New Computer
I will be building a new computer very soon. This will be a first for me building a computer from scratch. I have read a bit on it and know the basics and how to do it. I was wondering if anyone had any tips our helpfull ideas or anything special i might need to know it would be greatly appreaciated.
Thanks X
Thanks X
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Search forums for info on the parts you intend to buy. This helps you determine if you have any major compatibility issues between say your ram and board or vid card and board/psu. Also it will help you avoid common problems. READ READ READ!
www.amdmb.com great site and great forums to search through.
http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=guide&dId=324
http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=guide&dId=434
The hardware portion is always the easy part for me. During the OS install is when my problems seem to crop up.
True Dat!
Tell us what you intend to use your system for and your budget and we can give you some recommendations.
Top Athlon Mobo: Abit NF7-S v2.0 (period!)
Top P4 Mobos: Abit IC7-G, Abit IS7-G, Asus P4C800E, (& Epox 4PCA3+ or 4PDA2+ hard to find) Review Links here
Give us an idea of what you are looking to spend and what you want it to do. We have a lot of advice, some of it is even good.
Basically, just don't rush. Take your time and have fun!
Yeah, sound advice. I recently just built a new rig, and I actually took the best half of a week assembling it. I could have done it in under an hour if I had wanted to, but the fact that I took my time and worked on it slowly and steadily meant that, once I had plugged everything in, it worked first time, and everything was as it should be. Four days might be a bit over the top, but being patient and taking your time, is most certainly the key to sucessfully building a PC. Especially if you're new to it.
Cheers
oh, make sure to get a good case and power supply, trust me you'll end up being sorry if you don't.
It's all like a big expensive puzzle!
If it doesn't fit one way:
A) It's in the wrong spot
B) Flip it over
Power supplies:
As said, do NOT cheap out on the power supply. Good PSUs cost $90-$110. That's just the way it is.
Heatsinks:
Do NOT get anything made by Thermaltake except their fan! People will tell you that Volcano HSFs are wonderful and cheap. If by cheap they meant the definition that indicates piss-poor construction and lack-luster performance, they're right! Miserable heatsinks. Get a Thermalright SK-7 if you're on a budget, or a Thermalright SLK-900 if you want the best air cooling money can buy.
Motherboards:
Best athlon motherboard is the Abit NF7-S 2.0.
Best pentium motherboard is the Abit IC7-G.
Memory:
DO NOT CUT CORNERS ON MEMORY.
I don't know how many times people have come here complaining about their crappy memory.
GeIL and OCZ (Especially the latter) will provide you with what's advertised 50% of the time. They rarely speed-bin the chips, and the performance you get is luck of the draw. Some sticks do 2/2/2 at 2.6v at a 200MHz FSB. Others do 2.5/3/3 at 2.9v at 200MHz. The "Other" is terrible...A GOOD stick of PC3200 should be able to handle 2/2/2 at 2.6 at 200MHz. Who provides these sticks?
-Kingston
-Corsair
-Mushkin
Of the three, Corsair is the hands-down best. Is it more expensive? Surely. But the performance DOES match the price. I myself have a stick of Corsair XMS3200c2 (Two of them!) that does 220 at 2/2/2/6/2/1 at a mere 2.6v. THAT'S good!
Real memory means real performance.
Wireless networking:
If you're going to go wireless on your network, get 802.11A if you have to punch through concrete walls. If your house is newer (And has crappier construction as a byproduct), go with 802.11G. Linksys is a good brand.
Cordless peripherals:
If you're going cordless peripherals, go for the Logitech Cordless MX Duo. The mouse is the best in existence. Highest refresh, and highest DPI. The keyboard recharges itself by radio waves, it's kinda creepy. I love it.
Speakers:
If you're gonna get speakers, Logitech Z-560 or Logitech Z-580s. Definitely the best sets of speakers available. Very good bass, and a crisp high end with some tweaking. Suggested you go buy some unterminated monster cables for them. They sound wonderous.
