Prospective Computer

Killimataro · **Posted:** Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:50 pm

Hello, I was hoping to build my own Desktop computer, for Multimedia and Gaming, and was wondering if i could ask a favour of you people:

I would like anyone that reads this to tell me whether or not the parts are good, if i could upgrade to a better part with a similar price, or any parts they find reliable that are good for running games and other multimedia applications very well. Here is the list, and thanks for any help!

Critical Parts:
Proccessor
Motherboard
PSU and RAM
Graphics Card
Operating System
Hard Drive
Case
Also, a friend of mine told me i might want this along with everything else since the processor i was planning on getting runs at 125w:
Heatsink
Non-Critical Parts
DVD Drive
Monitor
Speakers
Keyboard and Mouse

My Price range that i was hoping to stay within was $1500-2000. I am lenient though, and can go slightly over that if needed.

By non-critical, i mean that i have similar parts i can use already and i don't necessarily need that type of part. Also, I am not necessarily going to buy these parts from the websites that i am directing you to, they are just the parts that i will find on a site (probably NewEgg) and buy.

Again, i appreciate any and all help. Please feel free to suggest any/all parts that i do not have listed up there. And thanks for the help!

(If any links are broken, please tell me and i will fix it.)
EDIT: Fixed a link, found NewEgg equivilants so some of the parts. Added price range

RobbieThe1st · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:34 am

Well, first off, it would help a *lot* if you could find and link to the equivalent parts on Newegg - CompUSA doesn't even have two of the parts you want, and one(your processor) isn't even in their system.

The motherboard *looks* fine, but I can't tell until I see what processor you want to put in it.

RAM is a good brand, I haven't been able to check specific reviews and such though.

PSU - You know, you only need perhaps 500W, however you need a *good* 500W PSU. You want to look through detailed reviews for this(see how a specific one performs under load), and expect to pay $75-100 for it. Remember, if this is low quality, you can have instability issues, or even blow other components of your computer. Spend the extra money.
I suggest finding one "80 plus" certified(this means, greater than 80% efficiency at *all* load levels. the cheap ones may have 85% at some levels, but you actually put some load on it, and it goes down to 70% or something) also. This marks at least a decent one.

OS - XP is good.

Harddisk - Looks fine. You might want to go with two of these, and set up a RAID-1, which is a mirror. This means that both hard-disks have identical contents, and so if one fails, your computer will still run. I am doing this on my computer and have had no trouble with it.

Case, I suppose its fine. I will have to look at the detailed newegg report to see more detailed info though.

DVD drive - Anything will work. You may want to spend an extra $10-20 and find one that users say is quiet however.

Keyboard and mouse - This is a personal thing. Yup, this will work.

My view on these however is that wireless, while you don't have to worry about the cords, you have to worry about running out of battery right in the middle of doing something. I personally am using a OK wired keyboard and Logitech G5 gaming mouse, which has worked great for over a year(note also that I am left-handed, and this mouse works for me, although its sort of a right-handed one. I also spent far less than $50 for both.

Monitor - Good and cheap I suppose. I suggest you make sure that you can live with this one, by viewing and working with it in-store somewhere. It is cheap however, so there is a good chance it *really* displays only 16-bit color, in order to get the response time down(this means that, depending on the device, it may use either Temporal[the pixel flashing back and forth between one shade and the next really really fast] or Static like This dithering).

Just some things to be aware of.

-RobbieThe2nd

FastChapter · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:51 am

*points at Robbie's post*

Same here, go on NewEgg.com and see what kind of ratings the parts get. Websites that don't offer buyers a chance to say what was good/bad about a part don't deserve my business, if you ask me. Plus Newegg has better sales and dirt cheap shipping.

Also, what's your budget? If you can give us a $ amount for how much you want to spend, we could probably even come up with even better parts for the money you have.

Killimataro · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:21 am

Edited my initial post, thanks for the help guys

FastChapter · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:19 am

Oh man, if you're okay with going over $1,500 on a custom built rig, you're going to buy the best damned one out there, XD

Example: My computer runs Crysis on High with a good 25-30fps. I spent $1,650 on it, INCLUDING the 22" monitor.

