Constructing a PC

[None of the above]

I am considering constructing my own PC and my first step was to search Google with the terms "Build your own PC". This, perhaps not surprisingly, churned out 60,000+ results. Has anyone here gone down this road and, if so, can you recommend a website or book as a good guide, please? Not looking at anything too fancy, just a common or garden PC.
Thanks in advance, Gentlemen.

N o t a

PS I think I said in a post a couple of weeks ago that I didn't wish to delve in the innards of this machine. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained so hence the above.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

None of the above,

Give us an idea of what you want to spend and what you are planning to do. We would be happy to recommend the hardware that would be best for your needs.

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. This is a good start:

Building Your Own PC, Part 1 Know-How for Do-It-Yourselfers (http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20020904/index.html)

and

Building Your Own PC, Part 2: Assembly Step by Step (http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20020918/index.html)

and

Do-It-Yourself PC System: CPU & Motherboard (http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20010115/index.html)

[None of the above]

Thanks Richard.......... those links give me a good start.

As far as capability of the proposed machine is concerned.....
well I do quite a bit with digital photographs, maps, charts etc. Some word processing is envisaged along with the usual Email and web page viewing. I'm not bothered with streaming video or on-line radio but DVD capabilities would be expected.
I have no interest in using a PC for games. (It wouldn't be seemly in a man of my age!)
I would wish to include a DVD/CD R/RW capable of supporting the R9 format. Although R9 media is expensive at the moment, the price differential between non-R9 and R9 drives is minimal so I might as well have the capability.

To the budget now. Well, as we tend to pay over the odds for everything in the UK, I think that instead of setting a budget that might not 'travel', it would probably be better if I say that I would look for components that are perhaps a bit above average. There is no sense in going for super-economy kit that is likely to cause problems in fairly short order. At the other end of the spectrum there is equally no point in spending money on components that will never be used to the full extent of their capabilities or where you simply pay for a brand name.
I hope that the above hasn't served only to confuse the issue and will give you some food for thought.

Thanks!

N o t a

PS. I had considered 'pushing the boat out' and going for a dual hard drive job with Linux on the second drive. Probably a bit ambitious?

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

None of the above,

Two options for you.

Integrated Graphics, Abit NF7-M Motherboard

AGP Graphics Radeon 9550 or GeForceFX 5500

CPU: AthlonXP 2500+

Motherboard: ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe or Abit NF-7M

RAM: 512Mb (2 X 256Mb) PC-3200 Crucial, Corsair, Mushkin RAM.

Hard Drive: (ASUS Mobo) 2 X Western Digital 800JD SATA 80Gb; (Abit Mobo) 2 X Western Digital 800JB IDE 80Gb

DVD Burner: Lite-On or NEC 16X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW

Floppy: Generic 1.44Mb Floppy Drive (Any Drive will do)

Case: Antec Sonata Case w/TruePower 380W Power Supply. (If you go with this case you will need Black Face DVD and Floppy Drives)

I did not know if you wanted options for Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, and most important Speakers (Since you will have Dolby Digital AC-3 with the Motherboard's Onboard nVidia SoundStorm)

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. The system above is great value for the money and every part is top quality. :ok:

[mikedurward]

Hiya

Try

http://www.pless.co.uk


They sell a complete pc package for £195 plus delivery. All you have to do is put it together. If you need any more advice please drop me a line.

Mike

[None of the above]

Richard and Mike.........

Thank you kindly for your responses, Gentlemen.
I'll price up the spec you have suggested Richard and I'll also investigate what Pless have to offer, Mike. I've already downloaded their price list.

Ta!

N o t a

PS: In the first instance, I'd use all the peripherals I have here
which include Logitech cordless mouse and keyboard, HP printer and scanner and a Mitsubishi CRT monitor. Come on Richard admit it! You're itching to recommend that Laser Mouse, aren't you?

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

None of the above,

I will not be recommending the Laser Mouse until it is packaged with a Keyboard too. ;)

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. What are you using for speakers?

[None of the above]

Speakers are nothing special although perfectly adequate. They're called TEAC PowerMax 80/2 and were bundled with the PC.
I suspect that they appear in a variety of guises around the world. Quite good enough for listening to a Tom Lehrer CD or atcmonitor.com.

Forgive my ignorance, but I'm a bit confused about the Hard Drive interfaces and their compatibility with the motherboard. Would both of the HDs you suggest be compatible with both motherboards, or is a drive interface specific to a particular spec of board?

