First game computer build, would appreciate input!

M

Masahiko

n00b
Joined
Sep 3, 2004
Messages
3
Hey guys!

I'm new to the board and new to computer building. I hope this is an okay place to post this since I didn't see a cpu building section of its own. I've had the desire to put together a computer for some time and may actually be able to do it some time in the near future. I've been doing a lot of reading about what is needed to build a computer and how everything goes together. I've got a decent idea of what sort of system I'd like this to be, but there are still some things I'm just unsure about. I'd appreciate any input or advice!

This is a system that would be used for everyday stuff and gaming. Gaming would really be the only high-end activity done on it. I don't have a specific budget in mind at this time but I'd like to keep it resonable, getting the best performance for the best price. Games I'm currently interested in would be stuff like Call of Duty, CoD:United Offense, Battlefield 2, maybe Doom 3, possibly World of Warcraft, and definately Half-Life 2.

I'm also in Canada, Toronto area, so I'm looking to probably do a lot of ordering from tigerdirect.ca and maybe some other places that ship to Canada. I have been doing a lot of research at Newegg though, which has been very helpful. I may be able to order a couple things from there as well if I need to since I have many friends and family in the US.

Okay, here are some of the components I have in mind so far:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Socket 754 processor
Asus K8V Deluxe motherboard
Seagate 120GB 7200 2MB ATA-100 EIDE hard drive
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB video card
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS sound card
NEC FE991SB-BK 19" CRT monitor
Logitech Z640 5.1 speakers

some floppy
some cheap internal CD/DVD Rom (I've got an external Sony DVD +/-R and CD rewriter/writer already)

Now here's where I run into some trouble...

RAM-- not sure which kind at all. Obviously I want DDR PC3200 400mhz, but there seem to be many different kinds, including Dual Channel and whatever others. I don't know what is best or what's the best deal. I've heard Crucial brand is good, and ULTRA also seem to have decent prices. I'd like 1 GB total, but I guess I would get 2x512mb chips or something.

Case-- I wasn't planning on spending too much on a case, but there are so many it's a bit overwhelming. I'd like something that looks nice but my main concerns are price, good cooling ability, ease to work with. I've heard Aluminum cases are good at cooling, is this true? I like the look of some of the see-through acrylic cases, but they're more expensive. I also read 120mm fans are both quiet and very effective, should I have room for one of these? It seems like many cases don't have room for 120mm fans.

Cooling-- What will I need in this category? I'd like the computer to be as quiet as possible while still keeping things very nice and cool. As I said I read 120mm fan(s) are supposed to be good. How many would I need, are they quiet, would I need an intake and outake fans? I suppose much of this will depend on the case. I'll be purchasing the cpu and video card retail, so I hope not to have to purchase anything else to cool those off. Any other recommendations?

Power Source-- Originally I thought this would just come with the case, and I guess it could, but I gather those power sources aren't usually too great. I figured I'd need at least a 400W for this system. I heard Antec were good, but they're expensive. I'd like to keep the case, cooling, and power source cost as low as possible while still getting what I need and at a decent price. Tips greatly appreciated here.


I think that covers what I've been wondering about and thinking about so far. I've never put a computer together so I hope I can figure it out from what I've read and from instructions and stuff. I've got an OS disc lying around so that's taken care of.

I greatly appreciate any responses and I apologize if this is so long no one bothers to read it. I was just trying to cover everything.

Big thanks in advance! It seemed like some other new builders got some really good info and advice from you guys.
 
This would best belong in the General Hardware section. I'm sure the mods will move it. No worries since your a nOObie to the forum, and welcome to the [H] btw.

Reading your build ideas.... it looks good, I would take that PC anyday.
 
