• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Building a computer in July

M

MugsyGoten

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 30, 2003
Messages
268
Im building my first computer really soon, and I was thinking about grabbing some of the parts now (assuming I can find great deals), and then when I return to America at the end of July, putting everything together and having a well-equipped gaming PC. Heres the lowdown...

Im kinda in 2 different areas here. My friend is making a PC for about $500 (could also use advice), and Im making one for about $1000. I would like to know the parts and sites that you guys would suggest in building something like this.

I already know one thing. I know that a large amount of my budget is going to go towards the graphics card. Im probably going to get an ATI X800 Pro. I cant see myself going any lower...I just wish the thing would settle around at a $300 price point. The other things that I think are already taken care of are that I have a mouse and wiresless keyboard that I already plan on using. Im gonna most likely pick up a used monitor too. I have a DVD-Writer drive, but its given me more problems than anything Ive ever seen, so I may just dump it...since shipping it from Japan back to America with me could be a costly endeavor. Plus its only a 4X, and I know that I could get a dual format 8X right now for under $100. Makes me wonder.

However, like I said, Im looking for the best values here. I'd like to get a gig of RAM, but Im gonna go with your reccomendations here, as i dont know if the performance boost from 512 to 1 Gig would be worth it. All other things (actually all things really) are open for suggestion. I just wanna be able to make a decent gaming computer for a grand, and Im assuming you guys can help me do it.

I've been searching around techbargains.com, and I came accross some really cheap things, but unfortuantely, its all in-store-pick-up only, and Im in Japan right now, thus making that impossible. Missed out on $40 80GB HDs, cheap 333Mhz RAM, and a $10! Motherboard (dont know how good that would have actually been).

Again though guys, post away, I'd love to hear your reccomendations.

P.S. GREAT to have the forums back!
 
I too am in the same boat basically (have a bit of a higher budget). I'd just browse the egg and see what deals you come up with. They have mostly the cheapest prices if not close and I've always had great experiences with them.
 
I agree about Newegg, but if you are in Japan I would really just wait till you come over and then purchase your stuff. Also, you are right about going with the 1GB of memory, 512MB just isn't going to cut it for a gaming machine with the upcoming games.
 
ProjectChaos said:
snip snip ....I'd just browse the egg... snip
Click to expand...
For the people that might not know what "the egg" is, it's www.newegg.com . If they only had a warehouse in PR... gotta hate shipping prices outside the continental US.

Anyway, I'd recommend you don't buy the pieces now, to begin with. It's not like prices will skyrocket in a month; you'll have the same prices, if not better, if you order them when you will actually use them.

For the $500 PC, do you plan to overclock? Either way, I'd definitely go with an AMD setup (2500+ Mobile, 2400+ Mobile, something along those lines), a nice NF2 board (Abit NF7-S), etc. I'm assuming he already has a monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc?
 
im loving my 1 gb xms, thats all i have to say about that... it really does help... i would run it with out a pagefile, except photoshop bitches at me when its not on.

for a 1k budget, id go with amd (just like my computer, i spent a little over a thousand on it). you should probly get something close to what i have in my sig, although i did get the 250 gig for 160, so dont go off and try to make it work like that...

also, ram is up in price now... its all up to you in the end
 
hmmm i would go with a simple 2600+ mobile system, 1 gig pc3700 whichever quality brand ram is cheapest, x800pro, 160gb seagate drive, 8x NEC +/-rw, zalman 7000alcu, nf7-s
u can get a system like that for under $1k
 
OK guys, heres what Im faced with now. It appears that my DVD burner works ok as everything but a DVD burner in my external case (a whole different story thats not worth getting into), so I, gonna keep that, and that way I dont have to worry about that drive.

I'm left with these things to buy on a $1,000 budget...

Case (Im assuming a power supply would come with it)
Motherboard (that nf7-s looks VERY promising, plus Im never overclocked, and it seems like something I would like to get into)
Processor (best match and value for that board I would assume...should I go 64-bit?)
Hard Drive(s) I could probably settle as low as an 80GB drive right now.
RAM (I have NO idea where to go on this one, if I jump up to the highest quality stuff for 1GB, the price jumps up MADLY. Considering the MB choice, I can go 3 DIMMs of a lower quality...is that a good idea? How much would that effect things?)
Graphics Card (I know that Im going to end up with an X800 Pro, unless something as good exists for less price)
Cooling (Zalman fan sounded good, but I looked it up real quick, and cant get a price point on it)
Monitor (Like I said, Im sure I'll snag a used one)
Speakers (I dont need anything insane here, just something reasonable)

With all of this in the mix, Ive already got my OS, mouse, Keyboard and DVD Drive taken care of. Feel free to post away guys, I could use all the help I need. Im also not afraid of a little mail-in rebate (hence my constant checking of techbargains.com).

