Building Custom Desktop

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ohsosassybrina

n00b
Joined
Sep 17, 2006
Messages
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I'm planning on purchasing a new computer sometime next month and I was going to go with a Dell System (since that's what I have now and it's been good to me for 3 years) but it was pointed out to me that I could get a better, custom system (that looks cooler too with a custom tower and everything) for around the same price, or possibly cheaper than a pre-made system.

The only problem is I have limited knowledge about hardware. I know the basics of how each thing works and if given instruction I could probably piece a computer together, but I don't know how wise that would be.

So my question is, are there any good and dependable companies out there where you can customize everything using a form on their website (similar to how you customize PCs from places like Dell) and they build it for you?

I found www.cyberpowerpc.com but I'm not sure if it's a website/company I can trust.

I'm really lost. I don't want to just go the easy route when I know there is something better out there, you know?


I would really appreciate any help someone can give me to put me in the right direction. :D
 
there are plenty of books out there that do a great job explaining the parts and functions of a PC. I picked up one and I've read and reread it plenty of times to understand how parts work and what to look for when building.

Let me tell you, planning out and building your own PC is much more rewarding and a great experience.
 
If you'd be so kind as to give us an idea as to the use of this system, I'd be more than happy to whip up a build for you (as will a few other people). If this system will be used primarily for gaming, tell us which games, and if for productivity apps, tell us which ones.

The more info the better!

Oh, and just to mention, cyberpower is abysmal. Just thought I'd let you know :D
 
quadnad said:
So it isn't just me who enjoys bombing around Newegg fitting new builds into budgets!
Click to expand...
HAHA, damn, what would we do without newegg's search engine? lol.

FYI, there's alot of complaints about monarch (eg. it took some people 35+ days to get their custom built system, it takes forever to get a refund should you cancel your order on time, etc - it seems they're just too busy for their own good).

Books?!?!? all that info is free on the web... dont buy a book to learn how to build a computer or figure out which part does what. I'm sure the community here would be enough help :p
 
Okay guys!

I'm not huge on gaming but I do enjoy The Sims 2 and play it quite a bit, I also download games sometimes (like Diner Dash, Cake Mania, etc). As for productivity applications...I know I'll probably sound dumb but is that stuff like Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop? I do use a few programs like that.

I think anything I get will be a major step up from my current system. I'm not sure how to view all my specs but I do know that I've currently got:

1.79GHz
256mb RAM
60GB HD

and just glancing at Newegg I could go up to 3GHz, 1GB RAM and over 200GB HD. I will eventually need a new monitor but I can probably use an old one for the time being.

I'm also fond of this case I found on Newegg and would prefer to run on an Intel system just because it's what I'm used to. :D That's it!
 
Oh, also, my Windows XP disc is MIA so I'm probably going to need to purchase that aswell. The media center one seems to be the cheapest so maybe I'll get that...I'm going to search for the disc though to save that cost or see if I can order a replacement disc through Dell.
 
You won't need 3Ghz... believe it or not, the newer CPUs are much more efficient than the old ones. The newest Intel chip made such a breakthrough in performance that everyone (including me) is all hyped about them, as they should be.

Whats your budget for the system, and will the cost of any peripherals be included in the budget? I'd suggest building it yourself, simply for the pure satisfaction in such a personal accomplishment. If you need help, these forums are great. If you don't think you can do it, then I'd go for a Monarch system... though, plan on waiting over a month for it. As for the parts to choose, let us know your budget and we'll start havin some fun.

Productivity software is stuff like MS Office, Adobe Acrobat, etc. Photoshop and Paintshop are graphic software. FYI, your XP from your old DELL isn't valid for any other system other than that particular dell system... in case you were planning on using the same oem key - just a minor legal thing :(
 
enginurd said:
Whats your budget for the system, and will the cost of any peripherals be included in the budget?
Click to expand...

Good call, I completely forgot to ask for a budget..
 
My budget is only about $800...I'm hoping I'll be able to get something decent out of that.

