Building computers

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Wannabe Geek

#40213 26-Aug-2009 19:44

Ok so i've decided that I want to learn to build my own computer/ computers in the future this has always been an idea in the back of my mind yet I havent had the income nor the means to do so, now I do.

What im asking is how hard is it (starting from scratch) to build your own computer, Whats involved (step by step)? I know about all the hardware ect... still abit iffy on motherboards and installing operating systems but im still learning any sites or tips from anyone would be much apprecieated.

Edit:
The first computer I want to use for Gaming now first other questions is AMD or Intel?

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#250795 26-Aug-2009 19:52

The question is wither you are out to build a Budget Gaming Rig or a Full on Rig,

An AMD system will cost alot less than a Intel system. Personally I go with intel for High end rigs but I guess its a personal preference

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#250799 26-Aug-2009 20:05

Building your own computer from scratch these days isnt too bad, most things are slot A into slot B.
Just ensure youre getting the right motherboard for the right CPU type....dont force connectors.... read the instructions first time round.....invest in an antistatic mat to build on....

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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tate

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Wannabe Geek

#250819 26-Aug-2009 21:02

ALL PRICES ARE NZD

Budget gaming rig. I want it to be able to run Diablo 3 when it comes out though. Probably looking at a quad core processor and max of 4gb ram?

Ill pay for quality I prefer intel so I guess i'll be going with that.

Thanks for the tips xpd.

Now one thing I am confused on is Modems, is there any way for wireless to be put into a desktop? or do i have to get a 56k port thing?

Edit:

So far I think...

Intel Core 2 Quad Processor 2.66Ghz

Asus P5N-D nForce 750i SLI Motherboard - Quad-Core CPU Support, nForce SLI, ATX

ASUS Extreme 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9400GT ( do i need more)

Western Digital Caviar Raid Edition 1000GB 7200RPM 16MB Hard Drive (maybe 10000 and lower capacity?)

Kingston ValueRAM 4GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL6 Memory (Kit of 2)

Ive looked about and I estimate I can get this About $1200

Case Type: ---

Optical drives (any information on choice would be good)

Modem (any information on choice would be good)

Power Source (any information on choice would be good)

So I think im going to set myself a budget of 2k witch gives me about $800ish to spend on Optical, POS, Modem, and case

Wilstar

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Master Geek

#250872 26-Aug-2009 23:31

For a budget rig you don't really need a motherboard with two PCI-e graphics slots for sli and it's debateable whether you need a quad core CPU too. If it's just for games get a faster dual core, especially if your playing older games. The 9400gt is NOT a gaming card, the money you save on mb and cpu needs to go into a better graphics card, try to stretch to nvidia 260 or ati 4870, also consider what type of monitor you want, 22" is fast becoming the norm, and it will look brilliant when your playing diablo 3 in HD :)

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#250893 27-Aug-2009 08:02

Go for minimum of 22" LCD (around $250 these days), spend the money on a semi decent case (Coolermaster, Silverstone etc).
And if wanting to be a gamer especially for D3, then a gruntier card would def be advisable - especially now that D3 isnt out until 2011 and CPUs and video cards will go thorugh a few more changes in that time.

Ill be lucky if my machine will handle D3 when it arrives.... :-/

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#250895 27-Aug-2009 08:22

tate: Ok so i've decided that I want to learn to build my own computer/ computers in the future this has always been an idea in the back of my mind yet I havent had the income nor the means to do so, now I do.

What im asking is how hard is it (starting from scratch) to build your own computer, Whats involved (step by step)? I know about all the hardware ect... still abit iffy on motherboards and installing operating systems but im still learning any sites or tips from anyone would be much apprecieated.

Edit:
The first computer I want to use for Gaming now first other questions is AMD or Intel?

My first foray into building my own machine was to order all the parts with tha friends help, and shoulder surf while we both installed. You pretty much only needed that first time to see where everything goes if you hadn't done it before.

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Master Geek

#251246 28-Aug-2009 11:18

Blizzard games typically aren't very graphics demanding but a 9400gt is just not worth it if you want a gaming computer, as said before the gtx 260 or ati equivalents are much better investments than a quad core or sli motherboards if you only have 2k to spend, something like a low level core 2 duo (e7300 etc) and one of the asus P5 range of mobos will do just as well for you.

