N00B PC

asphyxiation · 12-24-2007, 04:49 AM

Hey, guys:

I've read through these posts for awhile now and feel this shouldn't be taboo or off-limits. I'm a definite n00b at building a PC. I've had my current PC for approximately 5 years until the power supply decided to dump, and I figured I would go with something new.

I was hoping you guys would give me your idea of the best computer hardware I could piece together that fits with my parameters. My budget: $600 or so without monitor. I don't really game much, but I was sort of looking at WoW. It won't be a priority, though, and I can do without.

I mainly surf the internet (email, videos, forum posting, eBay, etc...). I download music and videos, so a large Hard Drive (320GB? 500GB if it's within budget) would be helpful. From what I've heard, I'd be better off going with Intel, as the only games I would play would be simple Flash games or WoW.

Let me know if there's anything else I need to clarify!

imsati · 12-24-2007, 07:03 AM

Welcome to CF

It all depends on what you A) want to use the system for; and, B) what kind of system you prefer: AMD or Intel. For what you described, personally, I'd go with Intel.

You can build a great system for sub-$600. Are you looking for actual component suggestions from us or just a general 'what to look for'?

lovely? · 12-24-2007, 01:18 PM

well taking into consideration that 600 dollars is actually only likee 470$ after the operating system, i'd have to disagree with you imsati and suggest an amd x2...

daisymtc · 12-24-2007, 03:49 PM

asphyxiation · 12-24-2007, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by imsati

Welcome to CF

It all depends on what you A) want to use the system for; and, B) what kind of system you prefer: AMD or Intel. For what you described, personally, I'd go with Intel.

You can build a great system for sub-$600. Are you looking for actual component suggestions from us or just a general 'what to look for'?

I was hoping for specific hardware suggestions. I've been reading around and can see what's suggested a lot, but I don't know if those suggestions really fit my needs. For example, I hear a lot of about the Antec Sonata III case, but I don't know if this is inadequate or overkill.

asphyxiation · 12-24-2007, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daisymtc

This is great. I was looking at some of these specific items before. A questions I have: the 64-bit version can recognize a much larger amount of RAM, so it's more upgradeable. Although I'd only be putting 2GB right away, I may want to upgrade in the future. The motherboard listed only supports up to 4GB. Is it the general consensus that this would be well enough for a few years without upgrading, or would I be better off paying a bit more for a motherboard that can support more memory?

imsati · 12-24-2007, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovely?

well taking into consideration that 600 dollars is actually only likee 470$ after the operating system, i'd have to disagree with you imsati and suggest an amd x2...

Disagree all you want

No hard feelings!

Nothing the OP mentioned requires a quad-core or crazy-accessorized MoBo, so they will be fine with a C2D circa $180 and a Board circa $80. That's $260 right there, provided they are purchased separately; a combo deal would be slightly lower depending on the package. For argument sake, let's up it by $20 to cover a slight upgrade if desired, so $280. DDR2 is dropping in price almost daily it seems (ok, maybe weekly) so figure $40 for 2 Gigs (up to $320). A 250 GB HDD is +/-$70 (up to $390). Setting aside a modest $120 for an OS brings the current total to $510, and leaves +/-$90 for a case and PSU. Very doable as-is. Edit: Forgot to add an optical drive, but that's only another $20, so no biggie.

However, consider Newegg's Free Shipping on random components for the time-being, combo deals, and rebates, and all of a sudden, you're considerably less than the $600 price limit. Hell, my MoBo is only $60 at TD now - not the newest but still great nonetheless. Drop in an E4500 and you don't even break $200 for the set.

imsati · 12-24-2007, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asphyxiation

I was hoping for specific hardware suggestions. I've been reading around and can see what's suggested a lot, but I don't know if those suggestions really fit my needs. For example, I hear a lot of about the Antec Sonata III case, but I don't know if this is inadequate or overkill.

Gotcha. As far as fitting your needs, you do not need the newest, baddest-ass, and/or best components. Now, don't take that to mean that your system will run like crap - stuff from 8-12 months ago will still perform excellent for you based on your mentioned-usage.

Personally, for the system/jobs you're looking to do, I'd stick with a lower-end C2D and a MoBo around $70-ish. You could do with 1 Gig of RAM, but if you do a bit of comparing between TD and Newegg, you can almost always find a combo deal (2 x 1 Gig sticks) for either the same price or lower after Rebates. If you find such a deal, grab it, if not, don't worry about only 1 Gig. You don't need a monster PSU - 380-400 watts should be fine. Not at all familiar with that case, but if it appeals to you, go for it - that'll be what everyone sees

You mentioned being mildly interested in WoW; I'm assuming you have zero desire to game-otherwise? If that's true, then a low-end video card will be fine, however if you plan to do WoW sporaticaly at best, you may consider starting off without one and seeing how it runs using on-board graphics; you can always add one later if it lags a bit.

Will you be keeping your old monitor? If it's still in good condition, I'd stick with it. Newer LCD's will suck up a large part of that budget.

asphyxiation · 12-24-2007, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by imsati

Gotcha. As far as fitting your needs, you do not need the newest, baddest-ass, and/or best components. Now, don't take that to mean that your system will run like crap - stuff from 8-12 months ago will still perform excellent for you based on your mentioned-usage.

