# New Build/Buy. idk what im doing.



## demosthenes (Jun 10, 2008)

Ok so i know computers and how to put them together and etc, but ive never built one straight from scratch and im to nervous to do so.

anyways i need a new computer and have a budget of $1100 tops.

can anyone suggest me some stuff? either a build of random parts, or something prebuilt.


i currently have:
Intel(R)
Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20ghz
3.19ghz, 512mb of RAM

hdd:
120gb
(+an external)

my video card is:
NVidia GeForce FX Go 5200


ive had it for a few years, and its just too much of a POS now.


i want something that is drastically better. since i was nervous about the whole thing, i was looking at random ones on new egg, and this seems nice.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229025

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883107657#spec

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227052R


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## erocker (Jun 10, 2008)

You actually have a pretty nice budget!  I think all the old stuff is going to have to go.  What are you going to using the computer for?


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## nocrapman (Jun 10, 2008)

I built my first computer 2 years ago, with the help of folks on this forum.
It has worked flawlessly and never crashed. I built mostly from scratch, but bought good components... a lot of which I will be able to use for future builds.

If you are looking to buy one 'ready-made', go with Dell or something with an average specs and do small upgrades on your own over time. 

But I will highly encourage you to do some research... read other ppl's build threads etc and come up with a blueprint. Folks here can then critique and give you suggestions. These days Intel Core2Duos seem to be at a good pricepoint and you can OC some of them nicely (or not and be pretty happy with stock speeds). 
Look for a good: MOBO, CPU, PS and RAM
Look for an average: Case, HDD, Optical drives(or u can recyle old ones for now)
Depending your gaming habits/needs: buy a VGA. Last time I bought a really top of the line card, but didnt end up playing that many games on the computer since I had the xbox and wii. But YMMV. So if ur not an avid comp-gamer dont splurge on a expensive graphics accelerator.

With this you can stay in your budget.


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## BarbaricSoul (Jun 10, 2008)

you can build my system, minus the gx2(check my system specs) for $855 on newegg.com today. For about $1100, you'll be able to include a 8800gts gen92 video card(and in the future, add another gts and have very close to the same performance as I do, if not the same) With the gx2, I have scored 19,870 in 3dmark06 with everything having a good OC, 15,000 with everything at stock settings. It would most defiently big a hugh performance gain over your current system.


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## nocrapman (Jun 10, 2008)

BarbaricSoul said:


> you can build my system, minus the gx2(check my system specs) for $855 on newegg.com today. For about $1100, you'll be able to include a 8800gts gen92 video card(and in the future, add another gts and have very close to the same performance as I do, if not the same) With the gx2, I have scored 19,870 in 3dmark06 with everything having a good OC, 15,000 with everything at stock settings. It would most defiently big a hugh performance gain over your current system.



Those are some high scores!
How noisy is ur system?
WHat kinda of a paint job do you have?
How do I do the dual boot?


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## hv43082 (Jun 10, 2008)

If you live in America, this thread should help you with pricing
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=553826&highlight=building+intel


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## ShadowFold (Jun 10, 2008)

For 1100$ you can build a KICK ASS RIG!

NZXT. Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146041

Seagate 250gb 7200.10RPM(I have one its great, very fast)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262

Hanns-G 19'' monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254023

XFX 8800GTS 512mb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150261

ASUS DVD/CD drive(I have this too, CHEAP and FAST)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135143

Corsair 550w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

A-DATA 2gb DDR2-800 kit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211066

MSI P45 Neo-F
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130181

Intel Core-2-Duo E8400 3ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

Xigmatek S1283(Best cpu cooler and reletivly cheap)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003

Xigmatek retention bracket(You want this trust me -_-..)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233019

OCZ Freeze Compound
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835202006&Tpk=OCZ+Freeze

1080$ AFTER SHIPPING. 20$ under your limit


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## BarbaricSoul (Jun 10, 2008)

nocrapman said:


> Those are some high scores!
> How noisy is ur system?
> WHat kinda of a paint job do you have?
> How do I do the dual boot?



The loudest single component is the raptorX hard drive, other than that's it's pretty quiet. I do wish I got a quiteter top of the line 7200 rpm drive instead.

The paint job is a home job. I painted the sides with a metallic green and the middle a metallic charcoal, nothing real fancy.

The dual boot is done by setting up two partitions on your hard drive and installing one OS on one partition and the other OS on the other partition.


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## moocow0463 (Jun 11, 2008)

i just ordered everything for my build and im paying under $600 shipped with newegg parts, granted im re-using an old case 4 fans and a hard drive, but everything else is new, id reccomend something like what i did, even if u want a new case that only brings the price up a little more, and if your just gaming you can run a dual core processor 90% of the time to dual core will score better in games then the quad, an overclcoked Q6600 is nice but an over clocked E8xxx is amazing, how ever with future games coming the dual core may gain an advantage soon, but if you get a good mobo processors can be changed inexpensively or you can wait for the nahlem processors to come out


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## demosthenes (Jun 18, 2008)

sorry for the late reply everyone, work has been a bitch.

thank you for your kind responses, this websites seems to be full of nice people.


for the guys who suggested building it, im just not sure about it, like im nervous im going to fuck something up. and i dont have any close friends at home who are computer savvy, only some at school.

i think im going to get this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883107657#spec

i did some searching, and read lots of reviews from newegg/amazon/bestbuy and found out that its an all around good computer. it also has a tv tuner in it, which i dont _really_ need, but, i do rip music performances on tv, so i should be able to get better quality rips than the method i use now, and i can use it to watch tv at my dorm room, as thats what a bunch of people i know do.

i found the same computer at best buy for 100 less:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...Id=abcat0501002&type=product&id=1203815924103

win.
*
but can anyone tell me if theres any minute differences between the two? like im pretty sure they are the same computer, but will best buy give me something that new egg wont? and vice versa. *

I wasnt really too fond of the idea of buying it from bestbuy, but for a small price i get 2 years of support from them, and i can also pick it up from my local place, and save on shipping.

next question, how easy would it be to upgrade the video card a while down the road? simple swap out and put the new one in? i had planned on getting at least an 8800gts but i can wait till i get some more money to do that.

thanks a lot! ill be faster to reply this time.


