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Author Topic: Considerations for hardware when building a PC  (Read 2992 times)

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jusAnthony

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Considerations for hardware when building a PC
« on: November 1, 2004 08:10 am CST »
What kind of considerations should I give when buying my hardware, such as what should I look for in a motherboard, what kind of processor should I get and how do I know if it's the right choice and so on and so on. Building my computer in May of next year and just making sure I know what I'm looking for. Thanks for the replies.

anthonySmith
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969 06:00 pm CST by jusAnthony »
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Particle

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« Reply #1 on: November 1, 2004 08:19 am CST »
Well, there's a lot that goes into determining what hardware you should get.  First off, how much money do you have?  What sort of features do you need?

Do you need PCI-X or PCI-E?
Do you need Serial ATA?
Do you need onboard RAID?
Do you need onboard sound?  That's good?

Specifics:
What do you intend to do with your system?  Do you need it for video encoding, gaming, programming, CAD, 3D design, etc?

Depending, your hardware can change alot.  There's no sense buying an X800 if all you do is CAD.  That's what a FireGL is for.  Also, if you video encode you'd be better off with a high-end P4 or Athlon 64.  If you're mainly into games, you don't really need those sorts of chips, if you aren't afraid to overclock.  A Mobile Athlon will typically reach 2.5-2.7GHz on air, which is in the P4 3.4-3.6 region as far as performance and for a fifth of the cost.  If you're into rendering and stuff, you'll need gobs of RAM.  If you're into video encoding, you need very little RAM.  If you're into gaming, 512-1024MB is plenty.

Everything you intend to do with your machine counts.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969 06:00 pm CST by Particle »
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nesso

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« Reply #2 on: November 1, 2004 05:37 pm CST »
get the newest name brand stuff that always works ^^
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969 06:00 pm CST by nesso »
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Particle

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« Reply #3 on: November 1, 2004 06:03 pm CST »
And this coming from the guy who says:
"newegg.com" in response to a thread that said "Hey guys, I need some help finding online sites to buy computer parts from. I already know about newegg.com, but was trying to find a cheaper site out there, maybe a site I haven't heard about yet. Does anyone have any recommendations? (Besides ebay.com as well!) Thanks!"

And the guy who said overclocking is stupid, yet has his own rig overclocked to 2.4GHz.

And the guy who's never heard of ad-aware or spybot.

And the guy who apparently knew LN2 was expensive--even though it's extremely cheap.

Just buying the newest name brand stuff works, but is extremely wasteful.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969 06:00 pm CST by Particle »
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GE

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« Reply #4 on: November 1, 2004 07:52 pm CST »
owned. Havent saw anybody get owned that bad since Silv was around... lol
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969 06:00 pm CST by GE »
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Frantic

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« Reply #5 on: November 1, 2004 10:10 pm CST »
Ahh.. the days of the Silvanoshei ownings. Those were some good times  :)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969 06:00 pm CST by Frantic »
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Darwin

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« Reply #6 on: November 3, 2004 06:05 pm CST »
Here are a few things to consider:

Case:  You will most likely want good airflow.  A side mounted 80mm-120mm fan along with a rear exaust (120mm is best) fan provides excellent airflow.  Noise levels should be considered also.  If you want a quieter case, i recommend steel over aluminum.

Motherboard:  Want to use AMD or Intel?  Choose a motherboard that has a socket that fits your choice of processor(Socket A, Socket 478, Socket 754, etc).  Most motherboards geared towards gamers already include features such as on board audio, LAN, and Serial ATA interfaces.

Processor:  Main choices are Intel and AMD (although you could go with VIA, but not the best choice considering gaming and price).  Best choices for AMD would be the Athlon XP processors with Barton cores or the new Athlon 64 processors.  I have a few AMD machines but am not as experienced with them.  I'd say best bang for the buck offering from Intel would be the 2.4C Pentium 4 (socket 478)  (NORTHWOOD CORE SCREW PRESCOTT).  The 2.4C overclocked extremely easy to 3.2ghz with temperatures at 35*C while running folding@home.

Memory:  I like DDR1.  Go with a motherboard and RAM that use DDR1.  Intel P4's let you run dual channel, and if I'm correct some Athlon 64's let you run dual channel also.  (dual channel is where you have two sticks of ram = better performance).  I'm using OCZ value ram PC3200.  Very reliable.

Hard drive:  A nice biggin.  7200 RPM.  Be sure to read online reviews before making your decision.  Also, if your motherboard supports Serial ATA (SATA), get a SATA drive.  

Video Card:  The newest generation of graphics cards are neck and neck with each other.  Not going to go deep into this, but for the newest generation of cards, go with the X800 series(ATI) or the 6800 series (nVidia).  You wont be dissapointed there.  
If you want to save some dough, go for the 9800Pro (ATI).  Great card.  My MSI 9800Pro actually turned out to be a 9800XT, a wonderful suprise.  Overclocked very nicely.

Cooling:  The intel stock heatsink does a great job if you have a Northwood core on a P4.    AMD's coolers do a fine job too, but I would prefer a better solution for overclocking.  Copper heatsinks are better, remember that.  Oh, and for thermal material between heatsink and processor, a dab of Arctic Silver 5 is king.  Just dont read the intstructions included with the package.  Read the online directions.
Your might want to have a fan on the side of the case pushing cold air down onto the processor, and a fan in the back pushing air out of the case.  I find its always a good idea to cut out the fan guards as they cause the fans to make more noise and decrease airflow.

Its important that your read alot before building your first computer.  And remember, if it doesnt start up the first time your try to turn it on, dont fret.  Make sure there is no case - to - motherboard contact (this was a problem i had last year, thought i had dead hardware).
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969 06:00 pm CST by Darwin »
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Hersh

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« Reply #7 on: November 3, 2004 09:16 pm CST »
Quote from: "Darwin"
I'd say best bang for the buck offering from Intel would be the 2.4C Pentium 4 (socket 478)  (NORTHWOOD CORE SCREW PRESCOTT).  The 2.4C overclocked extremely easy to 3.2ghz with temperatures at 35*C while running folding@home.


I was always lead to believe that Prescott was the better quality core?
Is Northwood specifically easier to overclock? More stable?

--Sorry, AMD fan.

= Edit to JayJay, that never works for more than 3 months.
EX. 6800 Ultra -- X800xt
« Last Edit: November 3, 2004 09:21 pm CST by Hersh »
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JayJay

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« Reply #8 on: November 3, 2004 09:17 pm CST »
Get the newest stuff out there so you don't have to be constantly upgrading your pc ;)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969 06:00 pm CST by JayJay »
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nesso

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« Reply #9 on: November 3, 2004 11:36 pm CST »
Quote from: "JayJay"
Get the newest stuff out there so you don't have to be constantly upgrading your pc ;)


or... you can still use the old stuff

as long as the computer works and it runs properly then everybody is happy. (some less than others)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969 06:00 pm CST by nesso »
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jusAnthony

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« Reply #10 on: November 5, 2004 12:15 am CST »
Thanks all for your opinions, suggestions and advice, I will take all of it into consideration when I start buying my hardware. A special thanks to Darwin for going that extra step of typing in short detail his viewpoint on the hardware.

Now you suggested books, what book suggestions do you have? Thanks once again.

AS
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969 06:00 pm CST by jusAnthony »
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