For optical drive, get a dvd burner from a reputable brand eg: LG, samsung, sony. They can be had for as little as $30, more money just gets you a slightly faster drive 20x vs, 22x etc
All a 56k modem can do is dial up, I don't know what your situation is but I don't reccommend dial up, if you get wireless broadband in your house all you need is a wifi adapter either usb http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4a9710cb019321c0273fc0a87f3b06e5/Product/View/XH9947 or pci http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4a9710cb019321c0273fc0a87f3b06e5/Product/View/XH9946

When looking for a case your priorities should be: space and access, cooling and then looks are up to you. I'm partial to the antec 902/1200 http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=8258
but coolermaster and silverstone are also good.
A psu around the 500/600w mark should do you just fine but more than that is always better especially if you plan to upgrade later, corsair is the best for psu imo.

Go for the full teeb, you'll fill it up suprisingly quickly, with hard drives always go for the latest model the extra cache and power savings are worth it http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=7451
4gb of ram is plenty, also a cpu cooler is never a bad investment.

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#251265 28-Aug-2009 11:51

I agree it looks good apart from the video card.

If the monitor you're going to be using is less that (1920x1080) resolution I would go for one of these cards around $150-200:

Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB
Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB
Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 512MB

ATI Radeon 4850 1GB

For 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 I would go for one of these cards around $300-400:

Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 896MB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 275 896MB

ATI Radeon 4890 1GB

Basekid

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Master Geek

#251273 28-Aug-2009 12:25

Don't get a quad processor. Many programs (and almost all games) are not optimised to run on multiple cores. You would be better off to get a core 2 duo, a e8400 for example.

garvani

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#251274 28-Aug-2009 12:27

ummm for your information i game at 1920x1080 on a 512mb ATI 4830 (22" fullhd).. no problems at all, graphics on full, were talking wolfenstein, fallout 3, call of duty 4&5 etc etc. As long as you have decent ram and a decent cpu you can get away with a lower spec gpu.. (im running on a phenom2 955 & 8gb of ddr2 1066).

garvani

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#251276 28-Aug-2009 12:29

Basekid: Don't get a quad processor. Many programs (and almost all games) are not optimised to run on multiple cores. You would be better off to get a core 2 duo, a e8400 for example.

um ok then..

windows 7 utilises multicores, and youd be suprised at what games now use multicores, and many applications do as well. More and more are coming along so just get a quadcore now and be done with it.. Why would you have 2 cores when you can have 4? that is just daft

Canterbury

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Master Geek

#251287 28-Aug-2009 13:18

searching suggests that as of the end of last year 90-95% of games were only designed for single/dual core with no bang for buck going to the additional quad core chips...windows 7 can obviously use quad cores, that doesn't mean the application running will, in most cases they are ideal. however as diablo 3 was mentioned and its not due out for ages quadcore maybe an option for future proofing.. but i'm guessing D3 is still ages away so probably completely irrelevant.

garvani

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#251315 28-Aug-2009 14:26

That was my point, yes games may not be written explicitly for quadcores, but what, do you think that the other cores sit there doing nothing? many games are single threaded, in which case you could say what good is a dualcore???
The cpu spreads the load over all the cores of course, so there is obviously going to be a benefit of a quadcore over a dualcore. There may not be a huge difference in performance at the moment, this could be due to a lot of different things, slack programming being one and an overuse of the gpu another, however more and more games are using the cpu for extra tasks (be it realtime physics or whatever). For future proofing a quadcore is the only way to go. Hell 6core desktop parts are in the not to distant future..

Canterbury

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Master Geek

#251341 28-Aug-2009 15:20

lets agree to disagree on quad core cpu usage. If the game isn't written for a quadcore the cpu/windows wont just spread the usage across them equally.. Thats not to say other tasks in the background aren't making use of them like antivirus etc, but its not a simple case of the games cpu usage divided by 4 There are benchmarks dictating this.
If price isn't an issue or its negligible then quadcore definitely is the choice as you won't loose on the deal - but it is a case of diminishing returns.

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#251366 28-Aug-2009 16:20

garvani: ummm for your information i game at 1920x1080 on a 512mb ATI 4830 (22" fullhd).. no problems at all, graphics on full, were talking wolfenstein, fallout 3, call of duty 4&5 etc etc. As long as you have decent ram and a decent cpu you can get away with a lower spec gpu.. (im running on a phenom2 955 & 8gb of ddr2 1066).

I hear what you're saying one of my machines is running a 4770 (which is newer/cheaper/faster than the 4830) but I still think sub $200 cards run a bit low for 1920x1200, I guess at 1920x1080 they might be more acceptable.

4x AA isn't even on in this image, which would drag the results even lower.

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