Building a computer (newb)

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lessthanthree

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So the last few weeks I've been doing some research trying to learn as much as I can so I can build a new PC. I understand what parts are needed and its not all completely new to me but most of it is. So after throwing together a few different rigs on newegg hoping the parts would work together, I decided I'd get some help. I made the mistake about 2 years back and got myself a dell instead of trying to build my own. I'm currently rockin these specs...

Windows XP Media Center Edition
SP3
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE (512 MB)
2g RAM unknown brand
160g HD Seagate
PHILIPS DVD-ROM DROM6316
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S203B
Stock power supply probably like 420w?
Unknown pretty much everything else. Dell brand? I dont know.
The only reason I know my optical drives is because I've already had to buy 2 new ones because the stock ones broke within a few months.

Okay so a few people have told me to try and strip a few parts or even try and upgrade the computer I have now but I have no clue what kind of upgrades dells can take and I might just want to sell it instead.
Alright so I'm looking to spend no more than $800. I only really ever play World of Warcraft and I heard the max settings aren't that tough to keep up with. So I'm looking for a quite computer that can easily play WoW at max settings, 50fps+. My monitor resolution is 1920 x 1080. I'm sure I probably left out a ton of vital information, just let me know! Thanks!
 
Are you going to use the MCE features? Because if you are then maybe you'll want to not spend so much on the Graphics card (since you said you only really play WOW) and consider getting a couple of bigger HDDs at 7200 and set them up to be redundant. If you use a lot of media then I would definitely would suggest you invest more in some HDDs. And if you want to use the MCE software stuff, then maybe a stronger proc would be in the workings? But if you want a rig to just play WOW and general net/processing use, you could definitely get away with spending about half of what you planned on spending.
 
You won't need an SLI or Crossfire motherboard. Save, and get one with only a single video card slot.

That graphics card is high, you could easily spend only ~$100 for playing WoW.

The power supply seems high too. A 500watt PSU should do you fine.
 
You won't need an SLI or Crossfire motherboard. Save, and get one with only a single video card slot.

That graphics card is high, you could easily spend only ~$100 for playing WoW.

The power supply seems high too. A 500watt PSU should do you fine.

I would suggest no less than an HD4850 as far as your GPU. While WoW isn't that demanding, at that resolution, with a lot of on screen activity, and all the settings maxed out, you would need higher than a standard 9600GT/9800GT level card.
 
Well, i always tend to follow the school of thought that if you are gonna overspend on something, it might as well be the motherboard. I mean you might not want to just play WOW from now on. I would spend most on mobo then proc vid card then RAM then based on how much media you have, you can choose the HDD from there on out. And if you have a nice expandable mobo, then its not too expensive to upgrade a few parts here and there later down the line.
 
Are you going to use the MCE features? Because if you are then maybe you'll want to not spend so much on the Graphics card (since you said you only really play WOW) and consider getting a couple of bigger HDDs at 7200 and set them up to be redundant. If you use a lot of media then I would definitely would suggest you invest more in some HDDs. And if you want to use the MCE software stuff, then maybe a stronger proc would be in the workings? But if you want a rig to just play WOW and general net/processing use, you could definitely get away with spending about half of what you planned on spending.


I don't use MCE software ever but I do work with a lot of music and pictures. I filled my HD in about a year. I currently have like 2g of free space :( Yeah so I would definitely need a bigger HD. Oh and that Video card seems kind of extreme for what I'm looking for, I could get by with something lower right?
 
Yeah in the Vid card dept, you could probably just go with something like this and spend the leftover money on a couple 500 HDDs. It isn't quite as fast but this should get you by with games a lot more taxing than WOW though. And since you don't use any of the MCE software crap we wont have to worry about like a cable card or sound card or anything like that :)

$170 before rebate.
Newegg.com - BFG Tech BFGE98512GTXPBE GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

You could either go with that HDD above for Windows and applications and then another 500GB as a slave for media etc, or you could go for 2 500s and make them redundant in case of catastrophe. I'd go with this for the storage drive.

$65
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500410AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
 
As for an OS, could i still use the CD that came with my DELL? Its not a Microsoft labeled CD. The front says Operating System then Microsoft Windows Media Center v 2005 in small print then has a big DELL logo at the bottom.
 
Oh ok, so you have an OEM version of Windows, which is really annoying because for the most part Dell makes it so that if you change out your motherboard, the OEM key won't work. So chances are you are going to have to buy a new OS. Somewhat fortunately enough, System Builder CD's aren't THAT expensive in the big scheme of things, but it's an annoying thing that isn't necessary but OEM companies force on people anyways...

If you still wanna keep MCE then check this out:
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005 SP2B for System Builders - Operating Systems

But you can also use this opportunity to upgrade to Vista if you want, or to even go XP,

XP 32-bit:Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP3 for System Builders - Operating Systems
XP 64-bit:Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2C 64-bit for System Builders - Operating Systems
(not so sure about this 64-bit XP Pro... but if Newegg is selling it...)

Vista HP 32-bit:Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 32-bit for System Builders - Operating Systems
Vista HP 64-bit:Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - Operating Systems


Your choice from this point on.
 
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