I think that about sums it up for me.

My friend already has a mouse, keyboard, monitor, and probably some random stuff from his old computer (including case) if he wants to reuse it for the $500 budget. Hes got less to worry about I suppose.

Keep it coming guys, I love to hear your advice. This would indeed be my first time building, and I just wanna make sure I get it right.
 
i think Im gonna find some things that are on sale now, without rebates...and just work with that. That way when I get home, everything should be taken care of, and I just put it together. Exceptions being the videocard, which I can only assume will lower in price with time, along with the processor. That seems like the only 2 things I should really hold off on buying. What do you guys think?
 
i found what seems to be a really good deal on a good type of RAM to use for the ABIT NF7-S motherboard. It looks compatible to me, but Ive never done this before. Can someone tell me that knows what theyre talking about?

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-166&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-479&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE

Like I said, the price seems sweet to me. Let me know if it all works. Looks like the sale is gonna be over soon though... :(
 
well, if you got the money, i'd definatly get two sticks of the corsair RAM and the board...heard nothing but great things about that board and a gig of 3200 for $168 isn't a bad deal at all
 
well, I'll take that as a "theyre compatible", and its a good idea. Im there, Thanks!

EDIT: Bought! And I feel like a winner for it. 1/4 of my budget down, the other 3/4 to go. Also, depending on how much money I spend in Tokyo this week, and how much I can save before I come home, I may be able to up that budget of mine a bit.
 
Well guys, this is what Im sitting on already, what else should I get to complete this monster?

nf7-s
5.1 Speakers
Gig of 400Mhz RAM
Wireless Keyboard
Optical Mouse
4X DVD Burner

Any suggestions for things to get to complete my masterpiece are very welcome.

In accordance to one of my previous posts, this is what I need as far as I can tell...

Case (Im assuming a power supply would come with it, looking for 400 watts at least)
Processor (best match and value for the nf7-s board I would assume...should I go 64-bit?)
Hard Drive(s) I could probably settle as low as an 80GB drive right now...but should probably get at least 120GB from a good manufacturer.
Graphics Card (I know that Im going to end up with an X800 Pro, unless something as good exists for less price)
Cooling (Zalman fan sounded good, but I looked it up real quick, and cant get a price point on it)
Monitor (Like I said, Im sure I'll snag a used one)

Is this all the things that I need to make this possible? All help is appreciated, thanks in advance!
 
Case: get one you like. Get it WITHOUT A PSU. This is IMPORTANT.
PSU: SilenX, Enermax or Antec TP 450w or better
CPU: Wait until the last second
GPU: Wait until the last second
HD: Seagate SATA 120 or 160GB (160GB for $30 more at NewEgg)
HSF: I like Thermalright, myself...
Monitor: You want a monitor included in a $1000 comp? Are you crazy? In this order from best to good: Mitsubishi, NEC, Samsung
 
without a PSU? I dont quite understand the reasoning for that. Also, why do I need an ATA HD?

Remember, Im shooting for around $1,000 for my whole set up. Also, my graphics card will be like 1/3 of my budget also.

Monitor...thats something I'll get for a few bucks at a used computer store when I get home. Ive never had any issues with no-name brands in the past, I dont see how now would be any different.
 
Well, SATA isn't that much more expensive, but no, you don't REALLY need it.

As far as a PSU goes, the ones that come with cases are all crap. A generic 400W might put out 300W if you are lucky, and it will not be as reliable. The rails will be quite off, it will have crap or no overload/overheat protection and it will have a much higher chance of spikes. Yes, I guess I should say you probably won't be able to afford SilenX with that budget, so just go like Antec or Enermax.
 
dandragonrage said:
Case: get one you like. Get it WITHOUT A PSU. This is
Monitor: You want a monitor included in a $1000 comp? Are you crazy? In this order from best to good: Mitsubishi, NEC, Samsung
Click to expand...

