Aright, I've decided to make my own computer. However, I'm a little rusty on whats good and bad these days :toothless. So I'll undoubtedly have more than a few questions along the line of getting this thing together. Any help will be appreaciated.

BUDGET: ~$600 (+,- $100)

First Q: AMD or Intel. I'm leaning towards an AMD 3500+ 939 pin chip. Good/Bad?

Second: What is good brand for motherboards? I remember Asus was either really good or was total crap, but I can't remember which :brownbag

Third: What kinda fullsize (of course :toothless ) case is nice. I don't want one that is really plain, but I don't want a glowing red one with a battle axe on it :rolleyes:

Fourth: I'm going to be doing some gaming. Video cards . . . ugh. Geforce 6600 looks good . . . AGP or PCI-e. Isn't PCI-e the latest and greatest?

Fith (sp?): WTH is SD DDR RAM? I thought RAM was either SD or DDR . . . Anyway, would a gig of PC 3200 be sufficient?

I'm sure to have more questions later, thanks.

1. Yes, that's a VERY nice processor. (64 bit baby!)
2. Asus is great, Abit is alright (especially their newest boards), I use Shuttle, etc. Don't get Machspeed (or whatever) or any of those cheap ass mobos.
3. Fully user-optional. Get one that looks good and is made out of a sturdy frame. Read reviews via www.newegg.com (where I build all -and I mean ALL- my computers) and get one that fits your needs. Look for fans, fan size, hdd bays, lighting, material used to make it, whether it has a PSU or not (I only trust Antec cases for the psu, other case makers tend to give you CRAP for PSU's if they're given to you with the $20 case...), and what size mobo it accomodates.
4. The PCI-E cards are great. Get yourself a 6800gt or Ultra, and you'll be set. I'm usually an ATI kind of guy, but the 6800 and newly added 7800 series have me switching sides.
5. There is no SD DDR. SDRAM is Single Data Random Access Memory, DDR is Double or Dual Data Random Access Memory. I have a gig of pc3200 and WHOA it's fast. Get a cas latency of 2.5 or less if you do gaming. I use Corsair, kingston, and PNY.

Keep em coming, I do this all the time. (people tell me I'm inexperienced because of my age..shit on that.)

Also, if you want a good, long lasting rig, save up some money and spend a bit more on it. One computer that lasts 3 years but costs $1000 bucks may seem expensive now, but a year later when your $500 computer is outdated, you'll wish you'd spent the effort.

Thanks Ziggy :beer

check out this thread. maybe some good info.

http://fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49881

i agree with moto almost totally. especially about the power supply.

and i built mine totally from newegg also.

Joe

my AMD and shuttle board work great, we have had the AMD/Intel battle a few times but i must say it again AMD :rockon

PSU are one of the most overlooked items in a computer, don't go cheap on them. I have seen some many problems caused by a weak power supply, anything from freezing, to random shut downs, to random errors.

Also, pay attention to the rails, not just how many watts it has. Rails meaning higher the amps on the 3.3, 5, and 12 volt rails the better. P = IV (this is the power in watts in which the power supply can consistantly/constantly provide)

Good Mobo's: Asus, MSI, Abit, Biostar, Shuttle, and Chaintech. ECS has also come along way in the last year or two and have been getting some great reviews...

Boards I tend to avoid: Gigbyte and PC Chips.

Socket 939 is a great platform.

PCI-e vs AGP: At this point in time, there's no real reson to go PCI-e unless you want to. The reviews and comparisons with the current and near future games, the differences are so minute that it's virtually impossible to tell the difference without looking in the box. With that said, AGP is aging, but still quite powerful enough even for todays hottest titles. This will change in aout 2 - 3 years. By that time, the 6800 series and 7800 series cards will be obsolete anyway. Right now, the best bang for the buck is the 6600GT, (AGP or PCI-e) outstanding performance to price ratio. A PCI-e system board will require a 24 pin power connector from the power supply, the AGP boards do not. If you decide to stick with AGP for now, chipset is pretty much a non issue, VIA or NForce. However, if you decide to go the PCI-e route, there's no competition, Nforce4 hands down.

Memory: PC3200 CL2 from Simple, Corsair, or Crucial. I worked for LSI Logic RAID Storage division for 5 years, and Kingston memory is over-rated and spec'd improperly and would never pass our hardware compat tests and would never pass certification due to loss of data due to noise in the memory circuit. They may have gotten better in the year and a half I've been out of that stuff, but I personally would shy away from Kingston unless you have nothing memory intensive to do... Gaming, is memory intensive...

