[HARDWARE] Building computers [Archive]

RighteousKil187

01-14-2012, 08:46

Since its cold outside I started going through my apartment and found an old Computer in my attic. I've always thought about building a computer of my own, but never knew where to begin. I did a search on the parts I could and its dated back to 99-01...which I think is entirely too old to upgrade from. So My question is, is building a computer as hard as it sounds? I recognized some things, but the part I think I would have is where to plug those wires in on the motherboard and would I have to wire it all to my power supply?

River_Rat_459

01-14-2012, 09:38

2001 was about the last time I built a computer from the ground up, but I can still guarantee you that it's not hard. The documentation that comes with the motherboard will tell you what gets plugged in where. It's actually very easy to do. You can find lots of instructions and videos on the internet with a simple search.

RighteousKil187

01-14-2012, 10:03

Ya i found the manual for the motherboard online. Its an Asus Motherboard. I skimmed through it. I'm just unsure of whats compatible with what. so i might give it a shot. just gotta do some research on motherboards seeing as that seems the place to start. Ill prob keep the fans, hard drive, and anything else i can manage to salvage. It had one memory stick in it, 256mb ha

saviger

01-14-2012, 12:18

Take and hour and watch part one and two of these Newegg video's.
very informative, you will learn alot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw

Or, you can tell me your budget. I can build it for you, no charge. You will just need to pay for the parts and shipping.

RighteousKil187

01-14-2012, 12:28

Thats the site im looking at parts on. Thats what my friend used. Thank you for the offer, but I think its something I want to try, how about if I'm usure about compatibility you can tell me :cool:, and if i fuck up ill hold you up on that ha.

iamthesgt

01-14-2012, 15:44

You shouldn't have any problem building it yourself. Biggest thing is making sure the socket type on the motherboard and CPU match up, the RAM slots match the RAM, and you have enough power (but newegg has a wattage calculator to help with that). One thing I would make sure you have is an anti-static mat (they're pretty cheap). Touch it before doing any work and touch it periodically to release any static buildup. You can fry some expensive components just with an badly timed electrical discharge.

XxSilentxFartxX

01-14-2012, 23:02

Or you could just touch the side of the case....Lol A static mat is good but not a neccessity. Havent used one for years only in school when i got my hardware degree lol and A+ certification, havent used one since. Most important thing is to make sure your screw driver does not have a magnet on the end of it.

iamthesgt

01-15-2012, 09:16

True, as long as the object is grounded it doesn't really matter what you touch. Yeah, magnets need to be kept far far away...one of my buddies was joking around a rubbed a magnet on someone's computer screen. Left dead spots for a couple days (somehow the pixels came back, but I don't think a HDD will randomly return to functionality).

RighteousKil187

01-15-2012, 11:18

Haha ok guys ill remember that. No magnets, and touch metal. Ya the video sav put up was really helpful it mentioned all of that. i just want to be able to build one and not upgrade it for about 2-3 years. i got the socket type down, but its the MOBO i dont want to mess up. The expensive ones seem to over the top for what i want to do but i dont want something cheap. and a question on video cards is there a big diff between a 128 bit and 256 bit? im gonna get one with atleast 1GB memory

SaddletrampNC

01-16-2012, 06:24

Like the other guys have said, it's not nearly as hard as it sounds/looks. If you're worried about static, take a box and make it flat. You can work off that. The main thing I can add is make sure the case you plan to use has good airflow. And airflow can be made better with fans in the right place and getting the intake and outtake right. There's plenty of us around that can help with any questions you have. Also, here's a site that you can use for research and other questions: http://www.guru3d.com/ They have reviews, comparisons, charts, etc... you can look at. And if nothing else, you have us :cool:.

iamthesgt

01-16-2012, 09:09

i got the socket type down, but its the MOBO i dont want to mess up. The expensive ones seem to over the top for what i want to do but i dont want something cheap.
You said you had already nailed down the socket type, so that's a start. I don't know what you picked, but you have two main choices: AMD or Intel. Intel the best sockets are LGA 1366 and LGA 2011 - those will be good enough for several years. AMD the newest ones are AM3/AM3+. You need to decide the amount of things you will put on the computer - number of PCIe Slots (Video Cards, Audio Cards, Extra Ports, Wireless Card, Tuners), number of DIMM slots (RAM), number of Hard Drives/Optical Drives, and number of Ports already on the machine. Generally your north bridge should match your GPU manufacturer (nVidia or AMD/ATI). Once you decide the quantity of these things, then you should have a small pool to pick from for your mobo. The mobo is key for expandability - if you want this to be good for awhile, then spending a little extra on a mobo is not a bad idea. One key thing is you should determine your motherboard first, then pick your accessories - that way you can ensure compatibility. If you have questions on specific mobos, feel free to ask.
I would love this one, but can't justify the price right now (And I suspect from what you've said that this would be overkill): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188070

iand a question on video cards is there a big diff between a 128 bit and 256 bit? im gonna get one with atleast 1GB memory
128 and 256 bit is the memory bandwith - basically limits how fast the memory and GPU can talk to each other. You should look at the specs in total - two cards with the same other specs, the 256-bit card will be faster, but all 256-bit cards are not faster than all 128-bit cards. You don't necessarily need a 256-bit card, and will likely pay a premium for it.

Here's a (older) article that explains it pretty well:
http://voices.yahoo.com/128-bit-versus-256-bit-pc-video-card-memory-interface-3289088.html

RighteousKil187

01-16-2012, 18:35

This is currently what I'm looking at, and it will prob change because I can never make up my mind

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767 Asus M5A97 Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996 AMD 3.6 quad core...still dont understand L2 & L3 cache..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102935&Tpk=saphire%20100326L -

Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 Core clock is 800MHz and Mem clock 1000MHz its says PCI Express 2.1 x16 so i think i might have to get a new MOBO

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840 1TB HD..64MB Cache 7200RPM...SSD are too much right now

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233198 16GB RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256071 600W power supply

iamthesgt

01-16-2012, 21:23

This is currently what I'm looking at, and it will prob change because I can never make up my mind

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767 Asus M5A97 Motherboard

Excellent choice of board - cheap yet has all the features any gamer really needs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996) AMD 3.6 quad core...still dont understand L2 & L3 cache..

The difference between L1, L2, and L3 cache is just where the data is stored. The data stored in these caches is processed faster than that in ram. The lower the number, the higher-performance cache. Suffice to say, the more cache the better but at this point the only difference you'll see is amount of L3 cache.

I hadn't followed the new Zambezi chip, but I like what I see - and they have the 8-core processors now! So cool.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102935&Tpk=saphire 100326L -

Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 Core clock is 800MHz and Mem clock 1000MHz its says PCI Express 2.1 x16 so i think i might have to get a new MOBO

No, you're good with a 2.1 card in a 2.0 mobo - it's a minor revision, and the speed is the same. I would, however get a card that supports CrossFireX - in case you decide to upgrade later. Like this one (currently sold out):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102940

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840 1TB HD..64MB Cache 7200RPM...SSD are too much right now

What you can do is get a 10,000 rpm drive of about 160-300GB and load all your games on it, and keep all your documents and the Operating system on your main 7200rpm drive. You won't notice a whole lot of performance difference from an SSD - not enough to warrant the price increase to an SSD anyway. You will notice a large increase over your 7200rpm drive anyway. That would probably be the 7200rpm drive I would get though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233198 16GB RAM

16GB of RAM should be sufficient for anything you need. This RAM is $10 cheaper and almost identical, and Patriot makes good stuff: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220629

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256071 600W power supply

I would personally go with a 750W PS - just in case you did buy an extra graphics card and had dual hard drives.

Sounds like you'll have a nice gaming rig once you're done. What are you planning on playing on it?

saviger

01-17-2012, 18:12

Excellent choice of board - cheap yet has all the features any gamer really needs.

The difference between L1, L2, and L3 cache is just where the data is stored. The data stored in these caches is processed faster than that in ram. The lower the number, the higher-performance cache. Suffice to say, the more cache the better but at this point the only difference you'll see is amount of L3 cache.

I hadn't followed the new Zambezi chip, but I like what I see - and they have the 8-core processors now! So cool.

No, you're good with a 2.1 card in a 2.0 mobo - it's a minor revision, and the speed is the same. I would, however get a card that supports CrossFireX - in case you decide to upgrade later. Like this one (currently sold out):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102940 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996)

What you can do is get a 10,000 rpm drive of about 160-300GB and load all your games on it, and keep all your documents and the Operating system on your main 7200rpm drive. You won't notice a whole lot of performance difference from an SSD - not enough to warrant the price increase to an SSD anyway. You will notice a large increase over your 7200rpm drive anyway. That would probably be the 7200rpm drive I would get though.

16GB of RAM should be sufficient for anything you need. This RAM is $10 cheaper and almost identical, and Patriot makes good stuff: [URL]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220629

I would personally go with a 750W PS - just in case you did buy an extra graphics card and had dual hard drives.

Sounds like you'll have a nice gaming rig once you're done. What are you planning on playing on it?

Good answers all around.
Big ditto on the 750w power supply. Always nice to have for future expansion, and will save you some cash in the long run.

RighteousKil187

01-17-2012, 18:35

I dont think the motherboard I picked would support dual graphics but this Sabertooth was the first one I looked at and it seemed to have more than I needed. I believe it supports dual graphics cards so I might just go ahead and get this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131736

I choose the FX because the whole series come unlocked...for when I can figure out how to properly OverClock and what I could possibly gain out of it ha. And I watched this Video...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103960

will setting it up with 2 diff hard drives with two different speeds mess with anything?

saviger

01-17-2012, 20:31

iamthesgt

01-18-2012, 08:35

I dont think the motherboard I picked would support dual graphics

Nope, it supports up to Quad CrossFireX...you're good to go with that board. That's why I said it has everything you will need - CrossFireX is a must-have just for the upgrade possibilities. And like saviger said, it doesn't matter if you have different hard drives except for RAID.

RighteousKil187

01-18-2012, 15:13

How it the hell more like what the hell do you have saved on that damn thing and what is RAID exactly. I read some customer response to the 10k RPM HD and they talked about overheating and RAID

saviger

01-18-2012, 20:56

How it the hell more like what the hell do you have saved on that damn thing and what is RAID exactly. I read some customer response to the 10k RPM HD and they talked about overheating and RAID

RAID = redundant array of independent disks, formerly "inexpensive disks"
We use RAID-1 in servers all the time for backup, in RAID 1 the disks are mirror images of each other.

down on the end user level, RAID 0 is useful. You can take two 500GB HDD and make them look like one 1TB drive.

RighteousKil187

01-19-2012, 07:15

So If you want them to function together you would set up or use RAID0 but the set up I want is to have two independent drives correct?

smoke

01-19-2012, 07:56

I run 3 WD Raptors 10k in RAID 5. You get a marginal performance impact, with redundancy. You can lose a single disk, and still be running.

How it the hell more like what the hell do you have saved on that damn thing and what is RAID exactly. I read some customer response to the 10k RPM HD and they talked about overheating and RAID

RighteousKil187

01-19-2012, 11:38

smoke

01-19-2012, 12:37

I've had 3 of them for over 5 years, and I have yet to have 1 complaint over them.. I think people sometimes complain, just to hear themselves talk. Personally, if I were to do it all over again, and wasn't worried about money, I do buy SSDs all around. That's me... :redface:

I read some bad reviews on the WD raptors, people complained about overheating and that WD has slipped with it quality. I think I will just get a single 10k drive with enough space that I think would be sufficient. Don't know how to do anything fancy with a pc just like to play games ha.

iamthesgt

01-19-2012, 13:10

I read some bad reviews on the WD raptors, people complained about overheating and that WD has slipped with it quality. I think I will just get a single 10k drive with enough space that I think would be sufficient. Don't know how to do anything fancy with a pc just like to play games ha.

