My Laptop is 3 years old and sucks

[Versus]

better idea, use an empty mechanical pencil.

[Vandamguy]

[quote author=Aerox link=topic=1402.msg38530#msg38530 date=1221350112]
[quote author=CaffeinePowered link=topic=1402.msg38526#msg38526 date=1221345719]
lol wut, when you start getting about $2000 that's getting into bleeding edge, $1000 IMHO is very reasonable for a high end build as far as the benefits you are getting. Thats the stage where you can start going things like Raid 5 10000 RPM Raptors, really nice graphics cards and motherboards, and have a soundcard instead of onboard garbage.

So what do you recommend?
[/quote]

Motherboard - $140
Processor - $190
Memory - $95
Video Card - $150 (after rebate)
Sound Card - $140 (PCI-X) or this - $90 (PCI)
PSU - $130
Case - $80
Hard Drive 1 - Windows Main - $40
Hard Drive 2 - 4 (Raid 5 Array) - $195 (65x3)
DVD Burner - $30

Total Price For Case Only - $1280

Machine Specs
3.16 Dual Core Processor
2 gigs DDR2 1200
BFG Geforce 8800 GTS (Factory Overclocked)
High performance 7.1 surround sound card
650w Power Supply
720 gigs of HDD space w/Redundancy (80g windows drive, 640g Raid 5 array)
DVD Burner

Moniter and OS not included, I prefer to buy those at an actual store where I can see a demo unit. Id recommend Vista x64 for your operating system.


I'm also horrible at picking out a case and/or power supply, for a PSU I just tend to do overkill.
[/quote]

good choices here as well. but if i was doing it I would nix the RAID, beef up your main HDD, and bump the graphics card up to a geforce 260

[copulatingduck]

[quote author=Wedge link=topic=1402.msg38563#msg38563 date=1221361953]
If you've got a really nice sound system and need 600 gigs of space for critical data, then yeah that might be worth it, but it's really not necessary for most people.  I think it'd be worth finding out what exactly he needs the computer to do, and try to work the luxury bits towards those ends.  And it couldn't hurt to try and find some deals too, a lot of those parts could be gotten 20-30 cheaper with the same quality.

He's better off getting it from newegg IMHO, since he lives in Cali, thats where their main distribution center is, so next to no shipping costs, and they will let you RMA almost anything for any reason, even if you break it just say it was DOA and for the most part its no questions asked.

I ordered a processor from another website once, it had a bent pin on arrival and the box was kind of beat up, the RMA guy told me, and I shit you not, to bend the pin back with a screwdriver...yea...good advice, repair the delicate gold connector pin by attempting to bend it back into perfect alignment with a large piece of hard steel.
[/quote]

Pennies aren't steel...

better idea, use an empty mechanical pencil.

I have done this before. 8)

[Aerox]

Caf's specs.

Excellent, this looks to be pretty much exactly what I'm looking for.  I'll probably buy sometime in the next week or so.

So, step 2, when it comes to actually putting it together, what do I need?  (Please tell me everything even if it seems simple because chances are I will forget it if you don't)  How difficult is it to put together?  I'm guessing I will need some sort of guide or something because otherwise I will probably break everything.

Also, about how hot will this run?  Do I need to worry about any kind of cooling thing?  My plan is to keep it in a little cabinet under my desk that's not super well ventilated - is that going to be a problem?  Is it going to heat up my room an extra 10 degrees like all my video game shit already does?

Thanks!

[Aerox]

good choices here as well. but if i was doing it I would nix the RAID, beef up your main HDD, and bump the graphics card up to a geforce 260

Yeah, I don't know if I'll need a RAID HD (although it wouldn't hurt).  A big main drive would probably be ok, and I also have an external 200gb that's kind of a piece of crap but I could use it.  What do you think Caf?

Also, what exactly is the difference between the regular versions of Windows and the 64 bit ones?  What makes it better?  I've never been clear on that.  Will I run into problems if there are not 64 bit versions of various applications available?

[Surf314]

It's been a while since I've built one, but the only thing tricky is putting the processor in.  You have to be gentle with it and read the directions when applying the thermal paste.  Everything else is really simple.  

