Building a Computer
Sunday, July 28, 2002 by Tarkus | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
I'm getting ready to build a new computer, and since it's my first time, I need some advice. I'm basically just wanting to put something together that will get me going, using my existing peripherals and cards, which can later be updated as needed. Here is basically what I'm looking at:
Case: I want something with a good power supply and good looks and functionality, but I don't want to spend a fortune. I won't be overclocking or constantly tweaking, so the case will stay on virtually all the time, and I shouldn't need super-duper cooling. Ease of changing components is a plus, but again, I don't plan to spend a lot of time inside it, once it's put together.
Motherboard: I'm thinking a 2 GHz CPU with 1 Gb RAM. I'm leaning toward AMD, because I've just never been a big Intel fan, but I could certainly have my mind changed here. I'm not much of a gamer, but I love to play with video and audio, and I do a lot of multitasking. That's why I want speed and memory. I don't want integrated video and sound, because I want to do my own thing there.
Ports and Slots: I'm thinking minimum of four PCI slots, four USB2 ports, and two FireWire ports. I'm somewhat flexible here, but would like to have something that's not going to leave me making compromises down the road. I'd also rather not have to buy expansion cards down the road to give me more ports.
And, of course, anything else that I might be overlooking.
Suggestions?
Case: I want something with a good power supply and good looks and functionality, but I don't want to spend a fortune. I won't be overclocking or constantly tweaking, so the case will stay on virtually all the time, and I shouldn't need super-duper cooling. Ease of changing components is a plus, but again, I don't plan to spend a lot of time inside it, once it's put together.
Motherboard: I'm thinking a 2 GHz CPU with 1 Gb RAM. I'm leaning toward AMD, because I've just never been a big Intel fan, but I could certainly have my mind changed here. I'm not much of a gamer, but I love to play with video and audio, and I do a lot of multitasking. That's why I want speed and memory. I don't want integrated video and sound, because I want to do my own thing there.
Ports and Slots: I'm thinking minimum of four PCI slots, four USB2 ports, and two FireWire ports. I'm somewhat flexible here, but would like to have something that's not going to leave me making compromises down the road. I'd also rather not have to buy expansion cards down the road to give me more ports.
And, of course, anything else that I might be overlooking.
Suggestions?
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Fuzzy Logic
Reply #2 Sunday, July 28, 2002 7:35 PM
Reply #2 Sunday, July 28, 2002 7:35 PM
Have a look at the AMD web site. It has recommendations for PSUs, motherboards and cpu cooling fans. Don't skimp on the PSU and colling fan, the AMD is thirsty and runs hot!
Fuzzy Logic
Reply #3 Sunday, July 28, 2002 7:35 PM
Reply #3 Sunday, July 28, 2002 7:35 PM
Have a look at the AMD web site. It has recommendations for PSUs, motherboards and cpu cooling fans. Don't skimp on the PSU and cooling fan, the AMD is thirsty and runs hot!
Fuzzy Logic
Reply #4 Sunday, July 28, 2002 7:38 PM
Reply #4 Sunday, July 28, 2002 7:38 PM
OOps, sorry about the double post. I tried to correct a spelling mistake after submitting by pressing the back button, but it didn't work 
bakerstreet
Reply #5 Sunday, July 28, 2002 7:57 PM
Reply #5 Sunday, July 28, 2002 7:57 PM
AMD and intel is really personal preference. Remember though, that intel is dropping prices before the holidays, when the 3gig processors are coming out. Up to 65% i think. You might want to wait a bit if you are going to do much over 2 gig.
The main considerations in your case should be drive bays, the amount of fan ventalation you can put in it, and MOST IMPORTANTLY the power supply. MAKE SURE that it has a pentium 4 power supply if you go with intel, they have an extra motherboard connector. If the dude at the store doesn't seem sure, find out. I bought my case and a month later had to replace the power suppy when I got a p4 board, 50 bucks down the tubes (need a doorstop?). Don't get anything under 350w unless you really, really have to. I would say 400. Try to get something with *more* than two big front-end drive bays and two internal HD bays. You may not think you need another big bay, but if you end up with a soundcard or other hardware that puts ports in a bay on the front, you'll need an extra.
You have a handle on the rest of it. You need to decide what kind of ram you are gonna by, though, i.e. rambus, sdram, etc. Intel made three versions of my board, each for a different kind of ram, it's not something you wanna decide on the fly. Check the customer support messageboards for any and all hardware you buy, see what people complain about before you buy it.
Decide, too, what OS you are going to use, then make sure they supply updated drivers. I have heard that anything older than ME will no longer be supported by MS, so drivers may get thin in the long run. If you are going the XP route, you'll want to be set on your hardware configuration before you install, since you'll have the pain-in-the-ass of product activation to deal with everytime you change things substantially. I like 2000, and find it to be well worth the extra money.
