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I'm planning to build my first PC. The only things i'm having trouble with is what relies on the motherboard. e.g. the motherboard has to be compatible with processor, but what else? memory?
Also, is there a place to buy components cheap or is it just the usual places like ebuyer etc.?
Hmm, you certainly have a way to go if you intend on building your own PC and don't know what components are required and/or compatible.
The basic components: motherboard, processor, memory, hardrive, graphics card, sound card, power supply, optical drive, case and/or peripherals.
You have 2 choices as to what brand of processor, AMD or Intel. You must buy a motherboard that is compatible with the brand of processor you want to use.
You must buy memory that matches what your motherboard requires.
A lot of motherboards come with onboard sound meaning a seperate audio card isn't necessary. This is acceptable by most since onboard sound has gotten substantially better in the past few years.
Graphics card choice is totally up to you and there are many. (if you're not a gamer do not worry about the expensive ones)
There is so much more to learn. If you are in the US then buy the April issue of MaximumPC as it has some articles that deal with questions you may have. Try other PC mags as well.
Others may post but there are many questions you must answer before we can truly advise you...
Gaming or not?, Video editing or not? How "cutting edge" do you want to be and how much money do you have to spend?
You can go cheap and build something for a few hundered dollars or spend a couple thousand dollars.
Good luck with it.
regards,
Browser,
Let me introduce you to DarkClown.
Dont forget the harddrive too lol. I would go with a Seagate Harddrive to fit your budget. Whats darkclown?
Check at Newegg. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdawgfoxx
http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/showp...8&postcount=37
Thanks, but I'm in the UK.
Budget of around £600 give or take £100.
I am getting a AMD Athlon 3000+ processor. I was just wondering what the best motherboard would be?
then you want a socket A moboQuote:
Originally Posted by browser
browse around at newegg, even if you cant order from em, to get some ideas
tip: look at these brands: asus, abit, gigabyte, msi
try to stay away from foxconn, ecs, dfi, etc. (just MHO)
blah, the DarkClown 2.0 was thrice DOA, i am currently awaiting a full refundQuote:
Originally Posted by Virtualbody1234
:P
Good luck with that.Quote:
Originally Posted by FKDUP74
About the motherboard.
Why Athlon XP and not Athlon 64?
And if XP then are you looking for a budget board or a fully equiped one?
I had the impression that the Athlon 64 was better, especially with the release of the 64bit windows.
Anyway, my preliminary order woul be this;
I suggest you look at the Winchester 939pin Athlon64 3000+ and the MSI K8T Neo2-FIR: http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...2-FIR&class=mb
http://www.msi.com.tw/images/product..._img/6702E.jpg
And get 2x256 memory modules so that you can run the RAM in dual channel mode.
You can also leave out the DVD rom drive. The burner will do the same thing.
Ur gonna see some serious ghosting with that 30ms monitor. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by browser
@ Gam3Guy- how bad would the ghosting be and will it only be on fast gaming or also on action movies.
@ Virtualbody1234-what are the advantages of 939-pin processors or your motherboard? I thought that 754 was better
Also, in terms of compatibility, would the computer I posted before work?
Socket 939: 128bit memory pipeline, Hypertransport speed 5xFSB (=1GHz)Quote:
Originally Posted by browser
Socket 754: 64bit memory pipeline, Hypertransport speed 4xFSB (=800 MHz)
Winchester chip runs a lot cooler.
Alternative mobo is Abit A8V, slightly cheaper than the MSI board with almost exactly the same features (only 5.1 sound, but that matches your proposed speakers), has SPDIF out & in.
The spec you gave is fully compatible, but you should consider a higher quality PSU (with possibly a lower rating). Remember that EVERYTHING in the computer depends on the PSU, for £14.46 that one can't possibly be high quality.
Have you considered PCI-Express mobos?
An X300SE graphics card will give you about the same performance as the 9600 Pro for a lot lower price. Against that you will pay more for the mobo so it balances out in terms of cost, but you give yourself more options for future upgrades.
Can I use the X300 on the motherboard i have now, because the graphics card says PCI-Express, do I need a special mobo?
As you say the X300 is PCI-Express so you would need a PCI-Express mobo, it won't fit your current mobo.
But PCI-Express is replacing AGP for graphics cards, just like AGP replaced PCI a few years ago. Most new graphics cards are now PCI-Express, with a few of the higher spec Nvidia cards also available in AGP.
Thanks. But my current graphics card works on my board, right?
edit: about the PSU, ebuyers highest rating is 600w, and I have the 500w. Should I look elsewhere? I'm getting all my stuff from ebuyer (to save on shipping costs), so if normal use isn't too strenuous on this PSU, it would be ok. This PC is for a friend (i know, i know.....i shouldn't build one if I don't know that much.....but you have to learn at some point). He doesn't know much about computers and doen't use it for much more than internet surfing, occasional downloads, listening to music, and playing a few games (not many...prefers his PS2).
I appreciates everyones help in this thread
DONT, whatever you do, get that PSU........ thats a death trap.......
the psu is the heart of your computer....... and if your comp gets a heart attack (which you can bet on with a 15 pound psu rated at 500 watt), it can take out other components with it.......
get a antec or enermax psu (or at least something that costs you 35+ pounds
also, check out this thread....... itll give you lots of tips on building comps......
http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/showthread.php?t=83312
What about this;
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=43172
Is it compatible with the motherboard/whatever it needs to be compatible with?
