A simple PC

Status
Not open for further replies.
Read my post, about the parts I suggested. You got your power supply and motherboard, right there...and I've explained some things.
 
Sometimes when I watch Youtube on my computer or start up a program that isn't taxing it starts making loud noises.

As long as it does what I want (Firefox,Photoshop,AIM) fast and without noise I'm good.
 
It was probably making loud noises, every time you open something, because it's probably overheating or you have processes running in the background, that's taking up a lot of CPU usage.
 
I think I'm going to order a bluetooth dongle and a Wiimote also so I can play PC games and emulators with it. Can't wait to play Halo CE on a Wii controller.
 
As with planning any build, better yet my first build, your configuration will change 1000 times. Here is my major third change to my build. I'll also provide why I chose each one for no reason.

Can someone explain the OC'ing process? If the 3600+ or 3800+ makes a difference? and what is necessary to OC?

DVD/CD Burner
Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD Burner - Retail
The cheapest DVD burner newegg provides and has a 5/5 rating

Case
Newegg.com - Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply - Retail
Possibly the best bang for your buck case on newegg. Supposedly very sturdy, comes with a 450w Antec smartpower PSU and supposedly very quiet.

Hard Drive
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Best value hard drive on newegg. Size is enough, does the job.

Motherboard
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR NF520-A2 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 520 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
The cheapest mobo that supports AMD X2 CPU's and DDR2 RAM, plus 5/5 rating.

Video Card
Newegg.com - EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
I figured out I want to play a few PC games too; Oblivion, Resident Evil 4, etc. It should be able to eat up Oblivion at the 1024x768 I will be using and it will definitely help out the N64 emulator.

CD drive
Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 52X CD-ROM IDE CD-ROM Drive Model LH-52N1P-185 - OEM
Gets the job done.

RAM (2 of these for 2GB)
Newegg.com - GeIL 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory - Retail
The cheapest gaming memory at DDR2. All the bad reviews are from people that bought it and didn't realize it was intended for AMD CPU's only, no intel.

Processor
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Windsor 2.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail
Something like 6 dollars more expensive then the 3600. Has slightly better performance which is good for me because I don't think I'm going to overclock. 92% of the 196 reviews are 5/5.
 
Although Antec does make good PSUs, they have been slipping in the quality department. I would never use a PSU, included with a case. The one I suggested is very reliable, and one of the better cheap budget PSUs out there.

From the Techies' Bible:
"Thou shall not skimp on thy power supply."......You risk losing your whole system, if you do.

I wouldn't say the 7600GT does good on Oblivion at 1024 x 768. More like struggle. I'm thinking in the 10-20fps range.

GeIL works for Intel too. Don't take those newegg reviews seriously. There are alot of idiots rating stuff on newegg.

The X2 3800+ has a bit more L2 cache to it, that's all. Both the X2 3600+ and 3800+, have the same overclocking potential. If you're not overclocking, I would of suggested the X2 4200+ instead, but seeing your on a tight budget, the X2 3800+ will do fine....but you really should overclock. Anyway, your choice.
 
I think I'm going to overclock.

I would never go with a supplied PSU with a case but it is the SmartPower line of Antec PSU's so I should be safe.

Do you really Oblivion think would struggle at the resolution? I've been looking it up and it seems like I should get 20-30 FPS outside and above 100 FPS inside.

I have an Xbox 360 and I've played Oblivion but the modding community looks like it is so awesome and thats why I'm so interested, I really want to get Resident Evil 4 as well. I don't know what I'm going to do when Bioshock comes out. Achievements or modding community?
 
Well maybe on the low settings, you'll be able to get 20-30fps...but never on high settings. Although you could try.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom