# Building My First Ever Computer And I Am So Green Please Help!



## audimans6 (Apr 30, 2007)

Dear fellow bloggers

Since i no longer want to deal with Dell i have decided to build my own from scratch. I know i need to have the following parts and i know lots of them depend on the motherboard......so here i am looking for a motherboard recommendation. (This computer will be mostly used for software such as word, excell, powerpoint, cruising the net but i would like to have an option to run games on it if i ever decide to play them) So i think i am looking for a fairly good price board capable of running newer games! All comments are greatly appreciated.:up:


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## cams-dad (May 29, 2007)

Personal preference, I stick with Intel MBs (worked mostly with 845, 865 and 965 series) have built units; personally and professionally; for the last 6 years, in IT for about 17 years. ASUS would be my second choice, have had good luck with their higher end boards. Aopen MBs are ok but I haven't really gotten more than 3 years out of them before something blows. You might take a look at Tiger Direct's (www.tigerdirect.com)barebones kits. Some of their cheap cases are CHEAP (not in a good way), but if you avoid "light weight" cases and stick with steel cases (if you can) you can get a good starting point (case, MB, CPU, fan and power supply) at a decent price, watch their rebates.


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## audimans6 (Apr 30, 2007)

thanks,

Do any of the above series experience more problems then the other? Or there is not much of the difference?


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## cams-dad (May 29, 2007)

Not really. The 965 is considered a higher performance board, they have a 975 series that's "Extreme" rated as well. The 8xx series, if you can even still get them (now that I've looked a little closer), would fall into the more everyday uses: web, mail, docs, etc. You'd probably want to look at the 965. Extreme processors rock, but can cost a lot more (like $1000 for the CPU instead of around $250) .


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## audimans6 (Apr 30, 2007)

Things so far : I have selected this mother board:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121052 and this processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115003 and this case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208005 and now i am pondering my floppy, cd/dvd, hard drive, ram and power supply question.

Can i use my floppy and dvd from my old dell(1 year old that died)?
Can i use my ram and hard drive (i believe it's SATA2 160GB ) with the current motherboard....i believe ram is DDR2 but i could not make out wich number?

Better yet can i use my operating system from DELL to load on this new built or do i have to purchase another copy of Windows XP?

Is there a way to read components specifications right of the parts them selves because i am having a huge difficulty with getting the information from Dell it self?

I would like to thank anyone who contributes to my education...... :up:


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

This is nother view, using an AMD chip.
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200703.ars/2

I built this machine, substituting an AMD 3800 X2 low wattage chip, it was price motivated and used a different Antec case on sale locally.
I also used the onboard video rather than the recommended video card because I'm not a gamer.
It is very important to stress test your new computer, whether Intel or AMD based.
I found a defective memory chip during a Memtest86 test.

Everything went well. It's been in use about 6 weeks and no glitches other than the memory.

No matter which way you go, buy the parts that have a good reputation. They will pay off in the long run.

If you want a faster/more powerful combo, this Intel setup might interest you:
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200703.ars/3

edit: BTW....this was my first attempt at building a computer and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

good luck


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## audimans6 (Apr 30, 2007)

iF you could pitch me few good names and models in computer parts like for 
RAm
Hard drive
video card

that would be great! But i am still looking for some answers for the above questions.

thanks,:up:


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

The two links I posted gave part names and model numbers.
I bought the case and hard drive at local stores because the rebates were significant but the rest came from Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/



> Can i use my floppy and dvd from my old dell


You should be able to.



> can i use my operating system from DELL


Sorry, but if your copy of WinXP came installed with that computer, it isn't licensed to be used with any other computer and is registered only to it.
That becomes an activation problem.
You will need to buy a new OS.



> Is there a way to read components specifications right of the parts them selves


I'm not in the business of building or repairing computers, so there is probably a better answer.
If the computer still works.....try using SIW from http://www.gtopala.com/
With some old parts, I've done google searches against the part numbers and had some success.


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## cams-dad (May 29, 2007)

If your current machine is a Dell, press F2 to go into setup when you first turn your machine on. Most of Dell's CMOS will give you the details you're looking for. Otherwise if you go out to dell.com, sign up for a free account (I have one and don't own a Dell), and put in your Service Tag Number (usually on a sticker on the top or back of your pc) and it will give you a detailed list of parts that machine was originally shipped with.


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## audimans6 (Apr 30, 2007)

Thank you!


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## bdimag (Apr 8, 2001)

I've been trying to build myself another computer here for the past, oh i dunno.. year.. But then I would never build it, and a month later I would start from scratch to make sure I had good parts and all that.. and then it would happen again and again.. 

So some recommendations from me would be:

>> do you actually use the floppy drive? if not toss it. It seems memory sticks are overtaking the floppies - and can even be used as a boot device..