Steps:
1. put in processor thermal paste and heat sink (this is the hardest step, be very careful not to bend or break any pins.  Also put exactly the amount of thermal paste it says in the directions - too much or too little will make it run hotter)
2. mount motherboard with the screws they give you to the case and put in the ram (this usually needs a bit of force just follow the directions and don't worry about giving it a little muscle, it's supposed to be a tight fit)
3. put in all the drives and cables and put in the power supply (also make sure that the jumpers on the hard drive are set to master - it will be in the directions or on a sticker)
4. put in all the cards in the slots (they go in any order in the slots they fit, again may need a bit of muscle - just make sure you are pressing straight down so you don't tweak it)
5. make sure everything has power connected to it from the power supply.  All drives the motherboard and the graphics card (if it's a nice one it will probably have a connection)
6. now just turn it on and put in your operating system, boot to CD and follow the install directions.
7. install all necessary drivers and look up the latest ones for the key parts online (namely the graphics card)

Someone correct me if I'm wrong on anything or missing anything.

[CaffeinePowered]

[quote author=Vandamguy link=topic=1402.msg38580#msg38580 date=1221370551]
good choices here as well. but if i was doing it I would nix the RAID, beef up your main HDD, and bump the graphics card up to a geforce 260

Yeah, I don't know if I'll need a RAID HD (although it wouldn't hurt).  A big main drive would probably be ok, and I also have an external 200gb that's kind of a piece of crap but I could use it.  What do you think Caf?

Also, what exactly is the difference between the regular versions of Windows and the 64 bit ones?  What makes it better?  I've never been clear on that.  Will I run into problems if there are not 64 bit versions of various applications available?
[/quote]

For putting your PC together, all you need is a phillips head screwdriver, nothing else should be needed, however, for installing the head sink onto the processor you will also need a flat head. The heat sink install IMO is the most nerve racking part of building a box, since you have to apply a lot of pressure and you are always afraid of cracking one of the cores on the processor or breaking a soddering point on the motherboard. Watch a video on youtube if you want to see how to install a socket 775 processor. You dont need gloves or electro-static equipment, just don't wear a wool sweater and mittens while doing it.

Since you are using a stock fan, you do not need to worry about thermal paste

You can make the RAID smaller if you want, however, I like to keep my widows drive as empty as possible in case I ever need to wipe it, that way all my stuff is on a secondary drive. An external USB drive will be very slow compared to SATA2 or a RAID array, but its good for keeping a back up of your music and porn collection. That's just my recommendation, especially if you are someone who wipes their drives a lot. A RAID will also load things roughly twice as fast as a single drive, and hard drive access times are the bottleneck in most of systems today as far as loading times go.

Id install 64 bit windows, it will be better in the long run, 64 bit OSes can run 32 bit programs with no problem. Im not going to go into too much detail about the differences however, some newer games, like Crysis have 64 and 32 bit executable, running 64 bit will overall give you a better experience, but you can only do it if you have a 64 bit OS installed.

[Aerox]

Ok, more stupid questions from me.

Will it come with a heat sink, or do I have to buy that separately?  If I have to buy it, what do you recommend?

I'll probably go with the RAID drives, and bump the graphics card up to the Geforce 260 anyway.  I'm assuming I'll be able to run most stuff on high-very high with the 260  (hopefully).  About how long will the 260 last before I would likely have to upgrade again?

[CaffeinePowered]

Ok, more stupid questions from me.

Will it come with a heat sink, or do I have to buy that separately?  If I have to buy it, what do you recommend?

I'll probably go with the RAID drives, and bump the graphics card up to the Geforce 260 anyway.  I'm assuming I'll be able to run most stuff on high-very high with the 260  (hopefully).  About how long will the 260 last before I would likely have to upgrade again?

A heat sink comes with the processor and is certified by Intel to keep the temperature manageable, however if you find the additional heat from the graphics card and hard drives is making it too hot you can buy a third party heat sink, I would not recommend doing this off the bat.

The 260 could last anywhere from 3 - 5 years depending on your own personal tolerance for how games run. If you don't mind running things on medium/low settings and dipping down to maybe around 30 FPS than 4 or 5 years easily. If you get pissy when things get below 45 fps like me than maybe 3 years. I tend to upgrade in 3 or 4 year cycles depending on my monetary funds at the time.

[Vandamguy]

your geforce 260 is comparable to running two 8800 GTX's. also , depends what monitor you have it hooked up to. 22 inch monitor is a joke for this card , if you want to start using some of its muscle you need to have it hooked up to a 30inch

....

