First time homebuilt for multitasking and graphics

[Amy9]

Can I build my own computer? My only past experience was 15+ years ago installing my own internal modem and 5 yrs ago moving internal HD from old computer to new computer. Is there a place I can go for a step by step guide?


If I don't do this myself should I use pcsforeveryone.com?


The system I want will be used for the following:
I will keep it for 5 years.
Use is for business.
I keep at least 5 firefox searches open at once plus outlook and thunderbird at all times. Often add to that word, excel, filemaker pro.
My new usage that is using much ram is new scanner with goal to create "paperless office". Using paperport to scan large pdfs.
Lots of photoshop stills.
Some website design.
Someday I'd like to move all of my hi 8 scuba diving videos to the pc and edit.

With that said, I've been reading the board and is it overkill for me to buy a top system with Q6600?

Amy

 

[notherdude]

Here is a step by step guide.
http://tools.corsairmemory.com/systembuild/report.aspx?report_id=12472

If you feel very adventureous and desire to learn then try building yourself. It's a lot easier though to have an experienced builder with you the first time. I can't actually reccomend it to a novice but it is doable if you have the natural inclination and are willing to be very careful and patient.

If something goes wrong oe else the PC won't boot then you could get stuck with a real mess.

 

[coldmast]

you need lots of ram
and a proper back-up solution. {external hard drive}

Q6600 is really for mega-tasking you need to get 4 streams of data going through or have programs optimized for multi-core.

you need to to be encoding video and compressing another file and running a filter in PS {all at once}

what OS are you going to be running

 

[geofelt]

If you have replaced a few internal parts, then you have the ability to build your own. You will get a better system with no "bloatware". The experience you get will be priceless. Your needs are not particularly high end. A lot of open tasks will be helped most by ample memory, 2gb for certain, but 4gb might not hurt. Do some reading during the next month or two; there is supposed to be a price drop in july where the Q6600 will drop to $266. Conisider getting two identical monitors. These are the components you will keep the longest, so get the best you can afford. It is the most economical way of getting lots of desktop real estate. A mid-range grapnics card like the 8600gts should power them nicely. A lot of these enthusiast forums are populated by those who are adept at overclocking, but I suggest that you ignore any such suggestions for now.
---good luck---

 

[Kurita]

I second that you should get an experienced builder to walk you through the process the first time around. Best bet I find is to grab a local friend who has experience with computers and invite him over for the day to guide you through installing the hardware and software.

For the software you say you will use I'd suggest a midrange dual-core, something like a high-end athlon X2 (5600+ or so) or about an E6600/E6400. For your applications memory amount will be important, so go for at least 2 gig, if not 4 gig (you will probably want a 64-bit OS, as they support more than 3.5 gig). For graphics, unless you would want the DX10 capacity (you dont sound like a gamer though) I'd say go for mid/upper range DX9 cards. Something like a 7900GS or X1950pro are similar prices to an 8600GTS and offer more pixel-pushing power to boot.

Dual monitors as geofelt suggested are a good idea, its cheaper for the screen area you get to buy 2 smaller monitors than a single large one. Nearly all modern graphics cards have dual DVI outputs for dual monitors too so you dont have to worry about adding extra cards or anything.

 

[Amy9]

Thanks for all of your responses. I guess I have a lot more reading to do. I think I need to have someone locally who is willing to help me if I get stuck.

I expect I'll run Windows Vista OS - definately not the home version but business or need to see what ultimate is about. That's where the future is and according to my reading here vista is better (but wait a while longer).

From what is being said, the Q6600 card is not suitable for me, only a gaming system? As I said earlier, I will us this computer for 5 years. Won't the software change for multi-core before then?

Not that I want to throw money away, but I am willing to spend a little extra money on this computer. It's for a home/office computer plus I have always been interested/obsessed with my computer since my first one in 1987. I'm the person my friends call for computer help. And I buy a new laptop every 5 years, that's in between the 5 year wait for the new desktop

Amy

 

[geofelt]

The key component for a gaming system is the vga card; the cpu is secondary. Gamers can spend twice as much on the vga card and still have a balanced system. If you will have several things going on at the same time, then the more cores, the better. The Q6600 would not be out of line for a five year machine. There are some new things coming. (aren't there always?) The p35 chipsets now starting to appear will probably be required to run the new 45nm penryn processors coming the end of this year.