yo~

[Naokii]

Alright, when I have some cash aside, I plan to build a comp. I would like to hear some advice by those who've done it so I can have an easier time when looking for parts ^^. Purpose: a machine with great speed for running GFX programs and great audio, maybe even a main component for a home media setup. Im not much of a gamer, but I would like the ability to run a game once and awhile :3 Thanks for any output!

[Cobalt]

Having built a few myself, I can say it's not as hard as it used to be. One tip I can give you, having made this mistake myself is: Make sure that whatever case you purchase has enough room in  it to fit everything you intend for it to hold, with some left over for expansion. There's nothing worse then getting a new part and realizing that you'll have to rearrange everything inside the case to make room for a graphics or sound card.

Also, go with parts you can trust. Buying low-grade parts simply to save some cash can be bad, as a lot of stores have limitations on what they'll allow for returns.

Oh, and have a sufficient power supply for everything.

Hope that helps. '>

[Weisseman]

On a note of the expansion room Cobalt mentioned, look at the size of the Graphics cards. The newer ones are longer then the old and need a bigger case. Since you mentioned it's a media pc you'll probably only need a small Graphics card but for future planning a large case might be useful. I can't really help with which are the longer cards but the 8800 Geforces and 2900XT+ Radeons I think are all long.

For soundcards look into Creative soundcards. They are certainly one of, if not the best, soundcards you can get. The X-fi series would be a good for you i think.

When getting a TV card (if you do) look to see if it was made for a media center or not. If your gonna use windows media center the cards for media centers will work with it very well. If not make sure you don't accidently get one  '>

If moneys tight look into AMD cpu's and ATI graphics cards. If you've got a good budget look into Intel cpu's and Nvidia graphics cards.

If your unsure always look into reviews about the parts you want. They'll usually tell you whether what your getting is good or not  '>

[Calufa]

First, sorry for the long post... I've built several computers for myself, friends, and family over the past 10 years I've been into copmuters, so I have a little experience in this area. My main recommendation would be to go with name-brand components. Saving a buck now by getting an off-brand part could result in major headaches down the road when they start to fail. Unlike clothing and shoes, name brand usually means better quality when it comes to computers. But, don't fall for gimmicks like "Fatal1ty" branded products, 900,000 DPI mice, or the like. And you can still save money by getting the budget line products from name-brand companies. They'll be cheaper and with fewer features, but they'll still be quality stuff. Some brands that I would recommend for parts would be (I'll likely miss one or two as these are the first that come to find):

Motherboard: Abit, Asus, DFI, MSI
Memory: Corsair, Kingston, Crucial, OCZ
Hard Drives: Western Digital, Maxtor, Seagate
CD/DVD Burners: Plextor (HIGHLY recommend. I've never had a problem with any drive I've bought from them and rarely burn a coaster)
Video Card:BFG (HIGHLY recommend. Lifetime Warranty and GREAT customer service), EVGA, PNY, MSI
Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling, Antec, Forton (FSP), Enermax
Audio: Creative (Their Fatal1ty stuff is overpriced and marketed towards 1337 g4mers w/ too much money. Stay away), Turtle Beach, Klipsch Speakers

As for Intel vs. AMD and nVidia vs ATI, go either way and you'll be fine. I'm not up-to-date on the current strengths/weaknesses of any of them, but seeing as how you're specifically looking for graphics, read reviews on all 4 companies. One of them usually has a CPU/Video Card that outperforms the other when it comes to professional graphics/video editing/etc.

As for where to get your gear, I've always gone with Newegg. If price is a major concern, www.pricewatch.com" target='_blank'>www.pricewatch.com lists the companies with the lowest price for components on the internet. But, beware. There are companies listed there that will take your money and run. So, always look into the company at www.resellerratings.com" target='_blank'>www.resellerratings.com. I've used pricewatch several times and as long as you look into the Reseller Rating on the company before buying, you'll be fine.

Other than that, I would say do your homework on the parts before buying. Some review sites that I frequent are: www.hardocp.com" target='_blank'>www.hardocp.com, www.anandtech.com" target='_blank'>www.anandtech.com, and www.bit-tech.net" target='_blank'>www.bit-tech.net. There's tons more out there though.

Finally (yes, I know... long post) if you (or anyone else) want a list of coupon/deals sights, shoot me a PM and I can send a list of 15 or so sites to you.

Good luck and feel free to PM/email/IM me with any questions you have (all are in my profile). I don't mind taking a look at a list of components you're thinking about getting and letting you know what I think or helping you out in some other way.

[Amber Lee]

When buying things off the internet, I always check the retailer out through the Better Business Bureau.  It's saved me a lot of headaches.