Don't forget the stupid stuff, either, IDE and floppy cables that are long enough, etc. Get thumbscrews for your case, they are cheap and very, very convenient to have. And when you put it all together start at the bios, there's always important stuff to set there. Once you get going, go to every manufacturer's page you have hardware from and get the newest drivers. It sucks to have to redo stuff two weeks later if something goes catastrophically wrong. Never hurts to ghost your initial install, too, for the same reason.
Have fun and watch th static.
The main considerations in your case should be drive bays, the amount of fan ventalation you can put in it, and MOST IMPORTANTLY the power supply. MAKE SURE that it has a pentium 4 power supply if you go with intel, they have an extra motherboard connector. If the dude at the store doesn't seem sure, find out. I bought my case and a month later had to replace the power suppy when I got a p4 board, 50 bucks down the tubes (need a doorstop?). Don't get anything under 350w unless you really, really have to. I would say 400. Try to get something with *more* than two big front-end drive bays and two internal HD bays. You may not think you need another big bay, but if you end up with a soundcard or other hardware that puts ports in a bay on the front, you'll need an extra.
You have a handle on the rest of it. You need to decide what kind of ram you are gonna by, though, i.e. rambus, sdram, etc. Intel made three versions of my board, each for a different kind of ram, it's not something you wanna decide on the fly. Check the customer support messageboards for any and all hardware you buy, see what people complain about before you buy it.
Decide, too, what OS you are going to use, then make sure they supply updated drivers. I have heard that anything older than ME will no longer be supported by MS, so drivers may get thin in the long run. If you are going the XP route, you'll want to be set on your hardware configuration before you install, since you'll have the pain-in-the-ass of product activation to deal with everytime you change things substantially. I like 2000, and find it to be well worth the extra money.
Don't forget the stupid stuff, either, IDE and floppy cables that are long enough, etc. Get thumbscrews for your case, they are cheap and very, very convenient to have. And when you put it all together start at the bios, there's always important stuff to set there. Once you get going, go to every manufacturer's page you have hardware from and get the newest drivers. It sucks to have to redo stuff two weeks later if something goes catastrophically wrong. Never hurts to ghost your initial install, too, for the same reason.
Have fun and watch th static.
Tarkus
Reply #6 Sunday, July 28, 2002 10:32 PM
Reply #6 Sunday, July 28, 2002 10:32 PM
Great stuff! Thanks for your input! 
If anyone else has anything to add, I'd appreciate it.
If anyone else has anything to add, I'd appreciate it.
Kinrik
Reply #7 Monday, July 29, 2002 12:00 PM
Reply #7 Monday, July 29, 2002 12:00 PM
for the usb situation, i recommend a 4 port usb hub, or two. i run my mouse, keyboard, digital camera, two printers, and smartcard interface from a pair of hubs
these run from two of the original 4 usb ports the motherboard has, with a two port expansion slot.
i run a 1 gig amd with a gig and a half of sdram running at 133 mhz, no overclocking, on an asus k board with a 400w powersup because, as baker says, it sucks the juice, oh and the pair of fans (need to get a third), in a box just barely big enough to fit it all
these run from two of the original 4 usb ports the motherboard has, with a two port expansion slot.
i run a 1 gig amd with a gig and a half of sdram running at 133 mhz, no overclocking, on an asus k board with a 400w powersup because, as baker says, it sucks the juice, oh and the pair of fans (need to get a third), in a box just barely big enough to fit it all
Kinrik
Reply #8 Monday, July 29, 2002 12:04 PM
Reply #8 Monday, July 29, 2002 12:04 PM
oh, and don't forget the little stuff...
i am dabbling with linux flavor testing. i slapped debian on my box the other day (still don't have a gui running...not sure why) and had to have a 3.5 floppy formatted to run the boot so w2k wouldn't override it. well, i didn't bother cabling up the floppy when i put the box together a few months ago, so i couldn't figure out why it wasn't formatting until i ripped her open and saw the cables hanging, right where i left them. this is the first time in two years i have had a need of a floppy drive...go figure
i am dabbling with linux flavor testing. i slapped debian on my box the other day (still don't have a gui running...not sure why) and had to have a 3.5 floppy formatted to run the boot so w2k wouldn't override it. well, i didn't bother cabling up the floppy when i put the box together a few months ago, so i couldn't figure out why it wasn't formatting until i ripped her open and saw the cables hanging, right where i left them. this is the first time in two years i have had a need of a floppy drive...go figure
c242
Reply #9 Monday, July 29, 2002 4:02 PM
Reply #9 Monday, July 29, 2002 4:02 PM
I changed my MoBo (from Asus P4B-F (1,6 Ghz P4)to P4B533-E (2 GHz P4))at the weekend on XP Pro without wanting to re-install all stuff. What a mess... Managed to
c242
Reply #10 Monday, July 29, 2002 4:06 PM
Reply #10 Monday, July 29, 2002 4:06 PM
...oops... get rid of the "Inaccessible Boot device" message by installing the standard MS IDE-driver on the old board before and everything looked fine after the first restart, but then the mess begun.... BSOD's all over the place. So, I think it's good to keep in mind to install the system from scratch as an advice. The P4B533-E seems to be a good choice nevertheless.