Dual channel really doesnt help you with amd. (Atleast it did'n't with the athlonxps)
Aluminum improving cooling is a myth.
For your case get something that looks nice as long as it is not some 40 dollar tin can. Don't skimp on a case.
Cooling wise you want atleast 2 80mm fans in the back or one 120mm. Antec makes some cases with a 120mm fan in both the front and back.
You would also want atleast one fan in the front and or side.
For cpu cooling I would reccomend this.
Your video card will be fine if you are not doing magor overclocking on it.
For a powersupply either of these would be good. forton antec


Your system looks good.
But for your harddrive try this instead.
 
heh. wrong section. but its all good.
yeh. system looks good. but like he said, dual channel doesn't matter for athlon xps, so just pick however much you want. i'd stick with 2x512 unless you wanna blow more money on 1 chip.
the cooling will depend on if you plan to overclock or not. if not. stock cooling is fine. also depends what your target temp is. *shrugs* thats all you.
i would be sure to get a hard drive that has more than a 2meg cache. you'll be slowing your machine down. so yeh. get an 8 meg cache. its worth it. like he suggested.
i'm not going to try and make your choice for a case, if you want cheap. thats all you. i like spending a little more on my cases and having ones that i can a) keep and use a lot b) rely on c) not have an urge to rip apart with a sledgehammer because its built terriblely.

edit: haha. tiger direct. man, they have an outlet store in raleigh, they have the dumbest people there. like, seriously, one of the sales people tried to sell my friend and me an athlon board for a celeron chip. he said they were made the same.
i cringe when i say best buy > tiger direct :(
 
in that case most of the threads in general hardware need to be moved. people build pcs so they can game. however, gamers do not always know tech. either way, the general hardware section will give a better understanding to the hardware, why its good. ect. more knowledge base of hardware in general hardware, more knowledge of games in gaming. its simply a 'for best results' thing.
 
I'd agree that is a great setup. A few suggestions/answers:

RAM: Dual-channel isnt available with the socket 754s. However, you may wish to get matched RAM for a future upgrade to a dual-channel Mobo (in which case get 2 x 512).

Crucial RAM is rock-solid stable at a great price, but you won't have much success at overclocking the sticks. If you want overclocking RAM, I've always been partial to Mushkin. However, OCZ and Corsair are also popular.

Case: Aluminum cases are great-looking and help with cooling. Antec, Lian-Li, and Thermaltake are a excellent brands and you really can't go wrong. Plan to spend about $100 for a nice aluminum case which generally includes all the fans you will need.

Power Source: You are dead-on with a 400w powersupply. Again, Antec is nice but my personal favorite is PC Power and Cooling. Yes, the are somewhat pricey but a few extra dollars on a power supply will go a long way.

Video Card: Again, this is just my own personal prefence, but if you are building a new system I'd recommend getting an Nvidia 6800GT or ATI X800.

Sound Card: I'm not an audiophile and I've used onboard sound cards for the past 3-4 years. They work just as well as the Soundblasters and you save yourself some money.

Speakers: I've got those same speakers and they are the best! Awesome value.

Tigerdirect: I know you are in Canada, but unless you find a great deal on a single piece of hardware, stay away! Newegg.com or Mwave.com are awesome for both prices and customer service.
 
Sorry! I knew I must've missed the hardware area or something. If this is indeed in the wrong place or causing trouble feel free to move it by all means. My apologies again.

Thanks so much for all the replies so far, lots of great advice. I didn't realize TigerDirect didn't have the best reputation. It seemed to be one of the larger scale online stores able to ship directly to Canada. However, I'm sure I can locate some other ones or work things so I can order most stuff from Newegg. It's pretty unbelievable how many sites don't ship to Canada, but have no problem with Alaska, Hawaii, or even Puerto Rico. Newegg does seem an awesome site though.

Your comments on the RAM are VERY helpful. That makes me feel much better about that situation. I will be looking for 2x512MB DDR PC3200 400mhz sticks, probably Corsair or Cruicial, and I just won't worry too much about the special types out there.

Ditto about the case. I haven't looked too much for specific cases so I'll have to get on that. I also appreciate the power source suggestions. I wasn't counting on the case and power source being quite so expensive, but I guess quality is the most important thing. I wish I could get building this right away, but I think I'm gonna have to wait and save up a bit more.

BIG thanks on the hard drive suggestion! That hard drive link looks like an excellent deal and like a much larger and faster hard drive.