>> dvd drive - get a new one.. get a nice fast DVD+/-RW - it will double as a cd burner - and a nice feature to have is Lightscribe - although you may not use it frequently or at all (I havent used it since i bought the drive) - it basically lets you burn a PICTURE onto the top of the cd (a label in other words).

>> Memory - Crucial, Corsair, Kingston - all good ram.. I still preach on my Patriot Signature Series (cheaper)

>> Motherboard - I'm with camsdad - I love me some Asus, after 2 years it crapped out - and, because whenever I do build a new computer, I'm turning my current comp into a server of sorts - so I put in an Intel mobo, because I also understand their worth & stability..

>> CPU - Core 2 Duo's are nice, and you can stay lower in the Ghz/Price while still having the power.. I currently have a Pentium 4 "extreme edition" (stay away from those)

>> Hard drive - you want fast? look into a hard drive with 10,000rpm - and when it comes to those - as size goes up, price goes up faster - but for your use - you'd be fine with about 80gb and wouldnt have to worry much.. (Just realize that most modern games take up lots of space - when your done with the game - uninstall to make room for more) - also, you can throw in your old hard drive for additional storage space.. the main thing would be higher speeds for the important system stuff

>> Sound Card - no need to bother really - most of the motherboards these days come with built in 5.1 or 7.1 - although in all the boards i've owned with onboard 5.1, it uses the mic & line in as speaker outputs - so if you need it all (5.1 & mic) make sure it has front panel sound, or look into Creative Cards, they have a huge range from hi-fi to low-cost..

>> Video Card - if you want a real nice one - make sure your motherboard supports PCI-Express, because I've noticed an incredible decrease in the # of AGP (older standard) video cards.. You get what you spend - you can spend $200 and have an ex-top-of-the-line card, which will perform great still - but might not with brand new games.. you can spend $350 and a get pretty good one.. you can spend $500 and get an awesome one.. hell you can spend $1000 and throw 2 of them awesome *****es in your computer!

ooooo i think im gonna go plan a new computer!


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## audimans6 (Apr 30, 2007)

Some good points .....thank you,


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## audimans6 (Apr 30, 2007)

in your point of view who would you say to see regarding video card? ATI or someone else?


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## bdimag (Apr 8, 2001)

Personally I don't like ATI much anymore - something happened, whatever it was.. I'll leave it to somebody else to give an unbiased opinion. But I'll say Nvidia chipset, made by BFG Tech, MSI, EVGA, XFX, or a few others.. 

Stay away from anything rosewill - video card or other..


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## Wino (Dec 1, 2001)

theoneandonlybd said:


> Personally I don't like ATI much anymore - something happened, whatever it was.. I'll leave it to somebody else to give an unbiased opinion. But I'll say Nvidia chipset, made by BFG Tech, MSI, EVGA, XFX, or a few others..
> 
> Stay away from anything rosewill - video card or other..


Not unbiased, but I will not have another ATI anything. Any NVIDIA is the way to go.


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## bdimag (Apr 8, 2001)

:up::up:


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## Traynman (Apr 6, 2007)

Take my advice with a grain of salt, since I haven't ever built a computer of my own before either. By reputation (and more research then I care to admit to...) my vote goes towards an Intel or Asus mobo as well. I've heard from countless friends, co-workers, etc. that they are just about bulletproof and a good jumping point for first-timers.

You asked about the dell parts earlier. I'm not sure about floppy or CD drives, but from what I understand Dell parts only work in Dell computers. Referring to the RAM, CPU, etc. it's all coded or something so that it won't talk with anything other than dell parts. Of course, I have been wrong before (Feel free to chime in if I am).

CPU is a no contest. If you're looking for a good, all-around processor that is the best bang-for-the-buck, you need the Core 2 E6600. I even have Test Results showing performance against it's cousins as well as the AMD line of dual-core processors. You'll have to go through a couple of pages to get to the good stuff, but the conclusion is really what you want to go for.

I agree with the comments made about the DVD burner. You absolutely can't go wrong, plus the internal drives run close to $30 on newegg, so getting two for those DVD cop-- er, back-ups is a breeze.

HD's are another thing altogether. Unless you're going all-out, hardcore gaming I don't feel you'll need the 10,000 RPM HD. Yes, the seek time is faster then your standard 7200 RPM drive, but in the size to price ratio, the regular drives win, hands down. Plus, there are some new 7200 RPM drives that utilize perpendicular recording. I have no idea how this makes the drive faster, but it does lower the seek time and boost data transfer. An excellent example

Video cards are up in the air. If you get a mobo with SLI interface, you can get two cheap Nvidia video cards (must also be SLI compatible) and then run the two in parallel. Some gamers have reported speeds greater than the newest 8800 GTX card on two 7300 GT series at 1/3 the price. Of course, this is just an upgrade option, you could very easily buy one low-end card and life would go on. But that's just something for thought. ATI has the same thing, only theirs is called Cross-Fire. My preference is towards Nvidia though.

And that's all I have for now.


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