Building a PC .. PC n00b need lots of help

[faerghail]

Alright, I'm totally n00b at this stuff. I've been stuck with a P2 for a few years and I seriously can't take it anymore. I've checked out a lot of ready to go computers, but they fault out somewhere .. so guys my budget for everything in the tower is $1500 Canadian

This is what I'm thinking ..
Asus A8N Delux Mobo - SLI $250 approx
AMD Anthlon 3500 $350 approx
Maxtor or some HD atleast 120 GB $150 approx
(512x2) 1 Gb DDR Ram $250 approx
Graphics cards $300 at most
Drives (DVD, CD, FLoppy) $150 approx
Case $100

Any comments, concerns?

Do these prices seem about right ? Or can I get some of this stuff cheaper ? Also are soundcards and USB ports included on the motherboard ? How much would a store normally charge to assemble this stuff ? These things sound good enough to make if not the best rig, a pretty damn good one. How Important is a case? Thanks ..

 

[gaara]

Are you willing to overclock? I wouldn't think so based on your experience.

Anyways, this'll be easy because I'm pretty familiar with canadian prices.

Don't bother with an SLI motherboard, especially if your GPU budget is only $300, that's a huge waste. Go with something like a MSI Neo2-FIR, that'll save you a decent hundred bucks.

I would seriously recommend putting more money into a video card, you're not going to get more than a 9800 Pro (if you're lucky) for that price, put out another hundred bucks or so and you'll probably be ok for a 6600GT.

Your proccesor and memory seem fine, just make sure you don't buy value ram or any weird no name crap, and get some arctic silver 5 to slap on your CPU to keep it nice and cool.

I also doubt yoru optical drives will cost you much more than a hundred bucks, you can get a decent DVD writer for 80 or 90 bucks, and you don't need any special floppy drive or anything.

Finally, get yourself a good power supply. I've actually started recommending OCZ PSU's to people now, they have some sick current on their rails, but are a bit more pricey than any of Antecs or Thermaltakes from what I've found, but well worth it.

Sound and USB will be included on your motherboard, you don't need to worry about that at all. I think you should be able to get someone to assemble it for you for no more than 50 bucks, although I'm not sure, I've never had anyone build a computer for me before.

As far as the case goes, it is pretty important. You want something with good airflow and a good amount of drive bays. Don't skimp out on it, after all, this is the part that houses and protects all of your expensive parts.

 

[faerghail]

What the hell is overclock ?

hmm ... here's the deal. The reason I'm buying the SCi is it has PCI graphics slots, the rest are AGP which will soon be outdated ? And isn't PCI faster or something? This would be a great investment towards the future yea ?

Graphics cards, all I need is something that works .. anyway, I was thinking of it this way .. If i get the SCI mobo, with dual graphics card things then I could just as well do something like two graphics cards which would make it perform just as good as one of the best one's in the market. (ex. 128 + 128 = 256 .. better than a GeForce 6600 128 or lesser) does it work that way? Or am I just compeletely wrong ?

The Processor being 3.5 is good enough isn't it ?

For the DVD rom will it be able to read Cd's as well ?

Powersupply and case is something I have to be looking and researching futher into .. This processor being so powerful would overheat often ? And would this be a huge drain on electricity also ? Don't want my parents flipping out on me if their hydro bill suddenly goes up a couple of hundred bucks .. Thank you.

 

[Echo_]

i say do a lotta research first because it seems like you know not a lot

first
pci slots are old really old
agp are somewhat old but theyre fine
pci ex are the new slots that no graphx uses all of its bandwidth so imo agp is fine

2nd i would not reccomend sli. waste of moeny since a 6800gt can play all the games at high settings. and 128 +128 does equal 256 but not in performance. just because a card has 256 mb odes not make it better than a 128mb card.

3rd the proc is 2.2 ghz but its equal to a intel 3.5 ghz proc

dvd roms can read cd.s

 

[faerghail]

Someone told me AGP is getting old, PCI is here to stay. Anyway, this mobo would be a good investment towards the future years wouldn't it ? I mean It has 2 graphics slots, so If games require more graphics then add more mem and stuff ? So is an SCI worth it in the long run ?

 

[Apokalipse]

PCI is old, but still very common to have. most expansion cards don't even use the full PCI bandwith, although graphics cards are a major exception being in AGP or PCI-E

video cards are only nearly approaching AGP 8x's full bandwith

 

[ReverseFluxx]

I believe what you're meaning to say is PCI Express is what you want for the future. Just regular PCI is old and horrible for video cards. AGP is good for now, and will probably suit you good for a few years.

Also, you can't just add two video cards together and get better performance. The only thing two cards will do will allow you to plug two monitors into your computer, with each monitor operating at the capability of the card it's plugged into. Video cards will operate separately, so if you are wanting to upgrade in the future, you're going to have to get a new card to replace your current one. Since you'll probably be doing this in a few years, I would suggest getting PCI Express right now, since most, if not all of the top cards will only be available in PCI Express within 2-3 years.

 

[Apokalipse]

...sort of
PCI (not PCI-E) is good for a lot of things, just not video cards

and also note
there is a difference between PCI, PCI-E and PCI-X

PCI-X is a 64-bit expansion slot used in servers, and also in the apple G5

PCI-E is a serial version of PCI (PCI and also PCI-X run with a paralell bus)
they are moving hard drives to a serial connection, which is faster and has a smaller connection physically (called SATA or Serial ATA) and now they're doing the same with PCI

I would get an Athlon 64 3200+ winchester instead of the 3500+ for just above $200

Asus A8N SLI $187

PCI-E Nvidia 6600 GT's $172 each or $344 for 2
you should get 2 so you can run them in SLI
SLI means the 2 video cards will work together to give about double the performance of a single one

Seagate 120GB SATA $85
Seagate are one of the best if not the best manufacturer of hard drives. they have really good quality low noise drives

G.Skill 2x512MB PC4400 DDRRAM
this is probabbly the best RAM out to date, it has huge overclocking potential also $237

LG 16x dual layer DVD±R/RW $60

LG 52x24x52x16 CDR/RW + DVD
faster than the DVD burner but doesn't burn to DVDs
also good to have if you need 2 CD drives

case: anything you like, but watch out for cheaper cases as they often have cheap PSU's, which can damage your system from fluctuations in the power flow. if the case has a good PSU, chances are it won't have enough power for your system anyway (it's usually 350W)
for your system you'd really need at least 450W

a Thermaltake 480W PSU is probabbly the least expensive of the good 480W PSU's at $60

now the case is really up to you

 

[Echo_]

his budget is like 1200 us...
dont go sli
waste of money
get 1 6600gt
and a 3200+ on a socket 939 mobo
btu really first do like 2 months of research because it would help if you know your stuff

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

SLI is a waste of money

Do some research

The best Canadian sites are ncix.com and tigerdirect.ca btw