Case: a metal box is a metal box... get what you find to be astetically pleasing to YOU... also make sure you have plenty of places for fans. Mine has 2 70's in the lower front, 2 70's in the power supply, and one 80 out the back... Power supply?? Minimum 500 watt

Thanks for all the help guys, ya'll are making this a LOT easier :beer.

What do ya'll think of this mobo? (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131530)

Sounds pretty good to me . . .

Also, if you want a good, long lasting rig, save up some money and spend a bit more on it. One computer that lasts 3 years but costs $1000 bucks may seem expensive now, but a year later when your $500 computer is outdated, you'll wish you'd spent the effort.My home computer was outdated 3 years before I got it. :cry It's a Dell Deminsion with a 333 Pentium II, and 256 megs of RAM, with a 4 gig Hard drive. :cry

But it was free :toothless

My home computer was outdated 3 years before I got it. :cry It's a Dell Deminsion with a 333 Pentium II, and 256 megs of RAM, with a 4 gig Haed drive. :cry

But it was free :toothless
wow...sounds like an oversized paper weight....lol :rofl: :rofl:

What about this hard drive? (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148032)

Too good to be true, $100 for 200gigs . . .

if you do not have a copy of some sort of windows, plan on dropping alot of money on that. A new copy is several hundred dollars.

with the purchase of a new mobo it is $100 :D :chili:

EDIT: Just sold my old set of 31" crap tires. Budget is reset to $800 :chili: :Pickle: :chili:

i agree on saving up...I run the the MSI NVidia Geforce 6800 (not GT or ultra) and it is a $270 dollar card. Great card though. Works very well with the latest games.

Mobos I run MSI mother bords. If you cant tell I stand behind MSI very passionatly. Buddy of mine that is one of those computer "genious" types got me hooked on them. I bought my MSI K7N2 Delta2-FSR for iirc $80 bucks at a local shop. been very pleased with it.

For gaming I have always heard AMD is the way to go. All I have bought when I started building computers. I run the AMD Athlon XP 2800+. it is $100 bucks. Good processor.

I have 1GB (2x512MB) Corsair Ram. cost $88 bucks from www.newegg.com (where i get 98% of my stuff)

Cases, I love Thermaltake cases. I have a full tower. dont remember the cost exactly but most large cases run $100-150. My case is no longer sold.

DVD-RW/CD-RWs have come down a long way in price. I bought my LG 8x DVD-RW for $50. on newegg i see a Pioneer DVD+RW for $43.99. I also have a CD-RW drive that was a freebie for me.

if you want a 3.5" floppy, those are cheap.

Hard drives, I run 160GB, 60GB, and 20GB hard drives. I see at a quick glance a western digital 160GB HD for $80 bucks.

Sound cards, I love Creative cards. I currently run the Creative Audigy Gamer. Not sold anymore from what i can see, but is an excellent card. You can get a Creative Audigy2 ZS Gamer for $121.

Personally if you are going to build you might as well fork over some dough and get some good speakers and a good monitor too. I run two 17" Rosewill flat panel LCDs, I am very happy with the monitors. IIRC the price was $250 a monitor. (You dont have to run dual monitors) Speakers I use Logitech THX certified 4.1 surround speakers. (got a 10" woofer sitting next to me :thumbup)

my buddy runs these iirc http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836121120
very nice but costly
these are a bit better priced
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836121121

now if you havent seen my set up.
http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/233505/fullsize/Picture%20111.jpg
http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/233511/fullsize/Picture%20122.jpg
http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/233509/fullsize/Picture%20117.jpg
http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/233507/fullsize/Picture%20114.jpg
http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/233506/fullsize/Picture%20113.jpg
http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/233510/fullsize/Picture%20118.jpg
http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/233512/fullsize/Picture%20123.jpg
http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/233504/fullsize/Picture%20110.jpg

now mine is water cooled, (still have to have fans) But that can bring the price up good too. Most cases come with fans, so if the processor doesnt come with a heat sink, that should be all you should have to get for cooling wise. Unless you want to add a fan or two.

i'm thinkin you're going to be spending a lot more than what you think. i ended up spending almost twice the amount i planned on.

Yep, I've just about decided to scrap the "budget" thing all together. I can put about $1k into this (already have a monitor), so thats the absolute limit (not budget :toothless) Anybody have that mobo, or have anything to say about it? I decided to get that hard drive.

i'm thinkin you're going to be spending a lot more than what you think. i ended up spending almost twice the amount i planned on.

Just keep control of yourself...

if you do not have a copy of some sort of windows, plan on dropping alot of money on that. A new copy is several hundred dollars.