Don't forget Viewsonic in that lineup. They have been known to put out quality stuff.
 
ok, thanks guys...I'll do my best to pick from that list.

I still dont know how the PSU thing though...althought I have had one blow out on me in the past. Man, that should make the choice obvious. I'll see what I cant scrounge up...but then again, I may wait until I get home to snag this...unless I can find a really good deal, or a case that I REALLY like.
 
im not planning on buying this until RIGHT when I go home, but Ive found an AMD Athlon XP 3200+ wuth Barton core for $179 at the egg...and read about overclocking it to 4000+ with Thermaltake’s Volcano 11 Xaser Edition cooling unit for about $30. Sounds good to me, but then again, Im waiting until I go home to get these beauties.

What do you guys think...is that compatable with my motherboard and RAM? If so, seems like a damn nice foundation to me. Also, I was wondering if there would be any advantage to moving up to a 64 bit processor. Thanks for the input guys, keep it coming!
 
Sir, if you have only 1000$ for a new computer don't get a X800 Pro. Your CPU will most likely be a bottleneck.

I would suggest: -AMD 2400+XP Mobile (and Overclock it as far as possible with all the juice (watts) needed). CPU Cooler: Thermalright SP-97 w/ Vantec 92mm Tornado
-1Gig Ram (samsung,you won't pay an arm and a leg..
-ATi Radeon 9800pro 128mb
-Abit NF7-S Motherboard
- 120GB SATA hard disk (seagate , maxtor, western digital) or 1 36GB WD Raptor if you don't need much space and prefer something faster.
-Antec Sonata PC Case (included a 380w PSU)
- Logitech MX510 mouse or Razer Viper w/ Func Surface mousepad or Ratpadz.
- Viewsonic 19" Monitor
 
1GB of RAM is not necessary, 512MB is fine. Use the money for something else.
Don't get a Raptor 36GB, they are not much faster than Caviar SE, cost way more, are way louder
Your other recommendations are fine.
 
actually, I can go above $1,000 on this thing, and I probably will. However, I need reasons as to why buying the X800 is a bad idea. From all that Ive heard, its a hellova card, and leagues beyond anything before it. If I plan on playing games on it, Im gonna need a beast of a card, especially if I want it to stand the test of time...for as much as thats possible. That I figured would be the cornerstone of my system.

The Ram, already bought, and its 1 Gig at 400Mhz.
Motherboard, also already bought.

What would be holding my computer back? I plan on getting probably an AMD Barton 3000+, with a decent cooler, and then overclock it to about 4000+. What would be holding me back here?
 
I'd get a 2800+ or a 2400+-2600+ mobile myself just due to the price. Anyway, if you can afford an X800, then go for it. It was suggested not to because you might not have enough money for other stuff.
 
Anarchonixx said:
Anyway, I'd recommend you don't buy the pieces now, to begin with. It's not like prices will skyrocket in a month; you'll have the same prices, if not better, if you order them when you will actually use them.
Click to expand...

Are you so sure on this?

Volatile oil prices being the determinate factor in my questioning your presumptive statement...


:eek:
just keepen the username qualified...
 
ok, cool, thanks for lookin out for me there guys. But still, if I bought the things that I said I plan to previously...would I have a bottlenecking issue...and why?

Also, I checked Techbargains.com today, and I found this...

KDS 19" CRT $77.38, Jun 13
Officedepot.com has the KDS XF-9BI 19" Flat Screen CRT Monitor 1600x1200@75Hz, 0.20 x 0.25mm dot pitch $177.38 - $20 in link - $80 rebates = $77.38 Item 558866 Free shipping.

Printout rebates form right now.

$50 rebate (Copy of UPC Exp 6/19) and

$30 rebate Exp 6/19/04

That sounds awesome to me. Is there any reason I shouldnt snatch this one up?
 
ive been giving it some thought and decided to go with a barton 3200+, and a GeForce FX 5700 most likely, since Im not a HUGE gamer, im more into console games. I hear this will play me just about anything, and Ill even have money left over for a monitor or something.

Does this seem decent? If anyone sees any issues, please speak your mind, as I could always use a little guidance.
 
Don't bother with a 3200+, it's not worth it...2500+ to 2800+.

