Building a PC

Hi there guys, and gals.

I'm looking to build myself a PC. The things I'm most concerned about right now are the following:

Ram -- Good ram, atleast 512. (256x2)
Processor -- Looking for a P4 2.8
Graphics card -- already have purchased one and have it running in my PC. Works great.
Monitor -- Going to need to get a monitor if I get a PC. Unforunately this will probably cut my budget down.
OS -- Looking to get Windows XP, cheap from somewhere. I currently have it running on this computer, can I install it on a computer I would build? Or would I have to purchase another copy?
Mobo -- Looking to get a good motherboard so I wont have to get a new one for quite some time. AGP 8X, Minimum 2GB Ram. (I'm sure you guys know what's best)

I'm in the budget range of $500-690

I'm going to need a monitor.

Can someone give advice? The parts I'll need for myself to

Most of the components you want you shouldnt have too much trouble finding cheap on tigerdirect.com or pricewatch.com. ( maybe even overstock.com ) Sometimes they have specials on crt monitors and their prices are usually cheaper than others. You are able to install xp again on an aditional computer, at least i have, and it seems you have the rest in hand. If you have any trouble feel free to drop me a message and ill give ya some help.

Good Day,

I haven't checked prices in awhile, however, when I build a new PC I think about bus speeds and static ram. If I want a faster PC those two items (among others of course) must be addressed and will usually drive the price up. If you haven't read up on the difference between Static and Dynamic Memory here's some links.

http://www.computermemoryupgrade.net/static-ram.html

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/fr...pesSRAM-c.html


have fun

Just a few thoughts,

1. You can get a device that allows you to run two computers using one keyboard, mouse and screen.

2. As you plan on using your existing Video card, make sure that the MoBo you choose supports it, and that there are no issues..............try the cardmaker's site, particularly if they host a users' forum ;)

3. Be careful with the MoBo specs. I have mobos that will support (for example):
3Gb PC2100
1Gb PC2700
512Mb PC3200
What I am saying is there is a trade-off between quantity and speed, particularly with the cheaper boards.

4. Don't buy "cheap RAM" it is a false economy. In the case of very fast memory you may find that the board will only support certain makes. Otherwise Crucial are very good, in terms of cost, performance and lifetime warranty. Kingston are another good "generic" manufacturer. Remember $20 saved could turn out to be $60 wasted?

Good luck and have fun :D

A point about your os, xp should go on your new pc and be activated with no problems. I believe microsoft allow for it to be installed an two box's for home use. If you do run into activation problems activate it by phone. I'm sure all will be ok.

Thanks for all the links, quick replies and help.

I forgot to mention however... I must start from the ground up. I could hold off on the monitor for now, I have 2 in my home. The second one isn't too good, but it will have to do until I can afford a new one.

I have to get cables, hdd, everything ladies and gents. I'm hoping now that I scratched the monitor from the list, that this will help a bit.

Have a birthday coming up on the 18th of may, will most likely get some moo lah $.

I'd still like to stick with a P4 Intel with a minimum 2.6 GHZ

Need atleast 512MB ram.. and a motherboard to support AGP8X, my ram, stuff like that.

I'm going to need a sound card? Yes..

Basically, I'm going to need to order my parts from the ground up, Case... fans, HDD, CD-Rom R+W, all these goodies.

Might be selling a few of my XBOX games for some more cash down the rode. We'll see though.

Thanks in advance and hope you can help

PS: The graphics card I have is an

GeForce FX 5900 XT 128MB Overclocked.

If you want to save money, buy a AMD Athlon Processor. It'll save you A LOT of money and you don't really noticed the difference between Intel and AMD.

If you finished by doing this program, I'll like to see it!

Would it be good to buy a PC from ibuypower.com instead of building one?

This way I can buy the computer with low priced parts and upgrade them from newegg?

Im not too handy.

Always better to buy a computer build from a good store. Why?

1) If you buy a defective piece from Internet, you're stuck paying the shipping to get repair from the companies. If you buy from a store, they will give you another piece the moment you bring it to the store. You get your piece the same day while you could wait a months for a repair to happen on the Internet.

2) Building your own PC can get painful if you are not an expert. Stores are usually run by Expert.

3) Store can sell you guarantee for some years that make sure your hardware will be trouble free for a few years.

Hi,

If you are "not too handy" you might like to check out small local computer stores and see what they would charge you to build the basic machine? I used to use one that charged around $65 and gave a two year warranty.

Quote:

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GeForce FX 5900 XT 128MB Overclocked.

---

Why are you overclocking it? it sounds like it is the best component in your current set up?

Remember that there is a balance between motherboard speed, RAM speed, processor speed, videocard power and the display unit. I would guess that all you are doing is shortening the life of your video card?

It's a bit like road traffic, if you inset a six lane stretch into a two lane highway, all you do is move the gridlock someplace else?

Cheers

@jinxy

Question:

Quote:

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I believe microsoft allow for it to be installed an two box's for home use. If you do run into activation problems activate it by phone

---

Since When?

I know that My OEM's can only be installed on one (1) PC.. and the last Retail XP EULA I read mentioned one PC..

Have I missed a email from Misrocoft?

Cheers

Undies,

I will go with you on that one, all mine say one machine apart from the 2000 server, I must admit that my XP is about 3 years old though.

Cheers

Nihil, I bought the card overclocked. When I purchased it, from bestbuy, it said overclocked on the case.

WTerbo3

I reckon you will be OK then mate!.............your system will just think that it is a different card. I usually recommend not to overclock the video card unless you have the rest of the equipment to support it, as overclocking does reduce the life.

I also hold this view where you are transferring items or doing a major rebuild (MoBo & processor) because it will eliminate potential problems. Once you have it up and running stable, then you can do what you like.

