First Time Building Tips

[Knetik]

Hello, I'm new to the boards.

I am interested in maybe investing on a performance system, but I first wanted to gather information first before I make any big decisions. I just wanted to get some general knowlege of some tips of suggestions that would help me either in the parts selection or the actual assembly. Any help would be appreciated.

I have general background knowledge on the MOBO, memory, GFUs, CPUs and what-not, its just the assembly and technical aspects of the initial boot-up is where I think I'll fall into trouble(I'm talking about setting the BIOS for the first time, installing all other componenets like hard-drive before OS installation).

I'd also like to know which parts to get, particularly in MOBOs, CPUs(Intel  or AMD?) as well as power supply, cables, cases and most of the secondary stuff. One question that I've beent rying to find is if there is any comparison to the AMD and Intel CPUs. In other words, is the 3.0 Intel CPU similar to the AMD 2800(just drawing our numbers)?

Here are my specs for my current computer(it was prebuilt), if it is even relevant to the question:
-Intel Pentium III Processor @ 800 MHZ
-Unknown MOBO...
-384 MB SDRAM (128x3)
-Integrated Sound
-ATI Radeon 9600 PRO (Hey... That's something out of the normal...)

As you can see, its fairly outdated, it was bought near the end of 2000, so I'm not surprised myself. I'm planning on removing the GFU from this computer and just using it on my newly constructed system since it does meet today's standards and would save plenty of $$$.

Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated.


Thank you!

-Knetik

[query]

How much do you want to spend, what do you want of the system, and how long do you plan to keep it?

[Knetik]

Forgot to mention those.

I want to build a performance system for the most part, that would last me a fairl bit of time. I'd say that my budget is $2000, tops, which is more than enough to get the computer that I'd want. This is discounting Moniotors, speakers, mice, keyboards and allll of the other acessories.

[the sheeep]

2000 TOPS! THATS ENOUGH FOR A SUPER COMPUTER IF YOUR DOING IT YOURSELF!!!

[Knetik]

2000 Canadian...

[iansl]

We're looking at $1500-$1600US? That still should be a good amount.

[Mark H]

Look at ASUS or MSI motherboards. Also, you have to decide if you want 64 bit or 32 bit processors. If 64 bit, then you have to go with AMD.

As for similarities in performance, the Athlon XP processors are named similar to the Intel processors as follows:

2.4 P4 = XP 2400
2.6 P4 = XP 2600
2.8 P4 = XP 2800
3.0 P4 = XP 3000
3.2 P4 = XP 3200

If you are looking for a game machine, the AMD processors will work as well as Intel and save you money. If you want video encoding, then Intel would be the better bet.

The Asus A7N8X Deluxe is a top AMD board and the Asus P4C800-E Deluxe is a top Intel board.

Mark H

[Tranquility_Base]

Check this website out. Has everything u'd ever need to know about system assembling, helps u choose products and has a full assembly guide.

http://www.mysuperpc.com/

[scuzzy]

tranquility:

Great site for very useful information. Thanks for poasting the link.

[Tranquility_Base]

Thanks man. It really helped me personally in assembling my own computer since i was a do it yourself noob. In fact i never even got into the computer case before i started assembly, a fact little known over here. ;)

BTW if u have problems getting to the assembly guide heres the link to it, becoz its sort of hidden and u cant get to it straight from the main page:
http://www.mysuperpc.com/computer_assembly/pc_parts_list.shtml

Scroll down to the bottom to navigate between the different stages of assembly.

[Carskick]

All the info here is very good so far. But like someone else said, depending on what you are going to do with your computer helps decide what parts to buy. Athlon processors are great for gamming, as are Pentium, but Athlons will give you a lot more for your money. For Encoding movies and music, Athlons work well, but Pentiums do it better With the amount you are willing to spend, it maybe worth it to get an AMD 64-bit machine to prevent it from being outdated any time soon. The AMD 64-bit processors outperform almost every 32 bit processor on the market in both gamming and encoding. If you are just word processing, internet surfing, or photo editing, any processor should be suffient. Heck, even a Celeron would suffice.

Now RAM. For Windows XP, 512MB is sufficent for medium-core gaming and encoding. 1024MB will give you more than enough for practicly any task, and shouldn't be too difficult on your buget. Choose the speed based on the Processor and plans for the future.

Asus motherboards are some of the best, along with Abit and MSI, but almost any name brand should give you what you are looking for.

Your current Video Card is suffient for now, so spend the money elsewhere, and you can always buy a better one later when it is more necissary.

For sound, integrated should be sufficient, especially if you get a board with the SandStorm sound. Otherwise, you could always get an SB Audigy 2 or something. Better sound cards not only give better sound, but they usually require fewer system resources to run, thus causing your computer to perform better.

Tell us what you want to do with your computer, whether you want AMD or Intel, 64 bit or 32, etc., and we can find you some great parts at great prices. Good luck!

[Tranquility_Base]

Actually, the onyl occasions where the Athlon64 is beaten by a 3.0 GHz or 3.2 GHz or 3.2 Emergency Edition P4s is in encoding benchmarks. The P4 architecture is still superior in tht respect.

[Rick G]

Ok I'm an MSI guy and for the money can't be beat, check my sig and see for yourself.  The problem I see with what you are doing is (bad news coming) your existing vid card is probably a 2x wheras the new high performance boards are all a 8x/  You may be able to use a 2x but the difference in video quality will be quite vast.  Look carefully at my system specs and think that this computer was built for $670 USD. Msi mobos give you a complete walkthrough on installation and bios settings. MSI also has an MSI only forum with super gurus to answer any type of question as long as you have an MSI board.  Think of it as professional tech support on line, way better than ****way or D**l.
The other matter to consider, maybe, is that AMD cpu's run hotter than P4's so when o/cing much better hsf will be necessary.

[Tranquility_Base]

Actually it depends. Ive seen AMDs with stock hsf tht had temps of 50 degrees C and up without o/clocking. Though the Athlon 64 HSF is awesome, and the 3200+ hsf is also good.

[Roopert]

Running a AMD 64 3400+ retail with heatv sink. With 3 80mm fans (2 blowing onw exhaust) I keep around 40c with low load and 50c with heavy load over time.

I would, from what I read, go with a 64 3200+ for the best price/perfomance. I would be glad to give you an honest bench mark of my system if you need it to make a choice.

[Rick G]

If you want to see exactly whats in a very good performance machine there are 3 makers that specialize in the top end of computers, I would be proud to have any of the 3 but I can build the exact same machine for close to half the cost and have the satisfation of learning and doing it my self
The 2 makers are; Alienware, VooDoo and Falcon Northwest.  Check out their sites for the best combo, Intes or AMD.  The best part about these 3 are that they list the parts and makes and model number of the components for evrything in the computer.

The Intel P4 will run cooler than an AMD of similar speed so heat is always an issue.  An AMD usually runs at about 40C at idle and a P4 should run at about 32C at idle and the temps go up equally under load.

I always recommend MSI mobo's and use them myself exclusivly.  They have en excellent instillation manual including the initial bios settings and an explination of what each setting does.  They also have a complete tech support forum for MSI owners only.

You can save quite a bit of money on the processor by getting a slower cpu and moderatly overclocking it to desired speed, see my sig.  I spent $165 for a P4 2.2 as opposed to $300+ for a 3.0 and I still run at 32C and 46C under heavy load.

One thing to remember is that you will not be able to use your existing hard drive without a complete format before installing you new O/S and I suggest Win 2000 or Win XP home version unles its for business in which case you waould want Win XP Pro.

[Rick G]

AND my o/ced system temps are 32C at idle and 38 to 42C at high load.