How do I build a computer?
 

Good morning everyone, I thought I would pick the brains of this world famous car enthusiast club. I was looking at buying a computer lately (a desktop, I have no need for a laptop), but then I stopped and thought

"HEY, I CAN BUILD ONE!"

So I started researching what was all involved, and to be honest, it doesn't look that scary. Now I have pulled a computer or two open before and done easy stuff like installing hard drives, ram, and ethernet cards, BUT I have never did any motherboard work. That seems like the tough part.

So anyways I was looking for help on component selection at the moment. Here is a basic overview of what I will be needing:

Motherboard - ???? (what are good brands, Asus?)

CPU - P4 2.4Ghz or so, I don't need to pay for bleeding edge 3.0Ghz but I will be doing solid modelling on it

Ram - 512MB - 333ddr (all I know for sure is the 512, other stuff is more flexible

Hard Drive - 120 Gb, or 2 smaller ones on a striped RAID - hopefully 10,000 rpm but min 7200rpm

CD-R/RW x DVD combo - I don't think I need a DVD burner yet, but who knows

Graphics - this is another????? - I would like tv in/out and dvi, one of those all-in-wonder cards look good, min 128mb

Sound - Creative soundcard w/ Altec Lansing speakers - I had old Altec's, and they were the best damn speakers

Media card slot - for my digital memory cards out of my camera and video camera

FIREWIRE - this for sure, not sure how to do this, is it on one of the other cards?

Ethernet - just a regular old ethernet card

Case - an ATX case, but I need suggestions

So, what do you guys think of this? I would really appreciate what are the good brands for the respective components, as I am only sure on a couple of them. The firewire is one thing severely lacking in a lot of computers out there, and I need it for sure. Any advice on how to approach this would be REALLY appreciated.

cheeper sometimes to just go to Dell and build what you want...
Not to mention that you get a Damn Falt screan and waranty and everything will start when you press power.

www.Dell.com
Bruce

Now that's true, so I should have mentioned my alterior motive. I want to get better aquainted with computers and think it would be quite interesting to build one. Kind of a learning experience thing.

I have not been overly amazed by Dell's and such for what you get for your money. Monitors can be found anywhere and for good deals too.

yes, building a computer yourself is an excellent way to get to know how a computer works.

big computer makers like Dell is good if you just want a working computer NOW.

ok let's do a rundown of things you listed.

Motherboard - hmm, Asus is good, so is Abit, um, I like Soyo too, but not sure what they have for P4's

CPU - 2.4ghz P4 sounds good

RAM - sounds about right, though if you can, try to use the fastest memory you can use with your CPU/motherboard to get the best performance.

HD - yup, get at least 120GB. If you want to get striping capability, find a MB that has this feature. Usually motherboards that have RAID 0 capability are the high-end models, so you should be OK there.

CD/DVD drive - GET the DVD burner NOW, if you are using the Firewire connection to download videos from your DV camera to do video editing. It's inevitable you will want to burn those videos onto DVD's and share it with people

It'll also be good to get a dual CD/DVD setup so you can make CD/DVD copies on the fly.

Graphic - sounds like the ATI Radeon 9800 All-In-Wonder is the perfect video card for you.

Sound - consider an external USB 2.0 Sound 'card' (it's more like an external module) for your sound needs. If not, a SB Live or higher-end card should be fine.

Media card slot - good idea, though you can probably also use a USB 2.0 media reader as well, to save a drive bay for the dual CD/DVD drive setup.

Firewire - most modern MBs should have built-in Firewire support, you just need to find a case that has a connector that the MB can connect to. Same goes for USB 2.0.

Ethernet - any $10 special 10/100 ethernet card would do.

Case - Antec is a good brand for cases, well built material, excellent power supply.

go to www.pricewatch.com for the best online prices of parts.

good luck!

you should give him a totall on all this. I already know it's not cheap...
Bruce

p.s. I have a Soyo board, I did not use it yet, but I am going to put a p2.4 512k in it
Bruce

computers with this many top-notch components definitely won't be cheap.

i'll let him find the best prices on pricewatch, since these changes quite often :D

I'm guessing somewhere around $1000 for all the components listed, for a very capable machine.

Pricewatch.com is good, but also be sure to check stores out on resellerratings.com before doing business with anyone. There are a lot of shady businesses out there in this category. Just a personal opinion (shared with many), you can't go wrong with NewEgg.com.

When I built my first computer a few years ago, I just checked out various message boards (tweaktown.com and anandtech.com, for example) and review sites (just do a google) to find the best parts. The key is to spend a lot of time researching, don't rush into anything.

If you get a good reliable motherboard, you really can't go wrong. Mobo's are probably the hardest to choose, though. Don't just pick a good brand, because even the best have some duds. Again, just do a google for motherboard reviews and you'll find what fits your needs.

As far as the processor, I'm an AMD supporter all the way. You'll spend hundreds more for an Intel that is marginally faster if at all. Most Intel people are hard to be swayed though, so I won't say any more :) .

Good Luck!

INTEL FOR LIFE!!


I can do effects in Photoshop SLIGHTLY FASTER!!

www.newegg.com is by far the best online reseller of computer parts...you're almost guaranteed to get speedy service at a low price.

Helpful PC construction guide:
http://www.maximumpc.com/reprints/re...002-03-13.html

I would recommend the Asus A7N8X Deluxe for your motherboard...an extremely popular and reliable model (you'd need AMD for this board, but it supports the Barton XP3200+). Also, don't waste a PCI slot w/ an Ethernet card...plenty of mobos have built-in ethernet that will suffice (like the one I just mentioned). As for video, go with the 9800 pro only if you want absolute top of the line...it's $400....

And a computer with the parts listed by ZoomZoom is going to cost MUCH more than $1000.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, if you want a really good case, go w/ Kingwin, Lian-Li, or Thermaltake.

hey, i need/want a vid card for my laptop-any suggestions?

laptop graphic chips are usually integrated to the motherboard to save space, so I would say you'll need a new laptop if you want a new graphics card :(

hehe, i haven't built a machine in a while, so i'm kinda out of pricing loop :D

Go for a Lian-Li or Thermaltake case...they have the media readers for one of the bays.

hmmm...I would go with AMD...

Soyo Dragon...that is the board that my brother bought..should be fairly reasonable price right now.

Video Card is dependent on what you want to do...how much gaming...how much photo-shopping will you do....programming?

But Newegg.com is fairly reasonable....

But you can definately build one for less then a grand...heck...I built mine 1 year ago for 700 bucks.

How come everyone is selecting the Athlon XP over the Pentium 4, is the bang/buck that much better? I went to cpuscorecard.com and they highly rated the 2.4Ghz P4. Not to mention I have had success in the past w/ Intel moreso than AMD. I guess I should check my prices first before yapping.

P4 takes a lot of juice...it is also very expensive compared to the AMD...

I always had AMD...no problem here...

It is just your opinion on what type of processor you want.