To answer a couple questions-- I am not planning to overclock at all as I just don't know enough about that at this time, or about advanced cooling solutions.

I chose the 9800 pro video card because of its sweet price right now. I'm certainly happy to spend some money on this system if and when I put it together, but I want to keep things reasonable. $400-500 for a video card alone does not seem reasonable to me in my current financial state. heh. I was hoping that the 9800 pro would be good for quite awhile and then I'd be able to upgrade to something else when it's cheaper down the line.

I also have no idea what my target temperature would/should be for this system. I hadn't really considered it. I'd just like to keep things as cool and as quiet as they need to be and can be. Is there a temp I should be shooting for? (edit: From some reading it seems maybe 50 degrees Celsius is a good point to aim for? By the way, how do I monitor the computer's temp anyway?)

Couple questions about cooling--
I'll have to get more into this once I've narrowed down a case, but I think I understand the workings of the case fans a bit better and it sounded like the video card should cool itself okay. However, I'm wondering more about the cpu now. GlobalFear pointed me here:

http://www.zalmanusa.com/usa/product/view.asp?idx=141&code=005009

Now this thing looks pretty wicked. I'd love to have it, but is it necessary? There's no price listed on the page that I saw, but I imagine it's expensive. Is something like this necessary, or is it more just for extra performance and style? Would this system need it? As I say, I think i've got the basics needed to build a computer down, but a lot of this special stuff is a bit beyone me. If I get the processor in a retail box, shouldn't it come with it's own heatsink and fan and whatever else? I was hoping that stuff would be good enough.

Any further info on this stuff, or anything else, is greatly appreciated!! Thanks! I have a feeling this system is going to get sort of expensive, but at least it will be a lot cheaper than the Alienware system my friend spent like $2500 USD on. Crazy...

I'll check back in a day or two. I'm in the process of moving currently and everything is a bit jumbled up. Later!
 
Masahiko said:
Sorry! I knew I must've missed the hardware area or something. If this is indeed in the wrong place or causing trouble feel free to move it by all means. My apologies again.

Thanks so much for all the replies so far, lots of great advice. I didn't realize TigerDirect didn't have the best reputation. It seemed to be one of the larger scale online stores able to ship directly to Canada. However, I'm sure I can locate some other ones or work things so I can order most stuff from Newegg. It's pretty unbelievable how many sites don't ship to Canada, but have no problem with Alaska, Hawaii, or even Puerto Rico. Newegg does seem an awesome site though.

Your comments on the RAM are VERY helpful. That makes me feel much better about that situation. I will be looking for 2x512MB DDR PC3200 400mhz sticks, probably Corsair or Cruicial, and I just won't worry too much about the special types out there.

Ditto about the case. I haven't looked too much for specific cases so I'll have to get on that. I also appreciate the power source suggestions. I wasn't counting on the case and power source being quite so expensive, but I guess quality is the most important thing. I wish I could get building this right away, but I think I'm gonna have to wait and save up a bit more.

BIG thanks on the hard drive suggestion! That hard drive link looks like an excellent deal and like a much larger and faster hard drive.


To answer a couple questions-- I am not planning to overclock at all as I just don't know enough about that at this time, or about advanced cooling solutions.

I chose the 9800 pro video card because of its sweet price right now. I'm certainly happy to spend some money on this system if and when I put it together, but I want to keep things reasonable. $400-500 for a video card alone does not seem reasonable to me in my current financial state. heh. I was hoping that the 9800 pro would be good for quite awhile and then I'd be able to upgrade to something else when it's cheaper down the line.

I also have no idea what my target temperature would/should be for this system. I hadn't really considered it. I'd just like to keep things as cool and as quiet as they need to be and can be. Is there a temp I should be shooting for? (edit: From some reading it seems maybe 50 degrees Celsius is a good point to aim for? By the way, how do I monitor the computer's temp anyway?)

