8th Grader's First Build

D

d0m

n00b
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
Messages
21
I have my own job washing dishes and busing tables and in the summer I mow a lot of grass. I have been saving up for a computer for a very long time and I'm even paying for 100% of this. I'm not having "mommy and daddy" buy everything for me, my parents believe in earning your own possessions. I got bored with my xbox and my psp, so I sold them on ebay to get the money for my computer. After I build this, I'm going to start saving up for a car.

Anyways down to bussiness and enough of my boring life story. Heres all the specs of my dream pc. I'm not really looking to overclock anything. I plan to use this for gaming, homework, and even maybe watch a couple movies on the side. Suggestions and ideas are greatly appreciated!

Case - ASUS Vento 3600 Black
- I'm not going to change my mind on this case. I saw it in person, inside and out, and was hooked. I know its has limited hard drive(s) spaces and all the other cons. Also, do you think I will need to buy any additional fans with this to prevent overheating?
Processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.2GHz
Motherboard - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
OS - Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005
Power Supply - Ultra X2 X-Connect
RAM - OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC 3200 Dual Channel Platinum System Memory
HD - Western Digital WD3200KS 320GB SATA 3.0Gb/s
Video Card - 7900GT
Sound Card - Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi
- I really love my music, and I want to best set-up possible for my price range. If I'm going to get good speakers, I might as well get a good soundcard. I know I could cut costs by exculding this, but I think I'm going to stick with it.
CD/DVD Burner - NEC DVD Burner ND-3550A
Speakers - Logitech Z-2300
- I don't want the big 5.1 speaker system. I just want something small and powerful. Like the Z-2300.
Mouse - Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
Keyboard - Standard Microsoft Black Media Keyboard
Monitor - Dell 2007FPW
- Hoping one day to get a 2407FPW with some extra cash and graduation money in the future. Maybe in the future I'll buy a 2407FPW.
Mouse Pad - sUrface1030 Archetype
Headset - Logitech Extreme PC Gaming Headset
+ Anti-Static Band
Revisions are in red.

Thank you SO MUCH for all the support, I never thought I would get this much help. Its very appreciated!

I'll have pictures posted up on here, when I start the building process.
 
I hate to say it, please understand im not trying to be mean here, but i dont think you're allowed on these forums. Theres that COPA act (child online protection act) that puts an age limit on when you can be in forums. This is a US only thing i think, but unless your over the age of 13 or not in the US you're violating hardforums TOS
 
jbrukardt said:
I hate to say it, please understand im not trying to be mean here, but i dont think you're allowed on these forums. Theres that COPA act (child online protection act) that puts an age limit on when you can be in forums. This is a US only thing i think, but unless your over the age of 13 or not in the US you're violating hardforums TOS
Click to expand...

Wow :rolleyes:
btw hes in 8th grade, hes at least 13.
 
However, screw the rules. I built my first box long before i qualified for any forum registration limitation stuff and i woulda really appreciated the help then. You have a good eye for hardware, the only thing i would change would be to stay away from Ultra power supplies, and perhaps consider a 300gb maxline III for a hd (better performance for the same price or so). Other than that, excellent choices
 
awesome, I was in 9th grade when I built my first, parents only got me the video card for christmas :)

looks pretty good, although I would rather use a different power supply (OCZ, Antec, Enermax, PC P&C, etc..). To me, it's worth it to invest in a high quality power supply, than to take chances with a cheaper one that might kill hardware in the future..

The 7800GT is great value for a very good card, and when the 7900 comes out you can probably make your own decision if it would be worth it to go with that instead.

Mouse - I would go with an MX5xx or a MX1000 over the G5 and G7. The extra buttons on those mice are worth it, I don't even think there would be any noticable performance difference between the mice. I own a MX1000 and it is definately more ergonomic than the G5 style after having used an MX700 for 3 years, but that design is not bad at all.


btw, I hate that case design. It's the one thing by asus I really couldn't stand using :p
 
oh, and please don't post on toms hardware forums ever again ;)

seriously, that place has got some fucked up posters...
 
'm 14. Chill the hell out, and get the sand out of your vagina.
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:rolleyes: That made my night :).

Screw the TOS, that's just a website's way of shifting the blame if any 12 year old kid goes and slits his/her wrists because someone was mean to them online :p.

