# Building a pc from scratch



## douglar02 (Nov 20, 2005)

I am a pretty big gamer and i like to think of myself as somewhat of a pc guru; although i dont really know the inner-workings of a pc. Anyway i currently own a dell and am looking to start a new pc from scratch. I am looking to spend $1250-$1750 on this puppy. My main concerns would be Graphics card, Memory and RAM. Is there something else i should be concerned with? I need lots of space for music and games and i want my pc to run fast. Some things i dont understand is what type of cooling system i need? Some cases come with liquid system, should i go for that? Fan? How do i determine what power supply i need? How do i know if my parts will fit into the case when i buy them? Thanks for any help!


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## scorpions (Mar 24, 2006)

im not a computer tech so i cant help you, but i hope this link will

http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/


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## Mithrilhall (Mar 28, 2001)

Your best bet is to start looking at parts on www.newegg.com or some other website.

Once you've got some base system specs post them here and people will be able to help you along.


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

When looking at case, pick a size, and stick to it when you buy your motherboard.

ATX is my size of choice, plenty of room for the future.

When your looking at PSUs, get a good brand. Of all the things that can go wrong, a power supply going out is the only item that can take the entire system with it. Antec, Enermax, Thermaltake all make good PSU.
500w is enough for most systems (Maybe not if your going SLI)
Get one with 20A on the 12v rail, or 18A on the dual 12v. (Those amps are about the minimum.


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## Geli (May 3, 2006)

scorpions said:


> im not a computer tech so i cant help you, but i hope this link will
> 
> http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/


Nice website. Whether you want to build your own pc or not it's a good way to understand a bit more of what's going on in your system


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

Any other question?

Thought I'd also pop these tidbits into your head.

For your price range you can build a very nice system.
I would Go AMD, if you go for the X2, get an ATI motherboard, the Nforce 4 is the other gamers chipset, but it locks the system up with the X2s.


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## ferrija1 (Apr 11, 2006)

for fans liquid colling systems are super-quite and work well, but when you want to upgrade they can be hard to move without breaking something. On the other hand fans are noisy and don't work that amazingly but they arn't that big or bulky. You pick.


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## ferrija1 (Apr 11, 2006)

You probably want a MB that supports DDR2 RAM because DDR2 doesn't get as hot and it uses less power than DDR RAM


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

DDR2 is not suppoted by AMD system however, not until the M2 socket premiers.

DDR2 also has a higher #CAS.

If your serious about gaming go AMD, and DDR for now.


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## ferrija1 (Apr 11, 2006)

oh. I didn't see he wanted an AMD processer

#CAS??


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

ferrija1 said:


> #CAS??


#CAS,
CAS latency.

Memory timings.
also tCAS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM_latency


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## ferrija1 (Apr 11, 2006)

thanks


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

Your welcome.

BTW, wikipedia.org is a great site, if ever you have a doubt try it out, you can learn more there in a week then most people learn in high school!


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## ferrija1 (Apr 11, 2006)

yeah i use it a lot


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

Just spreading the word!


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## ferrija1 (Apr 11, 2006)

oh, I almost forgot you want a good CPU as well


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## jonjoy (May 20, 2006)

AMD64FX is great for gamingBut the top ones are expensive. Get an SLI MOBO Pciexpress.
At least IGB ram DDR. SATA HD maybe 300 GB. If you are into music then a good sound card Creative X-Fi but you will be hard pressed to stay in your buget. Also video cards like G Force 7900 GTX 512MB are about $600 each


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

The FX is over kill for 99% of most anyone!
Besides I have been hearing almost more good things about Crossfire then SLI recently, for one the USB ports don't lock up the system...


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## ashes_ (May 30, 2006)

How hard does it become to build at least a decent gaming PC if you have less money? Like, if you guys envision it, what's the cheapest you think you can get what you need to run a decently graphics-processor-heavy game like Unreal Tournament or World of Warcraft?

Just curious to see what you guys come up with using different constraints.


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## jonjoy (May 20, 2006)

Have a look at Tiger Direct.com At the moment I think any of the AMD64 Above the 3000+ would be ok. Get a mid priced video card ATI or N-Vidia. A good quality power supply I think is important maybe 400watts. Hard drives are cheap(always lots of deals on) Cases are cheap and just go with the built in 5.1 sound on the MOBO.You won't be able to run all the games with the graphics cranked up but they would run ok. Check out what the min requirements are for the games you like and look from there. You can build a decent system for under $2000.00


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## douglar02 (Nov 20, 2005)

yup, you can play unreal tournament and WoW fairly well with a $1200 system give or take..


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## ashes_ (May 30, 2006)

We need to have a 'how much would you spend on' thread. Where do you suggest I put it?


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

Put it here or in hardware.

Look at my system (the little PC icon)
Built that about 6 months ago for about $600, if thats an idea of what you need. So far the only game it doesn't cream maxed out is FEAR.


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## jamsum (Jan 4, 2006)

Building a PC from scratch is pretty much a "follow the instructions" kind of project, as long as you know the basics, which I learned from a lot of trial and error, money, asking questions (there is no such thing as a stupid question, even though some might have an attitude about answering it)
I am no guru, but I do know that the first rule of thumb is to build upon a platform that is versatile and upgradeable. I.E: your motherboard. I have tried many brands- ASUS, Shuttle (which is the one that is channeling this message), Gigabyte, ABIT, ECS, and a few others. Usually, but not always, you get what you pay for. Try a net search for reviews of a particular model before you invest, as well as for the peripheral components. 
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."


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## ashes_ (May 30, 2006)

loserOlimbs said:


> Put it here or in hardware.
> 
> Look at my system (the little PC icon)
> Built that about 6 months ago for about $600, if thats an idea of what you need. So far the only game it doesn't cream maxed out is FEAR.


O-mg. How did you find so much power for so little monies? Hook a girl up, -please-.


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