I'm building a new system....

[crazygal]

Hello guys and gals, I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me.
I'm planning on building a new computer system since my old Athlon system is getting too old for me but I'm not exactly sure how to do it. I mean, I want to order the parts online and build the computer myself to save on some $, but I've never actually put a computer together before. I've moved pieces of hardware around and I'm kinda ok at that, but is that going to be enough?
There's some wires and do-hickies that I don't know what they're for and I wouldn't know where they went if I didn't have directions. Is there a good place to find how to put everything together exactly or do directions come with it or do I wing it or what??

Thanks to those who reply

 

[Ausm]

Welcome to Anandtech Forums

Some Info we need is what kind of Rig are you running now?

Also Try the search function on the forum this Questions gets asked/addressed on this forum alot and there are many useful links you will find


Ausm

 

[acidvoodoo]

i was 13 when i first managed to succesfully replace the motherboard,cpu,ram,hard drive and graphics card, and i learned everything i needed to know from forums and chatroom just like this, u'll do fine

 

[crazygal]

Oh, whoops!
I'm running an old Althon 650 on an ASUS motherboard. K7V 133 or something I think. Also, I have an old GeForce (1!) so it's time for new stuff. I was thinking about getting a thunderbird but like I said, it's intimidating when I look in to my computer

I will try and look around and see if I can't find some useful links, thanks!



I forgot to ask, is the reason some games like C&C Renegade are choppy on my computer due to my cpu or is it my video card or something else??

 

[Mavrick007]

If any of your friends have built one before, ask them for their help, or if you have to do it yourself, look in the box and notice where all the cables are located. You can even tape little notes to the cables to tell what one was used for(hehe plus if it doesn't work, you can always backtrack to what you had before). Installing a new machine is basically not going to change, there might be something new but it's pretty much the same as it has been in the past so just observing your own components and cables in your machine will help you out alot. Plus if you have any questions then you can always get good advice here.

 

[crazygal]

Ok, I will try and just look at my old system and see if I can mimic it in to building a new one. Do you gues know of any online places with good prices on parts??

 

[ahsia]

www.newegg.com is probably the most popular place to buy stuff, since they do have great prices and good service. How much are you looking to spend? What do you plan to use the computer for? Let me know so I can better give you some pointers as to what you should buy.

There are plenty of tutorials online for how-to's and stuff, so don't be so intimidated.

If you games are choppy, most likely it is your video card being outdated.

 

[crazygal]

I'm thinking of spending about $600-$700 (don't need monitor though)

So you think it's my video card then? My friend has a GeForce 2 MX (performs about the same as my GeForce 256 DDR) but they have a fast cpu, something like 1.2 Ghz t-bird. Anyway, their computer isn't choppy at all so I was thinking it was the cpu...

 

[bravesfan258]

PCmech.com has a decent 'build it yourself' guide that I used for my first build a few weeks ago. If you've replaced a few parts in your system, you should have the skills to build yourself. I would also play around with the BIOS settings of your existing rig (you don't have to change the settings, just familiarize yourself with them) so you feel more comfortable with the initial setup of your system.

Lurking and asking questions on Anandtech was invaluable to my build. Read the forums for a while and you'll be in great shape.

You'll hear this everywhere, but Newegg has some of the lowest prices, and they have great service.

Having replaced parts already, the only new wires you'll use when building the system are leads from the motherboard to the case; things like the LEDs that make your hard drive light turn on, etc. The motherboard manual will show where these need to plug in.

 

[kjacobs]

I second "bravesfan258"'s opinion. I was where you are about four months ago. Swapped out most everything but was worried about jumpers, BIOS settings, etc. I used the build it yourself tutorial from pcmech.com; it's very detailed and has about 30 steps and photos. I never would have attempted to build this rig if I hadn't had that to go by.

Ken

 

[Ben50]

One thing that you will need to be extra careful about is installing the heatsink onto the cpu, especially if you go for an athlon. Be sure to go to amd.com and check out all the information there about compatibility and installation procedures. They are very thorough and helpful.