Some modifications that I'd suggest, is swapping out that X2 4400 for a 3800 (and OC it up to 2.2 - 2.3) or an Opteron 165. You'll save a bit of cash here that you can dump into better RAM if you'd like.

Also, do you really need that soundcard? You might be better off just using onboard audio and adding in the card later if you're unsatisfied. I love onboard audio as it's cheap, and really, unless you're using some very high quality sound hardware, I can guarentee you'll never notice. Actually, you're probably better off skipping the soundcard and putting the money into a good set of 5.1 speakers/gaming headphones.

That new Ultra Xconnect PSU is actually pretty nice. The main gripe most people had with the older version was the bulky mobo cable (easy to fix, just cut off that 1/4 inch wall of plastic and dye the cables black or something). That's been fixed.

Good choices man, you're well ahead of the age curve, most of the 14year olds I know dont know a computer from a hole in the ground. My first was at 15, but I upgraded an old Mac G4 tower to a dual CPU model at 13 :).

**EDIT** I just read your point about buying some extra fans. Whenever I build a PC for a friend/family/customer, I always buy an extra 120mm and 80mm fan (another 92mm to go with cases that use those fans) just incase. They're usually very cheap, places like directron.com sell them for 2-3$ apiece. Nothing nice, but good to have incase one craps out on you.
 
lol... funny.

Even if he wasn't 14, he could've said his mother/father was supervising him through. :p

But I am impressed - he knows more than the average kid. Keep it up. Converse with us more and we'd have you talking like some pompous IT pro. :p

-J.
 
I was in 8th grade when I built my first PC too. Gotta love confirmation money. Im still using it to this day, like right now im typing this post up. It runs hot as hell, but still works flawlessly. I love it. Check out the specs on this time relic

AMD 1800+
Windows XP home
512mb memory
40 gig hdd
16x dvd rom
floppy drive

The only upgrades I have are my altec lansing speakers, creative soundcard, & 80gig external hdd.

Good luck with the build.
 
d0m said:
Video Card - eVGA Geforce 7800GT 256MB
- By the time I buy all the parts for my pc, the 7900 GT and GTX will already be out. So I'm hoping that the price of a 7800 GTX drops, or the price of a 7900 GT will be in my range. What is your thoughts?
Click to expand...

If it helps your decision, I heard that the 7800GTX will be more expensive than the 7900GT: http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20060223090220.html


On another note, I put together my first computer at around 11, of course my dad helped me A LOT, and I didn't really know what each part did, but I was able to pretty much do it completly on my own by 13. I'm 16 now.

Good luck and great specs :)
 
Hey bro, I'm in 8th grade too, and I just built my first system about 2 months ago. Seems like you have a better budget than me (which I envy you for) and everything you picked is very nice. I have 2 comments.

1. Screw Ultra, my friend has had this PSU, bad choice, took out his video card.
2. Don't get the fUnc mousepad. I have a G5 and I bought that mousepad, and the sensor didn't pick it up. Cloth mousepad works wayy better than the fUnc. Just a lil' heads up before you drop 15 on a pad.

GLHF
 
A2TheRizzo said:
Hey bro, I'm in 8th grade too, and I just built my first system about 2 months ago. Seems like you have a better budget than me (which I envy you for) and everything you picked is very nice. I have 2 comments.

1. Screw Ultra, my friend has had this PSU, bad choice, took out his video card.
2. Don't get the fUnc mousepad. I have a G5 and I bought that mousepad, and the sensor didn't pick it up. Cloth mousepad works wayy better than the fUnc. Just a lil' heads up before you drop 15 on a pad.

GLHF
Click to expand...

This has to do with the G5, Logitech fixed the problem with a firmware update http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/d...17,OSID=1,softwareid=11305,showinstructions=1, so make sure your firmware is recent

I had the 1030, great pad for the price
 
I would save the money on the sound card. Onboard sound is pretty good now. Most of us are not wasting the money on sound cards.

I hate that case but to each his own. I would get an antec sonata.
ribs
 
TheTMan said:
I think that is more the reason that younger kids shouldn't be allowed on here :rolleyes:

He brought up a *legal* concern, and a legitimate concern and you acted like,... well,... an 8th grader.

Your build looks pretty good aside from that god awful case, but your attitude could use a tweak if you wanna play with the big boys.

edit: And why MCE?
Click to expand...

