bigdktex

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I am looking to get a desktop computer and I am looking to build it myself. I am sure someone in here has done it. What should I do/not do? Is a AMD processor better that an Intel? Do I really need a monster video card if I am not doing much gaming? Is is overall a good idea to build rather than buy a complete system?

I am not looking to make a super gaming machine but I am looking to build a beast that will not necesarrily go obsolete in one year(even though you could make the argument that all computers more than six months old are obsolete). I am a Networking/Telecommunications major and I want a second computer so that I can play around with networking stuff. This will need to be able to handle a lot of applications because my work is already talking about giving me more software than I could ask for. I know basic computer knowledge and by no means am anything of an expert. I am really doing this to get to know the ins and outs of computers better(hopefully help my pass A+ certification).

Any suggestions/advice on this topic would be great.

wolf68k

AMD better than Intel? That depends on who you talk to. However AMD chips are cheaper than Intel's, and unlike most things you can a lot more than what you pay for.

Before I can go any further I need to know 2 things.
Budget?
Any problem buying online or are you stuck to buying on foot?

bigdktex

As far as budget I have some legroom there. I am not wanting to spend over $1000 dollars, but am willing to go higher.

I have no problem whatsoever buying parts online.

Waldo

www.newegg.com
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewprodu...-102-602&DEPA=0

___________________________________________
both my car and my bike can ride on the rear wheel[s]
"Remember one thing, no matter how pretty she is, someone, somewhere, is tired of HER SHIT"

wolf68k

$1,000US? No problem, just say hi to your new best friend Newegg.com.
Now I just need to know 3 more things (sorry to this to you)
AMD or Intel?
nVidia or ATI?
Which ever you prefer, both have they upsides and downsides yet both companies push each other to out do the other so the performance benefit is all for you, it's realy their prices that differ.

Lastly; you want just new PC, not a whole new system right? The basic shopping list being:
CPU
GFX card
RAM
Sound card (maybe; if you prefer not to use on-board audio)
Motherboard

What about case and/or PSU?
The case I'll have to leave completely up to you to pick from, you have to live with it not me.
Many cases come with PSUs but a lot of times they suck or are too weak for todays PCs. I would't trust a 300-350watt PSU with an AMD 64bit or top end-ish P4 and PCI-E GFX card system.

Keyboard and mouse?

davemo2us

Okay for a grand you can build a darn good machine and I second the newegg suggestion.

basically for 850 you have a Sony 17" LCD (very good)
AMD64 3000+ or 2800+ (not really much difference)
1 Gig of pc 3200 Ram (I like Kingston)
160 GB HD.
6600GT
and I would recommend the Asus K8N board
or you could change the processor and board (maybe the card to PCIe) and go socket 939.

I didn't look at cases, but I would recommend the Antec Sonata.

sparehead02

I agree with most of what davemo2us said, but I would probably go with an ATI x600 over the Nvidia 6600GT, because I'm a whore like that. Oh, and for the types of applications that you want to run, you would probably be better off with a Pentium, but i think you should still go with AMD because of cost.

quick edit: newegg.com is good, and also go with AMD because of the K8N mobo.

bigdktex

I have been looking into it and I think I am going to go with an AMD cause it seems to have the same performance with a smaller price tag.

Not sure about the nVidia or ATI video card. Got any advice? I am leaning towards the ATI.

I am looking to build a ground up system. So yes I will be having a long grocery list.

As far as the case goes I don't need anything that looks super cool. Just something that will get the job done reliably.

So are you saying going higher than 350 watts is the way to go?

wolf68k

Well what I meant was you go to newegg.com or where ever you wish to shop and find a case that you like and will fit the budget.
Of course you can also use the case you already have.

AMD good choice. Get anything in the 64bit line and socket 939. There is a 64bit that uses the Socket 745, but AMD is phasing those out so it's a waste of time and money to worry about those.

I knew there was something I forgot ask about. Your HDD. Want to keep the ones you have which I'm guessing are IDE, or factor in a SATA into the budget?
But I think I found a mobo that will work for both cases

$146.00 - CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache, Socket 939 64-bit Processor - Retail
$139.00 - Mobo: ASUSnForce4 Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU, Model "A8N-E" -RETAIL
$159.50 - RAM: Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, (Twin Pack) 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - Retail

2 Video cards to choose from:
$175.00 - nVidia - Apollo nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT Video Card, 128MB GDDR3, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, PCI-Express, Model "6600PCX" -RETAIL
$146.00 - ATI - ABIT ATI Radeon X700 PRO Video Card, 128MB GDDR3, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, PCI-Express, Model "RX700pro-128PCIE" - Retail

$120.00 - Case: ANTEC Performance Plus Case with 430W Power Supply, Model "PLUS1080AMG" - Retail
Normally I wouldn't list a case, but since you don't seem to be too worried about it, this nice and simple plus it comes with Antec's TRUE430watt PSU. This is a great PSU. Each 12volt rail has it's own transformer so they all get max power possible, unlike more PSU were the rails share the same transformer so the max power is split between them. I have this Antec TRUE430 myself.

$49.99 - heatsink&fan - 2 to pick from, with or without LEDs for the same price it doesn't matter which although with that case having no window no one will really see the LEDs.
ZALMAN CPU Cooler for Socket 478/A/754/939/940 With FAN Speed Controller, Model "CNPS7000B-Cu LED" - Retail
ZALMAN CNPS7000B-Cu Copper CPU Cooler for Socket 478/462/754/939/940 CPUs -RETAIL

Lastly thermal compound
$7.99 - Arctic Silver Premium Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound, Model "Arctic Silver 5", 3.5-gram( 1 cc. ) tube
Yes, most heatsink&fans comes with (infact that CPU I listed comes with a heatsink&fan) thermal compound, but it's pretty basic. This is a great compound and reviews have proven to show it allows for better cooling. Also this might seem like a lot to pay for so little compound, but this little bit goes a loooooon way infact you can do 15-30 CPUs with this tube. Besure to head over Arctic Silver's web site and read the instructions many many times, even print the pages out and read from them as you use it.


I didn't list a HDD or CD/DVD drive/burner. The budget was getting kind of light and you can use the ones from your current system on your new one.
However, if need be newegg does have a NEC ND-3520A DVD-/+RW DL for around $60. And you should be ok by yourself picking out a SATA or IDE HDD of your choice maker and that will fit the rest of the budget and still give you plenty of room.

bleh123

I'd say get two gigs of RAM and go easy on the graphics card consideirng you want to be running a lot of apps. Go easy on the gfx card that is if you don't plan on being able to play all the latest games on the highest settings.

bigdktex

Wow thanks a lot for all of the input Wolf and everybody else. By the way I am starting from scratch because I do not have a system to scrap parts from so I will be needing to buy every component I need.

Too bad this is not an immediate venture because I am a broke college student as of the moment so I need to make a little extra spending money this summer. I am doing my research early so I do it right.

Thanks again for your great input Wolf.