Case: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...p?ProductCode=10006342
$64.99 this case, from what i have read, seems entirely adaptable w/ fans so that i can control temp a lot more and keep overall system temp a whole lot lower, which i like
3. Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128059
$89.99 glancing through threads here on anandtech, it seemed as though it was between this and the abit http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813127031 , which is more expensive after the abit's rebate is over after 1/31
4. CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...E16819115037&Tpk=E8400
$229.99 every thread i have seen says that this is the best cpu for gaming, because it's a duo-core, rather than a quad-core, along w/ its high speed and other things. the fact that i marked it in my notes last NIGHT at $224.99, and other sites have it at a much higher price (among some sites listing "out of stock" at some future date"), suggests to me that i should probably buy soon for this item.
5. Heatsink/fan for the CPU http://www.ncixus.com/products...-PRO/Arctic%20Cooling/
$18.69 anandtech itself, in the anandtech reviews that i read, said that this heatsink ran wonderful for non-OC'ing ppl who were looking for economic cpu coolers. anandtech said the freezer 7 pro almost competed w/ better coolers for OC'ing on avg systems, which is way above my needs. my cpu's will receive no extra attention other than what it takes to plop them into my case/mobo and ensure they are running properly. i really hope this heatsink will keep
6. Memory
i didn't pick a set of memory. i was looking through some memory before and saw things like "special for windows vista," etc. i'll admit that i honestly don't know if some memory is better suited for windows vista, simply from its production, than some is for windows xp. so i leave that up to others to advise me, if you please.
7. Primary hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822152052
$109.99 the 500gb spinpoint has been mentioned in a number of threads as an incredible HD for the price. it's more than i currently have as far as HD space, and it's been listed as a quiet drive
8. Primary optical drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827106080
$27.99 this is one of the cheaper dvd writer drives that i found w/ lightscribe technology. tbh, that's fine w/ me. i can't see myself using lightscribe all that often, but so long as it can write a dvd/cd, i will be completely happy w/ it. the fact that optical drives have been mostly ignored in threads/signatures that i've seen leads me to believe that they don't really matter, so long as they aren't $500 overpriced pieces of trash
9. Video card http://www.ncixus.com/products...X/Galaxy%20Technology/
$189.31 after the mail-in-rebate (plus shipping, obv). this should be the most imp component from all that i've read and think. anandtech and something i read on tomshardware.com i think listed the 3870 as the closest competitor to the 8800gt. all the listings i have seen put the 3870 over $210 though, w/o even considering shipping costs. so if i get the 8800gt before 2/20/08, the mail in rebate should make it a fairly ridiculous deal.
so as a final review to this description, i plan on doing no OC, so don't take that into account when considering the equipment i've mentioned.
as i see it, the system's total should come to $710.26. that is w/o a power source or RAM. i will also need a copy of XP or VISTA. i don't know which is better for current mediocre gaming. i don't consider mmo'ing (what i mostly do) to be top end fps gaming, of course.
so please comment on the build. i still need advice on ram and what kind of power source i need for that kind of system. in addition, if anyone has ways to save money on this system but still maintain a decent system, please let me know
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