Hello all. I’m starting the process of building a new desktop, from top to bottom. I am pretty much a newb on the subject of building your own PC. I wouldn’t say a complete beginner because I know the basic components of computers and their functions. I wanted to find a good forum that could aid and assist me through the whole building process; from picking parts to the assembly, and this forum seems like a great place. I filled out the list to help you all get an idea of what I’m looking for.
1. Budget: $1,000+ but not too much over that because I still need to buy monitor, keyboard, mouse… basically everything
1. Brands: Are there any brands of components you want or don't want? Intel over AMD
2. Multitasking: Will you be multitasking with this computer and if so, how much? Gaming and maybe something in the background, playing music for example.
3. Gaming: Will you be gaming and if so, how much and how new are the games? Yes. Primary purpose for the computer would be gaming. I’m not looking to play the hardcore shooters that are very demanding. Main goal is to play World of Warcraft at max settings(I know its not too hard to achieve), City of Heroes, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3 (when they come out). Also, games like Gears of War and Supreme Commander would be nice to play on max settings also.
4. Calculations: Will you be doing any intense calculations or media encoding? Not so much. Just gaming, word processing, music, etc. No photoshop or similar demanding programs.
5. Overclocking: Do you plan on overclocking and if so, how much? I guess if I could be confident in my ability to do so, but if I can achieve my gaming goals above without the need of overclocking, then most likely not.
6. Storage: How much storage will you need and what will you be storing? Nothing too extreme. Just enough for games and some music. I can always buy extra storage later if I need it, right?
7. Legacy Support: Will you need support for older hardware like parallel, serial, or PS/2 devices? Shouldn't since I'm starting from scratch.
8. Operating System: Do you want Windows XP or Vista, or Linux compatibility? Vista
9. Case: Do you want help selecting a case and if so, how big do you want it? I have a potential build below, if there is a better fit I am totally open to opinions.
10. Accessories: Do you want a keyboard, mouse, or other items included? Yes I will need to get it all.
11. Recycled Components: Will you be reusing any components you already have? Nope. All from scratch
12. Monitor: If you want a monitor, what size do you want and should it be widescreen? Preferably 22 inch. Always open to opinions to what is best for my intentions (gaming).
13. Stores: Do you have any online stores that you prefer to purchase from? Newegg, Tigerdirect. Any others people recommend.
14. Location: What country do you live in? USA
Here is the potential build I had in mind. I’m not going to try and hide it; this is from the PC Gamer: PC Building Bible for 2007. I’m using this because I’m fairly certain it can achieve the gaming goals I’m aiming for and I know the price of the components should have gone down from last year.
Videocard:
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
Mobo:
EVGA nForce 680i SLI
CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
Memory:
3gb Corsair TwinX DDR2/800
Case:
Antec Nine Hundred
Power Supply:
Antec True Power Trio 650
Operating System:
Vista
Hard Drive:
250 GB Maxtor DiamondMax 9
Optical Drive:
Lite-On lt Super AllWrite SHM-165H6S
Now that is all from the magazine. I did change how much ram and the video card they had. At the time they published the magazine the price of all the components totaled around $1,400. I checked all the parts a few weeks back on newegg and I’m pretty sure the total came close to 1k. Probably a little more because I wand 3gigs of ram to their 1. I’m fairly certain all the parts are compatible.
But yeah, tear my list apart. If things have came out that are better and still cheap, or my parts aren’t compatible, go ahead and let me know. I’m not married to the $1,000 price range; I can go a little higher. I just don’t want to go too extreme because I still need/want to buy a decent monitor and the other peripherals. I know Quad Core is the big thing now, but do I really need it to achieve my aims, and if I can use Quad Core and get better performance but still keep my price range then that would be awesome-- This is what I'm hoping you all can help me with...Telling me how i can reach my goals as efficiently as possible.
I’m looking forward to the process and I hope the community here at Tom’s Hardware can help me through each step. I’ll have pictures posted when everything is done!!