As far as that monitor goes, I have not been impressed with KDS in the past, but I have not seen a lot of them to give a really firm opinion.... I like NEC/Mitsubishi.
 
awesome, thanks dan, Ill take that into consideration. As a matter of fact, I didnt get that monitor, so all should be well. Im still sitting on a few things though. Should I get a High End video card, and be better off for the future...or should I go mid-range. If so, I dont entirely know what to do about the processor. My guess is that Im gonna end up spending about $300 on a video card...so I'll be alright for the future...and be able to enjoy things now. Anyways, thats what Im thinking about, and Im still having an issue with getting my laptop sold. So, once thats taken care of, its all gravy.
 
Anarchonixx said:
For the people that might not know what "the egg" is, it's www.newegg.com . If they only had a warehouse in PR... gotta hate shipping prices outside the continental US.

Anyway, I'd recommend you don't buy the pieces now, to begin with. It's not like prices will skyrocket in a month; you'll have the same prices, if not better, if you order them when you will actually use them.

For the $500 PC, do you plan to overclock? Either way, I'd definitely go with an AMD setup (2500+ Mobile, 2400+ Mobile, something along those lines), a nice NF2 board (Abit NF7-S), etc. I'm assuming he already has a monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc?
Click to expand...


don't forget: what if they don't work and you wont know until you get back? no more RMA for you!!!
 
For the Video card, you can get a X800, but that means you're true budget is $500 + whatever higher you said you'd probably go. So, you got RAM and a Mobo, thus the Mobo might hold back the video card depending on what type you got (but it should be fine).
However, I can suggest a few things, but it all depends on what you plan on doing/not doing. For example:

-If you want to save $ you can buy a +2500 - +2800 Mobile Athlon XP and Overclock that bad boy easily to +3200.

-If you DO NOT want to Overclock, then just straight up buy the +3200, but some would say you'd be wasting your $. But if you don't want the "hassle" (that some people call it) of OCing, then just use the $.

-As for the Video Card, you said you weren't a BIG PC gammer but more of a Console gamer, and let me tell you right now, $400+ for video card is MOSTLY for 2 types of people, the EXTREME Gamer, or the guy who HAS TO BUY THE BEST shit in the world, because he simply can't hold out. So, if you are one of these two, then shoot for the X800.

-If not, then buy a ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB, for $220 or whatever it is now. That card should last you for the next year to 2 years at the most.

-Or you can wait a couple more months and from the rumors I've heard, their will be a X600 from ATI that is lower in price and powerful. Correct me if I'm wrong fellow [H] members.

-HDD, it's pretty much as recommend above: 120MB Sata Drive from Wester Digital, Seagate, or Maxtor. Raptors are cool, fast, but a bit loud, but the space is what kills me (unless you got a bunch of em in a raid config).

-Case: Antec Sonata is the best deal out there for GREAT case + VERY Reliable PSU, AND fair priced.

-Soundcard: If you want, I'd use some extra $ to get one of these. Creative Labs Audigy 2 ZS, or M - Audio's new one (forgot the name).

Monitor: I'm not good on monitors, but don't get an LCD thats less than $400, otherwise it'll be REAL CRAPPY for gaming. Be very careful on your selection with this one. You don't want ghosting.

My 2 Cents.

-Logiks
 
wow Logiks and everyone else, thanks for the advice.

After some heavy thought, and a visit to The Egg, this is what I ended up with...

Case
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-133-126&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1
$125

Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-145-051&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1
$96

So I dropped a little more than $200 today on some more necessary things, and I must admit, I think I made out reasonably well. The case, has 420Watts, so I should be good as far as that goes. Plus it has loads of wiring, 4 big fans, and is quiet. Best of all though, it keeps things cool, and doesnt look bad whilst doing it (my opinion).

For the Hard Drive, Its an SATA 160GB drive with 8MB cache, and 7200RPM speeds. Im gettin' pretty excited about that, but honestly, the fact that I scored one of these for under $100 kind of amazes me. I hear that Hitachi is a decent vendor too...although Ive NEVER had a hard drive issue in the past, regardless of vendor...so I could honestly care less.

Best of all, no mail in rebates to worry about (yeah I know its money, but it sucks waiting 2 months for it, and...I wont get into the rest, you all know the story with these), and to top it off, shipping was very free.

This puts me at $530 spent so far. Im half of my budget down, and I have these 3 things left to purchase...and I fear theyre going to be biggies...

