Help me build a budget rig for ipod

M

Metzzen1

New Member
So i got a ipod video and i want to set up a system specifically and solely(for the most part) for the purpose of storin my stuff from my ipod, downloading/ripping/converting dvd's to mp4 format.

What kind of processor would be good enough to do that in a timely fashion? i want to stay pretty cheap like not much more then $100.

I have a 1ghz pentium 2, or maybe 3
could use that for free. all the other parts, minus a dvd burner, will be what i have layin around.
 
For a new CPU, you will need a new mobo. This will be at least 200 dollars. i dont know how you would go much less.
 
all you need is a sempron or celeron. i prefer the sempron series though.
im building my uncle a computer today, its going to have a sempron 2600+ which i will overclock slightly, probably to 2ghz depending on where i can get it.
you only want to use it for your iPod? or do you want to use the internet, and general use like the average home user?
if you're only using it for your iPod, then 512mb will do fine... but to make it last i'd go with 1gb. also, do you want it to last? lol you'd be fine with socket 754, but if you want it to last, and be upgradable then you could go with a cheap AM2 motherboard and a sempron processor.
in short, it doesnt really matter what you get as long as you have 512mb of memory or more... and preferably an 80gb hard drive or higher depending on the size of the iPod. if its only a 30gb then i would still suggest an 80gb just because an 80gb hard drive costs $46 instead of a 40gb for $44 lol.
anyways, there's really nothing you can do about how fast or slow it copies to the iPod because no matter how fast of a hard drive you put in the computer, the iPod will copy the music slower. what kind of iPod did you get btw?
good choice wanting to build your own pc though, i still think macs are overpriced for the hardware that you get. will post a list of parts i suggest :D
 
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813186099
motherboard $72 (after shipping) with 6100 integrated graphics
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104301
cpu $68 free shipping sempron 2800+ 1.6ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141225
memory $69 after shipping 2x512 ddr2 533 dual channel cas latency 4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822135106
Hard Drive 80gb 8mb buffer Sata2 (same one as in my sig :D) $51 after shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827140122
dvd burner 16x dvd+-r $40 after shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823126152
Mouse + keyboard (logitech internet pro desktop) $23 after shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811190050
Case (with 80mm fan) + 350watt psu $40 after shipping
if you need a monitor, then heres a decent one at a lower price...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824002003
OR heres a better one thats a tiny bit smaller.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824222018
note that LCD's that 15" 17" and 19" viewable, according to the screen size.
CRT's are 1" less viewable than their screen size... so if you buy a 17" CRT its 16" viewable... making a 19" LCD have a bigger screen than a 19" CRT... so a 15" LCD is only 1" less than a 17" CRT.
of course, you may not need a monitor.
 
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u don't need a new computer... just add a bigass harddrive and a Firewire port...
i use the PC in my signature and it does fine processing and using RAM...
 
Encore4More said:
u don't need a new computer... just add a bigass harddrive and a Firewire port...
i use the PC in my signature and it does fine processing and using RAM...
Click to expand...
if he gets the parts i suggested then hes got the newest AMD cpu socket, and PCI-Express. you dont need firewire, thats like getting a 4200rpm hard drive with a 256kb cache for Sata2. not to mention USB 2.0 actually is a bit faster in its burst speed (480kbps vs. 400kbps if i remember correctly.)
in short firewire or USB 2.0 will do just fine for your iPod. (the iPod copies slower than the usb or firewire port send info)
 
fade2green Thanks a million for all the links and suggestions. If i really was buyildin a rig from scratch that or somethin very similiar is how i would go.

Im going even more budget than that. Really the only new part im going to buy is the mobo processor combo. usually frys has a half decent combo for less then $120 or so. This is not actually my computer its for my girlfriend as her laptop is getting filled(40gb total, 30 gig ipod). If it was for me i would just ad a new hd to my current rig.

My plan is to use one of the many psu's layin around( got a raidmaw 450, a antec 350, a el cheapo 350, and a old school like 230 watt. I will probably reuse one of the cases i already have(have 5 layin around). Im going to use 2 of my old IDE 40 gigs. one for op system/applications other for only itunes. I want to stick with AGP as i have a geforce 6200 from my last rig. she already has a monitor, keyboard, mouse. Im going to give her a 512 chip of pc 3200 until i upgrade my ram to dual channal at which times ill give her my current stick(1 gig pc3200). I would like to go microatx just because being as this is not a power rig at all i want to keep it small as possible(all my computers are huge, never built a small one)

so after its all said and done the only new parts will be a mobo, a processor, and a Lite On dvd burner.
 
fade2green514 said:
not to mention USB 2.0 actually is a bit faster in its burst speed (480kbps vs. 400kbps if i remember correctly.)
Click to expand...
If that was true, that would be ridiculously slow.

USB 2.0 runs at 480 Mbps.
 
Dont get a new rig. That PIII is plenty fast enough. Just get a firewire port by adding a pci card. You maybe want to get a hard drive that is about 80GB or larger also.
 