P.S. Sorry for bad grammar, want to get this up and going ASAP, so I can start ordering soon!
Thanks,
Aaron
1. Budget: $1,000+ but not too much over that because I still need to buy monitor, keyboard, mouse… basically everything
1. Brands: Are there any brands of components you want or don't want? Intel over AMD
2. Multitasking: Will you be multitasking with this computer and if so, how much? Gaming and maybe something in the background, playing music for example.
3. Gaming: Will you be gaming and if so, how much and how new are the games? Yes. Primary purpose for the computer would be gaming. I’m not looking to play the hardcore shooters that are very demanding. Main goal is to play World of Warcraft at max settings(I know its not too hard to achieve), City of Heroes, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3 (when they come out). Also, games like Gears of War and Supreme Commander would be nice to play on max settings also.
4. Calculations: Will you be doing any intense calculations or media encoding? Not so much. Just gaming, word processing, music, etc. No photoshop or similar demanding programs.
5. Overclocking: Do you plan on overclocking and if so, how much? I guess if I could be confident in my ability to do so, but if I can achieve my gaming goals above without the need of overclocking, then most likely not.
6. Storage: How much storage will you need and what will you be storing? Nothing too extreme. Just enough for games and some music. I can always buy extra storage later if I need it, right?
7. Legacy Support: Will you need support for older hardware like parallel, serial, or PS/2 devices? Shouldn't since I'm starting from scratch.
8. Operating System: Do you want Windows XP or Vista, or Linux compatibility? Vista
9. Case: Do you want help selecting a case and if so, how big do you want it? I have a potential build below, if there is a better fit I am totally open to opinions.
10. Accessories: Do you want a keyboard, mouse, or other items included? Yes I will need to get it all.
11. Recycled Components: Will you be reusing any components you already have? Nope. All from scratch
12. Monitor: If you want a monitor, what size do you want and should it be widescreen? Preferably 22 inch. Always open to opinions to what is best for my intentions (gaming).
13. Stores: Do you have any online stores that you prefer to purchase from? Newegg, Tigerdirect. Any others people recommend.
14. Location: What country do you live in? USA
Here is the potential build I had in mind. I’m not going to try and hide it; this is from the PC Gamer: PC Building Bible for 2007. I’m using this because I’m fairly certain it can achieve the gaming goals I’m aiming for and I know the price of the components should have gone down from last year.
Videocard:
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
Mobo:
EVGA nForce 680i SLI
CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
Memory:
3gb Corsair TwinX DDR2/800
Case:
Antec Nine Hundred
Power Supply:
Antec True Power Trio 650
Operating System:
Vista
Hard Drive:
250 GB Maxtor DiamondMax 9
Optical Drive:
Lite-On lt Super AllWrite SHM-165H6S
Now that is all from the magazine. I did change how much ram and the video card they had. At the time they published the magazine the price of all the components totaled around $1,400. I checked all the parts a few weeks back on newegg and I’m pretty sure the total came close to 1k. Probably a little more because I wand 3gigs of ram to their 1. I’m fairly certain all the parts are compatible.
But yeah, tear my list apart. If things have came out that are better and still cheap, or my parts aren’t compatible, go ahead and let me know. I’m not married to the $1,000 price range; I can go a little higher. I just don’t want to go too extreme because I still need/want to buy a decent monitor and the other peripherals. I know Quad Core is the big thing now, but do I really need it to achieve my aims, and if I can use Quad Core and get better performance but still keep my price range then that would be awesome-- This is what I'm hoping you all can help me with...Telling me how i can reach my goals as efficiently as possible.
I’m looking forward to the process and I hope the community here at Tom’s Hardware can help me through each step. I’ll have pictures posted when everything is done!!
P.S. Sorry for bad grammar, want to get this up and going ASAP, so I can start ordering soon!
Thanks,
Aaron
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