Please don't judge me, I've only had 2 post so far on this forum (this is my 3rd). You know nothing about me. You have no right talk about me, but I'm going to be a hypocrite and judge you right now anyways.

Who hell do you think you are? Big Boys :eek: You act like your elite at this and better than everyone else because you have age on your side.

I chose MCE because in the future I would like to have add an HDTV tuner.
 
Well, with age comes experience (sometimes). ;)

But his main point is that we prefer conversing with people on our maturity/understanding level which is much better than conversing with people with poor attitude/immaturity. Not saying you are - but it's easy to make a dog turn into a bitch... ;)

I love the func (it will last you over a year!) but the size is just too small. If you're pro-gaming (competing), you might as well get a large mousepad (func f.30) which is what I have. My suggestion is to get your teflon pads ready... it'll need it. :)

-J.
 
d0m said:
Please don't judge me, I've only had 2 post so far on this forum (this is my 3rd). You know nothing about me. You have no right talk about me, but I'm going to be a hypocrite and judge you right now anyways.

Who hell do you think you are? Big Boys :eek: You act like your elite at this and better than everyone else because you have age on your side.

I chose MCE because in the future I would like to have add an HDTV tuner.
Click to expand...

Calm down dude. No one here is undermining you. Don't undermine yourself.

Solid build except you WILL encounter problems (although there are work-arounds) if you decide to game.

Built my first comp when I was in 4th grade.
 
Zidoas said:
Calm down dude. No one here is undermining you. Don't undermine yourself.

Solid build except you WILL encounter problems (although there are work-arounds) if you decide to game.

Built my first comp when I was in 4th grade.
Click to expand...

Yes, your right, I acted immature and pyscho. I apologize, I just got mad. I don't want to start off with these forums with a bad relationship.

Man, I think I'm bipolar or I have mental problems sometimes. :p
 
d0m said:
Yes, your right, I acted immature and pyscho. I apologize, I just got mad. I don't want to start off with these forums with a bad relationship.

Man, I think I'm bipolar or I have mental problems sometimes. :p
Click to expand...

Umm, you really don't have to be sorry about anything. I would act the same way if some old fart was acting elitist on me, thinking he was speaking on behalf of the entire forum.

As for the computer, it looks really good. I have to say yeah you picked an iffy time video card-wise. I would get a 7900gt if I were you. I'm gonna eVGA step up mine to a 7900gtx. I'll be like 7 days within the deadline *phew*.
 
d0m said:
Yes, your right, I acted immature and pyscho. I apologize, I just got mad. I don't want to start off with these forums with a bad relationship.

Man, I think I'm bipolar or I have mental problems sometimes. :p
Click to expand...
One thing I've realized on the 'Net is that some of the biggest babies are the old-timers and some of the most mature people are a lot younger than you'd think. My brother's been a member on the [H] since he's about 14, and I don't think anybody ever questioned his age, since he carries himself well. And I'm 26 and I get too much of a laugh out of fart jokes. LOL

Anyhow... You seem to know your stuff, but I do have a couple suggestions. Here's your list, and my suggested changes are in red.

Case - ASUS Vento 3600 Black
- I'm not going to change my mind on this case. I saw it in person, inside and out, and was hooked. I know its has limited hard drive(s) spaces and all the other cons. Also, do you think I will need to buy any additional fans with this to prevent overheating?
Processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.2GHz
Motherboard - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
OS - Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005
Power Supply - Antec TruePower II 550
RAM - G.Skill 2x1GB PC4000
HD - Western Digital 250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Video Card - eVGA Geforce 7800GT 256MB
- By the time I buy all the parts for my pc, the 7900 GT and GTX will already be out. So I'm hoping that the price of a 7800 GTX drops, or the price of a 7900 GT will be in my range. What is your thoughts?
Sound Card - Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi
CD/DVD Burner - BenQ DW1655
Speakers - Logitech Z-2300
Mouse - Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
Keyboard - Standard Microsoft Black Media Keyboard
Monitor - 19" Black Samsung 940B LCD (it's a faster, brighter version of the 930B you listed)
- Hoping one day to get a 24" 2405FPW Dell Widescreen LCD with some extra cash and graduation money in the future. But I'm still keeping the 19" Samsung so I will be able to have a dual monitor system.
Mouse Pad - sUrface1030 Archetype
Headset - Logitech Extreme PC Gaming Headset
+ Anti-Static Band
 
I really like the G.Skill. Bought it for my clients which they were very happy with (even overclocked them too).