That doesn't include peripherals. :D

Oh, and...currently my hard drive is almost full I just cleared some stuff out though so I'm at about 50GB so I do want the hard drive to be fairly large, however, I can always buy a second one later so to keep the price down I think 160 or so would be pretty great for now. :D
 
enginurd said:
You won't need 3Ghz... believe it or not, the newer CPUs are much more efficient than the old ones. The newest Intel chip made such a breakthrough in performance that everyone (including me) is all hyped about them, as they should be.

Whats your budget for the system, and will the cost of any peripherals be included in the budget? I'd suggest building it yourself, simply for the pure satisfaction in such a personal accomplishment. If you need help, these forums are great. If you don't think you can do it, then I'd go for a Monarch system... though, plan on waiting over a month for it. As for the parts to choose, let us know your budget and we'll start havin some fun.

Productivity software is stuff like MS Office, Adobe Acrobat, etc. Photoshop and Paintshop are graphic software. FYI, your XP from your old DELL isn't valid for any other system other than that particular dell system... in case you were planning on using the same oem key - just a minor legal thing :(
Click to expand...

That's really good to know! :D

I mentioned my budget in the post above but it's $800 not including peripherals. Also, I'm a bit scared of building the system myself only because I second guess myself, BUT, I can do just about anything with instructions so I'm thinking if I poke around enough here and find some tutorials I should really be fine building it. If it comes down to it I can try to find someone local to put it together for me.

Ahh crap, I guess I'll buy a new XP then...anddddd I don't really use any productivity software, at least not on a regular basis.
 
If you build it yourself, it should be cheaper than buying a custom system... and we can help:
$183 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz
$150 - GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3
$110 - Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2-667 BL2KIT6464AA663
$145 - BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE Geforce 7600GT 256MB (w/ $30MIR)
$100 - Thermaltake Soprano VB1430BWS Black ATX Mid Tower w/ 430W PSU
$55 - WD WD1600JS 160GB 7200 SATA3G
$30 - NEC 16X DVD±R ND-3550A
==========
$775 + shipping + tax - $30MIR (worst case, tax=$65 and shipping=$30, bringing the total to $840 after rebate)

First of all, borrow $40 if that $800 was a hard limit, lol. I went with that case because you were lookin for a "cool" tower, so its really up to you which case you choose. Should you need a PSU for a different case, go for a 450W FSP or 500W Antec SP2.0. The PSU that comes with the soprano isnt the greatest, but it will work for your system at stock speeds. When you have the budget, I'd upgrade the PSU.

If you decide to go with a custom system, you may have to pay more for a core2duo setup if you want a nice case (based off of monarchcomputer's breva line).

Edit:
I forgot XP... hm... is the cost of XP included in that $800 budget? If so, I'll rework that system to fit within budget later... unless you'd like to raise your budget a couple hundred, hehe. ... at most I could probably shave $80 off of there, without touching the case. In the meantime... which case do you want? lol.
 
You can do a little research on the brand of hardwares & have someone build it for you.
I already bought most of the hardware & I just need to get a powersupply, motherboard,case & a cooling system.

If you go this route, least you get to learn about typical hardware for your PC & have it custome made for you.

Some brands you can look at:

Ram - Corsair, OCZ, Patriot

Video- Geforce Nvidia (at least 7900 model)
Motherboard- Depends on the processor
Power supply - depends on what you need it for. minimum 500 watt
sound card- best out now is xfatality soundblaster
Harddrive- seagate, western digital, quantum
 
enginurd said:
If you build it yourself, it should be cheaper than buying a custom system... and we can help:
$183 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz
$150 - GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3
$110 - Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2-667 BL2KIT6464AA663
$145 - BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE Geforce 7600GT 256MB (w/ $30MIR)
$100 - Thermaltake Soprano VB1430BWS Black ATX Mid Tower w/ 430W PSU
$55 - WD WD1600JS 160GB 7200 SATA3G
$30 - NEC 16X DVD±R ND-3550A
==========
$775 + shipping + tax - $30MIR (worst case, tax=$65 and shipping=$30, bringing the total to $840 after rebate)

First of all, borrow $40 if that $800 was a hard limit, lol. I went with that case because you were lookin for a "cool" tower, so its really up to you which case you choose. Should you need a PSU for a different case, go for a 450W FSP or 500W Antec SP2.0. The PSU that comes with the soprano isnt the greatest, but it will work for your system at stock speeds. When you have the budget, I'd upgrade the PSU.

