Building my own pc

[huggy_bear85 0]

Hey everybody. Due to recent horrible technical support through the almighty DELL, transferring me from this department to this department and then back to this department(every dept. in a different counrty except for the USA), i have decided to venture out and build my own pc. this is my first time tackling a task this complex and so i decided to turn to you guys for a lil' advice.

What I would like:

* $1000-$1500 price range

* Great sound and video

* Fast, yet quiet

* Ability to overclock

 

I would also like to use the A-Top Xblade case however the max size for the motherboard is 12" by 9.5". This is causing me some problems because most of the hard drives that i have been looking at are 12" by 9.6". Ain't thata bi*ch.

 

Other things i need advice on.

*Processor

*Motherboard

*Memory

*Hard Drive

*Sound card(looking at Sound Blaster Audigy 2ZS)

*Video card(looking at ATI Radeon 9800)

*DVD RW/CD RW

 

The compatibily of all these things are a little confusing. To be honest the only processors that i have been looking at are the P4's but any suggestions would help. Also i have been looking at the Z-ALIEN Cases as an alternate to the Xblade due to larger motherboard allotment. Both case seem to have pretty good fans on them so i'm not to worried about the cooling.

 

And don't worry guys(and girls), i think i can handle the REALLY REALLY HARD STUFF, like finding a keyboard and mouse.

Thanks

[Sampson 0]

I may sound like the very company that you are now rejecting, but the decision to buy hardware ought to be a function of what you are going to use the computer for. For example, if you are a gamer and this is actually why you need the fast video card and the big sound, the new line of AMD processors are what you want to look at.

On the other hand, it you are editing a lot of video stuff and this is what you need the heavy hardware for the P4's with HT enabled with gigabytes of memory is the way you should go.

As to overclocking both Abit and Asus seems to be the boards that overclockers prefer. Personally, I am not a big fan of overclocking since it unstabilizes a system, burns components, causes unforeseeable hard disk corruptions and it basically comes down to luck concerning a individual processor which is classified at a speed that is under its possible capacity. Instead of thinking of overclocking, think in terms of the socket. Both AMD and Intel are changing the configuration of their processors requiring new sockets. If you want to increase speed, and if the socket remains viable, you can buy a faster chip (with BIOS upgrades, etc. which sometimes are required) in the future. In today's market there is no equivalent to the old BX boards where you could slap in the latest and greatest Intel processor (or accelerator) and never look back.

Hope this helps.

[huggy_bear85 0]

Ok, so you all now have me looking at the AMD's. I have a question though, do you believe the AMD's are better than the P4 Extreme Edition. I will be using the computer for gaming but not so much as i will be using it for video and audio mixing. I know considering the price I've outlined the P4 Extreme is a little pricey but through a friend of a friend of a nephew of an uncle i can get the Extreme for $327.

Looking at both the Assus and Abit motherboards, I'm still running into the dimmension problem. With the Xblade case the motherboard can't be bigger than 12" by 9.5". I really would like to use the Xblade case but i am willing to go with the Z-Alien case.

thanks

[Sampson 0]

Again, for gaming the AMD exceeds Intel. BUT, for video editing Intel still has the edge. You do not have to get the Extreme Edition to pull this off, a Northwood P4 3.2 will do - though its production is now coming to an end. The Prescott (which may be at 3.6 now) is the present Intel chip, but is renowned for its heat. In either case with HT enabled and gobs of RAM they outperform AMD with video editing and numbers of processes running simultaneously.

[pmistry 0]

In terms of preferences and opinions, I like the Intel chips. I find them to be better engineered, better designed, and give you the best performance for ALL the things you want to do with a computer. There are a few people out there who just play games, I play games too, but I am glad I bought a Pentium 4 chip, becauuse its quiet, runs cool, and gives me the performance I need to run multiple MS Office Applications, AutoCAD, Nero, encoding and decoding DVD and audio, and plays my games like Painkiller, and Far Cry quite fast.

 

I suggest you consider the P4 processors, Intel just launched the new line of chipsets with the new socket interface, that interface should be around quite awhile just like the 478 pin interface we have seen with P4s for a few years now.

 

In terms of motherboard I have had success with Abit boards and Asus boards, either is good, just pick the one with the options you want. Today's motherboards have tons of great stuff like Gigabit LAN ports, USB 2.0, and Firewire.

 

Sound cards in general just stick with Creative, they are great and the Audigy 2 ZS and Audigy 2 are great cards. I have the Audigy 2 and paid less than the ZS model, essentially the ZS has 7.1 speaker support over Audigy 2's 6.1 support.

 

My system that I put together last year:

Intel P4-2.4C

Abit IS7 motherboard

1 GB Dual Channel DDR400

Western Digital 80GB ATA100 Hard Disk

 

Since then I upgraded my Sound Blaster Live to a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 and upgraded my Radeon 8500 LE to a Radeon 9800 Pro. The 9800s are going for cheap right now, get one while you still can.

[pmistry 0]

Hey AlecStarr,

 

Yeah its been awhile since I have been posting here, but I have been upgrading my PC quite a bit lately and thought I would dive back into discussions. My next component to add is a Serial ATA hard disk.

 

As for the Abit boards, I think they offer the best performance while still being competitive price wise. I find them a bit cheaper than Asus boards but they aren't marketed cheap like ECS or Epox boards. I have had an Asus K7V for my Athlon 750 and I put an Asus A7N8X into my sis's PC. Both boards are fast and stable but so are my Abit boards that I have used including, the Abit KA7-100 for my Athlon and my current Abit IS7. Plus the features are more and better than the Asus offerings.

[huggy_bear85 0]

Once again thanks for all the assistance and technical expertise. If i do decide to go with the P4 processor and Abit motherboard, which Abit do i get to fit in the space allotted by the Xblade. The motherboard can not be any bigger then 12" by 9.5".