That should be ok, but even better is this one.
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=86751
Same price, higher rating, and it has Sata power connectors too. I don't think you need those for Maxtor drives, but why not have more for the same price?
If you want to invest in the latest and are planning on getting an AMD, then socket 939 is the way to go.
This is not a performance issue either. It has to do with future upgrades. The socket 939 is probably going to be the type AMD will use when they release dual core processors. (AMD hasn't commited to it quite yet but industry insiders expect them to anounce this soon)
Any other style of CPU will deny you future upgrades once dual-core technologies become the norm. And dual-core, while slower clock speeds, will surpass the performance of any single-core CPUs currently available.(think of them as 2 CPUs in 1)
As far as PCI Express is concerned, it is the future but right now there are no video games that even take full advantage of its' throughput speed. I mean, there are other bottlenecks in a system that negate any performance gains to be had.
Also, a PCI-Express video card requires a seperate power connector as it doesn't get it's power from the mobo but directly from the power supply. This means buying a power supply with this capability($$).
For 99% of users out there, a mobo with an 8X AGP slot will be fine for many years to come.
As I stated earlier, the April issue of MaximumPC magazines addresses these very issues and most certainly is worth reading.
edit:
SATA, Serial ATA(as opposed to parallel ATA) is a different protocol of data transfer. The hard-drive you choose must be of the serial type and the mobo must be compatible with it. The power connector used is uniquely different then current parallel ATA hard-drives as well. But, SATA drives are not very common yet and quite expensive relative to size. The only true performance benefit is a boot time in mere seconds and maybe faster video processing when editing. This is not to mention their much smaller capacity(the largest 10,000 rpm SATA drive is only 74Gb).Quote:
and it has Sata power connectors
regards,
Up to this point is ok, but quite frankly, the rest of this is total bollocks.Quote:
Originally Posted by harrycary
The interface is simpler which reduces costs. Worth getting on that basis alone.Quote:
As far as PCI Express is concerned, it is the future but right now there are no video games that even take full advantage of its' throughput speed. I mean, there are other bottlenecks in a system that negate any performance gains to be had.
The PCI-Express graphics slot is just as capable of providing power to the card as AGP. Only the top end cards need extra power connectors, and that's just as much true for AGP as it is for PCI-Express.Quote:
Also, a PCI-Express video card requires a seperate power connector as it doesn't get it's power from the mobo but directly from the power supply. This means buying a power supply with this capability($$).
Nearly ALL the new graphics cards worth buying are PCI-Express. Sure, the old models are still available and will be for some time, but in your first paragraph you were talking about getting socket 939 for future-proofing. The same applies to graphics cards. If you want to be able to go for the latest cards then PCI-Express is the way to go, even if you don't care about cost.Quote:
For 99% of users out there, a mobo with an 8X AGP slot will be fine for many years to come.
As I stated earlier, the April issue of MaximumPC magazines addresses these very issues and most certainly is worth reading.
Maxtor and Western Digital SATA drives will accept power from conventional connectors or the new SATA power connectors. Seagate only allow SATA power connectors. Others (including early Maxtor and WD SATA drives) only have conventional connectors. A power supply which has both has great benefits.Quote:
SATA, Serial ATA(as opposed to parallel ATA) is a different protocol of data transfer. The hard-drive you choose must be of the serial type and the mobo must be compatible with it. The power connector used is uniquely different then current parallel ATA hard-drives as well.
SATA drives are now VERY common, and are available in exactly the same capacities as conventional Parallel ATA drives. There are a few expensive 10000 rpm drives (such as WDC Raptor) which have comparatively limited capacity, but that isn't the norm.Quote:
But, SATA drives are not very common yet and quite expensive relative to size. The only true performance benefit is a boot time in mere seconds and maybe faster video processing when editing. This is not to mention their much smaller capacity(the largest 10,000 rpm SATA drive is only 74Gb).
Please try to avoid posting things which are factually incorrect, it just causes confusion. :angry:
I dont see anything about darkclown on newegg....wth lol But yeah, I wouldnt go with anything but a 64bit system now.
that was a joke. darkclown was the guy who's always posting about motherboard problems and clocker or someone said the darkclown was the problem, not the motherboard or whatever it was he had problems with.Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdawgfoxx
If anything, pci-express is capable of supplying more power through the slot than agp. (@harycary)
Looking at for instance the 6600gt, it's fairly common that the pci-e cards don't have a molex when the agp version does.
My 6600gt (AGP) doesn't have a molex. :whistlingQuote:
Originally Posted by SnnY
Astounding.
PCI-X isnt stable yet. It wont be for a couple years I think. :whistlingQuote:
Originally Posted by lynx
Please don't mention this to the owners of the four PCI-SLI systems we built last month.Quote:
Originally Posted by numba1xclusive
It would only confuse them.
:shit:Quote:
Originally Posted by numba1xclusive
I seem to be coming up a lot in these topics thanks guys for metioning me
Quote:
Originally Posted by numba1xclusive
I mock your lack of knowledge.
/mock
Key: stable=widely usedQuote:
Originally Posted by numba1xclusive
:whistling
Naturally...my bad.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gam3Guy
For some reason I always default to the English definition of English words.
Ethnocentricity at it's most obnoxious.
Key: stable=where you put the horses.
:whistling: