First Time Computer Builder

D

Dornith

New Member
Hello. I am building a computer for the first time. To lead off, this is what I'm going to be using it for:
  • 75% Software development
  • 10% Games (Nothing too high end; Civ 4 at the most)
  • 15% Internet communications (Something like Skype)
I also have a laptop on which I do some web development.
As you can see from my usage, I do know something about how computers work, but I've never gotten much into hardware until now.
I also have some parts from my current computer that I can scrap too. (I keep a text document of it here:)

(Most of this is just the product information with a few parts swapped out. I'll probably start keeping a better list after this.)
Product number
- ER879AA

Introduction date
- 08-Mar-2006

Running System
- Windows 7 Home Premium

Base processor

PentiumD 930 (P) DC 3.0 GHz
800 MHz front side bus
Socket 775
Chipset
Intel 945P

Motherboard

Manufacturer: Asus
Motherboard Name: P5LP-LE
HP/Compaq motherboard name: Emery-UL8E

Memory

Component Attributes
Memory Installed 4 GB (4 x 1 GB)
Maximum allowed 4 GB* (4 x 1 GB)

Speed supported PC2-4200 MB/sec
Type 240 pin, DDR2 SDRAM
DIMM slots Four
Open DIMM slots Two

Hard drive
•300 GB SATA
•7200 rpm

16X DVD(+/-)R/RW RAM (+/-)R DL LightScribe drive

Port type Quantity
DVD-RAM 5X
DVD-R DL Write Once 4X
DVD+R DL Write Once 8X
DVD+R Write Once 16X
DVD+RW Rewritable 8X
DVD-R Write Once 16X
DVD-RW Rewritable 6X
DVD ROM Read 16X
CD-R Write Once 40X
CD-RW Rewritable 32X
CD-ROM Read 40X

DVD ROM
Maximum speed: 16X

Network Interface Card (NIC)
1 GB

Video Graphics
GeForce 7300LE
•64 MB DDR memory
•I/O Ports: VGA, Composite, S-Video
Television
TV tuner card with FM tuner

Sound/Audio

Integrated High Definition audio
•Realtek ALC 882 chipset
•Supports up to 8 audio channels
•Dolby Pro Logic II compatible
Network (LAN)


Integrated 10/100 Base-T networking interface

Supports the following cards:
- Compact Flash I
- Compact Flash II
- SmartMedia
- Memory Stick
- Memory Stick Pro
- MultiMediaCard
- Secure Digital (SD)
- Micro Drive
- XD Picture Card (xd = extreme digital)

I/O ports on the front panel (Only USB and Fire-wire are functional. It may be a driver issue)

Port type Quantity
9-in-1 (4 slot) One
1394 One
USB Two
Headphone One
Microphone One
Audio L-R One
S-video in One
Composite video in One

I/O ports on the back panel

Port type Quantity
PS2 (keyboard, mouse) Two (one each) (Both may need replacing soon)
Parallel One
USB Four
1394 One
LAN One
Audio (side speaker out,rear speaker out, center speaker out, line-in, line-out, microphone) One each

Slot type Quantity
PCI Three (One available)
PCI Express x16 One (None available)
DIMM Slots Four (Two available)

Bay type Quantity
5.25" external Two (None available)
3.5" internal One (None available)
Personal Media Drive One (One available)

Remote Control
- USB infrared remote and receiver
Click to expand...

Also, my budge is about $800, but I might be able to push it a little.

Any suggestions? The main thing I'm currious about is the CPU but, of course, the other pieces of hardware are important too.
 
Do you know how CPU or RAM intensive your applications are?

Really, I'm leaning towards a build with like $100 video card and the rest into CPU and RAM.
 
Right now most of my programs use 1 thread and 50,000K of memory (this is going by Task Manager) but I want to start making some more intensive programs soon. The main thing holding me back is some problems setting up my C compiler, restricting me to Java, and the fact that my power supply gives out if I use too much power.

