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Thread ID: 32476	2003-04-19 17:59:00	Building My Own Computer	joeflies256 (387)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
137042	2003-04-19 17:59:00	Hi everyone, Just recently I have decided to build my own computer. My current computer is a Duron 950 MHz and the mobo is pc266 system board? Anyway the motherboard leaves little room for upgrade, so I’m going to get a new one! However as I have found out the hard way, building your own computer takes a lot of time and effort. I have come up with many unanswered questions. To name but a few which include the obvious ones, such as AMD or Intel CPU? And then which mother board to use with the CPU in mind and the computers function. Researching on the net would seem like an impossible job to get the right answers and I guess many of these questions can only be answered when you consider what you want to use your computer for! The most important thing that I use my computer for is doing work e.g. running Word, Power Point, Excel and the internet. To be honest I also like to play the odd game and this would be my real reason for my upgrade! Anyway I have come up with a few components along the way, but still feel really undecided, but here they are: CPU: Pentium 4 2.4GHz 533MHz FSB Motherboard: So many to choose form here but here are some that fit the budget! GA-8PE800 GA-8SG800 AsusP4B533 AsusP4PE AsusP4S8X-X RAM: 512MB PC2700 DDR 333MHz CASE: Procase 7728 300W psu with Front USB ports ATX-508 Koala 350w psu, with side fan, silver and front USB ports. Again there is so many to choose from so if anyone can help me here would be a great help, but in terms of style, nothing fancy I like the ATX 508 though. So that’s all I have come up with so far, but if anyone has anything to say about the above, good or bad, recommendations, preferences, or compatibility issues, your help would be greatly appreciated. In terms of how much I want to spend at this stage will only be around $1000, less if possible. I will probably get other things latter on, such as a new video card (My current video card is a Gefroce 2 Mx 400 64MB SDRAM, will this be compatible? It does support AGP and is only 3 months old, so I hope it does) and a new monitor. I will probably need another modem as well, as my current on is AMR and a new monitor (flat screen). Anyway if anyone has read this far, I hope this is not too much of a waste of your time, and you maybe able to help me out in any way to suggest better options. Cheers everyone…	joeflies256 (387)
137043	2003-04-19 20:11:00	>$1000 if you go AMD you will go a long way with $1000 a soltek mother board with onboard graphics (like a Geforc 4 mx) will be very good also got top ranking in this moths Atomic mag www.soltekusa.com and if your looking at prices go to www.pricespy.co.nz	sc0ut (2899)
137044	2003-04-19 22:04:00	Email around a couple of places, and see if they will give you a quote for a PC built to your specs. Just outline the processor, RAM, and what you want your motherboard to have etc. etc. I find it quite effective, as sometimes they can offer suggestions as to what parts are better than others.	somebody (208)
137045	2003-04-20 06:01:00	Choosing the components for a new computer can be exhausting :-). Asus and Gigabyte are both known for producing good quality motherboards. The different in price between a Intel and a AMD 2.4 GHz equivalent CPU is not that huge, but you will save money going the AMD way. One thing I did notice with your selection of motherboards is that the Asus P4B533 has a 845E chipset which does not support DDR333 (PC2700) type RAM. The other two ASUS mobo's do. There is a Intel chipset comparison chart (www.intel.com) which you may find helpful. With the cases, as you will have discovered there are heaps of style (and price range) to choose from. One thing to remember with the case, is the type of PSU which comes with it. Some brands of PSU (eg Hyena) are considered by some to be of a lesser quality than other brands. Also make sure there are sufficient fans included. This iCute 8310-SL (www.casepower.com.tw) comes with a 12 cm front fan which cools the hard drive area and rear grills for 2x smaller fans to be installed. That case also has a P4 compliant 320w PSU with dual fans. With your budget, I would either get a second hand monitor for the time being or just use you current monitor. That way you can spend more on components that should last you a while. I have the ASUS P4PE motherboard and even though it only has AGP 4x I am more than happy with its features and performance. Jen	Jen C (20)
137046	2003-04-20 17:04:00	Thanx for everyones help! I am still looking around and have not made any decisions yet. Theres meant to be new motherboards comming out soon, with new features etc... But I guess I you do the waiting game, however this will never work as they are bringing out new things all the time. Still I do not want to waste my money on somthing that will not satisfy, so I will have to keep looking... Cheers!	joeflies256 (387)