If you decide to go with a custom system, you may have to pay more for a core2duo setup if you want a nice case (based off of monarchcomputer's breva line).

Edit:
I forgot XP... hm... is the cost of XP included in that $800 budget? If so, I'll rework that system to fit within budget later... unless you'd like to raise your budget a couple hundred, hehe. ... at most I could probably shave $80 off of there, without touching the case. In the meantime... which case do you want? lol.
Click to expand...

I like that case! :D

Hmm...I can probably up my budget a little because I am going to need XP and I realized I'll end up needing a keyboard, mouse and new speakers also. For the keyboard, mouse and speakers they don't have to be amazing, they just have to get me through a few months until I can afford nicer ones.

The most I can really up my budget at the moment is $100. So let me know if theres any possible way to work that stuff in with an extra $100. If not, I'll talk to my mom and see what I can do. :D

Thanks so much!
 
Devonshire said:
You can do a little research on the brand of hardwares & have someone build it for you.
I already bought most of the hardware & I just need to get a powersupply, motherboard,case & a cooling system.

If you go this route, least you get to learn about typical hardware for your PC & have it custome made for you.

Some brands you can look at:

Ram - Corsair, OCZ, Patriot

Video- Geforce Nvidia (at least 7900 model)
Motherboard- Depends on the processor
Power supply - depends on what you need it for. minimum 500 watt
sound card- best out now is xfatality soundblaster
Harddrive- seagate, western digital, quantum
Click to expand...

That isn't really an informative or helpful post, no offense. And the X-Fi Fatal1ty is a ripoff and probobly way more than he would ever consider spending on a soundcard. He is on an $800 budget. why would he drop a couple hundred on a soundcard? Also he doesnt need atleast a 7900 model videocard, a core 2 duo and a 7600gt still performs great. and he doesnt need a 500w+ psu for a c2d + 7600gt. As long as it is a good psu, he can go lower.

@ OP : If i were you i would seriously consider the Core 2 Duo build which someone earlier posted. And if that exceeds youre budget, then you could attempt to get some things used. Such as the videocard and the ram. Reason being, almost all enthusiast ram hold lifetime warranties, as well as nvidia videocards, as long as they are not OEM. Either way, keep us informed on how things are going, im sure you have noticed that a lot of us here love to search around newegg fitting a build to a specific budget. Good Luck:)
 
First, if you're going to buy windows on a tight budget (and since the $10AR deal is dead), go buy this now:
$50 AR - Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade with SP2 by Microsoft ($100 - $50MIR) VALID UNTIL 9/23

If that case is too expensive, shop around for other (cheaper) cases and let us know which one you like; we'll tell you if they're good or not.

If you plan on replacing the kb/mouse later, then just get cheap ones that will work, like these:
$16 - Rosewill KMS-100 Black PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard Mouse Included, it even comes with a cheap pair of speakers, lol.

By the way, did you account for tax? or are you ordering from out of state? just making sure you don't get blindsided when you place your order, lol. If $900 is the limit, we can fit it, but you might not like the case, lol. Was an AMD an option at all? because that would make things easier, budget-wise.
 
ohsosassybrina said:
I like that case! :D
Click to expand...

