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need help in building my first computer

G

GameFreak

Member
i am new to these forums and i see that most of u guys know a lot about computers so this seems like good place to get help. i have already chosen most of the parts for my computer:

Case
CPU
CPU Cooler
Video Card
Sound Card
Memory
DVD-ROM
CD Burner
Hard Drive
Speakers
OS

now the thing that scares me the most about building my first computer is the mother board. a lot of people say its easy to build a computer and dont buy a pre-built one but thats a little hard to believe. i read thu mechBgon's pisture guild and he makes it look easy but when i went thru this guild and it got a little more complicated. i linked it to step 4 because thats when he talks about configuing a MOBO. he talks about "jumpers" and that u have to configure them to different hardware configurations. do i really have to change a jumper if i want 512 or 1 gig of ram, a 128 or 256mb vid card, a 3gig or 2.5 gig cpu and so on. if i really have to change the path of electricity on a MOBO then i dont think buildin a PC is for me unless u guys insist that i dont have to do this or unless it is very very easy. please take a few minutes out of your lives and help a kid that just wants to be able to play D3 and HL2. thanks in advance to whoever helps me out
 
Most modern mobos don't have many (or any) jumpers. It's all done through the bios, but a jumper is no big deal, you just install or remove it. You won't break anything.
 
oh and i frogot to ask about the BIOS. are they hard to install or do i just go to the website of the MOBO and download them?
 
Most motherboards now don't use any sort of jumpers; you control everything from menus in the BIOS. Probably 90% of motherboard/cpu/ram combinations now will fire up and work without requiring any changes to the BIOS. Overclocking and tighting up your memory timings require some fiddling.

Building a PC isn't really all that difficult, but is tremendously nerve-wracking the first time you do it. The major rule is to be very gentle. Don't force, twist or bend anything. There are lots of good online PC builder guides with pictures as well which really help.

If you're really nervous a lot of places will build your components for next to nothing (less than 50$) if you order all the components from them.

Whatever you decide, good luck!
 
what motherboard?

and elts change a few things. a)DO NOT get that video card! that is a huge rip off. get a 6800gt its the exact same price form newegg and it is a TON better than that. b)memory,eeerrrr that could be iffy. Id stick to name brand like corsair or Crucial Ballistic which is probably more reliable and cheaper
c)hard drive I would look at Western digital. though that one would probably be ok

and you dont "install" BIOS. the BIOS is built into the motherboard. you can update them but I woulndt suggest it cuase you could wipe the motherboard. or not until you are pretty knowledgeable in the area.
 
A copy of the bios should be preinstalled into your motherboard.

Building a PC is a good thing to know how to do. Save you LOADS of money in the long and short run. Don't be afraid of building it. The hardest part, IMO, is mounting the HS/F onto the motherboard. Can be scary stuff when you have to actually apply some strength.

I looked at what you want to buy and one suggestion I have is to ditch the 9800 XT 256MB. It's a good card, but mediocre compared to the top of the line, which will be the same price. For $400 you can get the best out there (6800 series, x800s series) for about the same price.


A good motherboard right now would be the MSI K8n Neo
 
yeah, get a 6800gt. even the $300 6800 is (slightly) better than that 9800xt. I would get an antec, enermax, sparkle, fortron or ocz psu rather than that raidmax one. The ram should be ok, I'd say, and seagate and western digital are about equal in hard drives.
 
oh yeah I forgot something. that power supply is a bit, errm weak. 13a on a 12v rail? that kinda sucks
 
i have benn looking at the nvidia 6800 series and any site that i go to i cant find one that isnt made by another company
 
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