;D

[Aerox]

your geforce 260 is comparable to running two 8800 GTX's. also , depends what monitor you have it hooked up to. 22 inch monitor is a joke for this card , if you want to start using some of its muscle you need to have it hooked up to a 30inch

....

;D

Unfortunately I don't think I'm prepared to spend more on a monitor than I did on my 40" TV...

[Budr]

[quote author=Vandamguy link=topic=1402.msg38822#msg38822 date=1221454248]
your geforce 260 is comparable to running two 8800 GTX's. also , depends what monitor you have it hooked up to. 22 inch monitor is a joke for this card , if you want to start using some of its muscle you need to have it hooked up to a 30inch

....

;D

Unfortunately I don't think I'm prepared to spend more on a monitor than I did on my 40" TV...
[/quote]

Bullshit anyway. You'd be able to run today's games at 2560×1600 with high settings but the lifespan of the card would suddenly drop. And a pre-emptive fuck off to anyone who suggests running at a non-native res.

[ScottyGrayskull]

Sounds like you have all the info you need for buying and installing.

Yeah though, putting a PC together these days is simple. The only place where you have to be careful is when installing the cpu and heatsink/fan because of the aforementioned force needed to get those damn screws in. Other than that everything pretty much goes in one and only one place. Might be worth reading the motherboard manual on jumper settings, but what's there when you get it will likely be what you'd want.

One thing you should be careful of is the screw mounts in the case for the motherboard. Make sure every mount has a corresponding hole in the motherboard, and remove any extras. Pretty sure that extra contact caused my issues a few months ago (god bless RMA!)

Of course if you have any issues we're available on Steam or whatever for support. Good luck!

[Surf314]

Oh shit, I forgot about the motherboard jumpers.  There are two things that have jumpers - the motherboard and the hard drive.  It's because the computer needs to know what its dealing with immediately with both these things.  The motherboard jumpers tell it what processor it has in, so read the manual and make sure those jumpers are set to the processor you own.  Then the hard drive, it can be slave or master.  Master means that it is the hard drive the computer is supposed to boot from, so you want to make sure it is set to that.  It's usually the default setting but check anyway.  If you get another hard drive set it to slave.

[Budr]

Oh shit, I forgot about the motherboard jumpers.  There are two things that have jumpers - the motherboard and the hard drive.  It's because the computer needs to know what its dealing with immediately with both these things.  The motherboard jumpers tell it what processor it has in, so read the manual and make sure those jumpers are set to the processor you own.  Then the hard drive, it can be slave or master.  Master means that it is the hard drive the computer is supposed to boot from, so you want to make sure it is set to that.  It's usually the default setting but check anyway.  If you get another hard drive set it to slave.

I haven't seen an HD for years that isn't cable select and I don't recall the last mobo that I had to set jumpers on.

[Vandamguy]

I haven't seen an HD for years that isn't cable select and I don't recall the last mobo that I had to set jumpers on.

qft

most MB will auto detect, still read your MB manual anyways , it will come with a lot of good infos on how to put together your compewda

Unfortunately I don't think I'm prepared to spend more on a monitor than I did on my 40" TV...

i was just making an example of the amount of leftover power you'll have

Bullshit anyway. You'd be able to run today's games at 2560×1600 with high settings but the lifespan of the card would suddenly drop. And a pre-emptive fuck off to anyone who suggests running at a non-native res.

wut ?

[copulatingduck]

Exactly what Budr said. Everything is pretty set out of the box. I don't think SATA even has jumpers...

[Surf314]

Shows how long it's been since I've built a computer  :-[

On the plus side I was building computers when a lot of you were still playing with legos!

[Budr]

[quote author=Budr link=topic=1402.msg38847#msg38847 date=1221471068]
Bullshit anyway. You'd be able to run today's games at 2560×1600 with high settings but the lifespan of the card would suddenly drop. And a pre-emptive fuck off to anyone who suggests running at a non-native res.

wut ?
[/quote]

I just think Aerox would be better off going for a smaller monitor. Granted a 280 could run pretty much anything you could throw at it today but given that he's asking about longevity, a couple of years down the line, the bump up to a resolution that high might mean dropping for high to medium settings to assure a playable frame rate.

[copulatingduck]

Shows how long it's been since I've built a computer  :-[

On the plus side I was building computers when a lot of you were still playing with legos!

Good for you grandpa, here's a catheter.