Wanting to Build My Own..

[th3gh05t]

Hi,

This forum looked like a great place to get some of my questions answered. I am wanting to buy and build my own computer. I have had a laptop for the past five years, and it is time to upgrade.

I have been searching around the net and trying to find good deals and such.

Here is what I want:

Case: Chenming 602 Case with Full Window (Black)

Hard Drive: 160 Gig (maybe SATA)

CD/DVD Drive: 8x DVD/RW Drive

Video Card: at least 128 MB card

Sound Card: SoundBlaster 5.1

Memory: at least 512 MB

But I am a little confused when it comes to Motherboards and Processors.

Here are some questions that I have:

- What kind of Motherboard should I get to provide the proper performace for the other hardware that I listed?

- What processor should I get? AMD? Intel?

- Is a SATA hard drive really worth it? Or should I stick with IDE?

- Where is the best place to get help in my town? Fry's? Compusa? Smaller business?


I may have other questions as I near the puchasing of my computer.

Thanks for you help!

th3gh05t

 

[koldapu]

a) what are you planning to do with your computer?

b) doesn't matter how much RAM is in your video card, matters on the chipset, i.e. 128mb nVidia 6800 > 256mb 9600xt or something . . .

c) SATA is worth it because the cable is smaller, which allows better airflow

d) best place for retail is Fry's . . . but online sites are the way to go, i.e. www.newegg.com , www.tigerdirect.com , and www.zipzoomfly.com

 

[th3gh05t]

a) what are you planning to do with your computer?

b) doesn't matter how much RAM is in your video card, matters on the chipset, i.e. 128mb nVidia 6800 > 256mb 9600xt or something . . .

c) SATA is worth it because the cable is smaller, which allows better airflow

d) best place for retail is Fry's . . . but online sites are the way to go, i.e. www.newegg.com , www.tigerdirect.com , and www.zipzoomfly.com

Thanks for your time!

a) I would like for it to be an all-aorund system. If I wanted to play high performance games, (ahem, Halo), and I also work with Adobe Photoshop as well.

b) Ok. So would you recommend a 256 MB card?

c) Yes, I agree. SATA hard drive is probably the way to go.

d) Thanks for the links!

What about motherboards and processors?

 

[lazerman]

AMD Athlon 64's are best for gaming, and I know asus and abit are good mobo brands. It all depends on what your financial limit's are.

 

[th3gh05t]

My budget for the whole system would be around $1200-$1400 dollars.

 

[th3gh05t]

What kind of AMD motherboard should I get?

 

[xotix]

well u want to play games you should go with amd. however you mentioned photoshop which is alot better on an intel processor. so you're going to have good performance in one, and better in the other depending on if your playing games or photoshop.

which one is more important to you, gaming or photoshop??

definately get the sata hard drive.

lazerman's right, abit and asus are currently the better mobo makers.

 

[th3gh05t]

Probably more for gaming...

But when I do use Photoshop, it's not like I am an advanced PS user. Just cropping, and modifying images. Stuff like that.

What about this MB? Will it work with this Processor?

MB: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-178&depa=1

Processor: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-450&depa=1

 

[OIDanTheManIO]

ok, you should go with an amd and i think that any popular brand of mobos will be fine (ie asus abit via etc) if u do go with amd, u will need DDR memory. just stick with IDE, its simple and worth it.

 

[lazerman]

Yes those two are compatible and that is a very great motherboard. I wouldn't buy OEM unless you already have a heatsink and a fan. Get this instead- http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-452&depa=1 . Also, If you want some real high performance speed for gaming, get two of these- http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-200&depa=1 and do a raid 0 configuration. I'm not sure if "you" would be able to do that yourself or maybe one of your local places could.