A 10K drive with enough space for everything? Whoo...600GB drives are like $300...I would just go with the two-HDD setup

So If you want them to function together you would set up or use RAID0 but the set up I want is to have two independent drives correct?

Correct. You don't want any RAID. And like someone said, if you're using two totally different drives, you can't use RAID.

RighteousKil187

01-19-2012, 16:01

I dont even think I would need 600GB. Only games I would play on pc would mostly likely be MMORPGS or anything i would like thats not on the 360. Ill just start off with one and if i feel that i need more ill just buy another.

RighteousKil187

01-20-2012, 19:36

scratch all of that...AMD is garbage..intels the way to go, just gotta pay for performance.

iamthesgt

01-21-2012, 10:39

scratch all of that...AMD is garbage..intels the way to go, just gotta pay for performance.

If you want a high-end i7, then AMD has nothing to compete with that. But if you want a lower-end i7 or an i5, then you can get the same performance for a whole lot cheaper with AMD. Plus they integrate better with AMD Video Cards, since they are the same company. And AMD plays nicer with Linux if you dual-boot.

RighteousKil187

01-21-2012, 11:05

If you want a high-end i7, then AMD has nothing to compete with that. But if you want a lower-end i7 or an i5, then you can get the same performance for a whole lot cheaper with AMD. Plus they integrate better with AMD Video Cards, since they are the same company. And AMD plays nicer with Linux if you dual-boot.

I dunno I just checked a few benchmarks out and found out you can't judge a CPU by its GHz. I did some research. I'm gonna get the i5-2500k, the new Sandy Bridge sounded pretty good. An i-7 is for someone who knows what the hell there doing on a pc and probably does some awesome work on it. I'm just gonna be playing some simple games you know. AMD is cheaper but they are weak and fall short of standards of what they say they can do, Intel is quality. I'm running SWTOR on this laptop with an i5 with the integrated graphics, so i believe if i add a better graphics card and a better Hard drive and enough RAM ill be set.

iamthesgt

01-21-2012, 16:42

I dunno I just checked a few benchmarks out and found out you can't judge a CPU by its GHz. I did some research. I'm gonna get the i5-2500k, the new Sandy Bridge sounded pretty good. An i-7 is for someone who knows what the hell there doing on a pc and probably does some awesome work on it. I'm just gonna be playing some simple games you know. AMD is cheaper but they are weak and fall short of standards of what they say they can do, Intel is quality. I'm running SWTOR on this laptop with an i5 with the integrated graphics, so i believe if i add a better graphics card and a better Hard drive and enough RAM ill be set.

Right, which is why i7s outperform Phenoms and other AMD chips, like the new Zambezi. I personally will propably buy an AMD, just because the benchmarks I've seen are good enough to play most any game on high settings without busting my wallet. It's a preference thing mostly.

Of course, I would like to get this board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188070
With dual Xeon processors, 48GB of RAM, and 4 4GB graphics cards. Beast!

RighteousKil187

01-22-2012, 09:53

RighteousKil187

01-22-2012, 12:44

*sigh* what's your opinion on the phenom II X 4 955 Black Edition ead some good reviews, but is it getting outdated? Im not liking the Zambezi chips although I was trying for the new 32nm

iamthesgt

01-22-2012, 14:39

What could you possibly need 4 graphics cards for hahaha. Not to mention a 1500+ PSU and a nice electric bill haha. I dunno I can't seem to make up my mind anyway. I got about another week till I get my tax money do hopefully by then...

No, I was just customizing the highest-end computer I could. I think the cost was around $7K, with each graphics card running $750...and yeah, it was going to draw more like 3,000W so I would need two high-end power supplies. More realistic I was looking at about spending $1,400-1,700 on a computer.

