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Hardware Advice.... (1 Viewer)

Creed

Creed

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May 10, 2005
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I've decided to build my own computer. I've need a new one for quite some time...so i'm finally ready to take the plunge.

I don't want to buy a pre-config because i want to go through the fun learning process of doing it myself...not really because of price differences or anything...i've just always wanted to build my own.

So...with that...i'm a complete newbie at this...all i really know about is the harddrives and processor...and i've already got those picked out.

Processor: BX80557E6400 Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz 2M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
main drive: WD1500ADFD Western Digital 150Gb SATA, 1.5 Gb/s, 16 Mb Cache, 10000 RPM
Storage drive: WD3200YS Western Digital 320 GB SATA, 3.0 Gb/s, 16 MB Cache, 7200 RPM

this leaves me with
Floppy Drive: (6/12/18 something or other in 1 media device is what i'm thinking here)
CD/DVD Drive: not much of an idea here...i do know that i want two drives...and i want to beable to burn cd's and dvd's quickly...
Memory: 2 gb...don't know of what though...
Power Supply:no clue here
Video Card:...i'm a web designer and graphics designer...and a few games every now and then
Case: no clue
Motherboard: no clue...

ok...so a bit about what i want:

I'm a graphics/web designer...so i need something that can handle macromedia suite, photoshop, and other programs like those. I also like to play a good game now and again. I want it to be fast...which i why i want the hardrives and processor i have listed...but not sure about if the ram plays a big part in that either...i'm guessing 2gig would be good for that over 1gig...but i don't know if i should go with normal ram or some sort of performance ram.

I don't want a huge case if it's not necessary...i'd like something quite, but also something that isn't going to give me overheating problems.

The CPU comes with it's own fan correct? or do i need to add that to the list of things to get?

Ok..any suggestions or advice on how to pick the rest of these parts...or suggestions on what part/what to look for in a part would be greatly appreciated :D
 
I'll throw a couple suggestions out there, I don't have time to give a lot atm though..


Floppy Drive: If your going to do a Raid Setup, you will need some sort of IDE drive, so you can load drivers during setup. Otherwise any All-in-One Drive would work. (Most of them connect to the USB connections on the motherboard)

CD Rom: If you want 2, Get one Plain old DVD / CD player, and One CD / CD-R / CD-RW / DVD / DVD-R+-/ DVD-RW+- It will save you oney only getting one burner (and really, who needs 2 anyway)


Power Supply: The important thing, is enough power for what you have. If you decide to use an SLI video Card Setup, Get an SLI certified Power Supply.


Case: It's all personaly preference here for the most part. Air flow is key, though a lot of fans = loud computer. I use a Tsunami Case, and a friend of mine uses Lian Li. Both very good cases.

Motherboard: My personal Favorite is ASUS, I have also used gigabyte before as well.


Ram: Corsair makes really nice ram. I forget the type I put in my friends computer, but it's paired ram (2Sticks that must be used together) and it was 2gb. Works really well.

Video: I perfer Nvidia SLI setups over Radieon. Some would disagree with me, so I'm not going tot ry and sell you on the Nvidia idea. They go back and forth for who is the best. I still don't think you can beat Dual 518MB Video Card, in SLI setup.
 
Only thing I'd say is that with power supply make sure you get something decent with enough oomph to keep the 12v rails stabilised. I'd suggest a Seasonic as they're pretty sweet (Seasonic S12-600 maybe?)

Case is a personal choice. I went for a Cooler Master Centurion 532 myself because I pushed my budget up on the GFX, RAM and Mobo when I bought a whole new kit about 6 months back so I needed to cut down on certain things. Had I the cash I'd have definitely gone for either an Antec P180 or a Lian Li PC101 because of the wind tunnel cooling effect of it. Other thing I like about my centurion is that it has 120mm fans instead of 80mm fans which makes it a LOT quieter (imagine that the 80mm's have to spin so much faster to get the same cooling power)

Corsair RAM is good stuff but generally overpriced for what it is. You're paying for the brand rather than the hardware. I use Crucial Ballistix and they're great!

