Help on building PC

[seekhimfirst09]

Hey ya'll i am thinking about building my own PC but i dont know very much about computers. I am building it for college and i will be using it for music, videos, and a lot of gaming. Space isn't too much of an issue and i have about $1000-$1500 to spend on the whole system (monitor and all). Where should i start? What CPU should i get? What motherboard, RAM, etc..?

 

[Cook1]

There are some good guides at Tom's Hardware. And I'd rec that you start with a socket A CPU/MB since they are extremely easily to install (AMD that is). AMD is better for gaming anyways.

 

[seekhimfirst09]

where do i go to get parts and recommendations and stuff like that?

 

[oneshot47]

Originally posted by: seekhimfirst09
where do i go to get parts and recommendations and stuff like that?

Newegg

Excellent prices, wide selection, and fast processing.

As for specific recommendations, ask around here or check out the guides on the site here.

 

[techwanabe]

Originally posted by: seekhimfirst09
where do i go to get parts and recommendations and stuff like that?

Ditto on New Egg - I've had great service from them.

Ask allot of questions and read product reviews/benchmarks at hardware sites. You'll get a consensus from users and reviews give a more critical/quantitative view. That is the best way IMHO.

 

[seekhimfirst09]

And i've heard that AMD is not as reliable as intel. Is that true?

 

[oneshot47]

Originally posted by: seekhimfirst09
And i've heard that AMD is not as reliable as intel. Is that true?

No

 

[seekhimfirst09]

How much should i pay for a near top of the line AMD processor with my budget?

 

[bluewall21]

Your budget won't snag you a near top of the line processor, unless you are willing to sacrifice on other parts.

 

[seekhimfirst09]

and how much should i pay for a good video card? Basically what would be a good price breakdown for:

Motherboard:
CPU:
Video Card:
Hard Drive:
etc:

 

[oneshot47]

For your budget you should probably look at maybe a 939 3000+ or a 754 3400+ ($215 and $235), or something around there. You can always spend more if you want. It would probably be better for you to draft out for us what you want and let us critique it.

 

[techwanabe]

Originally posted by: seekhimfirst09
And i've heard that AMD is not as reliable as intel. Is that true?

Maybe someone can chime in on this, but in the past AMD processors didn't have a thermal protection feature which would throttle back or shut down the CPU if it got to hot. Intel CPU's have had that feature for much longer. At some point AMD may have added this feature. AMD processors were shown to cook themself to death in about 1 second if the HS/F came loose. NOT GOOD! And AMD processors historically ran allot hotter than Intel's. I haven't kept up on the latest features on both brands however.

 

[seekhimfirst09]

I was thinking about an athlon 64 processor (dont know how fast) but if a 64 wont help much more than an XP then i'll go XP

 

[oneshot47]

Originally posted by: techwanabe

Originally posted by: seekhimfirst09
And i've heard that AMD is not as reliable as intel. Is that true?

Maybe someone can chime in on this, but in the past AMD processors didn't have a thermal protection feature which would throttle back or shut down the CPU if it got to hot. Intel CPU's have had that feature for much longer. At some point AMD may have added this feature. AMD processors were shown to cook themself to death in about 1 second if the HS/F came loose. NOT GOOD! And AMD processors historically ran allot hotter than Intel's. I haven't kept up on the latest features on both brands however.

I believe amd call it cool & quiet now, so they have taken care of that. Also, intel has been the one that runs hotter for a while, i think since the p4s came out.

 

[oneshot47]

Originally posted by: seekhimfirst09
I was thinking about an athlon 64 processor (dont know how fast) but if a 64 wont help much more than an XP then i'll go XP

I would go 64, especially if youve got some budget to play with. the slowest 64 is rated to be only slightly slower than the fastest xp, not counting all the improvements in the memory controller and such. The xp is being phased out and turned into the skt a sempron, the new value line. Unless you really dont have room in the budget, get a 64. It will also let you use a motherboard with all the latest refinements. A cheap 754 athlon 64 can be had for $141 right now. The fastest xp is around $150-200 i believe.

 

[bluewall21]

If you are not interested in using 64-bit applications, go with a Socket 754 Sempron.

 

[gamekid]

just get a athlon 64....it fits your budget