N o t a

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

None of the above,

The ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe has SATA RAID on it. So you can connect the Drives via the SATA Connectors. That is why I recommended the SATA Drives 800JD. The Abit NF7-M does not have a SATA Controller so you have to use IDE Drives. That is why I recommended the IDE Drives 800JB.

When it comes to speakers, we can set you up with something like the:

Logitech THX Certified Z-680 5.1 500Watt Dolby Digital Speakers

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/36-121-105-06.JPG

Logitech Z-5300 5.1 THX Certified 280Watt Speakers

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/36-121-106-07.JPG

Logitech Z640 5.1 71.2Watt Speakers

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/36-121-104-03.JPG

Any of these speakers will allow you to get the great sound this system offers. Personally I have the Z-680s on my A7N8X-E Deluxe and the sound for listening to MP3s as well as DVDs is amazing. You can watch DVDs and get the full sound of a Home Theater System with them.

It all comes down to how much you want to spend and what you want to do with the system. ;)

Take Care,

Richard

[None of the above]

Thanks, Richard.............

I think the speakers (and their output!) are probably a little on the ambitious side. Houses tend to be built rather close together here and it might strain neighbour relations!
I've taken on board all of your advice and I'll now do some serious thinking and pricing up.

Thanks again,

N o t a

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

None of the above,

With the Z-680s all your friends in the neighborhood would be able to enjoy the music or DVD at the same time you are, should you choose. :cool:

Seriously, they do sound amazing and you do not have to crank them 100% all the time. (Only for block parties.) ;)

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. You just want good 5.1 Surround Speakers in order to get the full use out of your new system. :ok:

[slair76116]

Hey guys so this and thought i could butt in a bit...

The setup rich mentioned seems good but i would make a few changes that could go a long way..

1. there really isnt anypoing point in getting a barton 2500+ chip unless you plan to overclock your pc(manually meddling and increasing it power)2500+ are more expensive because they are very good overclockers and are thus pricier..!if u want to go 32 bit a 3200+ could be had for about $110 a mere $20 more than what you'd spend for a 2500+ with much more power(Tech stuff this has 400mhs fsb 2200mhz on the core while the 2500 has 333 on fsb and 1800mhz slower)

2.I really would recomend getting a 64bit pc as the price is cheap and the performance will more than double..!There are some really good mobo's and chips together you can get one for about 230$ with shipping..(64bit 3200+ and mobo together)this means your pc will last a very very long time.without you feeling that you have gone back to the stone age.

3.the speakers really if you considering them get the z-5300 cause they seem to have better audio charateristics than any of the others mentioned(so says millions of reviews ;) but if you must have the absolute best in power and sound in 7.1 systems the creative gigaworks s750 is currently no1...and secone is 5.1 klipsch promedia ultra's...but these sound setup's will not even come close to a mid range home entertainment system(I have an s750)which cost me $450.00 my brother has a 6.1 bose setup which cost him 750$ and it totally puts me to shame....

Richard had no intention of stepping on any toes here..!i appologise if i did.This is just my opinion.Hope this helped.
G.day

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

slair76116,

No toes stepped on here. There have not been any premiums in the price of the 2500+ here. Right now they run $90.00 full retail while the 3200+ runs $203.00 full retail. When you jump to the Athlon 64s, you can get the Athlon64 Socket 764 2800+ for $150.00 and the Athlon64 Socket 764 2800+ for $208.00. I would not recommend a Socket 764 since AMD came out with the Socket 939. Now the cheapest Scoket 939 is the 3500+ which costs $365.00, and that takes us way out of the budget that None of the above was asking for.

The second reason I recommended the AthlonXP 2500+ is because it can be overclocked very easily with the motherboards I recommended. With the AMD stock Heatsink/Fan that are in included, the 2500+ will easily overclock to the speeds of the 2800+ and 3000+. I figured that over time, when None of the above needed a little more horsepower, he could overclock the 2500+ and get the boost of speed in a year or two, should he choose.

The nForce3 motherboards (the ones for the Athlon64s) do not have SoundStorm, which is one of the main reasons I am still running the nForce2 myself. (That and I have a 500mhz overclock on my 2500+ making it faster than even the 3400+.). ;)

When it comes to speakers, the Z-640s are running $37.00 which is nothing for 5.1 surround. 5.1 Speakers will really complement the 5.1 SoundStorm. The Z-5300 are the best analog speakers for the price, but they do not compare to Digital Z-680s. The Digital Z-5500s should be hitting the market very soon and I am interested to see what improvements they make over the already excellent Z-680s.