What in the HELL are you talking about? Win XP Home is $90, Pro is about $140.

What do ya'll think of this mobo? (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131530)

Sounds pretty good to me . . .

Looks like you'll be very happy with that motherboard. It's ASUS for one, it's got a 939 socket, which is great, it's got a good onboard sound device, and it's a PCI-Express. I'll say to you, good choice.

What about this hard drive? (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148032)

Too good to be true, $100 for 200gigs . . .

I cannot say much about this harddrive, as I usually tend to sway to Western Digital, but I have heard good things. I also would like to say that getting a gigabyte for every 40-50 cents you spend on a harddrive is about right...so that's actually about an average price.

hmmm, I've been out of it too long :toothless Last I checked you would be paying out the ass for a 200 gig drive :brownbag

One more thing, would a 450 watt PSU be sufficient? I found a case I really like (looks good, lots of fans, lots of space), but it has a 450 watt PSU. Sould I just buy a good 500 watt PSU and replace the stock one (It's a XION case).

Thanks Ziggy and Daniel :beer

Alright fellas, here's what I have so far:

One gig of Corsair PC3200 DDR RAM $85.99
Asus A8n-E ATX AMD MoBo $116.00
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Clawhammer $231.00
Seagate Barricuda 7200.7 200GB $ 96.00
XION Case XON-001 $65.99
MSI GeForce 6800+ GT $305.00

TOTAL (for now I suppose) $899.98

Alright, what have I missed? :toothless What kinda misalanious (sp?) goodness do I need?

You haven't got a copy of windows there, yet. You could reuse the old one, if it's 2000 or XP, I wouldn't recommend reusing 98 or below...it's a waste of your computer's potential.
I don't know if I could trust the PSU from that case, but 450w would be alright and the reviews seem really good. I'd lean towards 520+ but that's just me, I like to be prepared. I like your setup so far, it should serve you right. Do you need a 200gb hdd? The reason I'm asking is this: You can get a raptor drive (10000rpm drive) to accomodate that beastly rig. The catch is they only come in around 75gb (or the much smaller version, which is about half that size). 10k rpm instead of 7.2k is considerably noticable. My 80gb harddrive is fine for me, but if you do video editing, capture or any thing like that, you'll really appreciate that 200gb. To each his own, especially in the world of computing. I know you went a little over your initial budget, but like I said, spend the extra few and make yourself happy.

Misc:
WinXP (as stated above)
Inputs such as keyboard and mouse (if you want to match)
Output(s) (monitor)
CD and/or DVD Drive, Floppy drive (perhaps one of those with the 8-in-1 card reader in it)

Am I missing anything else? *ponders*

Oh yes, don't forget to add in shipping. It'll get you in the butt if you aren't careful!

If you don't mind the legality of it, you can find pirated copies of XP Pro Corporate Edition that run flawlessly.
Other than that, I would say your components are looking pretty good. I just bought that very same hard drive for about 40 dollars though (rebates baby!). I would recommend looking around, especially at physical electronics stores such as Fry's Electronics, they have lots of sales and rebates that beat the hell out of online retailers.
This is a site that has some amazing deals (sometimes):
http://www.outpost.com/

My AMD XP2000 system is almost 3 yrs old. Got it as a barebones and added to it. Great for gaming. (SOFII & splinter cell :rockon ) Gettin the itch to upgrade, but upgrading the Bronco comes first. Good info here tho guys, I will be saving this stuff for reference.

Hmmm, I'll look into that Raptor drive, and a 520W PSU. Thanks for the tips. :beer

This is a site that has some amazing deals (sometimes):
http://www.outpost.com/

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! STAY AWAY from Fry's/outpost.com. There is a reason why their return line is longer than the sales line. This is especially true if you can not actually go in the store.

I used to go into the stores in the SF Bay area when I lived there and had too many problems. I once bought an inexpensive mobo thinking it was still in the manufacturer's heatshrink packaging. Well, when I opened the box, I found coffee stains and hand writing on back of the manual. For kicks and grins I tried to fire it up and of course with known working parts the damn thing wouldn't even post. I have heard of people buying hard drives with someone else's data on it. Bottom line, don't buy anything electronic from that store, or you'll have more headaches than you can imagine.

Hmmm, I'll look into that Raptor drive, and a 520W PSU. Thanks for the tips. :beer

Just hear this, that PSU is fine for your application, it seems like a solid case/psu combo, according to the reviews. If you're really scraping the bottom, keep the stock 450w, downgrade to a 6800 (you can overclock if you really need to), and get yourself second-hand inputs and outputs (Which I'm sure you have)