Also, I'm considering using my current Hard drive as an external-boot-able and using Linux 64-bit as my main OS.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139008
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118067
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130646
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256061
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313283
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121633

Total: $701. Very fast everything. Have an extra $100 so you could get a 6950:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102987

And that will give you great graphics. Like, this wouldn't be a budget build. It'd be a higher-end gaming build, but still be great at the applications you need.

Linux is a good choice, but gaming support isn't that great. If you keep the original video card, you'll have $100 for windows.
 
Linux as far as I have herd and experienced is not good with AMD/ATI. You may need a Nvidia card to use it as your main OS. You will not be gaming on it at all though, unless you have advanced knowledge of the system.

Claptonmans build is great though. I would suggest using windows on it. If you need to save money on it, try windows 8 consumer preview (beta) and be sure to fetch windows 8 drivers from AMD or Nvidia (they both have them out).
 
wolfeking said:
Linux as far as I have herd and experienced is not good with AMD/ATI. You may need a Nvidia card to use it as your main OS. You will not be gaming on it at all though, unless you have advanced knowledge of the system.

Claptonmans build is great though. I would suggest using windows on it. If you need to save money on it, try windows 8 consumer preview (beta) and be sure to fetch windows 8 drivers from AMD or Nvidia (they both have them out).
Click to expand...

Good catch, forgot about linux and AMD.
 
claptonman said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139008
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118067
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130646
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256061
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313283
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121633

Total: $701. Very fast everything. Have an extra $100 so you could get a 6950:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102987

And that will give you great graphics. Like, this wouldn't be a budget build. It'd be a higher-end gaming build, but still be great at the applications you need.

Linux is a good choice, but gaming support isn't that great. If you keep the original video card, you'll have $100 for windows.
Click to expand...

As I said, I'm not a big gamer. The most I ever play is Civ 4. I picked Linux because of it's good for software and I don't think I want to build a high-end computer, specialized for something I don't really do that often.
 
wolfeking said:
Linux as far as I have herd and experienced is not good with AMD/ATI. You may need a Nvidia card to use it as your main OS. You will not be gaming on it at all though, unless you have advanced knowledge of the system.

Claptonmans build is great though. I would suggest using windows on it. If you need to save money on it, try windows 8 consumer preview (beta) and be sure to fetch windows 8 drivers from AMD or Nvidia (they both have them out).
Click to expand...

What do you mean by that? I would still have a windows HD that I could boot from at any time. And I'm pretty sure Nvidia cards can still do games. (At least games on my level considering they helped build Civ 4.)

And I have a copy of Windows 7 so I'm not going for Linux because it's cheaper. I'm going for that because I honestly think it might be better for me.
 
Linux has sucky drivers for AMD. You will not have Intel HD to run Linux. If you want to go that route, you will have to open your case and remove the AMD card every time you want to boot to Linux.
Nvidia will definitely game, but on a $ for $ comparison, they definitively loose to AMD.

If you have a copy of windows 7, then use that as your main OS. Linux would be good, but if you are gaming, it is nothing more than a oddity, and pain in your neck to get everything to work. I am not bashing Linux either, I use it daily, but I know what it will not and can not do also.
 
Dornith said:
As I said, I'm not a big gamer. The most I ever play is Civ 4. I picked Linux because of it's good for software and I don't think I want to build a high-end computer, specialized for something I don't really do that often.
Click to expand...

Well, since you said you wanted to get into more intensive programs, I gave you the best for your budget. If you'd prefer to go cheaper, you can replace the CPU with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078

And for a cheap Nvidia card that'd do well with Civ 4:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125409

And you could go down to 8GB of RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161452

that'd save you about $130 compared to the first build.
 
claptonman said:
Well, since you said you wanted to get into more intensive programs, I gave you the best for your budget. If you'd prefer to go cheaper, you can replace the CPU with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078

And for a cheap Nvidia card that'd do well with Civ 4:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125409

And you could go down to 8GB of RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161452

that'd save you about $130 compared to the first build.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I think I'll go for a bit of a middle-ground between the two.
 
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