Monitor
AMD Processor (to match nf7-s board)
Graphics Card

Im sort of in a pickle with all of this right now. Ive got 3 weeks until I get back to America, and at that time, I would like to have the bottom 2 (at least) of this arrangement figured out. Processor will most likely be a 2500+ Barton (Assuming that overclocking isnt that tough), which would leave me with a damn nice $400 or so that I could drop on some video card, and monitor. Seems like a winner to me.

Im very wary about the overclocking though. Ive been talking to many people about it, and Ive heard about overclocked processors and boards not lasting long...any comments on this one?

And please, advise me about whatever else you find necessary. Thanks again guys, youre kickin ass!
 
dude i have a 9800 pro... it works like a charm with ALL GAMES I'VE TESTED.. The bottleneck - i think - is my CPU.. a 2000+ (2000+ 512 ram 2*80 gb hdd crappy MSI MB)
My system works pretty good. I'll upgrade so that i can play hl2 and d3 in all its glory though.
AMD 64 3000
K8T800 Pro
2*256 Corsair value
+ my "old" 9800 pro
17" screen from my old comp from '97
well.. maybe not in all its glory =D but im a student.. and the prices on those things are pretty low over here atm.
+ cheap stuff.. dvd and such

Try selling some stuff from your old pc so that you get more money. Maybe som of those console games? ;P (X800 = Extreme people, extreme $$, extreme games - atleast atm.)
 
heh, if you hadn't bought that motherboard yet I would have recomended a pentium 4 prescott @2.4GHz. Every site I've visited has had those things overclock to 3.2GHz or more on the stock hsf. That woud've left enough money for a radeon x800pro, but i've seen some msi 9800 pros that have r360 cores, so that will get you a 9800XT w/ only 128mb of RAM(which is more then sufficient for the next year or 2). 1gig of RAM is a must, but you can get that for 140 if you shop around.

If you can return that motherboard and get a full refund I would, because an athlon xp on air will never be able to handle the fury of an x800.
 
thanks for the replies guys.

Thats good news to hear that the 9800 Pro is actually a quality card...that very well may be the one I go for. Would there be any reason to get the Sapphire over any others? I hear that thats the good one anyways.

As for the motherboard...Im pretty comfortable with it, because first of all, I just dont like Intel (dont ask me why), and this board would easily unlock the Barton 2500+ to 3200+ speeds if I do indeed decide to overclock (which I probably will).

And yeah, I already have the 1 Gig of RAM, and I dont know how, but I got it from (surprise) NewEgg for about $150 or so.

So I guess unless someone has something to say, I pretty much have 2 of my last pieces picked out...the 2500+ Barton, and the ATI Sapphire 9800 Pro.

This leaves me with one more thing...monitor. Im gonna go out on a limb and assume that its safe to get a used one at a local computer store or something...for under $100. Again, if you guys have any better ideas, post away!
 
why is that? The whole Sweden thing? Overseas shipping doesnt work? I had no idea. Its funny that I say that from Japan, but Im just ordering things for when I get back to America...so it actually makes sense.

Not being able to buy from NewEgg...thats awful. There is actually no analogy that could match up to that. This is now the standard of crappiest situations. My hat is off to you sir or mam.
 
well gang, today I did it...I finally got the final pieces of my beautiful computer.

Today I bought a 256-bit BBA 9800 Pro...
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-102-361&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1

and I finally settled on the 2500+ AMD Barton processor that Ive been eyeing...
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-103-379&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1

This is all the stuff that I need to get going, however, I still need a monitor, but like I said earlier, thats something I can get used when I go back home, which is now in less than 2 weeks!

I think I did pretty well with all this, and I spent about $300 even on the whole thing.

One more thing that I plan on getting when it becomes available is an Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer...
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-186-110&depa=0

I would have bought it, but I have it set on AutoNotify, since NewEgg was sold out.

Altogether though, I think Im doing ok with this computer set-up, I cant wait to get home and give it a go!

This is my final product

Thermaltake Silver XASER III LanFire ATX MID Tower Chassis with 420W power Supply
nf7-s Motherboard
5.1 Speakers
AMD Barton 2500+ (plan on overclocking)
1 Gig of Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - OEM
256-bit BBA 9800 Pro
Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Wireless Keyboard
Optical Mouse
4X DVD Burner

I think that about does it. In 2 weeks, I'll be adding a monitor to the list, but until then, or when that cooling fan comes in for my graphics card, Im set.

How do you guys think it all turned out?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top