*sigh* what's your opinion on the phenom II X 4 955 Black Edition ead some good reviews, but is it getting outdated? Im not liking the Zambezi chips although I was trying for the new 32nm

Before the Zambezi chips came out, I was looking at the X6 Black Edition. Overall, everything I saw on the Phenom IIs was great - didn't perform like the highest-end Intels, but gave you more bang for the buck. I really don't know anything about the Zambezis, so I'm probably still looking at this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103851

For $150, the best Intels you can get are Dual-Core i3s...easily outperformed by the Phenoms. Really depends on your budget which one you get...On a lower budget, I'd go AMD every time. With $300-600 extra to spend, I'd probably spring for a nice Intel.

RighteousKil187

01-22-2012, 15:18

iamthesgt

01-23-2012, 09:07

I really liked the MOBO I picked out so I'm working around that and the Zambezi have bad reviews. On single core applications they dont seem to do well. And intel has alot of different sockets. AMD is defn for the beginners as well so it seems I will stay this path.

Well, that's how you should build a computer - pick the Mobo, then everything else. I'm not telling you to change your processor, I was just saying what I'll be getting. I would, however, disagree that AMD is for beginners - it does have (in general) better overclocking support. It's just not quite as high-tech. Post some pictures when you get the thing built.

RighteousKil187

01-23-2012, 09:38

I'm not to worried about OC right now. But it should be in about a month. Waiting for my taxes to get back but I will def post some pictures. I'll prob be asking questions about software and drivers later on haha

saviger

01-24-2012, 14:33

Good choice on the AMD CPU.
AMD chips run cooler than their Intel counterparts, and tend to last a bit longer because of this.

Intel is a great company and very innovative, they are just behind at the moment, since everything started moving towards a x64 architecture. Intel's initial offering was a flop, every x64 chip made today is a copy of AMD's x64 architecture.

EDIT:

Contrary to the Trolling fan boys, you CAN run NVIDIA GPUs on a AMD chipset, and AMD GPU on a Intel Chipset.
I am currently running dual NVIDIA 560's with a AMD quadcore. So I can have the best of both worlds. :redface:

SSG_Guillermo

01-24-2012, 14:40

Aren't AMD chips better for gaming?

saviger

01-24-2012, 14:45

Aren't AMD chips better for gaming?

That would come down to personal preference and the benchmark junkies. There is a group of well financed internet trolls, that spend thousands of dollars on their "Rigs" to squeak out 3 more FPS in a benchmark.

Both AMD and Intel are good chips, comes down to $$$ and personal preference. I do think you get a bit of "buying a name" with the Intel. Same with the Apple products, a comparable 1.2k PC is over 6k from the former Mr.Jobs.

RighteousKil187

01-24-2012, 15:49

On the benchmarks at Toms hardware the phenom II x4 980 & 975 black editions were the top 2 for amd in the gaming benchmark so I will prob go with the 975 BE

iamthesgt

01-24-2012, 17:06

Contrary to the Trolling fan boys, you CAN run NVIDIA GPUs on a AMD chipset, and AMD GPU on a Intel Chipset.
I am currently running dual NVIDIA 560's with a AMD quadcore. So I can have the best of both worlds. :redface:

I didn't see anyone saying you can't here...I am going to run AMD because of better Linux support than nVIDIA, but nVIDIA makes good stuff too.

RighteousKil187

01-25-2012, 09:29

Would it be better to have 2 x 8GB sticks of RAM or 4x4GB sticks, or is there no difference

iamthesgt

01-25-2012, 10:00

Would it be better to have 2 x 8GB sticks of RAM or 4x4GB sticks, or is there no difference

If your board and memory is set up for triple channel memory, you can get a small performance increase with 3 DIMMs. However, as far as I know this only works with Intel processors and you probably won't notice the difference.
2x8GB will leave two free DIMM slots for future upgrades, but 16GB of RAM will be more than enough for awhile and you may never upgrade until you get an entirely new computer. 8GB DIMMs are a whole lot more expensive ($65-150 per DIMM) than two 4GB DIMMs ($40-80), so you'll save money that way. You also have more choices going with the 4GB sticks. Personally, I would run 4x4.