-J.
 
If you still haven't broken your budget or you are willing to cheap out on a few parts (ie. leaving out the X-fi) then I suggest getting 2 Hard Drives instead of 1.

You might not see or feel the difference but hey, it's kinda cool to play around with.
 
for the most part it looks like a good build man, i'll have to agree with those that say ditch the sound card... and are you sure there's no way you can be persuaded away from that case ;)

when I was 14, I had saved up and bought my first computer... a gateway... (AMD 450mhz, 64mb RAM with a Voodoo 2 for $1600)... and it didnt take very long after that I sold that piece of crap and built my own. ;)

:D
 
i was also in 8th grade when i built my first system.

i would suggest going with the DFI Ultra board instead of ASUS, more options, plus i have a personal vendeta against ASUS. Long story short they could care less about their customers.

rather than get an x2 get a dual core opteron. Better chip, and if you want to explore overclocking it will hold up better.

rather than get a 250 gb raptor, which is expensive as hell just get the 74 gb one, and snag a nice storage drive. There's no reason to store music, porn, and homework on 250 gb of raptor.

go for the dell 2001fpw if you can. i believe you can land one for about 400$ shipped, search for the 35$ off coupon on 300$ on dell. If you cant find it their, try www.costco.com if you buy it from costco you can return it for full value for 3 years when you want to upgrade to the 24"

RAM , ocz is a great choice but upgrade to atleast the gold series ddr 500 ram, you will enjoy the low voltage stability of this ram. I took mine past 280 on the multiplier, @ 2.6 v you can find some great deals in the Hot deals section of these forums.

OS just grab an OEM XP Professional for Students copy off a site. Google or pricewatch.com will work.

Forget the sound card, todays onboard modules are great for what you will be doing. You will save some money anyways.

enjoy, make sure not to crush your chip. get an easy to install HSF, meaning do not get thermalright, i love my thermalright, but it was a heart ache to install.
 
UL said:
Forget the sound card, todays onboard modules are great for what you will be doing. You will save some money anyways.
Click to expand...

Most onboard solutions do not support OpenAL which many games soon will rely on.

UL said:
enjoy, make sure not to crush your chip. get an easy to install HSF, meaning do not get thermalright, i love my thermalright, but it was a heart ache to install.
Click to expand...

You only install it once.

-J.
 
He probably responded in an elitist way because you used profanity and insults for a piece of truth given to you. A better way to respond would have been to not get angry and tell him you're of age and blah blah. But for the record, you probably behave better and know more about hardware than most of the flame starters on here :p

The only problems I see are with MCE, since you can install a tuner into XP. And you could not buy the speakers and spend more money on headphones to give you better quality sound to go with that X-fi. Your setup is similar to mine, but I chose a Maxtor 250gb first due to the useable NCQ ability.
 
first build? hmmm i got INTO PC's around grade 6... got net in 8 (had a crappy box id play starcraft on single player on :p god that was fun :LOL: ) built my first NEW computer in grade 9 :p 3 days before X-Mas because the case actually came on time (w00t :D ) My dad wasnt happy but my mom said go for it...

Id agree on the change the PSU thing :p and maybe just get a 4200+ X2 instead... meh
 
Rofl-Mic-Lofl said:
I built my first computer at 15 when my Grandma bit the dust and left me $1000.
Click to expand...

... lol, sorry, but the upbeat nature I imagine you posting that too is somewhat morbid.

Anyway, I built my first computer in 7th or 8th grade as well.

Abit KT7a-R
AMD Athlon 1ghz
256mb pc133
80g IBM Deathstar
Was either a TNT2 or Geforce2 PRO (I might have upgraded to this later, I dont remember)
My case was from CompUSSR.

I would suggest getting an X2 3200+ or an Opterown and overclock. Can save you a bit of cash to put toward another hard drive or that 7900 if it is just out of your price range.
 
Rofl-Mic-Lofl said:
I built my first computer at 15 when my Grandma bit the dust and left me $1000.
Click to expand...

Let me refrase that, "When my cheap grandma got run over by a truck and left me only $1000 bucks. She never gave me any good presents for my birthday anyway..." :)
 
I was right around your age.