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## demosthenes (Jun 18, 2008)

also, my roomate just asked me to find out about games?

it should run most newer games right? i play teamfortress2 on my computer now (runs like a bitch though) and my roomate got me playing world of warcraft as well.... the free version. so i should be able to run that too right?


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## BarbaricSoul (Jun 18, 2008)

I can build that system with what is probably a better motherboard on newegg for less than $660

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=9881048

the 8500gt isn't a very powerful card, not sure how well it performs.


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## freaksavior (Jun 18, 2008)

demosthenes said:


> sorry for the late reply everyone, work has been a bitch.
> 
> thank you for your kind responses, this websites seems to be full of nice people.
> 
> ...




whats wrong with best buy?

changing the gfx card is easy, unistall drives, turn off machine, take out card, install new card, install drivers. done.

the psu that comes in the m8430f is only like 250 maybe 300w so you would need a new one for sure.


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## ShadowFold (Jun 18, 2008)

You have a job right? You must be older than me and I built mine when I was 15. Its really easy! Go with the parts I listed. If you have troubles just post here! 

FYI, im 16 now and I have a job so I got some good parts


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## demosthenes (Jun 18, 2008)

well yeah i have a job, it doesnt pay very well though hahah. 

im working at a camp next month, and ill get a good chunk of cash in the beginning of august, but ill need most of it for school.

i was considering getting a better motherboard, just cause i thought the lack of pci slots was a problem. but in reality i wont need to put anything in besides the swap of the video card. and if i was desperate, i could always just take out the TV card.

as for the power supply? the only thing i was considering putting in at this moment was another dvd drive, maybe/probably. and if it wasnt able to power that, i could buy a new supply i guess.

how easy is it to put the supply in? just unplug all the old shit and put it in? isnt it really easy to get electrocuted?


haha, i brought up building it with my mom yesterday, and she was like "i dont want you taking everything apart and building it, you dont know what you're doing" so she'll probably freak if a bunch boxes come and i start building a lego set of a computer haha.




i mean, does that computer suck or something?


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## demosthenes (Jun 18, 2008)

also as for hard drive, i have 2 usb ones, totalling 420gb, in addition to the 750 it comes with, i wasnt worried about space, so i figured i wouldnt need the supply for that either.


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## ShadowFold (Jun 18, 2008)

Those HP's come with boards you cant OC with and the psu's are weak. And dont even try and game with that 8500GT.. Thats a terrible price for a computer considering you can build one with a better board, psu, gpu for almost half that.


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## demosthenes (Jun 18, 2008)

oc? overclock?

i dont think i really need to overclock.

as long as i can run teamfortress2, and world of warcraft(i guess?), im set.

and i figure ill upgrade in a few months to a 8800gts or something.


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## demosthenes (Jun 18, 2008)

do you mean, i "cant" game with it? or i can but it wont be as good as it could be?

i mean tf2 runs shitty, but it ran at least on my old computer with a 5200.

same for warcraft


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## BarbaricSoul (Jun 18, 2008)

demosthenes said:


> well yeah i have a job, it doesnt pay very well though hahah.
> 
> im working at a camp next month, and ill get a good chunk of cash in the beginning of august, but ill need most of it for school.
> 
> ...



changing PSU's is pretty easy, just unplugg and remove the old, plug in and install the new, not much to it.

It's not that the HP sux, it's just that you can do alot better than the HP with the same amount of money.


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## raja02 (Jun 18, 2008)

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i was considering getting a better motherboard, just cause i thought the lack of pci slots was a problem. but in reality i wont need to put anything in besides the swap of the video card. and if i was desperate, i could always just take out the TV card.
=======================================
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## PaulieG (Jun 18, 2008)

demosthenes said:


> do you mean, i "cant" game with it? or i can but it wont be as good as it could be?
> 
> i mean tf2 runs shitty, but it ran at least on my old computer with a 5200.
> 
> same for warcraft



Welcome to tpu. We all get excited around here when a noob asks about a new computer. We all want to help you build one for yourself. Quite frankly, you get SO much more for your money. Your system will have a longer life because of potential upgrades, and the performance will be amazing compared to what you are used to. Would that system play tf2? Sure it will...but not as well as as a system with quality parts. If you are really apprehensive, you could buy all of the parts and ask a local computer shop to build it for you. Just don't buy a pre built.


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## PaulieG (Jun 18, 2008)

I like Shadows build suggestions. However, if you are going to pay someone to build it, you might need to scale down slightly. I'd switch the 8800gts to a 8800gt, skip the Xig cooler (he doesn't OC), and a slightly cheaper case. That should save you enough to pay someone to build it and keep you under budget. I generally charge $80-$100 to do a build.


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