I just want to point out that if you really do like that case, I'd look for one w/out the powersupply. It's very underpowered, and more importantly not nearly as reliable as others.
 
quadnad said:
I just want to point out that if you really do like that case, I'd look for one w/out the powersupply. It's very underpowered, and more importantly not nearly as reliable as others.
Click to expand...
I agree. Though, if he's on a tight budget and wants that case, it will be fine for running his system at stock speeds with only those components listed above. If he plans to add more components, upgrade the video card, or overclock, he'll NEED a better one. I'm running that same 430W on a basic P4 system, and its been running fine for over a year.

But like I said, upgrade to a better one when you have the budget.
 
There is a soprano sold from xoxide (I'm sure there are less expensive places) for $65, and if you tack on a good quality PSU you should be at the $100 mark with both the case you like and a better power supply. Win-win!
 
Least said:
A case's looks aren't important. take the 50 bucks you save and put it towards something that matters more.
Click to expand...
:confused: but he wants a cool looking case! don't rob the man of building his uber cool looking system! :cool:

quadnad said:
There is a soprano sold from xoxide (I'm sure there are less expensive places) for $65, and if you tack on a good quality PSU you should be at the $100 mark with both the case you like and a better power supply. Win-win!
Click to expand...
See! its do-able! hehe... I wonder how much shipping is at xoxide? :D $11.03 Standard Shipping to CA from PA... nice.

Standard Shipping – All "Standard Shipping" orders will be shipped via USPS or UPS, whichever is most cost-effective. This means that packages under 13oz will ship "USPS 1st Class Mail" (2-10 business days) and that all heavier boxes will be rate-shopped between "USPS Priority Mail" (2-5 business days) and "UPS Ground" (1-7 business days). In general, this means that boxes less than 3lbs will go Priority Mail and that heavier boxes will ship UPS Ground. This, however, is not a hard rule, as UPS Extended Delivery Area fees can make USPS Priority Mail less expensive for packages upwards of 10 lbs.
Click to expand...
 
core2duo:
$180 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz
$150 - GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3
$110 - Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2-667 BL2KIT6464AA663

$145 - BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE Geforce 7600GT 256MB (w/ $30MIR)
$55 - WD WD1600JS 160GB 7200 SATA3G
$30 - NEC 16X DVD±R ND-3550A
$50 - FSP Group AX450-PN 450W PSU
$10 - Rosewill KMS-100 Black Keyboard & Mouse (2pc speakers included)
=======
$730 + tax and shipping (worst case: tax=$60, shipping=$20, total: $810)


am2 x2:
$180 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Brisbane 2.0GHz Socket AM2
$105 - MSI K9N Platinum Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra ($105 - $15MIR = $90)
$130 - GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2-800 GX21GB6400DCK

$145 - BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE Geforce 7600GT 256MB (w/ $30MIR)
$55 - WD WD1600JS 160GB 7200 SATA3G
$30 - NEC 16X DVD±R ND-3550A
$50 - FSP Group AX450-PN 450W PSU
$10 - Rosewill KMS-100 Black Keyboard & Mouse (2pc speakers included)
=======
$690 + tax and shipping (worst case: tax=$56, shipping=$22, total: $765)


plus case and windows:
$76 - Thermaltake Soprano Case VB1000BNS - Black ($65 + $11 shipping @ Xoxide)
$50 - Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade with SP2 by Microsoft ($100 - $50MIR, pickup in-store)
=======
$126 + tax (worst case: tax=$14, total: $140)


AM2 build: $816 + tax & shipping (~$905 total)
C2D build: $856 + tax & shipping (~$950 total)
If you miss out on that windows XP Home deal, then add ~$50 to the totals above.
 
$183 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz
$150 - GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3
$110 - Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2-667 BL2KIT6464AA663
$145 - BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE Geforce 7600GT 256MB (w/ $30MIR)
$100 - Thermaltake Soprano VB1430BWS Black ATX Mid Tower w/ 430W PSU
$55 - WD WD1600JS 160GB 7200 SATA3G
$30 - NEC 16X DVD±R ND-3550A
Click to expand...

That would make a system that would kick the crap out of any < $1000 Dell.
 
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