[Naokii]

Thanks a bunch, guys! I forgot to mention, is dual core worth it? I have photoshop and also have Flash installed, also - Im re-using my 160GB HD with Windows Media Center and my TV card (Gateway comp) Oh yeah, how much is enough memory,

[Calufa]

Quote (Nikku @ Nov. 26 2007, 1:57 am)

Thanks a bunch, guys! I forgot to mention, is dual core worth it? I have photoshop and also have Flash installed, also - Im re-using my 160GB HD with Windows Media Center and my TV card (Gateway comp) Oh yeah, how much is enough memory,

The Intel Core 2 Duos are amazing. We got a few machines with them at the place where I used to work and after benchmarking them, it turned out that they outperformed the Xeon servers we were also running (Specs for the Duo and Xeon machines were similar). It simply blew them out of the water. I would recommend going dual core simply because the procs are now very affordable and you won't be disappointed by their performance.

As for memory, it depends on what you'll be doing but I would say 1GB is the minimum. If you plan on using programs like Photoshop or other memory hogs, you'll likely enjoy 2GB or 4GB much better.

[Weisseman]

Dual cores are definately worth going for. If you can go for it maybe try for a Quad core. The lower end quads like 6600 Intels and AMD Phenoms are a good price I've found and the Intels work great when using multiple programs.

2 gigs is easily enough memory for now. Mine works fine on the latest games and CS3 design premium with 2 gigs.

[Naokii]

Ah, ok ok. Im getting all sorts of ideas in my head. What would be better, High end Duo or Low end Quad? As for mem, I think I'll go with 2G. '> What are your views on overclocking and are the Sound Blaster X-fi Platinum worth the price?

[Tioa]

The Xfi sound card is great, but there is no Linux drivers for it '>  I second new egg as a good place to purchase computer parts, I have bought stuff from them many times and have never had a problem.  I would caution you against ATI video cards though,  I have had compatibility problems with them in the past, maybe they are better now, but I have a radeon x1600 pro sitting in my closet collecting dust because it was for all intents and purposes a piece of junk.  Another video card issue that you may want to think about is all of the older cards are not direct x 10 compatible.  This isn't really a problem now, but in a year or so its going to be a huge deal when it comes to gaming.  As far as motherboards go, you wont get any better than an Asus board.  I really have had good luck with them, and prefer them greatly over the other manufacturers I have tried,  I'm particularly NOT fond of MSI  they always seem to come with poor documentation, and setting them up is often allot of guess work.  for a tv tuner make sure you get a digital ready HD one, as soon your going to need an hd tuner to watch tv at all.  Seagate and Western digital make excellent hard drives, so you cant go wrong with either of them.  As far as processors go, I'm sure Intel is great, but I have always used AMD, and have had great success with them, they are cheaper and better if you ask me.  And finally don't skimp on your power supply.  It is easy to fall for the whole thing were you get the case and the power supply bundled together, but with very few exeptions the bundled psu is junk and not even worth using at all.  I personally have had great luck with Antec psu's  they seem to provide good stable power and are long lasting.  Well I guess thats about it, hope I helped a bit.

Oh yeh you asked about over clocking.  Well I pretty much have always over clocked my cpu's  AMD seems to respond quite well to a bit of over clocking, and if you get an asus board over clocking is supported through the bios, so you dont have ot move jumpers or anything on the mother board.  pretty much with over clocking, if you have stability issues with your computer you have gone too far, and just try setting the clock speed down a bit.  Alternately you could set up a better cooling system, or even water cool it.  I have and old AMD Athlon XP system that I gave to a buddy of mine, that has been running overclocked for about 5 or 6 years now, with no problems.

[Brody]

Make sure you shop at direct sites like tigerdirect.com and newegg.com. Don't buy any parts at local retailers - even with shipping, decent computer parts stores can beat retail prices.

[Calufa]

I would say go with a high-end duo rather than a quad core. From the few things I've heard about the AMD Phenom (AMD's quad-core proc), it's no good. Also, keep in mind that while Windows will take advantage of multiple cores, a lot of software still doesn't properly use them (Similar to how very few programs take advantage of 64-bit processing). This doesn't mean you won't see a performance increase, it simply means that you won't use 100% of what the processor is capable of.

As for overclocking, if you want to play around with it go for it. But, I wouldn't see a need for it right out of the box. Keep in mind that the performance increase will depend on several factors including which processor you're using, what batch your processor came from, memory used, motherboard, and cooling to name a few. So, you could come out with a 1GHz overclock or simply 100MHz. And I can't comment on the X-Fi as I've been on a tight budget and been using onboard sound '> .