The P4B533-E seems to be a good choice nevertheless.
MichaelO
Reply #11 Thursday, August 1, 2002 7:40 PM
Reply #11 Thursday, August 1, 2002 7:40 PM
Tarkus,
I am late to the party but this is one of my favorite subjects. First, don't skimp on the case and powersupply. Recommend any of the Antec Performance series especially the 840 if you can find one.
For MB's Asus and Gigabyte seem to consistently get high ratings from the Tomshardware site. I use Gigabyte and love it.
Processor- I'm an Intel guy and would go for the P4 with 512 cache and 533 FSD like the 2.26 MHZ especially for audio/video. Again Tomshardware benchmarks have these chips beating the sox off AMD at a relatively comparable price.
Also, where to purchase? Googlegear has best prices on the web for CPU's of either flavor and there MB prices are also good, many with no or little Fedex shipping costs.
Finally memory - Check Googlegear and Crucial. Crucial is espicially reliable for excellent product.
Sorry I didn't see this sooner
I am late to the party but this is one of my favorite subjects. First, don't skimp on the case and powersupply. Recommend any of the Antec Performance series especially the 840 if you can find one.
For MB's Asus and Gigabyte seem to consistently get high ratings from the Tomshardware site. I use Gigabyte and love it.
Processor- I'm an Intel guy and would go for the P4 with 512 cache and 533 FSD like the 2.26 MHZ especially for audio/video. Again Tomshardware benchmarks have these chips beating the sox off AMD at a relatively comparable price.
Also, where to purchase? Googlegear has best prices on the web for CPU's of either flavor and there MB prices are also good, many with no or little Fedex shipping costs.
Finally memory - Check Googlegear and Crucial. Crucial is espicially reliable for excellent product.
Sorry I didn't see this sooner
MichaelO
Reply #12 Thursday, August 1, 2002 7:46 PM
Reply #12 Thursday, August 1, 2002 7:46 PM
One last thing I forgot, around the first of September Intel is going to announce new chips and price cuts. This is going to drive down AMD's prices as well. If you can wait that long it may be worth it.
Tarkus
Reply #13 Thursday, August 1, 2002 8:28 PM
Reply #13 Thursday, August 1, 2002 8:28 PM
Thanks for the input, MichaelO. I'm probably at least a month away, so you're not too late. In fact, that just might be perfect timing, from what you say about Intel's forthcoming annoucement.
MichaelO
Reply #14 Thursday, August 1, 2002 9:28 PM
Reply #14 Thursday, August 1, 2002 9:28 PM
Tark,
Here's the link to Tom's Hardware guide since you've got time for research. There a European outfit(German I think) and don't sell anything except news and research so very unbiased and they cover it all.
http://www.tomshardware.com/
Here's the link to Tom's Hardware guide since you've got time for research. There a European outfit(German I think) and don't sell anything except news and research so very unbiased and they cover it all.
http://www.tomshardware.com/
Tarkus
Reply #15 Thursday, August 1, 2002 9:59 PM
Reply #15 Thursday, August 1, 2002 9:59 PM
Thanks again, but I've already been researching that site.
juni
Reply #16 Friday, August 2, 2002 1:20 AM
Reply #16 Friday, August 2, 2002 1:20 AM
...and don't do the mistake I made with my first computer-building project: Remember to use the gold screws when attaching the motherboard to the case - don't try to attach it directly (almost fried the thing..luckily it didn't turn on) 
Tarkus
Reply #17 Friday, August 2, 2002 5:18 PM
Reply #17 Friday, August 2, 2002 5:18 PM
Gold screws? Do those come with the case or motherboard?
MichaelO
Reply #18 Friday, August 2, 2002 6:24 PM
Reply #18 Friday, August 2, 2002 6:24 PM
They don't have to be gold but they will come with one or both. The idea is that they/you ground the MB or else 
fried board. 
But don't worry its perfectly logical once you get all the bits together.
fried board. 
But don't worry its perfectly logical once you get all the bits together.
Tarkus
Reply #19 Saturday, August 3, 2002 1:10 AM
Reply #19 Saturday, August 3, 2002 1:10 AM
Do you think the static electricity risk warrants getting one of those wrist thingies? I've never used them before when upgrading hardware, but I've never done anything this extensive before, either.
Thanks.
Thanks.
MichaelO
Reply #20 Saturday, August 3, 2002 10:51 AM
Reply #20 Saturday, August 3, 2002 10:51 AM
Tarkus,
I never use one and I open mine up and do things to it all the time. Just touch something metal (not you computer stuff) like a lamp if you feel there's a danger. But if your not shocking yourself around the house now you're not going to generate a static charge just because of new computer parts lying around.
I never use one and I open mine up and do things to it all the time. Just touch something metal (not you computer stuff) like a lamp if you feel there's a danger. But if your not shocking yourself around the house now you're not going to generate a static charge just because of new computer parts lying around.
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Reply #1 Sunday, July 28, 2002 5:13 PM