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I'm going to be building my computer soon and I'm buying the parts for it right now. I dont know much about computer hardware at all. I'm using this guide to help me: http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/index.htm
Here's what I'm thinking about so far:
CD-ROM - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=27-134-003
Floppy - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=21-103-104
Harddrive - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=22-145-017
KB - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=23-109-104
Moniter - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=24-116-209
Processor - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=13-135-102
Sound card - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=29-102-150
Video card - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=14-102-237I still need a motherboard... but I have NO IDEA about which one I should get or need. I need RAM too... I know i'll get some from Crucial, probably 512mb ddr but im not sure. I'm also not sure which extra cords i'll need. And of course I need a case... I'm probably missing other things too.
I'm mainly gonna be using this computer for gaming. If anybody could take some time to help me find all the compatible parts I need for a good price I would REALLY appreciate it. Also please tell me if I have made good choices for my hardware so far, since as I have said before, I know almost nothing about computer hardware.
What is listed as processor is the Main Board
It won't go for that mainboard.....pick one from Asus, Tyan (if money is not an issue) or Soyo.
Don't like IBM, prefer Maxtor as HDD
Why CD-ROM? throw 6 bucks more and you can buy a DVD-Rom...play CDs and DVDs...also comes with software.
Have you ever consider to have a CD-RW? Go for Aopen..it is good.Which processor? AMD or PAINium?
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Hi,
Looks like you made some good choices. Although, I don't see a CDRW on the list which you may have done on purpose. Same goes for a DVD player. Or, combo drive, but I prefer seperate units as long as you have the bays.
Also, I would go for the Western Digital 80 gig hard drive special edition with 8 mb cache. In fact thats the one I bought as I am gathering the pieces for a build also.
So far I have an Asus P4S8X mobo, sound blaster audigy MP3+, Plaxtor 40-12-40 CDRW, Liteon DVD, Western Digital SE 80 Gig, Antec 1080B Plus case and Sony floppy. I still have a long way to go.
Good luck with your build!
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Yeah I forgot all about the CD-RW drive, I'm gonna get one of those for sure. I want an AMD processor, and is mainboard a different term for motherboard? What's a good speed for a processor? The reason why I picked an IBM HDD is because I've heard they are more reliable than Maxtor.
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I'd get an Athlon XP 2000+...going for a 2200+ means pay more for a little difference in speed.....for your video card I could say you wanna do some serious gaming, if so and money it's not an issue go for the faster chip.
At least for me, mainboard=motherboard. I'd pick up the Soyo Dragon Plus.
Regarding HDD....I've heard a lot of stories of people returning IBM drivers. The one I have as master is a Maxtor 60 GB 6L060L3...it's "fluid bearings" making it quite (same technology used on laptop's HDDs), and it's fast as well as....my 20 GB quantum is "louder" (not so bad, but when I am copying big files -100's of MB- I can hear it working)....I only hear the maxtor when the computer boots up.
Happy building
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Newegg is a good choice for the place to get your parts. If you want to use AMD and need a good motherboard that will support PC2700 mem, the MSI KT3 Ultra is a very good board, a lot cheaper than a comparable ASUS, extremely stable with great customer reviews. Get a good case like an Antec SX-835II. The Western Digital recommended above is the drive I'd get also.
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Thanks for all the help, i really appreciate it.
Does New Egg sell seperete CD-RW drives? I can't seem to find them, all I can find is DVD/CD-RW combo drives.
Also, am I going to need to buy any extra fans or anything to cool any of the parts?
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www.ussa.com is cheaper. I used them to buy my parts and I would thoroughly.
Their service is excellent, you can actually talk to someone there, someone helpful!
And shipping is cheap too.
I agree with the above poster who said get the 2000XP. It is currenlty the best value. The 2200XP is not worth the increase.
You will save $31 on your graphics card if you buy from ussa.com to begin with! And as for the CPU
You will find the ECS K7VTA3 v3 is a better motherboard (I am getting this) as it has the 333 mhz memory capability AND it also has on board RAID as a bonus!
