jordan_ellipsis

Hey, im planning to build a PC from scratch and was wondering what the best way to go about it is? Should i start with a motherboard and go for there - or choose all the parts i want and then pick a motherboard to fit - then pick a case to fit all of that.

So far i know i want to use a Intel Core 2 Duo chipset, and have 2 WD SATA 150gb 10k rpm hard drives, possibly setup in RAID 0. And thats it so far.

Can anyone help, please?

dark_legacy2006

well you always want to make sure evertying your getting is compatible with your mobo.... im sure everyone does it differently but i always pick the mobo i want and the procesor and work from there
if i were to get a mobo, i would make sure its got sata ports for the HDS, its got multi threading, is gonna support ddr2 ram preffereable at about 667mhz
just little things liek that

Iluvpenguins

I pick cpu then motherboard that supports it,then i just build on it from there.

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My computer:
Intel Core2Duo E6550 @ 3.01ghz
Gigabyte P31-DS3L
Patriot 2x1GB DDR2-800 @ 1032mhz
EVGA GeForce 8800GTX
Antec 500W w/32A on 12v rail
WD 80GB HDD,WD 500GB HDD
Ultra Aluminus Full Tower Case (Black Finish)

dark_legacy2006

sorry but i had to type a pointless message jsut to see the previous message..... it makes no sense i cant see your messages on forums i posted on unless i post again



sorry

jordan_ellipsis

But how do i know what motherboard to go for if i dont know what I'l want on it yet?

Archangel

well.. looks like you picked a CPU. the HD's shouldnt be a problem, since about all motherboards wupport raid 0.

now look weither you want to get a crossfire/SLI motherboard, or that just 1 (pci-e) grafic's card is enough. if you have deciuded on that, chose a motherboard, and after that you chose the RAM that fit's it ( like dark said, that would be ddr2 ram)
then you look for a nice PSU ( mainly dependant on the grafic's card you get, but if you have a good branded 500W PSU, you'll be fine anyway )
and ofcourse a nice case where everything fit's in

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Wiens

Jordan_ellipsis,

The first place to start is with your budget. How much do you want/need/can spend? The next item is your intended use. What are your plans for this computer?

KW

jordan_ellipsis

Hi, sorry iv taken so long to reply.

The computer is intendted to be used for digital recording, Pro Tools etc. But also it'd be great to have a computer that could handle anything (well not like godzilla in a fight, but a lot of things) likes games, general intensive tasks like video editing or image editing (not sure how much power the later requires)

As for budget, maybe around the £2500 mark, so roughly $5000, but that is very rough. My Dad set me the task of upgrading the dell he is using, its a Dell dimension 4400 MT 1.7GHz P4. He used to work heavily with computers, in TANDEM systems, but now he runs a computer business and so isn't as hands-on anymore. We've been talking lots about music computers and whats needed to make a good one etc. and he said i could take his dell and upgrade it. I know that upgrading is no longer an option, as Dells are fidgety, so im starting from scratch. Because neither of us are particulalry in-tune with the computer world right now, and dont know how much money is expected for a quality system, budget is pretty flexible.

Archangel what is a crossfire/SLI motherboard? Graphics-wise, it'd be nice to have a semi-decent graphics/video card so that i could do video-editing or gaming, but that is something i know very little about.

Jet

According to what you say there, an SLI/Crossfire motherboard would be a complete waste, just get a nice single graphics card, like the 7900GTX or a X1900XTX.

You serious about the $5000 budget?

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apatel9

$5000 budget will get you a computer that will handle basically whatever you want. I doubt you will even need to spend that much. 3-4k is what Id expect.