*Guide to Choosing Parts* - Page 3

even as an experienced builder, i found this post informative and enlightening, thanks for the post.

Nice! I hadn't seen that yet... I'll link it later on.


Scratch that... I'm not linking any article that implies all brand name PSUs are good.

The easy answer is: use a PSU calculator. And yes, the result will be much lower than what you might expect; people tend to overspec.

Between this and the recent article about graphic card power consumption answered all my questions. I'm all amped-up now!

Do you think you can give me any suggestions or comment on my new desktop I am build?
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ents-build

Much Appreciated!

Requests for advice or approval will not be answered on this thread. Please start your own thread.

u make a new thread...

U hit the new Topic button in the Homebuilt section

I ask that you forgive my utter newbness. I'd like to print this thread, as it tells me which parts to look for when preparing a custom build, but I can't see the "Print View" icon. I've looked everywhere on the thread. If I could have this thread in Print View, I could print it and use it as a baseline without having to flip through tabs. I like having a hard (paper) copy to refer to when I'm searching online for products I'm learning about.

Female, age 32, on a refurbished Gateway running Windows XP SP3.

While I could build the computer myself (I did install my own RAM on said Gateway at least), I already have someone lined up to build it for me who's more experienced with custom builds (a boyfriend of my coworker's).

Otherwise, I'd have to have you look at a possible config I set up on a website (I saved its print view to my hard disk) on another thread.

Thanks.

~ acsound |

Thanks. It would have bitten me.

hello grandmaster proximon.

im currently in the stages of researching on pc building. still getting the components together and all that mumbo jumbo.
i have absolutely zero knowledge about pc buidling so im very thankful for this thread you've created.

however there is one thing that you have missed out on. the network cards. as in the thing that lets you plug in a lan/ethernet cable into the computer.
like i said, im still very new at this. so if these network cards are built into the motherboard then my bad. but if not can you please put up a little guide on that. it would be much appreciated newcomers like myself.

OK, made some more updates. It's really very interesting to see how this all evolves month to month. The language changes as the parts evolve. X58 and i7 and AMD have gradually expanded in space over the last two months, while LGA 775 slowly shrinks in size.

I made a few small adjustments.

Excellent thread, great info.

I would nitpick just a little on the list of cases though. When I built my dad a new system last year (and therefore, what I'm saying may no longer apply) I started with a Coolermaster case similar to the ones listed. The plastic parts were very cheap and flimsy and broke off at a touch. It was the worst quality I've ever seen in a case. I returned it and got an Antec instead. The Antec looks like a fridge but it works for him. It has plenty of room and good cooling.

I personally still use my modded Chenbro Genie. I have only two nitpicks with it... all the new hardware is black so it looks bad in beige (as far as I can see they don't make a black version), and I wish it had a slide out tray. Otherwise it is a great case. The bottom line for me is the space and the cooling and the Chenbro is great for that.

I also have a modded Addtronics 6896A, another great case but with a little less space than the Chenbro.

I'm tempted to start discussing specific CPUs in that section. With the competition between Intel and AMD so strong now, it's hard to just stick to generalities.

AMD CPU Chipsets
In AMD world there are really only three motherboards to consider:

AMD 780G
This would be the budget choice. It's not the overclocker that the 790GX is, and doesn't bench quite as well. However, if the extra 20 US$ is going to be too much, it is not a bad choice at all.

AMD 790GX
This crossfire board is quite nice really. Good prices and performance, and it includes an onboard GPU that's very strong for onboard. The combination of graphics power and support for Phenom II make this board quite nice for the home user that needs something stable but not the fastest gaming experience. Think of it like the P45, only with onboard graphics as well. PCI-E 2.0 @ X8 in crossfire. A bit more pricey than the equivalent P45 board, which tends to even out system costs between an AMD 940 build and an Intel Q9550 build.
Oddly, AMD pushes this chipset as THE chipset to have currently, even though the 790FX is shown to be a bit faster.

AMD 790FX
A bit more pricey that the 790GX, this board will have more features but no onboard GPU. Most of the deluxe AM2+ boards will fall into this category. PCI-E 2.0 @X16 in crossfire. Similar to an X48 board, but for AMD CPUs.


How about AMD 790X? I’m just wondering why it is not in your lists comments please

I've been out of the hardware loop for quite some time (notice my current setup!), so I've basically been lost in a stormy sea of Too Many Choices. This article pretty much answered 90% of my questions. Very nicely done!

First post since July '07 btw

Yes I should. There was an even better article done somewhere in Europe too, that had a bigger list, but I lost it

I suppose I should link the calculator, but I hesitate because I feel there are many different factors involved and I, personally, like more margin and tend to recommend that way. It can get to be a pretty ugly argument sometimes Well, usually it a polite argument actually

Lately though, with the economy so bad, my margin has been shrinking.

Meh, whatever works, There's really not that much price difference in some of the PSU lines anyway. I don't think many will care as long as their system is running.

BTW, does OC-ing really use up that much power? I put in a PhII940 (94W under load) and the OC calculater says it'll use up 228W if I OC it to 1.5V and 3.5GHz...?

Requests for build help must be done in a new thread.

Use this format:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ild-advice

Quick random thought - Since Vista has so many issues and at this point most of us are just waiting for Windows 7 ( I know I am ) You may want to mention that Xp users or soon-to-be users don't want any memory over 2 gigs since even the 64-bit system of Windows won't detect/use all of it. Maybe in the memory/RAM section somewhere?

If you need more then 2 gigs it's a shame you have to run Vista, but for the casual gamer, XP is still the best option in my opinion - Even with the limitation on RAM usage.

Dual Core vs Quad core.

My question is which one runs old games better? I like to drag out my dinosaur games (ie. Deus Ex or Myst1-4 sometimes Zelda a link to the past on emulators). Since Quad cores still are not the normal for most games, will I lose the ability or have decreased playability of old games when I build my new system?

not to mention i heard that one day all the processing will be done on ur g card because of it being way faster to process things is this true?

I'm considering these two rigs-
RIG 1
Core i7 920 2.66GHz
3GB RAM DDR3 1066
MSI X58 PRO SLI
Radeon HD 4850 512

RIG 2
Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66 GHz
MSI P45 Neo 2/ MSI P7N
GeForce GTX 275/2x GTS 250/2x HD 4850

Which one is better for gaming? Gaming is pretty much all this thing will do-for other stuff I use my dad's laptop. Also, which one is better for future proofing? I intend to keep this for the next 5-6 years, with only minor upgrades like RAM or a new GPU(will get a DX11 GPU in 2011). I play at either 800*600 with 2x AA or 1024*768 with 0x AA. Will these systems give me good frame rates at these resolutions with all settings maxxed out? I play racing games like GRID and NFS and shooters like GRAW and Rainbow Six.

Small additions. Getting to know the AMD builds better as time goes by.

Yes I had tried to address that dual core issue yesterday and just messed it up. Thanks for the catch. I drastically simplified the paragraph.

I added a line about nVidia. I do not recommend any chipsets from them at this time, and I'm not alone. I keep waiting (and wanting) to be proven wrong.