The XP2000 is the best priced at the moment.
Here is the deal.
This is what I paid for my system from www.ussa.com
XP2000 CPU, ECS K7VTA3 V3 Motherboard, DDR333 (PC2700) Samsung Memory, ATI Radeon 8500LE 64 meg Graphics card, 400 watt power supply, GOOD cooling fan (+32c/f).
$460.00 including shipping.
The above is a very fast system, not the fastest, but very fast.
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I just finished ordering my system, and I have bought an EXCELLENT ECS mainboard (motherboard).
One thing about hard drives, if you got the mainboard I am buying, you can go for the NEW FASTER ATA133 speed! And on www.ussa.com, they are selling 80 gig Maxtor 7200RPM ATA133 drives for $109.00!
I bought the ECS K7VTA3 v3 motherboard because of this ATA133 support, and also because it has on-board RAID. It also has DDR333mhz support (your choice only has the DDR266mhz memory.
Also, I bought the DDR333 mhz Memory (which you could afford with the cost saving you make buying your ATI 9700 from USSA.com)
If you were to buy exactly what I bought, (I have to wait for a new hard drive though) and put the ATA133 drive in, and use your ATI 9700 card, you would have a BLISTERINGLY fast system!
here are all the URL's for ussa.com
Hard drive $109.00
http://www.ussa.com/ussaonline/product.asp?dept%5Fid=11604&pf%5Fid=100%2D151%2D1002092
CPU (this is the RETAIL version with 1 year warranty (only $6 more than the 60 day wraanty version) $118.00
http://www.ussa.com/ussaonline/product.asp?dept%5Fid=150&pf%5Fid=100%2D150%2D1000620
Motherboard ECS K7VTA3 v3 $58.00
http://www.ussa.com/ussaonline/product.asp?dept%5Fid=10513&pf%5Fid=100%2D130%2D1001295
Memory $135.00 (512 meg of DDR333mhz PC2700)
http://www.ussa.com/ussaonline/product.asp?dept%5Fid=15163&pf%5Fid=100%2D151%2D1002163
Power Supply $36.00 (400 watt AMD recommended, Intel Approved)
http://www.ussa.com/ussaonline/product.asp?dept%5Fid=11508&pf%5Fid=100%2D115%2D1002531
Cooling fan
I would recommend you look around. This site does not do good cooling fans. You need to get one with 32 CFM or better really (cubic feet of air per minute).
If you take the cost of all of the above, and throw in your graphics card which is $311.00 from this site here is the URL
http://www.ussa.com/ussaonline/product.asp?dept%5Fid=10603&pf%5Fid=100%2D106%2D1002320
the total cost before shipping would be $787.00. I have included in this price $20 (so you could get the cpu cooling fan).
You would have a super system with these parts. Much better than the one you proposed at about the same cost!
Why am I telling you this? Because I am nice! And I thought it would be cool to give someone else the benefit of all of my hours of websurfing reasearch!
Francis.
(It doesn't seem cheap, but that graphics card!!! $311.00!!!!!!!) MY WIFE WOULD KICK MY ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I got an 8500LE for $83.00 and THAT was pushing my luck!)
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Beware of ussa.com. They have a deplorable customer feedback rating at www.resellerratings.com. If you find someplace that's cheaper than newegg that's usually the reason. Part of what you're paying for is actually getting your item.
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I'd also beware of ECS boards. There are more posts about these boards than any other. They're inexpensive for a reason.
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Well, I have been in close talks with USSA.com and they are very helpful. They also call me back when they say they will, which most companies don't do!
Resellerratings is a fine concept, but like most things, people usually only rate something BADLY. You don't get many people who will take the time to go to a site and put in a GOOD word if they get good service.
Good evidence for this is the fact that most companies have a customer complaints service. I have NEVER heard of a customer thanks/gratefulness service!
And the second comment is rubbish. ECS boards are fine. I used one for a year, for my Athlon. Leembo also uses the same one. They are fine. There are a lot of posts, but that is most likely because they usually use the via chipset and for some reason, lots of peopel have grasped the concept that you MUST install the via 4in1 drivers for them to work correctly.