Take Care,

Richard

[slair76116]

Where do u guys stay cause the 3200Xp's only cost 107$ and it's because the 2500+ can be oc that it is more expensive same price as a 2800+ and from what i gathered none above aint gonna want to oclock,everybody aint like that socket 754 is the best option right now cause the only plus points on the 939 is dual channel mem which will only add on about 3% more power...check out dfi lanparty ut nf2 250 man that's one sweet board..and cant you guys get stuff orderd to where u'r at from the net..here check these out..!this is just from price watch if you post on a good forum like sharkys you can get some good places to get these from..i think none above has allready decided what he want but i do like an good exchange of idea's:cool: go here and click cpu with mobo's (http://www.pricewatch.com/) anyways i loved the fact that the logitech's have an internal decoder in it..but sound wise can it really come close to gigaworks or klipshe's.?as i said i have the s750 that's 710 watts rms but more than the power the recreation of the mids and highs are really a pleasure..but u gotta have good audio 96k and up...And i do agree with u nforce2 apu's are great i have a msi k7n2 mobo which has the sound force chip excellent for audio performs better for games than the audigy2zs which i also have...there is another this why 939 is better other than dual channel i forgot well all for now
slair

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

slair76116,

If you use Pricewatch, the 2500+ is $64.00, but the prices on Pricewatch are OEM, and I prefer to pay more for retail (with the full 3 year warranty and it includes a heatink/fan that is perfect for the people that do not overclock.) and I use only reputable E-Tailers when Internet Shopping. I can usually find hardware cheaper from the Internet, then I can even get as a reseller from Tech Data, (which is the second largest parts warehouse in the world).

If you are looking for hardware on the Internet, New Egg is one of the best E-Tailers you will find. :ok:

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. The best part about computers is that there is more than enough variety out there to meet each person's needs. ;)

[slair76116]

I would go with out the 3 years but u got a point.if it's for a guy who needs the 3 years your way it is..
Nice chatting with ya take care.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

slair76116,

I enjoyed the discussion too. I always like bouncing different views back and forth. It is one of the best ways to learn something new.

Personally when I next upgrade, I will be going with the Socket 939 Athlon64. I am waiting till they drop below $100.00. I hope that the nForce4 will be out about the same time.

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. My last mobo was the K7N2 Delta-ILSR, and I have quite a few K7N2G-ILSRs running in my office. They are great mobos too. Too bad MSI stopped making them.:(

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

slair76116,

AMD is going to be releasing a new CPU Core code named Winchester, which is a 90nm Athlon64. The new Core will work on existing Socket 939 Motherboards.

That should give a great lifespan to the Socket 939 Motherboards. :ok:

Take Care,

Richard

[slair76116]

Since y had that msi k7n2 delta ilsr..
the same one i have now..I'm going to buy an thermalright sp-97 for my new 2500 which i'm gonna do some major oc on(hoping to i'm designing a new case for this purpose from scratch fromm wood:cool: the question i have is if i can place this on my mobo..?can i sit that sp-97 on the msi k7n2 delta ilsr..?I've written to many a forem but yet the question remains unanswered:confused: ...And another question i was going to go with on of these fans but i'm not sure if the one which is my first choice would fit on the sp-97..?funny huh.?

1. this is the one i like the most..not for the shape or bright llights but the cfm to db ratio thermaltake ufo 81cfm at 48 db (http://www.svc.com/tt-a2218.html)

2. and my second option the thermaltake smart led fan 78 cfm at 48 db (http://www.svc.com/92smartcasefanblueled.html)

hey i'm taking my pc aprt for 2 weeks casue i have to study for my CAA CPL can u please write to [email protected] sorry for the inconvinence..!

hope i'm not troubling you..!richard
slair

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

slair76116,

No trouble at all. I am the nForce and VGA Moderator at the:

MSI HQ Forums in Taiwan (http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php)

You can post there and I am sure you will get a reply in no time. You can also contact me there, my username is Deathstalker.

I will look into the heatsinks and get back to you soon.

Take Care,

Richard

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

slair76116,

The two links are just for the 90mm fans themselves with 80 to 90mm fan adapters. The fans themselves are fine.

Which heatsinks were you planning on putting them on? The only problem would come from a heatsink that is too big and hits some of the capacitors on the motherboard around the Socket A.

Take Care,

Richard