Help me make a good computer

[Krez]

Hello. As you might guess, I would like to aquire meself a good computer. I've been looking at getting a computer for quite some time now and I finally got enough money to get one. Here's the deal, I have never built my own computer and I'm a bit nervous about building my own. I would do it, but I have found that I can get a comp that has the same parts as a NewEgg built one for the same price at places like CyberPower. The comp I would get would be used primarily to play Oblivion, so I know I have to get a good one. My budget is $800 and no more (cuz that's all I have heh). I already have a copy of WinXP, a cd/dvd drive and a monitor. I've been looking at Cyberpower, and here's the comp I might get there:

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h230/Type9/comp.jpg
Total price is $763. I also get a 3 year warranty and that's a real big plus for CP.

Is the gfx card, a 7900 GT, just gonna get bottlenecked by the 3800 X2 and 1GB of RAM?

Okay, that one's pretty cool. But what about this stuff I found at NewEgg?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811144157
Aspire (Apevia now?) X-Cruiser with included 420W PSU. I absolutely love how this case looks and I think the PSU is sufficient, correct? $85.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822144415
Western Digital Caviar 160GB HD. This is a good one, right? $64.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813136152
DFI Lanparty Ultra-D SLI Mobo. I've heard this is a good one, but if you can find me one that's better for that price then go right ahead. $99.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130017
Evga 7600 GT KO. It got mostly good reviews but some people said it got very hot, so is it good? $159.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145440
Corsair ValueSelect 1GB PC-3200 RAM. I know it's budget but I hear it's still good. $98.49

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103546
Athlon 4400+ X2 2.2ghz 2x1 L2 Cache. Nuff said. $235

I think it's good, do you? Are there any inconsistencies? Such as my HD won't fit, I don't have the right pins or w/e for my PSU? Please, point out everything good and bad.

How about this, if my ideas are bad, you guys make me a comp for $800. If there's anything to change please tell me. I don't want to get the wrong stuff.

-Krez, the worried miser

 

[Talcite]

change the case, get one that doesn't come with a PSU, then buy one seperately. You want a better quality PSU. The rest of the parts are ok.

The one thing is... how comfortable are you with building systems? Have you ever taken apart an old system, or troubleshooted a problematic computer? And do you have a friend that can help you if anything goes wrong? =p.

Even though all the parts in a computer only fit together one way, there's alot more setting up to do. Software and whatnot. Troubleshooting computer problems can be hard, and make you want to pull out your hair. And that's for the people who know what they're doing.

My advice is put it together with a friend, so you can learn the ropes. If you don't have a comp nerd friend ( =p ) then atleast take apart old systems, put them back together, reformat and play with them to familiarize yourself.

It'd be a shame to turn your $800 system into a paperweight.

btw... welcome to the AT forums!

 

[Gigantopithecus]

I'd go with a 3800+ instead of the 4400+, not bother with an SLI mobo, and spend the money you'll save downgrading those on an extra gb of ram. I've been building only matx rigs lately so I can't speak for full sized atx mobos, but for matx, I'd suggest the Biostar TForce 6100-939. Unfortunately looks like the egg raised its price by $10 in the last few days.

 

[Craig234]

There are various sites with guides on building PC's in that price range, this site:

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2791

and others.

 

[Krez]

Originally posted by: Talcite
change the case, get one that doesn't come with a PSU, then buy one seperately. You want a better quality PSU. The rest of the parts are ok.

The one thing is... how comfortable are you with building systems? Have you ever taken apart an old system, or troubleshooted a problematic computer? And do you have a friend that can help you if anything goes wrong? =p.

Even though all the parts in a computer only fit together one way, there's alot more setting up to do. Software and whatnot. Troubleshooting computer problems can be hard, and make you want to pull out your hair. And that's for the people who know what they're doing.

My advice is put it together with a friend, so you can learn the ropes. If you don't have a comp nerd friend ( =p ) then atleast take apart old systems, put them back together, reformat and play with them to familiarize yourself.

It'd be a shame to turn your $800 system into a paperweight.

btw... welcome to the AT forums!

I have done some slight computer upgrading and know all the ropes except for getting a cpu into a mobo. Can you perhaps show me a tutorial for putting a 939 cpu into a mobo? Can you also suggest a good quality psu for not that much money?

Originally posted by: Gigantopithecus
I'd go with a 3800+ instead of the 4400+, not bother with an SLI mobo, and spend the money you'll save downgrading those on an extra gb of ram. I've been building only matx rigs lately so I can't speak for full sized atx mobos, but for matx, I'd suggest the Biostar TForce 6100-939. Unfortunately looks like the egg raised its price by $10 in the last few days.

I would go with the 3800, but the 4400 has a 2x1MB L2 Cache, whereas the 3800 has only 1mb. I think that the sli mobo would help alot because I can get another 7600gt later on. Also I've found that sli mobos aren't that much more expensive.

 

[Krez]

Speaking of having a friend to help me, I don't have one. I thought that perhaps my bro and I could take care of it but if there's someone on these forums who lives in the Gurnee (where I live) or Chicago (which is close enough to Gurnee), Illinois area then perhaps they can help?

