Completely At a Loss...Comp Noob needs help...

[tufreeh]

ah the joys of building my own pc .. glad to say am a veteran now .. neway all these guys gave ya a lotta tips and names but it all boils down to wat effort u make on ur own .. u hafta do tons of research and scrounging around to get an idea of wat a really good system is gonna comprise of .. every pc that i have built i spent at least 2 weeks looking up what i needed .. categorize ur reqirements into different groups like cpu, mobo, memory etc. and find 4-5 models that u think are worthy, then start downsizing .. u mite hafta compromise on the value/price front so make an informed decision ..

my personal fav's for cpu are amds, mobos that have served me well are asus, memory: kingston or corsair, video card: any brand with an ati chipset ...hard disks: seagate, soundcard : creative .. and other stuff also that i cant think of at the moment .. those are just the brands .. delving further leads to the different models each one has to offer is another process ..

websites i found to be useful: www.pricewatch.com and www.bizrate.com .. the latter is not solely computers and electronics related but i often found really nice deals on it ..

g'luck ..

 

[Ebato]

What should i put most of my money into...whats the thing that I need the best of? Like what are the things that I don't need the very best of? Or is everything the same?

 

[ccskorn]

I'd focus on your motherboard and cpu, ram only if you are wanting to overclock, cheaper kind will suffice. Find a motherboard, and try to match all of the maximum capibilities of it (bus speeds etc.) with ram and processor. A good place to start is to try and find a good barebone PC that will already include a motherboard, processor, powersupply, case, and sometimes more.

 

[Wartorment]

Qty Product Description Unit Price Extended Price 
1 
 RAIDMAX Black 10-bay Case with 420W Power Supply, Model "ATX-868WBP" -RETAIL  
Item# N82E16811156135  
 $48.00 
  
 $48.00 
  
 
    
1 
 SOYO "SY-KT600 DRAGON PLUS V1.0" KT600 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL  
Item# N82E16813139133  
 $55.00 
  
 $55.00 
  
 
    
1 
 CELESTICA ATI RADEON 9600XT Video Card, 256MB DDR, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "GOLD EDITION RADEON 9600XT" -RETAIL  
Item# N82E16814163109  
 $162.00 
  
 $162.00 
  
 
    
1 
 AMD Athlon XP 2600+ "Barton", 333MHz FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail
 
Item# N82E16819103418  
 $90.00 
  
 $90.00 
  
 
    
1 
 Kingston 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail
 
Item# N82E16820141424  
 $87.00 
  
 $87.00 
  
 
    
1 
 Alps Black 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, Model DF354H121F, OEM  
Item# N82E16821103201  
 $12.99 
  
 $12.99 
  
 
    
1 
 SAMSUNG 80GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model SP0812C, OEM Drive Only  
Item# N82E16822152018  
 $78.50 
  
 $78.50 
  
 
    
 
  Tax:  $45.35 
  Subtotal:  $ 533.49  
  1 year extended warranty fee:  $ 0.00 
  Shipping & Handling:  $14.00 
  Grand Total:  $ 592.84

 

[Soloman02]

Wartorment you forgot the cd- rom drives, cooling fans ( cause you will need some) and i would not go with a via chipset since i think they do not work very well compared to nforce.

 

[hilowe]

Ebato,

If I was you, I would go out, try to pick out a system that would be within your budget. Come back here and ask to make sure that everything is going to be compatible. Also, ask what others would change to improve the system, and stay within your budget. I think that ends up being the best way to learn. Here's a couple of places to look on the internet.

newegg.com

This website does pretty good with free shipping on their products.

pricewatch.com

This website checks many different vendors, and tries to find you the best price on what you selected.

The question has also been asked many times if there are any websites to look at that show people how to build a computer. I'll look around, and see if I can find one of those that has a reply with websites.

 

[Ebato]

Ok...I found the processor i want...AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor. IBut im not sure if i want the retail version witht he box and heatsink and fan, or just the processors then buy a Thermalright CPU Cooler for AMD: Athlon XP Palamino, Thoroughbred, and Barton 2500+ and up (Heat Sink Only), Model "ALX800" and buy a fan. I don't know what kind of cooling system comes with the retail version of the 2500+. Im feeling that the retail might be better but please give me ur opinion of this and other stuff.

 

[tufreeh]

excellent choice of processor .. thats the one am using too .. if u can fit in ur budget get a 2600+ for the 2 Ghz satisfaction .. unless ur overclocking or nething i think the retail version should work fine .. am using a thermaltake volcano 9 personally ..

moving on i wud suggest an Asus A7N8X-Deluxe mobo with 1 GB of PC3200 ram either kingston or corsair .. other components as u go along ..

 

[Ebato]

Im looking to overclock it, so should i use the stock heatsink and fan or should i get a better custom fan and heat sink?

 

[jaksback]

goodness, just get the pc built and running satisfactorily first cuz trying to learn how to overclock safely is another whole ball game. You really have to know what to do first. And No, in my opinion the stock heatsink and fan is NOT gonna be sufficiant if you're overclocking.