137047	2003-05-10 07:58:00	I've got the Asus PS8x-x . It has bugger all on it lol . Just built-in lan, 6 channel sound . No power fan connector, (just CPU and chassis), 1 com port not 2 . The printer port, BUT does have 4 USB 2 ports outside and 2 inside (I've got the inside 2 connected to the USB ports on the front of the case) . The only good thing was it was cheap lol, and it supports Hyper-threading . BUT I'm not using a CPU that supports HT . Just a 1 . 5 Ghz CPU with 512 DDR 266 ram . BUT what the hell, it works OK . Connects to the net, thru a network OK w/o any probs, with XP PRO . It's just got an 64 mb AGP card in it atm, and a 56k modem in it . . . . I've got one of those double CPU fan things on it (the CPU), and is actually pretty cold . . around 22 deg's compared to 34 on this PC I'm writing this on . . . running on a 400W p/s . Umm, yer, as others have said, AMD is heaps cheaper than P3 or 4 . BUT some AMD's do have heaps more onboard than P3 and 4 as well . The only thing you have to be careful of, is AMD CPU's will /can heat up faster than P3's and 4's if the fan isnt good enough . That's one thing you have to watch . . . At the mo, I've made 3 systems, a P3 550, a P4 1 . 5 and a P4 1 . 7 P4 all with 512mb and all with XP PRO . ALl have DVD and CD-Writers . The only diff, with this one I'm on now, is it has USB 1 . 1, 2, firewire . The other 2 havent got firewire . And all are networked . . . It really depends on what you can afford . Some of these thing can get expensive!	Spacemannz (808)
137048	2003-05-10 08:56:00	I've recently finished building a comp on a similar budget ($1500 so far, inc screen etc). I got an iCute case similar to the one mentioned above. The problem with the front fan is there isn't enough room behind the faceplate for even my slow 12cm fan to get anywhere near as much air as it wants to. So it moves less air than most 8cm fans. The PSU isn't too bad (there are worse). Both fans run at full speed making it the loudest one I've come across. The voltages are a bit off. It doesn't affect linux, but I think it may causing problems with windows when gaming. I'm getting an enermax to replace it so I won't know til then. For my cpu I ended up with an athlon 2100. My cpu budget was $200. Pricespy doesn't even list a P4 for that price (and I wouldn't touch a P4 based celeron). I haven't had any problems with heat (its currently at 35 degrees).	bmason (508)
137049	2003-05-10 08:57:00	Why the need for a new case? You "might" need a new PSU. I'm guessing you presently have a 250w you will need to get a 300w. Apart from that you don't need a new case with all these fan dangle fans on them! I run a XP1800+ with just the standard fan with no underbelly PSU fan and the thing runs around 40 degrees. which is about standard. Sure if your overclocking your gonna need those extra fans, but mostly the are gimiks for case modders or as i say the overclocker.	roofus (483)
137050	2003-05-10 12:05:00	I figure I can build myself the following: a K7S5A Mobo AMD Athlon XP 2000+ 48x12x52 CD-RW Floppy WinXP Home OEM Case w/300w PSU 512MB DDR RAM 30GB HDD GF4 MX 440SE Keyboard Mouse NIC Modem 15" Monitor Check QMB.co.nz for some real good pricing Keep in mind that's not really a 'budget' PC by spec. standards, it'll far surpass most users needs! I made one similar to what I just described end of last year As for Time-Consuming - I spent hours deciding what to get.. coz I had a budget of $900, so that meant no monitor or OS (Already had both). Have a look around Pricespy.co.nz Cheers Chilling_Silence	Chilling_Silently (228)
137051	2003-05-10 14:59:00	Hi everyone I havn't written here for some time . I have been rather busy lately with work, study and of course looking for computer options, reading reviews, forums etc . Its interesting that I think I started off on a $1200 budget, well Ive gone right through that now, and this is what Ive got lined up! CPU: Barton XP 2500+ 512k Cache 333mhz FSB 1 . 84GHz 2400+ 2100+ 1800+ (Still undecided about the CPU?) Cooler: Volcano 11 CPU Fan and heat sink Motherboard: Asus A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard (Retail boxed) Case+PSU: Thermaltake Highest Xaser II 6000 and ThermalTake Silent PurePower 420W Power Supply RAM: Corsair 512MB PC3200 DDR400 Platinum Heatspreder CMX512-3200C2PT (life time guarantee) DVD: ASUS E616 16X IDE DVD ROM (Bundle all the software) Video Card: Leadtek A280 TDV Geforce 4 Ti4800SE 128MB DDR, DVI out, Tv Out, Tv In (MyVIVO) Agp 8x Floppy Drive: Samsung or panasonic Modem: Basic 56K V . 92 PCI (56k Pragmatic?) PS2 Keyboard: Installation/Testing of the system Freight to Palmerston North Max spend $1930 Min $1829 Due to looking around I still can't make up my mind about the CPU? I have three considerations to keep in mind . a) Which would be the best price/performance if I was not considering to overclock untill I have made my first CPU upgrade, and hence have a spare if I muck it up! In this scenario I am thinking about the best performing as is with out any over clocking etc . b) Which would be the best buy for price and overclocking capabilities? c) Which would perform best with motherboard and other system components in mind and be the best priced? The truth of the thinking with the 2400 or 2500 is that I don't want to OC untill I upgrade therefore I have a spare CPU to use if I break it . And more importantly I have a good performing CPU untill that time . The 2100/1800 if I was just going to get the cheapest and then try and overclock, thinking surely it can't be that hard? Either way I am fairly happy with the price, I think? Even though my original budget was $1200, and is now a bit over $1900! So the way I see it all I have left to do is decide on the CPU, I really do think the best thing for me is finding one that would be the best price/performance straight out of the box, and it that case would it be the 2500 or the 2400, or is there very little difference to be seen all the way down to the 2100 . . For some reason the more Im reading in the forums the more confused I get? Too many conflicting ideas I think? Anyway I feel like I am only one step away from having my new computer! Thanks for everyones kind advice Cheers!	joeflies256 (387)
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