Personally, for the system/jobs you're looking to do, I'd stick with a lower-end C2D and a MoBo around $70-ish. You could do with 1 Gig of RAM, but if you do a bit of comparing between TD and Newegg, you can almost always find a combo deal (2 x 1 Gig sticks) for either the same price or lower after Rebates. If you find such a deal, grab it, if not, don't worry about only 1 Gig. You don't need a monster PSU - 380-400 watts should be fine. Not at all familiar with that case, but if it appeals to you, go for it - that'll be what everyone sees

You mentioned being mildly interested in WoW; I'm assuming you have zero desire to game-otherwise? If that's true, then a low-end video card will be fine, however if you plan to do WoW sporaticaly at best, you may consider starting off without one and seeing how it runs using on-board graphics; you can always add one later if it lags a bit.

Will you be keeping your old monitor? If it's still in good condition, I'd stick with it. Newer LCD's will suck up a large part of that budget.

Thank you for all of your help! One thing I may want to mention is that this computer will be the main hub of my e-commerce business I run out of my home. Because of this, reliability is a must. Will upgrading to the 500-watt (something included in one of the above suggestions) help in this area? Should I look into extra cooling even though I never plan to OC?

ComputerGuru64x2 · 12-24-2007, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by imsati

Gotcha. As far as fitting your needs, you do not need the newest, baddest-ass, and/or best components. Now, don't take that to mean that your system will run like crap - stuff from 8-12 months ago will still perform excellent for you based on your mentioned-usage.

Personally, for the system/jobs you're looking to do, I'd stick with a lower-end C2D and a MoBo around $70-ish. You could do with 1 Gig of RAM, but if you do a bit of comparing between TD and Newegg, you can almost always find a combo deal (2 x 1 Gig sticks) for either the same price or lower after Rebates. If you find such a deal, grab it, if not, don't worry about only 1 Gig. You don't need a monster PSU - 380-400 watts should be fine. Not at all familiar with that case, but if it appeals to you, go for it - that'll be what everyone sees

You mentioned being mildly interested in WoW; I'm assuming you have zero desire to game-otherwise? If that's true, then a low-end video card will be fine, however if you plan to do WoW sporaticaly at best, you may consider starting off without one and seeing how it runs using on-board graphics; you can always add one later if it lags a bit.

Will you be keeping your old monitor? If it's still in good condition, I'd stick with it. Newer LCD's will suck up a large part of that budget.

Isn't that the truth, You said it all

12-24-2007, 04:49 AM	#1 (permalink)
asphyxiation New Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 7	N00B PC - Flex your mind muscle! Hey, guys: I've read through these posts for awhile now and feel this shouldn't be taboo or off-limits. I'm a definite n00b at building a PC. I've had my current PC for approximately 5 years until the power supply decided to dump, and I figured I would go with something new. I was hoping you guys would give me your idea of the best computer hardware I could piece together that fits with my parameters. My budget: $600 or so without monitor. I don't really game much, but I was sort of looking at WoW. It won't be a priority, though, and I can do without. I mainly surf the internet (email, videos, forum posting, eBay, etc...). I download music and videos, so a large Hard Drive (320GB? 500GB if it's within budget) would be helpful. From what I've heard, I'd be better off going with Intel, as the only games I would play would be simple Flash games or WoW. Let me know if there's anything else I need to clarify!

12-24-2007, 07:03 AM	#2 (permalink)
imsati Diamond Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: EHT, NJ Posts: 2,474	Welcome to CF It all depends on what you A) want to use the system for; and, B) what kind of system you prefer: AMD or Intel. For what you described, personally, I'd go with Intel. You can build a great system for sub-$600. Are you looking for actual component suggestions from us or just a general 'what to look for'? __________________ --Jay Gigabyte EP31-DS3L \| E4500 \| Masscool HSF paired with AS-5 80 GB SATA2 x 2 \| e-GeForce 7100 GS \| CM Elite 330 (gorgeous!) Triple Boot: Ubuntu 7.10/XP Home/Kubuntu 7.10 Also, I can kill you with my brain. The Great Forum Challenge http://www.computerforum.com/114761-...tml#post922619 (And you follow his advice why, exactly...?) (Funny Thread though!)

12-24-2007, 01:18 PM	#3 (permalink)
lovely? Diamond Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: California Age: 15 Posts: 3,647	well taking into consideration that 600 dollars is actually only likee 470$ after the operating system, i'd have to disagree with you imsati and suggest an amd x2... __________________ E4500 @ 2.93GHZ ASUS P5K-DELUXE 2GB OCZ Reaper CL3 @ 800MHZ 3-4-4-15 eVGA 8800GT OZC GameXStream 700W PSU 320GB WD Caviar SATA, 80GB WD Caviar IDE Sometimes scientists make things alot harder than they need to. All they've gotta do is put a big spring on the ground where they think it's gonna land, or send a mission to the moon to erect a sign that says "Welcome to Earth".

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12-24-2007, 03:49 PM	#4 (permalink)
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