Also, I want to emphasis Tioa's advice to not skimp on the power supply. That is the most important part of the computer IMO. I've had 3 power supplies fail over the years and trust me, it's not fun. When a power supply fails, it can send surges through your system, destroying your hardware. So, spend the $200 and get a quality power supply. As for Tioa's comment on MSI, their customer service does suck. I sent a motherboard in for repair a few years back and it took over a month for it to get back to me. So yeah, you'll probably want to go somewhere else.

[Zadorn]

AMD has a tri-core coming out soon, and it looks pretty tasty.

better than a dual, and cheaper than a quad.


win, I say.


unless you have the cash, then go quad.

[Naokii]

Thanks guys for giving me a better idea on what to look for! :3 So far I am writting down parts and prices on things I want one at a time. I think Im going to go with the Ultra Products M998 case, any recomendations for an 80plus 600w modular psu?

[Xander_Taron]

Well how much do you wish to spend. i do this thing for a living. If you gave me an email i could send you a link to a build suggestion.

As for 80 plus: I would say the seasonic 750W psu. awesome psu

[Naokii]

Hey, my email is panda_cabbit7@hotmail.com. As for my budget, around 1k-ish. My mom is expecting a huge settlement (long story) so I'll have alittle bit to play with. I already know what case I want, the flash mem reader and DVD drive. I want an awesome sound card, video card, 2G of ram DDR2, easy overclockable motherboard and a nice 5.1 speaker system. :3

[Naokii]

Um...I'm a tad confused. oo; What's the deal between DirectX9 and DirectX10? D: I have no intent of upgrading to Vista..MCE is just fine, thanks. Would the Asus EN8600GTS GFX card work fine with the Asus P5W DH Deluxe Motherboard running Media Center?

[Calufa]

Simply put, DirectX 10 is the latest and greatest version of DirectX '> Let's see if I can explain it quick and dirty (please someone correct the mistakes)... DirectX is a program/set of tools that video game makers and video games use to display graphics and sounds. So, with the latest release of DirectX, you get the latest set of tools, meaning that everything will look even more purdy.

Anywhoo, DX10 is currently Vista only and the only way you can get it is by purchasing Vista. There is a DX10 version available for Windows XP [ clicky ] but it's in alpha stages and likely buggy.

I believe you said that you don't plan on playing too many games, so I don't think DX10 will be a problem for you. PLUS, if you do decide to play games that are DX10 compatible, you'll still be able to play them with DX9, it just won't look as good. Also, if your GFX card says it runs DX10, that just means it's capable of doing so. You can still run DX9 on it.

As for your video card/mobo choice, those will go just fine together. Though, if you plan on going with the Silent verison of your card [ Clicky ] you may need to worry about your other PCI ports because of the card's size. That's only if you plan to fill up the remainder of the ports though, so if you're only getting a single sound card, you're cool. And nVidia has pretty good driver support, so as long as you get the ForceWare drivers from nVidia's site and not from Asus, you shouldn't have to worry about MCE compatibility.

Hope this helps.

[Naokii]

Calufa..I could kiss you! '> haha thanks for being so helpful. *feels a tad smarter now* The only reason Im not going to Vista is 'cause I'm re-using my HDD and MCE has Photoshop ect. on it. I sorta lost my PS disc. >w<!! Just wondering..is there anyway to move programs between HDDs via copy pasting? >w>

[Naokii]

What is the compatability of these parts and your opinion(s): Case: Ultra M998, PSU: Ultra X3 600w, CPU: Core 2 Duo E6750 @ 2.66GHz, MOBO: Asus P5W DH Deluxe Wifi-ap, RAM: G.Skill 4GB (2x 2GB), GFX: Asus EN8600GTS (may change), Sound: Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Platinum -

[Weisseman]

32bit OS's can only handle a  maximum of 4 gigs memory total. This includes any on Graphics cards, soundcards and any other cards with memory on it. It then adds on the RAM.
You'll find that windows will not see all the 4 gigs you put in the pc because of this.
There is a way to increase the max memory but it may make your computer unstable.

64bit OS can handle more but are not widely supported as yet.

When I worked on graphics design we had pc's with 6 gigs in them but windows only saw 3.25 gigs roughly because of this limitation.

Compatibility wise they should work fine. Only things you need to think about is the CPU fits the MB socket and how many PCI slots you use and how many the MB has these days.

I've run out of PCI slot on mine which is annoying but more things are starting to come out in PCI-E format now so it's getting better to manage what's in where when buying new stuff.

[Kobuk]

Moved to Furry Tech Talk forum community.