FastChapter wrote:

Suggestion time! (Go to NewEgg) I'll link you what I purchased for my build just recently, just to give you an idea what to look for.

Processor: I'd stick with a solid dual-core rather than spending extra money on a quad-core chipset. Reason? There are no games out yet (not even Crysis) that fully utilize 4x Core technology. By the time big titles come out that do, the processors will be half the price and twice as powerful. Go for a Dual Core AMD with ~2.8-3.0GHz.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103773

Memory: 4 Gigs, ideally 2x 2Gig sticks. I recommend Corsair or Crucial because it's quality stuff. Remember, PAY attention to the ratings on each part. Some may look better but I'd read through reviews.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145194

Motherboard: Anything that has a SATA setup. IDE cords are a [censored] to deal with, and I don't much care for them. Plus SATA gets rid of you having to dick around with jumpers on your hard drives. I have an ASUS for a brand name, so there's a good starting point.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131013

Video: I'd look at the GeForce 9600GT 1.0Gb PCI-Express. It's a solid card, runs Crysis on nearly maxed-out specs (It'll run Oblivion without problem), and it's just nice to look at. But watch out! It's a big card and takes up a lot of space. Make sure your case is large enough.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130345
(Edit: Feel free to explore Intel ATI cards too!)

Audio: If you're really picky about sound, look for an audio card. If not, run with the onboard audio that comes with your motherboard.

Hard Drive: Pick up a solid 500GB drive and you'll be set for several years. Make sure you look at reviews for this as well because you can buy shoddy drives.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822152052

DVD/CD Drives: I suggest an Asus media drive WITH LightScribe. Make sure it comes with LightScribe because it's a damn good feature for burners. Keep your eye out for anything 48-50x playback speeds.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827135156

Power Source: If you're running a good gaming rig, pick up a good power source. Let me see if I can't link you the one I have. It's heavy-duty and works like a charm. If you're looking to build a computer that's gaming-intensive, look for a 750 watt source. The more parts you use, the more power your computer requires. Hence, 750w.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817703009

Case: This case is absolutely fabulous. It comes with two 120mm fans in the front that suck air in, a gigantic 200mm fan on the top that blows air up and out, and another 120mm fan in back to cool what didn't get obliterated by the big guy. Not to mention space for another optional fan in the clear case. Each fan has speed controls wired in so you can control their speed manually. Big plus in my opinion. And it's QUIET. Not to mention the power source is on the bottom of the case rather than the top, so you don't worry about hanging up a huge power source (like the one I showed you) and heat goes right into the upper fan.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129021

Monitor: Since the parts above amount to about $1,300 with shipping, you've got quite a bit of room to buy a very nice monitor. And believe me, when you play a game at 1680x1050 resolution... gamegasm. I bought a 22" widescreen from Samsung.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824001273

Rule of thumb: You get what you pay for. Again, read the reviews. Dig deep and make sure you know what to expect when everything comes to your front door. The parts I listed to you, after all the sales I got them for, ran me $1,600. A rig like this would probably sell for $3,500 on Dell, prebuilt. Just an idea of what you're saving by building on your own.

Hell, here's a copy of the invoice I have for my rig. It should give you a good idea of what you should look for, and should expect to pay for:

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250 ... nvoice.jpg

Killimataro · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:35 am

alright, thanks for the help. i will be sure to get a good rig outta this stuff...You dont mind me almost copying your rig do you? there are some parts im going to change, but its a minor part or two.

Hoboy, im going to have fun arent I? Again, thanks for the help!

I am going to have so much fun playing my games on my new computer...

FastChapter · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:42 am

^_^ It's your rig the moment you decide on which parts you want. I honestly suggest you get that Antec 900 case, too. It's a well-ventilated tomb for your parts, :)

But definitely copy any parts you need. Oh! Before I forget! Buy Windows Vista ULTIMATE 64-Bit. It's the newest version of Vista and has ZERO bugs that I'm aware of. That, and it's included in the price of the system I listed above. Just didn't write it down. Vista Ultimate 64-bit is essentially the best working version of Windows on the market, and that's why you want 4Gigs of RAM. I haven't had a single hiccup since I've turned this rig on, so you have my word that it works much better than the 32-bit system.