 

[Krez]

Seeing as how I have almost no experience building comps I think I'll go with the CyberPower pc. Is it all good or is there something I should change?

 

[mayest]

Build it yourself. It's not hard if you can read instructions. Also, you've got all the friends you need right here. Also, never forget that Google is your friend!

 

[gobucks]

are you interested in overclocking at all? at stock speeds the 3800+ may be a slight bottleneck for the 7900GT (but not a big one), but bumping your CPU up to 2.4GHz or so will solve that problem. since you're getting PC6400 memory that shouldn't be a problem at all.

I agree with some of the other guys here though - get a better PSU, and up your memory to 2GB. i would say drop the SLI, but they don't really give you the option to do so. SLI is kinda pointless unless you're gonna use it now - by the time you will want to upgrade, the 7900 series will be obsolete and new cards will be directx 10.

 

[Krez]

It's actually not the building that I'm worried about. I just don't want to deal with all the headaches that come if there's something wrong with anything. I've bought some stuff at Newegg before and I know all about their RMA and tech support departments, believe me. *breaks down in tears*

 

[Krez]

@gobucks
I'll get more memory later on, I just don't have the mo for it now. I would drop the sli, but the only board they have that's non sli is some pos MSI one that I read reviews on newegg that said it was terrible and got too hot and didn't recognize ram yada yada yada... OCing? Maybe, it depends. I might do it. PSU I might change but I do have another one that's 500W at home that might do the trick. Is there a program or summat that will tell me if my PSU is not good enough for my hardware?

 

[gobucks]

yeah that non-sli mobo does look terrible. you might as well stay with the SLI board cause there isn nothing else available.

as for the PSU, what you need is an ATX 2.0 compliant, 24-pin PSU. considering you'll be running a dual core CPU and high-end video card, you'll need the reliability of a 24-pin PSU.

 

[Krez]

Which PSU on their site is 24-pin? Which one should I go for?

 

[Krez]

Alright guys, I've changed my system a tad. I'll be doing it diy cuz it's a lot cheaper. Instead of the 4400 X2 I'm gonna get a 4000+ single core cuz it's $100 cheaper (and I get a money clip, how cool is that?). http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103529

The other thing I'm getting is instead of a 7600 GT is an x1800xt. It's only $200 http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814102007. Plus, I get a free newegg and ati t-shirt.

I'm pretty set on those. But here's the thing, now I don't need that dfi mobo. I don't need sli because I'm going ati. I don't really care about crossfire because I don't think I'll ever use it. What non-sli board should I get? Please, show me the best one for around $100.

 

[Krez]

Bump for last question.

 

[Howard]

For $20 more you may as well go with the X2 3800+.

AMD A64 X2 3800 AM2 - $149
ASUS M2N-E - $94
Sapphire Radeon X1800XT 256MB - $200
Samsung Spinpoint P SP2504C - $70

brb

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

For Oblivion, you only need an X800 or 6800, 1GB RAM and a 3000+ rated CPU--and that's the "recommended" hardware, not the "required." At Newegg, you can get a killer system for as little as $726 shipped:

Win XP Pro x64
X2 3800+ AM2
ASUS M2V AM2 VIA K8T890
MSI RX800-TD128E Radeon X800 128MB DDR
OCZ Value Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R
NEC Beige 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive - OEM
SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP2504C 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Encore ENF656-ESW-MOPR 56Kbps Modem - Retail
FSP Group (Fortron Source) ATX350-PA, version 2.0
POWMAX CAG101-KKN Black

You may wish to fill the remaining $74 budget space with a better video card.

 

[Krez]

But why should I get a 3800? What's the point with losing 400mhz just for dual core? Besides, it's $20 more. After reading AnandTech's Oblivion cpu guide(http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2747&p=3) it shows that the 4000+ beat the 3800 x2 in every aspect. Unless you can give me a better reason, I think I'll stick with the 4000. Can someone please show me a good non-sli 939 mobo? Or should I just stick with the dfi lanboy ultra-d?

 

[Howard]

No overclocking, huh?

 

[Krez]

I think I will OC, but here's what I don't understand. If I OC that 3800 to death, to like 2.5 or so, it still wouldn't be as good as an OCed 4000 to something to the tune of 2.7 or so. The 4000 would still beat it.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: Krez
I think I will OC, but here's what I don't understand. If I OC that 3800 to death, to like 2.5 or so, it still wouldn't be as good as an OCed 4000 to something to the tune of 2.7 or so. The 4000 would still beat it.

depends on what you doing with it

 

[Krez]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon
depends on what you doing with it

Primarily gaming I guess.

So, about the mobo? Any good 939 non-sli ones for less than $100?

 

[Krez]

*Sigh...*

 

[Krez]

Is a 7900 GT better than an x1800xt? There's this computer store near me that sells an Evga 7900 Gt KO for $219. Is it worth the extra twenty bucks?

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

If your primary concern is gaming, then single core might be for you. Remember that it's the RAM and GPU which makes the most difference on that front, though. If you go dual core, you have minimal performance loss in gaming and incredible gains in other areas.

But you're right: the 4000+ is faster than the X2 3800+ in gaming.