Building my own computer, possible?

[AbdelRahman]

Hello,

I wanted to ask for a bit of information about building my own computer.
If I've never done it before, is it possible?

If so,
I'd like to ask about the components best for me to buy.
I would like my new computer to:

1) run programs like MATLAB, visual studio, OrCAD, spice and similar engineering and programming software swiftly and fast.
2) play videos.
3) multitasking without slowing down.
4) I'm not very interested in games.

It's worth mentioning that I'm in Egypt, so not all components are available for me.

Bye for now!

 

[b1gapl]

Hey AbdelRahman,

What the estimate of your budget? From the looks of what you want to do, this looks like a med-high priced budget. Here are parts to look for:

CPU - If you can afford, get the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600. This will benefit you a lot, in programming and engineering software.

Motherboard - I'd suggest the Gigabyte P35-DS3R. It's a great motherboard, that isn't too expensive. And it's very upgradeable.

Memory - Look for brands like Crucial Ballistix, G. Skill, Patriot, or Corsair XMS2. And get 4GB of RAM, as this will help a lot, with the programs you're using. DDR2-800 is the speed, of the RAM you should be looking for.

Hard drive - Get a nice big hard drive. I'd suggest either the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB, the Samsung Spinpoint 500GB, or the Western Digital 750GB.

Graphic card - Will you be gaming? If not, a nice cheap graphic card, such as the HD 2400XT or HD 2600XT, will do.

Power supply - Look for brands like FSP (Fortron Source), Corsair 520HX or 620HX, XClio GREATPOWER 550w, SeaSonic S12 550w, Enermax, HIPER Type-R 580w, or Rosewill RP550 550w.

 

[AbdelRahman]

my budget is around 1000$.

but can i ask you guys a favor??

I'm really new to all this, but I'm willing to learn.

I want to understand what the processors' specifications indicate?
And what is the meaning of dual-core, quad-core?
and what's the difference between pentium, celeron, core 2 .. etc?

just briefly

Am I sounding too ignorant? lol

 

[b1gapl]

lol...it's ok...Ask all of your questions. After all, you're here to learn.

Dual-core means, theres two cores in one processor chip. So it's like having two processors in one chip. Quad-core is like having four processors, in one chip.

The differences between Pentium, Celeron, and Core 2, is mainly the architecture of the CPU. With the Core 2, being the latest and greatest from Intel. Pentium and Celeron are of older models, and aren't really considered here anymore, as they're just old and inefficient.

 

[tomc102968]

the people here are great they helped me every step of the way i built my first last sept (and it still works) just be patient while waiting for replies; no question is a dumb question; and let them review your FINAL build before you buy. Also be warned it is very additive i am probally going to build my 2nd for christmas as a present to my boys

 

[peterhuang913]

The number of cores of the number of engines under the hood. Dual is two. Quad is four.

The difference between Pentium, Celeron and Core 2's is its architectures. The architecture of a CPU is the way its built. Just like engines, V6, V8, HEMI, etc.

Core 2's are the latest CPUs that is in the market. Pentium's and Celerons are obsolete now as the price of Core 2's have gotten down.

Never hold back in asking questions. Tech Forums is a place of asking questions, no matter how weird.

 

[phucng_10]

Dual Core's means 2 cores in one Computer Processor Unit : CPU. Quad Core's means 4 cores in one Computer Processor Unit : CPU. Well with a Dual Core you can do 2 tasks at once. Let's say you have a regular computer with only a single core CPU. That will totally lag everything, so since you have the Dual core, they will separate the jobs into 2. One side is doing some crazy programming, and the other is just surfing webs. And you get the whole point with the quad core. Well like b1gapl and peterhuang913 has stated, that this forum is to ask loads of question and have fun! We'll try our best to answer the questions. (Actually, when I came about a month ago, I didn't even know anything about computers, at all.) :shocked:

 

[AbdelRahman]

CPU - If you can afford, get the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600. This will benefit you a lot, in programming and engineering software.

Motherboard - I'd suggest the Gigabyte P35-DS3R. It's a great motherboard, that isn't too expensive. And it's very upgradeable.

Memory - Look for brands like Crucial Ballistix, G. Skill, Patriot, or Corsair XMS2. And get 4GB of RAM, as this will help a lot, with the programs you're using. DDR2-800 is the speed, of the RAM you should be looking for.

Hard drive - Get a nice big hard drive. I'd suggest either the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB, the Samsung Spinpoint 500GB, or the Western Digital 750GB.

Graphic card - Will you be gaming? If not, a nice cheap graphic card, such as the HD 2400XT or HD 2600XT, will do.

Power supply - Look for brands like FSP (Fortron Source), Corsair 520HX or 620HX, XClio GREATPOWER 550w, SeaSonic S12 550w, Enermax, HIPER Type-R 580w, or Rosewill RP550 550w.

I took a look at what's available

CPU: The best processor I could find here is Core2Dou E620 2.13 GHz 4 MB Cache. Quad is not yet available in Egypt.
Question==> What does 'FSB' mean? for both the CPU and motherboard, the highest i could find was 1066.

Motherboard:A friend of mine suggested that I should search for a motherboard with:

- 2 or more DDR2 slots
- Core2Duo supported
- 3 or more SATA HDDs slots
- 2 or more for normal HDDs
- built in Sound+LAN but not vedio.

about the brand he said he prefered either Gigabyte or MSI.

Memory: the only brand I saw was 'Kingston' and it was 1 GB DDR2-667.

HardDrive: The largest available is 500 GB but I can get a 320 GB for HALF the price, so is the 500 GB worth it? or can i get 2 320's?

Graphics Card: Is XFX good? and what does GeForce and NVIDIA mean?

 

[AbdelRahman]

Also, forgot to say 'THANKS' for all those who replied!

 

[Vaanish]

If you can give us a link to the website that you are buying from then we will be able to look on it and select the best components that they stock.

Nvidia is a company that designs grafhics cards. GeForce is simply a series of cards that they make.