Monitors:
If you're a gamer, don't waste your time with a LCD. The polarization of pixels to display an image still takes too long to produce an unblurred image. IF you're into gaming, a good CRT will go a long way. As a personal recommendation, if you're looking to buy a CRT that will last you probably a good 5 years:
Hitach CM823F. About $700, but it does 1600x1200 @ 90Hz. It's also 21" and a true flat screen. I don't envision monitors getting all that much better between now and 2008/9.
Hard drives:
Realistically speaking, there's no reason NOT to get Serial ATA now! Western Digital offers their famous WDxxxxJB line with 8mb cache in SATA models now. High speed, and compliant with the very latest in ATA interfaces.
CD Burners:
Lite-on!
DVD Burners:
Pioneer DVR-A05 or DVR-A06. The A05 burns DVD-R only, and the A06 burns both +R and -R. But seeing as both formats are now the same speed, and -R is more compatible with set-top DVD boxes (The way the pits are lasered onto the disc with -R more closely mimicks retail-stamped DVDs) you could ave the money and get the -A05.
Printers:
I'm EXTREMELY happy with my Canon i850. It has individual cartridge CMYK color, and this method is lighter on the ol' wallet. In conjunction with glossy photopaper and high-quality print mode, I cannot tell the difference between the prints and my professionally developed shots. Really a superb printer.
Operating Systems:
People will tell you to use Windows XP.
If you're a gamer, you'd be wiser to use Windows 2000 as it's a faster platform.
Video Cards:
The GeForceFX 5900 Ultra is the fastest. It's also very expensive.
The Radeon 9800 Pro is the second fastest. About $100 less expensive. If you want to save the dough, get the ATI. I would.
Sound Cards:
Unless you need speciality audio processing, I would suggest simply using the nVidia Soundstorm II integrated DSP on the Abit NF7-S if that's the path you choose.
Installation order:
Once the hardware is installed and you're in Windows the very first time, install things in this order:
-Chipset drivers
Reboot
-DirectX 9.0B
Reboot
-Video drivers
Reboot
Service Pack 4
Reboot
Any other packages you need, and reboot when it tells you to.
Brands to avoid like the plague if you're building a high performance system:
DFI
Crucial
SiS
OCZ
GeIL
Thermaltake
ECS
Kingmax
IBM
Hi-val
Buslink
Sony
Albatron
Asus
MSI
Palit
FIC
Gigabyte
Samsung (Good, but too rare)
Codegen
Powmax
Antec (Sorry boys. Cheaper PSUs have better voltages.)
Enermax
Dell
Gateway
Compaq
Sony again
Did I mention gigabyte?
<font size=5>SOUNDBLASTER</font>
EPoX (Sorry EPoX-lovers. Their boards die regularly and Abit is bettah.)
Gainward (TWO lines of video cards from them have had to be recalled)
VIA (Chipsets; not the water pump company)
Chaintech (Everything but their mATX boards)
Shuttle (Their mobos; not SFF PCs)
Brands to love like your parents if you're building a high performance system:
Corsair
Mushkin
Kingston
Hitachi
Maxtor
Western Digital
Thermalright
AMD
Sapphire
Built by ATI
Hercules
Abit
Abit
Abit
Abit
Abit
M-Audio
Logitech
CompUSA (Power supplies)
Pioneer
Plextor
Lite-on
Chieftec
Coolermaster
PC Power and Cooling
Vantec
Zalman
Sunon
YS Tech
Panaflo
Canon
Seagate
Adaptec
BFGTech
Elsa
Swiftech (Water cooling)
Tygon (Tubing)
Black Ice (Water cooling radiators)
Via (Water pumps; not the chipset company)
Linksys
That is all.
Thanks for all the info X
For "value" grab a ECS K7S5A Pro (or a cheap Nforce2 mobo if available - like the Epox 8RDA+ - Thrax is cursed!
The NForce2 chipset (all of them) could die if overclocked to far, but as long as your running under FSB180-185 (stock is either 133 or 166mhz) your fine. And NF2 are the fastest mobo available for the AMD Athlon platform.