zbhover
Solid State Member
- Messages
- 12
- Location
- Central IL
Good Morning everyone, I've recently got a nice bonus from work so I thought I'd build myself a new computer to replace my 5 or 6 year old dell optiplex gx280 that I have now.
This will be my first build, but I have installed new hardware, etc and have been messing around with computers for 13 or 14 years. Basically I just need help figure out what I want.
Budget is around $500-$600, maybe a tad more if I have too.
I'm also alright with shopping online to save money.
I'm planning on re-using the monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, cdrw drive and dvd drive. Later on I'll probably upgrade to a 24" LCD monitor and get a sata dvd-rw drive, but that stuff can wait until I have more money or find a good sale, and besides I rarely use my cd or dvd drive anyways........
I'm planning on using this computer mostly for web surfing, listening to music, etc so that doesn't take much, but I do some things that will push the computer a little more:
-I do 3d modeling with Rhino 3d, Its an older version (v3.0 from 2003) but when I'm rendering complicated models with my current computer (3ghz pentium 4 with 3gb of ddr2 ram) it can get a bit slow, although it improved greatly when I went from 1gb or ram to 3
-May also use some other cad or modeling programs now and then
-I'm a webmaster for a few sites so I do a lot of photo editing and some video editing.
-I seem to multi task a lot, maybe some photo editing, have a couple browser tabs opened for doing website related stuff, a couple more tabs open for email, and a forum or two, and have pandora running for some background noise, etc.
-I WILL NOT be gaming on this computer, I just don't have time for playing games.
Like I said my current computer is a 3ghz pentium 4 with 3 gig of ram, here is what I'm thinking for the new build:
-case: just a cheaper, but good case, mid-atx is fine, looking for function over form, I could care less about clear side panels, pretty blue lights, etc, rather spend the money on hardware........
-Processor: I'm thinking I'll go with ADM because it seems like with my budget I can get more processor for less money. I want to stick with around 3ghz, but 2, 3, or 4 core I don't know? What specs am I going to be looking for etc...
-motherboard: ??? I guess what ever will work with the processor. I would like 4 ram slots, that way I can get 2 sticks now and add 2 more sticks later. Might as well go with DDR3 ram Any suggestions on brands to stick with our stay away from???
-ram: I figure two 2 gig sticks of ddr3 for now and add to more later, but what speed of ram should I be looking for, think 4gb is enough for now??
-graphics card: ??? do you think I need one??? Will the onboard graphics of the motherboard be enough, or should I get a graphics card? If so what specs should I be looking for???
-hdd: figured I'd get a 500gig sata drive, maybe 1Tb if I find a good deal. I already have a 1tb external drive for backup.
-OS: I figure I'll go with windows 7 professional 64bit, so there goes like $150 of my budget.
-power supplier: I figure I'll have to wait to see what I'm putting in the case to size it, but I'll get a quality PS.
-cooling fans, do I need more than just the cooling fan in the back of the case???
Thanks for all the help guys I really appreciate it!!!
I'll keep you guys updated on the build.
Have a good day!
Zach
This will be my first build, but I have installed new hardware, etc and have been messing around with computers for 13 or 14 years. Basically I just need help figure out what I want.
Budget is around $500-$600, maybe a tad more if I have too.
I'm also alright with shopping online to save money.
I'm planning on re-using the monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, cdrw drive and dvd drive. Later on I'll probably upgrade to a 24" LCD monitor and get a sata dvd-rw drive, but that stuff can wait until I have more money or find a good sale, and besides I rarely use my cd or dvd drive anyways........
I'm planning on using this computer mostly for web surfing, listening to music, etc so that doesn't take much, but I do some things that will push the computer a little more:
-I do 3d modeling with Rhino 3d, Its an older version (v3.0 from 2003) but when I'm rendering complicated models with my current computer (3ghz pentium 4 with 3gb of ddr2 ram) it can get a bit slow, although it improved greatly when I went from 1gb or ram to 3
-May also use some other cad or modeling programs now and then
-I'm a webmaster for a few sites so I do a lot of photo editing and some video editing.
-I seem to multi task a lot, maybe some photo editing, have a couple browser tabs opened for doing website related stuff, a couple more tabs open for email, and a forum or two, and have pandora running for some background noise, etc.
-I WILL NOT be gaming on this computer, I just don't have time for playing games.
Like I said my current computer is a 3ghz pentium 4 with 3 gig of ram, here is what I'm thinking for the new build:
-case: just a cheaper, but good case, mid-atx is fine, looking for function over form, I could care less about clear side panels, pretty blue lights, etc, rather spend the money on hardware........
-Processor: I'm thinking I'll go with ADM because it seems like with my budget I can get more processor for less money. I want to stick with around 3ghz, but 2, 3, or 4 core I don't know? What specs am I going to be looking for etc...
-motherboard: ??? I guess what ever will work with the processor. I would like 4 ram slots, that way I can get 2 sticks now and add 2 more sticks later. Might as well go with DDR3 ram Any suggestions on brands to stick with our stay away from???
-ram: I figure two 2 gig sticks of ddr3 for now and add to more later, but what speed of ram should I be looking for, think 4gb is enough for now??
-graphics card: ??? do you think I need one??? Will the onboard graphics of the motherboard be enough, or should I get a graphics card? If so what specs should I be looking for???
-hdd: figured I'd get a 500gig sata drive, maybe 1Tb if I find a good deal. I already have a 1tb external drive for backup.
-OS: I figure I'll go with windows 7 professional 64bit, so there goes like $150 of my budget.
-power supplier: I figure I'll have to wait to see what I'm putting in the case to size it, but I'll get a quality PS.
-cooling fans, do I need more than just the cooling fan in the back of the case???
Thanks for all the help guys I really appreciate it!!!
I'll keep you guys updated on the build.
Have a good day!
Zach