If you want to overclock, then ECS would not be the way to go. But if you want a GOOD board, and don't want to spend loads on ABIT or ASUS, then ECS is a great option.
Based on your theory boojum, judging by the amount of posts Geforce2 gets, and also Athlon CPU's get, we should also not buy Geforce2 cards or Athlon cpus either!
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It wasn't a theory just an observation, and it wasn't the mere quantity of posts about these boards that I thought remarkable but the nature of the complaints. Other boards use the same chipset and don't get as many negative posts. I agree the Asus boards, though good boards, are way overpriced. If your ECS dies on you it's no big loss, so not a bad way to go. As far the reseller ratings, by your logic every company should have awful ratings, since only angry customers tend to give feedback, which isn't the case. Companies like newegg have tons of positive feedback. If your experience has been good with this company, I'm not saying you shouldn't buy from them. Cheers.
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OK... I have taken all of your posts in to consideration and here is what I think will be the best build:
Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=13-130-366Processor
http://www.ussa.com/ussaonline/product.asp?dept%5Fid=150&pf%5Fid=100%2D150%2D1000620HDD
http://www.ussa.com/ussaonline/product.asp?dept%5Fid=11604&pf%5Fid=100%2D151%2D1002092RAM
http://www.ussa.com/ussaonline/product.asp?dept%5Fid=15163&pf%5Fid=100%2D151%2D1002163Power supply
http://www.ussa.com/ussaonline/product.asp?dept%5Fid=11508&pf%5Fid=100%2D115%2D1002531DVD/CD-ROM
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=27-129-107CD-RW
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=27-106-177Floppy
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=21-103-301Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=24-134-009KB
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=23-119-103Mouse
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=26-105-121Speakers
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=36-121-103Soundcard
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=29-102-150And the Radeon 9700 from USSA.
How does all that sound? Good?
Grand total w/o shipping: $1394.00
That's pretty good when you considering I was expecting the price to end at around $1500, and I still have to buy a case and all the cables I'll be needing... Can anyone point me in the direction of a good case and those cables?
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Some mobos come with cables (IDE ATA100 and floppy)...the IDE is for two devices.
In newegg you can find pretty good cases. Antec are damn good. Enermax too...look for something that has an exhaust on the side panel...and roomie, a tower case is ideal, it has space you can use for further expansions...besides a bigger case means less problems with heat. Also, aluminum cases cool down better.
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The processor you wanna buy is 6 dollars cheaper in newegg. They offer both versions: OEM and Retail...just scroll down.
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Ok. Well, given you have spent $600 on the graphics and monitor alone, lol, the rest is a great deal.
LMAO.
That monitor BETTER be good for that price!
It's a flat regular tube monitor, but not a flat-panel LCD, hope you realise that because they don't make it very clear!
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AND. I recommend you ask for Stephanie, at USSA.com because she is very helpful. VERY helpful.
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I haven't actually bought ANYTHING yet, I'm waiting till I know exactly what I want before I lay down any cash. This is a lot of money to spend, so any suggestions are welcome.
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I see that newegg no longer offers the Antec SX835II, too bad. The link below is for a different, somewhat more expensive Antec, with the 400 watt PS you want. Might be better to buy a case with the PS already on it. No name PS's can cause you a lot of grief. Be aware that the Enermax cases at Newegg do NOT have Enermax power supplies, which is the best thing about Enermax.
You might want to consider Crucial memory and buying it directly from Crucial.
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Also, for the same price at that Maxtor, you can get the Western Digital with the 8MB cache, the only drawback is that it's ATA100. Hard to say which would be faster. Hard choice there.
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Ok I'm gonna get that Antec case (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=11-129-120)
I'm getting this monitor instead of the other one: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=24-116-200
And what crucial memory sticks do I buy? This one?
http://www.crucial.com/store/PartSpecs.asp?imodule=CT6464Z335&cat=RAM
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 Heres a curly one
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K7SEM CMOS clear problem
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