Video I'd go for what suits your budget and uses. I have an X1800 512Mb because I wanted to be future-proofed as much as possible on the small budget I had and I think it's just great. SLi is good but I've always been an AMD and Radeon fanboy (even though I have an ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe)
 
for the ram...how do i know if i need ddr, ddr2, sdram...etc?

do i pick that first and then choose a motherboard...or the other way around? and as for motherboards...i need more than the brand...what features should i look for?
 
Dont forget about your monitor, I would be very picky about this and what the color specs on it are since your a photoshopper/web designer. And as for the video card I would also go with some sort of Nvidia setup
 
If you are a graphic designer then you want the best monitor you can buy (8bit panel is a must) and you want ATI videocard, they have better 2D image quality. If you work with massive images then you want 2gigs of ram, speed of ram won't matter much.
 
If you're going Core 2 Duo, you should spend the extra few dollars to go from the E6400 to the E6600.

For hardware info, you really should go to the Anandtech forums: anandtech.com

They have so much information there, it's scary. There are many people that post all the time in the same boat as you, and you'll get lots of great advice there that can really help if you have the patience to take your time and read through it.
 
I would also second the suggesting about visiting the anandtech forums: forums.anandtech.com, as they have links for motherboard suggestions, cpu, memory, as well as incompatibility information and things like that. Myself I am in the process of building one, waiting for some cash to get the pieces I don't have. One thing about memory (would have to make sure it would work with the motherboard you pick out) is that outpost.com has had some nice after rebate sales of ocz memory. When I got mine I had a friend order 2gb for me and I ordered 2gb also for 4gb memory for my new machine, I think the price was something like $230 for each order with a $50 mir (both of which I have gotten) so $360 for ddr2 pc800 ocz platinum memory. Found this deal on fatwallet under the hot deal forums, can search for memory or ocz I would think to find it, they seem to have either the gold or platinum series on sale about every other week.

I am going for the core 2 duo e6600 myself also for the extra 2mb of cache on it and will also be overclocking it so got a performance heatsink/fan (thermaltake ultra 120 with 120mm nexus fan) and am planning on getting either an asus p5w dh deluxe mother board or the new e series I believe asus p5b motherboard. For a case I selected the Antec p180 and for the powersupply a seasonic s12 500 because they are supposed to be very quiet (something my wife said she requires LOL). For a video card I was planning on getting an ati x1900 xtx because they seem to be really nice cards. For a dvd rom drive I'd just get a liteon or something like that from newegg and also something similar for the dvdrw. Not really sure what else to add to this. I'd be happy to visit more about it if you want to pm me or you can post here and I'll try to check it although I don't check this section of the forums very often. ;)

eqisdead

PS ewiz.com seems to have pretty good prices on those processors and I know there was another place that seemed pretty cheap but I can't remember the website off the top of my head LOL.
 
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I always, always, always go with Asus motherboards and Corsair ram. They've always exceeded my expectations and never let me down. Plus, Corsair has a lifetime warranty.

My suggestions:

Motherboards:

Asus P5W64 WS Professional more info here


Asus P5WDG2 WS Professional with more info here

Ram:

Uber Corsair Ram with more info here also note it has a $50 mail-in rebate which expires on the 19th...may want to check that out quickly

DVD Drive:

Pioneer DVR-710 I use pioneer drives, myself, and they've always been dependable.

If you have to have 2 drives, just look for a cheaper pioneer model that can burn cd's and read dvd's for the second drive, and use the one I listed for your dvd burning.

Power Supply:

I have used several from Ultra, and all have exceeded expectations. Here's a good one for you:


Ultra X-Finity 600W PSU most notable about ultra psu's is the flexforce cables that come standard. They're much easier to handle and connect, while also taking up much less space than normal cables. Some places sell that psu cheaper, like zipzoomfly, but when I checked, they were out of titanium ones...check around.


Case:

You need plenty of fans to keep that system cool, if you're not going to use liquid. This case is pretty good, has 5 fans. 5 fans usually works pretty well, placed in the spots they have em.

Antec P180B Performance Mid Tower Case

It has a $15 mail-in rebate offer, expiring 10/24, only on the black model.




That's really about it. That should hook you up right. All of that stuff will work together and fit together.
 
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