Killimataro · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:14 pm

FastChapter wrote:

Oh! Before I forget! Buy Windows Vista ULTIMATE 64-Bit. It's the newest version of Vista and has ZERO bugs that I'm aware of. That, and it's included in the price of the system I listed above. Just didn't write it down. Vista Ultimate 64-bit is essentially the best working version of Windows on the market, and that's why you want 4Gigs of RAM. I haven't had a single hiccup since I've turned this rig on, so you have my word that it works much better than the 32-bit system.

No offense or anything, but Vista is a piece of crap in my eyes. I will stick with my XP Pro.

FastChapter · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:27 pm

Killimataro wrote:

FastChapter wrote:

Oh! Before I forget! Buy Windows Vista ULTIMATE 64-Bit. It's the newest version of Vista and has ZERO bugs that I'm aware of. That, and it's included in the price of the system I listed above. Just didn't write it down. Vista Ultimate 64-bit is essentially the best working version of Windows on the market, and that's why you want 4Gigs of RAM. I haven't had a single hiccup since I've turned this rig on, so you have my word that it works much better than the 32-bit system.

No offense or anything, but Vista is a piece of crap in my eyes. I will stick with my XP Pro.

Have you ever used it? When it first debuted, definitely people should have stayed away from it. It released too early, was pretty much still in beta, and had bugs like anthills have ants.

But until you actually USE Vista - and I was unsure about it too - you'll find that it operates even better than the new versions of XP.

The big haters on Vista nowadays are the people who have it, and only have a gig of RAM. Anyone with a brain in their head would realize that four gigs makes Vista run like melted butter.

Here's a good example of my experience with XP after a few years: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYiZKLPj ... re=related

Killimataro · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:18 pm

FastChapter wrote:

Have you ever used it? When it first debuted, definitely people should have stayed away from it. It released too early, was pretty much still in beta, and had bugs like anthills have ants.

But until you actually USE Vista - and I was unsure about it too - you'll find that it operates even better than the new versions of XP.

The big haters on Vista nowadays are the people who have it, and only have a gig of RAM. Anyone with a brain in their head would realize that four gigs makes Vista run like melted butter.

Here's a good example of my experience with XP after a few years: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYiZKLPj ... re=related

I have used Vista. I had 2 computers bought in the past year that were completely destroyed by Vista. We still dont know why, we had the License registered to the computers, but they still bombed on me, and i currently have another computer that i am forced to use whenever my computer is being used by someone else that has Vista on it.

Vista in my opinion is NOT user friendly, FULL of bugs, no matter what version it is, and i cannot stand it. XP has been extremely good to me, has only died maybe once on me in the 3 years i have had it, and Vista will never replace XP. I mean, sure, XP will go out of circulation and people are gonna be forced to buy Vista because it is one of (if not the only) Windows OS out there that is relatively cheap. And i know you are exaggerating with the youtube video, as that had about 200+ errors on it, And was made with photoshop meaning it probably cant normally happen.

Also, there still is a majority of programs that DONT support 64 bit, and im not just talking about games and such. games are ALWAYS made to support new technology. So, untill there is a real need, as in no programs will work on a 32bit OS, im also gonna stick with 32 bit.

But hey, to each his own eh? now im not going to start an argument out of this (oops i think i already did :lol:) and just thank you for your help and move along.

FastChapter · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 8:18 pm

I accept your surrender to my overwhelming logic, and am glad to hear you will be buying Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit Edition, :3

Killimataro · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:00 pm

In some places you are funny, in some places you arent...oh well. believe what you want, im still getting XP Pro 32bit...unless something changes by the time i get it of course >.>

FastChapter · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:11 pm

Killimataro wrote:

In some places you are funny, in some places you arent...

Well aren't you the little downer, today!

Heh, well if they have 64-bit versions of XP grab that instead. The rig I listed parts for is perfectly capable of plowing through that sort of detail.

Twokinds ARCHIVE Forums

Prospective Computer

Who is online