 

[ahsia]

Well that depends on what CPU you have as well. If you have a CPU that barely meets the min. requirements for the game, it will be choppy. Not have a lot of memory will affect the choppiness as well. If you have a GeForce 256 DDR, you games shouldn't be choppy then.

You can build a very decent for $600-$700 dollars. Here is an Intel and a AMD system I would recommend (assuming you can't salvage anything from you old PC):

AMD System

$42 EVERCASE 300W P4, Truely Screwless ATX MID Tower Case. BEIGE.
$76 SHUTTLE AK31A KT266A ATX MOTHERBOARD
$115 AMD Athlon XP 1600+ PROCESSOR
$72 KINGSTON 256MB PC2100 DDR RAM
$81 IBM 40GB 7200RPM Model 60GXP
$28 SONY 52X MAX EIDE INTERNAL CD-ROM DRIVE
$9 MITSUMI Floppy 1.44MB 3.5INCH
$90 ATI Radeon 7500 64MB DDR AGP

Total: $513


Intel System

$42 EVERCASE 300W P4, Truely Screwless ATX MID Tower Case. BEIGE.
$73 MSI 645 Ultra333 SOCKET 478 ATX MOTHERBOARD
$141 Intel Pentium 4 1.6A GHz 512K Socket 478 Processor
$87 KINGMAX DDR333 PC-2700 256MB
$81 IBM 40GB 7200RPM Model 60GXP
$28 SONY 52X MAX EIDE INTERNAL CD-ROM DRIVE
$9 MITSUMI Floppy 1.44MB 3.5INCH
$90 ATI Radeon 7500 64MB DDR AGP

Total: $551

Parts are all from www.newegg.com. Both systems have onboard sound, and if you can salvage stuff from your old system, it can be even cheaper. Tax and shipping not included though, so add about $50-$60 to the total.

Have fun!

 

[CKDragon]

The best way to learn is just to get in there and do it. Without a doubt, reference a step-by-step guide, but don't be afraid to jump in and get your hands dirty. Just make sure you don't knock anything too hard and be careful of static and you'll be fine.

I will second the vote for Newegg.com. Since this is your first rig, I would spend a few extra dollars and make sure you get quality parts so you won't have to deal with any abnormal problems. I might also suggest going with a retail processor, that way you can be absolutely certain that it's cooling will be sufficient. Once you get used to building you can get a better HSF and think about overclocking if that's important to you.

Once you're done, you'll be very happy and proud you did it yourself,

CK

[EDIT: Forgot to say... GOOD LUCK!]

 

[kjacobs]

Echoing what CKDragon said...you WILL be proud of yourself. I priced the PC locally and probably didn;t save much but gained satisfaction. Especially when my 13 year old said, "Build a computer Dad?...yeah right Dad."

Plus I enjoyed getting packages in the mail! (almost like Christmas)

Ken

 

[crazygal]

Ok, thanks for all the info. I'll check out that website for some good deals. I forgot to ask before, but I heard that you have to flash bios on some motherboards for operating systems to work. How to you flash bios anyway? Is there an option under BIOS that says "flash me?"

 

[Mavrick007]

I don't know of bios' needing to be flashed cause of OS's. I would only flash a bios if I didn't have a component working right and only after reading about it online if that would supposedly solve my problem. You should be fine with the current bios shipping on any mobo.

You would usually flash a bios by booting up with a floppy and running the flash utility on a diskette which also includes the new bios. It's a very delicate procedure and I wouldn't attempt it unless you know what you're doing cause you can make your mobo useless with a failed flash(need to reprogram the bios chip with an EPRom programmer on another computer or get a new bios chip if it fails). Some people do their flash through windows, but I wouldn't suggest it if possible.

Basically, don't flash your bios unless something doesn't work right and the new bios says it will correct the problem.

 

[J Heartless Slick]

You can get a good idea of what goes where by opening and looking into your current system. A couple things:
1. Do not have your powersupply plugged in while you are working on your system.
2. Make sure the cpu heatsink\fan is properly installed before you start your system.
3. Do not pour water on your system.
4. Download the latest device drivers.