I just like as few variables as possible at any one time :)

I guess that you have a "factory overclocked" card, which is way different from one that you have done yourself.

I would recommend that you invest the $5 or so in an exhaust fan............they take up one of the PCI slots (I would have mentioned ISA as well, but that would show my age :D ) and shift 40-50 cubic feet per minute out of the box...............if you are overclocking the videocard, it will run hot! but you did the right thing by getting a boxed version, as they will have replaced the heatsink & fan and used silver thermal compound.

Hey, don't get me wrong............I remember when the P4 2.26 first came out........so I got one, built a box and ran it at 3.066GHz for 24 hours....................I was risking frying $1200 worth of kit at the time, but I had broken the three gig barrier!!!...............it is still alive and well and running at a sedate 2.26 :) I have no problems with overclocking, just warning you that mistakes are not "habit forming"

Good luck

LOL I dont even know how to overclock. How's this look? I plan on getting the following for my computer:

ANTEC Performance Series II Mid Tower Case With 350W Power Supply, Model "SX835II" -RETAIL = $87 USD shipped.

MSI i865PE Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU, Model "865PE Neo2-PFS (Platinum Edition)" -RETAIL = $87 USD shipped.

Intel Pentium 4/ 2.8C GHz 800MHz FSB, 512K Cache, Hyper Threading Technology - Retail = $178 USD shipped.

Crucial 184 Pin 256MB DDR PC-3200 - OEM = $61 x2 = $122 USD shipped.

Western Digital Special Edition 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD800JB, OEM Drive Only = $70 USD shipped.

Lite-On Beige 52X32X52 CD-RW Drive, Model LTR-52327S BEIGE, OEM = $33.50 USD shipped.

Lite-On 52X CD-ROM, Model LTN-526, Retail = $21 USD shipped.

SONY Beige 1.44MB 3.5Inch Floppy Disk Drive, Model MPF920, OEM = $10.50 USD shipped.

Total = $609 USD.

Those parts are all from newegg. I can use my second monitor until money permits, and I might have to purchase windows XP home edition.

Or instead of the case there, I could get
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-026&depa=1

Great Case.. looks nicer than the first one i posted, and is cheaper

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-603&depa=1

And instead of getting a 52X CD-Rom, I should get a DVD.

WTerbo3

I had to go puke up in envy..............that lot would cost twice as much over here :(

Get a DVD and a CD RW drive, the DVD is probably only about $10 more.............I have used quite a lot of "LITEON" kit with no problems, so I would go with that.

Western Digital are reasonable drives.........particularly if they are still doing the three year guarantee. My favourites are "deskstars"

I would watch that case though.............I would be happier with 400 or 420 watts power supply, but you should be OK, as I have built plenty of boxes with 350. Fans are a consideration as well, I am not exactly overjoyed by ones at the front, unless they are specifically for the hard drive. One on the side is nice, just reverse it so it sucks cool air in.

Let us know how you get on

If it wasn't such a bloody long swim, I'd be tempted to come and build it for you

:D

Cheers

Nihil, am I getting my money's worth on the products I posted?

Other thing I'd change would be the case, to something with the same performance for a good price. I'd like a window and some lighting, and most likely a 400W PSU or 350W

I'm going to use my computer for downloading stuff, mostly gaming, and browsing forums and stuff and chatting with friends, FYI

I'm going to be purchasing these parts within the next couple of weeks.

Should I purchase one part, wait for it to be shipped and in my hands, then purchase the next part? Or should I order them all at once?

First I'd like some assistance with a nice case and power supply. Looking to only spend around $90 on it. $90 and lower with a case and a power supply.

I dont mind if the power supply is in the case already, but I want my case to look good, but still have quality.

I am afraid that I cannot comment on value for money, because I am over here in England, where things are very much more expensive :( so any US price looks good to us. I would guess that when it comes to computer kit, the effective rate of exchange is around $1 = £1.

ANTEC is a good reliable make, and if it is your first time building a box I would be inclined to go for a "brand name" like that, as I expect the instructions will be a lot clearer. Your proposed system should work quite happily on 350w................I actually only have one machine with more than that. I have been using cheap Chinese generic cases for some time, but you need a bit of experience to work out which wire goes where.........they don't come with instructions.

A good quality case will give you the stated power, some cheap ones say 350w but actually give more like 275..........then you can have problems.

I am afraid I could not look at the other two cases........I got a 404 error?

I buy things all at once by supplier, because over here you can frequently get the shipping free, or at a discount if the order is big enough. I don't know how things work over with you? On what you are proposing, I would make a saving of around $35 on the shipping & handling. But suppliers can afford to do that over here because their margins are much higher.

I always get a case with the power supply pre-installed, it saves messing around running the wires neatly :D and it will have been tested in situ.................one less thing to go wrong.

Hope that helps

Hey would any Americans like to help me out?..........the guy wants to know about prices & dollar value?

EDIT: If you want a transparent panel, you can add that later..............just take the side panel down your local auto bodyshop and get them to cut a shape out then epoxy resin a sheet of perspex on the inside.

Lots of good advice on the hardware front in this thread.

One thing to bear in mind is that if you should choose to swap from a P4 to an AMD, then AMD processors need a lot more cooling, so the saving can be a bit deceptive, as it is likely you'll have to invest in more fans with an AMD processor.

I'm with Und3ertak3r on the legal issues about WinXP home - try this link for size, which sums everything up: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/h...buy/addlic.asp

For the case I'm getting, IT's a raidmax scorpio 668 with a 420W PS and 3 case fans
If needed, I'll get more later, but I would like my computer up and running.

I'm sitting at about $630 here and buying windows xp home edition will probably put me over $700.

I'm sticking with Intel not AMD, just for your reference.