I want a new computer. While it would be nice to actually buy all the parts separately and build it, I’m not sure that is a realistic goal for me at this time. Instead, I may end up going with something from monarchcomputer.com, since this site has been recommended many times in past computer threads.
Here is my computer background:
All of my past computer have been purchased prepackaged from places like Dell.
I have done some minor upgrade work, such as new RAM and optical drives.
I have, for the past year, scoured the internet reading “build your own” guides.
I have read all of the relevant threads that I could find on SDMB.
These last two lines, rather than making me feel smarter, have had the opposite effect. I am merely more aware of how much there is to know.
In this thread, LSL Guy suggested that I post what my goals are for this computer:
I’m not sure about my budget. I don’t make very much money, but I’m willing to pay a little more if it’s going to be noticeable in the end. I am not willing to pay lots of money for an ubermachine. I guess I’m looking for something in the $1k-$1.5k range.
I wish to play games on my computer. They do not need to be the super highest resolution/framerate, but I’d like them to look nice. I’m not really sure how nice “nice enough” is. Right now my computer can’t really run much of anything. I will probably do some small amount of photo/video editing. I will also watch DVDs (I don’t own a TV.) I would also like some room for ugrades so that I can squeeze in some extra time before having to replace the whole thing.
What I own:
A ViewSonic VA720 LCD. I’m gonna keep this for the new computer
A Samsung DVD player, CD RW drive. I may put this in the new computer, although I might want a DVD writer on it instead.
Nice speakers.
So that’s my situation. I’m not so sure where to go from here. Have any of you built or bought a computer recently? Maybe you could post the specs of it. I’ll see if I can patch together some theoretical system so that people can comment. This is something that I’d really like to learn more about, but I just don’t know where to start.
My reccomendation would be to go with a motherboard that uses the Nforce 4 chipset, an Athlon 64 3000+ CPU (Socket 939 model), a Geforce 6600GT (PCI-E version), 2x 512 mb sticks of Corsair Value Select PC3200 RAM (I use this in my machine, works wonderfully), and a 200GB Serial ATA hard drive from Maxtor, Western Digital, or Seagate. Also make sure to find a good power supply & case - 400+ Watt Antec, Sparkle, or Thermaltake PS should be fine. Throw in a copy of Windows XP Home edition, and the total cost should be $950 or so.
The above machine will be able to play any game out today at your LCD monitor’s native resolution at the highest detail settings, and should do nicely on even future games. It should also have plenty of horsepower to hand a bit of video editing. As for watching DVD’s, well, my sister’s 1.2ghz Duron machine handles them fine without any problems.
As for upgradablitily, this would be a PCI-Express system, which should last about as long as the PCI bus has lasted, and give you lots of options for video card upgrades in the future, as video cards switch over to PCI-E. Also, AMD has promised that its future dual-core Athlon 64 chips will be able to work prefectly well in current Socket 939 motherboards, so that gives you a good upgrade plan for a year - 2 years from now.
As for speakers, the Logitech x-530s sound quite nice (one of my friends have them), and I will be ordering a set pretty soon.
Monarch has three PCI-E motherboards for AMD 64s and an nForce chipset. These are:
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe nForce4 SLI Audio/GB-LAN/IEEE/USB/PCI-E/SATA/DDR/ATX 64 939 $188;
FoxConn CK804K8MA-KS nForce 4 Audio/GB-LAN/USB/PCI-E/SATA/DDR/U-ATX 64 939 $99;
Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI nForce 4 SLI Audio/GB-LAN/PCI-E/USB/IEEE/SATA/DDR/ATX 64 939 (ETA 01/26) $255
There are two things here that have a meaning that is unknown to me as of yet: SLI and IEEE. I think that SLI has something to do with putting in two video cards. I have no idea what IEEE is.
What is special about an nForce chipset?
Is a sound card good to get? I’ve heard somewhere that it helps keep things running smoothly. I often like to listen to music while I work.
IEEE is a shortened version of the FireWire standard…just means it has onboard FireWire (digital video cameras use it a lot to get the digital vid off the camera for instance)
Of the 3 MoBo’s, I’d probably get the Asus. I recently built an Athlon 64-based rig and the Asus seemed to have more positive than negative opinions, but these were NForce3 based MoBos.
SLI is indeed the option of using 2 identical PCI-E video cards in parallel to increase video card power, but you don’t have to use 2.
The SoundBlaster Audigy2 is a popular card, some guys have compatibility problems with SB cards, I’ve used SB cards in my last 2 rigs no problems. A stand alone sound card will take some of the load off the processor that the onboard sound would otherwise require. Not alot, but onboard sound does use up some resources.
Also, your sound card should have the proper outputs for the speaker setup that you get. Any sound card can handle 2 speakers, but if you’re going to go with 4.1, 5.1 or 6.1 sound, you’ll want to make sure your sound card can separate those channels.
Comes in real handy in Doom 3, when I need to know from which direction I’m about to get lambasted. Then I scream “AAAAAGH! They’re crawling out of the vents! They have two heads!!!” Quickly, I drop all my live grenades in front of myself, and empy the chain gun into ceiling. Then I press F9.
There are a lot of choices out there. RandomLetters recommended a 200 GB drive. Is there some point where a drive becomes “too big”? Is it better to get a smaller drive for running programs and a bigger one for storing all my junk? Or does this not matter?
I seem to recall that one OS (win98?) had a problem with drives over a certain size, and you had to partition your drive. It’s not a concern anymore with XP. Go with the biggest you can afford. 200 gigs should be ample room, and you can always add another. I just added a 160 to my 80, which is my main drive.
If you decide to get a DVD burner, be sure to get one that handles all the current formats AND will burn dual layer. The blanks are a bit pricey, but so were the single layer ones at first.
I have an LG GSA 4081B (which is a single layer burner) and it can read/write just about every format there is (except CD-i) including DVD-RAM.
-Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value sound card: $49 (note: your motherboard has built-in sound already, so you can ignore this one… it’s just that an expansion card offers better sound quality than onboard, and it’s not terribly expensive)
Actually, you made two other goofs, SPOOFE - you linked to the Socket 754 Athlon 64, but then reccomended a Socket 939 motherboard. What he would want would be a Socket 939 Athlon 64 3000+ for $151, and you have to get a separate heat-sink fan - another $20-$30. Also, that option to upgrade to a Geforce 6800 would cost $335, not $275 - the PCI-E versions of the 6800 cost more than their AGP counterparts; $335 is the cheapest I found on newegg.
Otherwise, your reccomendations are quite good - though I would go with a case that has a beefier power supply, likethe Enermax with a 400 Watt supply. $59, so no real price difference.
Also, I definataly agree with the 6600GT as the video card, though I would wait for the XFX Geforce 6600GT model to come back into stock. Its only a dollar more, and has dual DVI ports, which should come in handy if Ruken ever adds another LCD monitor. Monarch computer also has this specific card availble, if you decide to have them build you a machine.
Thank you all for the help! This has given me a lot to look at and think about. Sorry about the delay; I’ve been living in the lab these past few days (ain’t grad school great?)
For some reason I listed the price of the Asus motherboard incorrectly. It’s $229, not $188. I have to figure out if this SLI thing is worth the extra $40.
I’ve gotten mostly everything figured out except for the case and PSU. Is there anything in particular that I should be looking for? I’m probably going to get a case that comes with a PSU just so that it’s one less compatability thing to worry about. Thanks!
Actually, you get the best performance out of a bigger drive because the data is more (physically) dense on the drive, which lowers seek times and read times. But I doubt that this effect will be noticeable. It’s probably a small speedup and hard drives are just so damned slow.