Bulit myself a 486 DX2 66
8MB Ram (When it was still almost 200 for 8MB)
400MB HDD..
Motherboard.

Damn setup cost me almost $1000.


As for advice, I agree switch the powersupply its a POS.

Switch the X2 for a Opty 165 or 170 and save some money and put it into higher quality ram.
 
d0m said:
I have my own job washing dishes and busing tables and in the summer I mow a lot of grass. I have been saving up for a computer for a very long time and I'm even paying for 100% of this. I'm not having "mommy and daddy" buy everything for me, my parents believe in earning your own possessions. I got bored with my xbox and my psp, so I sold them on ebay to get the money for my computer. After I build this, I'm going to start saving up for a car.

Anyways down to bussiness and enough of my boring life story. Heres all the specs of my dream pc. I'm not really looking to overclock anything. I plan to use this for gaming, homework, and even maybe watch a couple movies on the side. Suggestions and ideas are greatly appreciated!

Case - ASUS Vento 3600 Black
- I'm not going to change my mind on this case. I saw it in person, inside and out, and was hooked. I know its has limited hard drive(s) spaces and all the other cons. Also, do you think I will need to buy any additional fans with this to prevent overheating?
Processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.2GHz
Motherboard - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
OS - Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005
Power Supply - Ultra X2 Connect 550-Watt
RAM - OCZ Value Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) Dual Channel
HD - Western Digital 250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Video Card - eVGA Geforce 7800GT 256MB
- By the time I buy all the parts for my pc, the 7900 GT and GTX will already be out. So I'm hoping that the price of a 7800 GTX drops, or the price of a 7900 GT will be in my range. What is your thoughts?
Sound Card - Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi
CD/DVD Burner - NEC DVD Burner
Speakers - Logitech Z-2300
Mouse - Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
Keyboard - Standard Microsoft Black Media Keyboard
Monitor - 19" Black Samsung 930b LCD
- Hoping one day to get a 24" 2405FPW Dell Widescreen LCD with some extra cash and graduation money in the future. But I'm still keeping the 19" Samsung so I will be able to have a dual monitor system.
Mouse Pad - sUrface1030 Archetype
Headset - Logitech Extreme PC Gaming Headset
+ Anti-Static Band

Also, how old were you when you built your first computer?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Good for you man! Finally someone that doesn't depend on parents for money, but what state allows you to work at 13?
:eek:

I used lunch money to buy candy and smokes to resell at school hehe Thats before I was old enough to con a girlfriend into giving me money hehe. Now I own 2 biz, and work at a local coffee shop just to help out.
 
Wow whoever gave me that link to the Firmware update I love you. I sold my mouspad on eBay for 15 bucks but I haven't heard from the buyer so I will see if this works.
 
d0m said:
I have four choices of ram from G.Skill. My motherboard use PC3200 too. I'm also looking for dual channel ram. Heres my options:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?ATTR2=2010170147+50008476&ATTR5=2010170147+1052407862&ATTR4=2010170147+1052308477&N=2010170147+50008476+1052107965+1052308477+1052407862&Submit=ENE&Subcategory=147&ATTR3=2010170147+1052107965&Order=price
What do you suggest?
Click to expand...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231021

Go with this. It'll do PC3200 just fine, but if you're looking to overclock, this is the best bang for your buck. This is what I'm personally going to buy... Once I have money. :)
 
This is his first build, so I wouldn't recommend the DFI. If you don't need a firewire port, then the KN8 Ultra is a great board. If you do, then I'd get the AN8 SLI. It's a better board (4 phase power vs 3), but don't get it just because of SLI (SLI is a waste of time and money by the way if you're not going to get the two video cards within 2 months of each other). The voltages and temperature readings are dead on and it's rock stable. It's easy to set up, just flash the BIOS after you install Windows.

G.Skill 2GBHZ. My AN8 seems to like it and runs it without problems.

Seasonic S12 500W Those modular ones are gimmicks.

Seagate Brracuda 250GB 7200.9 Seagate makes reliable hard drives.

CPU is fine.

Asus Vento? You can do better than that. Look into Cooler Master, Silverstone, Lian Li, and Antec just to name a few.

Also, on vendors, ZipZoomFly usually has better prices and free 2nd day FedEx air on most items. They also package their hard drives better.

And to answer your second question, I built my first computer last year when I was 15.
 
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