I agree with what others have said, a new rig (even a sempron or celeron) is more than you need. A simple Pentium II/III, 512MB ram, and alot of storage space will be fine. You can get a similar desktop to that on ebay for around $50-$100.


Woot! My 10,000th post :P
 
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[-0MEGA-] said:
Woot! My 10,000th post :P
Click to expand...

Only 8,000 ish more to go! As long as Praetor doesn't post anything else.

Motoxrdude said:
Dont get a new rig. That PIII is plenty fast enough. Just get a firewire port by adding a pci card. You maybe want to get a hard drive that is about 80GB or larger also.
Click to expand...

Not even that...I don't know anyone who has 80 gigs of music. But I guess drives are cheap. 80 is fine. If you really want to, a 10,000 RPM drive would speed things up a bit.
 
mrbagrat said:
Not even that...I don't know anyone who has 80 gigs of music. But I guess drives are cheap. 80 is fine. If you really want to, a 10,000 RPM drive would speed things up a bit.
Click to expand...

But he has a PII/PIII motherboard which would not have SATA connectors, and seeing his budget, i'd doubt he wants to buy one. So i would suggest he'd just stick with a 7.2krpm harddrive, w/e size he wants.
 
Clutch said:
If that was true, that would be ridiculously slow.

USB 2.0 runs at 480 Mbps.
Click to expand...
haha sorry my mistake i typed it wrong
Not even that...I don't know anyone who has 80 gigs of music. But I guess drives are cheap. 80 is fine. If you really want to, a 10,000 RPM drive would speed things up a bit.
Click to expand...
10,000 RPM puts it from $45 to about $160. #1 dont think its worth that stretch... #2 it might speed it up by a couple of seconds tops, just because the iPod still copies at the same speed. plus, how many times is he going to take all the songs off and put them all back on? its not worth over $100 to go from 7200rpm to 10,000rpm. Sata2 is much more worth it (the 80gb i suggested) because it increases the bandwidth by a lot. the raptor series is still only sata1, and yes, all of them... even the 150gb.
are you using all old parts or replacing the mobo + cpu?
any mobo and cpu will do just fine, but i suggest Sata2 as a hard drive interface.
 
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fade2green514 said:
if he gets the parts i suggested then hes got the newest AMD cpu socket, and PCI-Express. you dont need firewire, thats like getting a 4200rpm hard drive with a 256kb cache for Sata2. not to mention USB 2.0 actually is a bit faster in its burst speed (480kbps vs. 400kbps if i remember correctly.)
in short firewire or USB 2.0 will do just fine for your iPod. (the iPod copies slower than the usb or firewire port send info)
Click to expand...
he is only using it for his ipod buddy.... all he wants to know is what will make his iPod work the best...:rolleyes: not anything in general... obviously firewire FOR IPOD will be better then a fast processor...
for soley using something for iPod... a firewire with a P3 wopuld be faster then USB with an X2...
 
Encore4More said:
he is only using it for his ipod buddy.... all he wants to know is what will make his iPod work the best...:rolleyes: not anything in general... obviously firewire FOR IPOD will be better then a fast processor...
for soley using something for iPod... a firewire with a P3 wopuld be faster then USB with an X2...
Click to expand...
we've already gone over this... USB goes at 480mbps vs the firewires 400mbps... but either way it depends on the size of the iPod... if you have a 60gb, then you'll never need to refill it. with the 30gb which i think he said is the size he might only refill it once or twice a month... and whether that takes 2hrs or 1.5hrs won't make a huge difference. he just doesnt want to waste his money on anything that won't really help him with what hes doing :D
 
Getting a new processor is up to you. Sure, it'll be cheaper if you don't, but ask yourself if it's a big deal to wait a long time for your PC to convert your files. If you have a lot of files that would need to be converted, there's a good chance the answer would be no, you wouldn't want to wait.

If you DO decide to get a new processor, get an Intel.
 
[-0MEGA-] said:
I agree with what others have said, a new rig (even a sempron or celeron) is more than you need. A simple Pentium II/III, 512MB ram, and alot of storage space will be fine. You can get a similar desktop to that on ebay for around $50-$100.


Woot! My 10,000th post :P
Click to expand...
lol dude we should all chip in like $5 and get you a 10,000rpm hard drive to celebrate the 10,000th post haha... not really. sorry. lol
 
fade2green514 said:
we've already gone over this... USB goes at 480mbps vs the firewires 400mbps... but either way it depends on the size of the iPod... if you have a 60gb, then you'll never need to refill it. with the 30gb which i think he said is the size he might only refill it once or twice a month... and whether that takes 2hrs or 1.5hrs won't make a huge difference. he just doesnt want to waste his money on anything that won't really help him with what hes doing :D
Click to expand...
Firewire is FASTER, by far.
FireWire (IEEE1394)

1. 100 Mbit/s 200Mbit/s 400Mbit/s supported.
USB 2.0

1. 1.5 Mbit/s 12Mbit/s 480Mbit/s supported.
:)

Do not get a whole new system just for your iPod, seriously, that has got to be the gayest thing i have ever heard.
 
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