Couple questions about cooling--
I'll have to get more into this once I've narrowed down a case, but I think I understand the workings of the case fans a bit better and it sounded like the video card should cool itself okay. However, I'm wondering more about the cpu now. GlobalFear pointed me here:

http://www.zalmanusa.com/usa/product/view.asp?idx=141&code=005009

Now this thing looks pretty wicked. I'd love to have it, but is it necessary? There's no price listed on the page that I saw, but I imagine it's expensive. Is something like this necessary, or is it more just for extra performance and style? Would this system need it? As I say, I think i've got the basics needed to build a computer down, but a lot of this special stuff is a bit beyone me. If I get the processor in a retail box, shouldn't it come with it's own heatsink and fan and whatever else? I was hoping that stuff would be good enough.

Any further info on this stuff, or anything else, is greatly appreciated!! Thanks! I have a feeling this system is going to get sort of expensive, but at least it will be a lot cheaper than the Alienware system my friend spent like $2500 USD on. Crazy...

I'll check back in a day or two. I'm in the process of moving currently and everything is a bit jumbled up. Later!
Click to expand...

In a nutshell.... that Zalman unit is very very nice and a good buy. However you mentioned that you NOT overclocking. If you want to show off a bit then ya get it. But is it needed ? ... in short.

No. You can get away with a cheap HSF that'll do the trick just fine for you.
 
theNoid said:
In a nutshell.... that Zalman unit is very very nice and a good buy. However you mentioned that you NOT overclocking. If you want to show off a bit then ya get it. But is it needed ? ... in short.

No. You can get away with a cheap HSF that'll do the trick just fine for you.
Click to expand...


Thanks, that's very clear. Perhaps it could be a future upgrade or something, or if it isn't too expensive I may pick it up.

Before I go continue moving all my junk I had a couple more things.

First, what do you guys think of this case?

http://www.chenbro.com.tw/product/product.jsp?p=1&s=102&pid=54

It looks nice enough to me and I think is reasonably priced. It has space for a 120mm rear fan and for a 80 or 92m on the front. I guess it may come with a power source, but I'm not so concerned about that since it could just be replaced. Would those be enough fans? It looks like it would fit the motherboard and stuff I was thinking of, and it sounds like it's meant to be easy to work with.

(edit: Perhaps I was too quick to judge about this case. It looks great, but I guess maybe it is only for Athlon XP and Intel Pentium cpus?)


Also, Crunchyjedi mentioned that he just uses the onboard sound stuff and is perfectly happy with it. He also mentioned he had the same 5.1 speaker set I mentioned I was thinking about. I didn't realize that onboard audio was all that great and would support 5.1 surround stuff and have good quality sound. Does the Asus K8V Deluxe mobo I listed above support 5.1 surround onboard? If it does maybe I will just skip the sound card, at least at first.

Thanks again guys! This is brilliant. Now all I need is money.
 
Those Chenbros are very nice with a great price. Keep in mind they dont have removable motherboard trays and dont come with power supplies or fans. Some better pics:

Chenbro Case

However, I hear they stay dissipate heat very well.
 
Cigolon said:
heh. wrong section. but its all good.
yeh. system looks good. but like he said, dual channel doesn't matter for athlon xps, so just pick however much you want. i'd stick with 2x512 unless you wanna blow more money on 1 chip.
the cooling will depend on if you plan to overclock or not. if not. stock cooling is fine. also depends what your target temp is. *shrugs* thats all you.
i would be sure to get a hard drive that has more than a 2meg cache. you'll be slowing your machine down. so yeh. get an 8 meg cache. its worth it. like he suggested.
i'm not going to try and make your choice for a case, if you want cheap. thats all you. i like spending a little more on my cases and having ones that i can a) keep and use a lot b) rely on c) not have an urge to rip apart with a sledgehammer because its built terriblely.

edit: haha. tiger direct. man, they have an outlet store in raleigh, they have the dumbest people there. like, seriously, one of the sales people tried to sell my friend and me an athlon board for a celeron chip. he said they were made the same.
i cringe when i say best buy > tiger direct :(
Click to expand...

Have you ever been to a bestbuy in jersey? It's like mcdonalds closed and all thier employees got jobs at bestbuy.
 
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