need advice (building a computer)

N

NinjaFetus

Veteran X
I’m looking to build a computer for myself but have never done so before (closest I’ve come is a modem install for a friend.)

I have a budget of about $3000 Canadian (almost $2300 USD) and figure I’ll be saving a lot by doing it myself rather then buying something pre-built. If push comes to shove and I actually have trouble with it, I have several friends that have experience and would help for a case of beer.

I want this system to be fairly high end, as I’ll be doing gaming and graphics work on it.

Parts that are worrying me the most at this point:

-Power supply (I’ve seen everywhere between 300W and 500W, how much to I actually need? Is it possible to have too much?)

-Graphics card wise, is it worth the extra cash for the “Pro” versions of cards?

I’d love some advice and recommendations, here’s a thanks in advance.

hot_chick.jpg
 
why wait when d3/hl2 are coming out? and t:v? i think now is a perfect time to upgrade, next upgrade after this would be dual core chips.

anyways, check newegg for a 550watt antec psu... its like $105.

also, with that money you might be able to get a fx53 and gf6800ultra depending on your other system stats
 
ding dong dink said:
wait until 2005 when PCI express becomes more mainstream
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yea but then why not wait till late 2005 when dual core chips are out? it keeps going, there is no true PERFECT time to buy, but i thikn now with these new games coming out is a great time..
 
jiminy said:
advice: wait until 2005
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very very smart, to wait, tho i think u can grab some good deals on christmas deals.

unless you dont have a computer now, i suggest you wait until at least Nov.

If you dont have a computer now, and you need one, i say you should only spend 500-550 (US$) and upgrade later:

to an awesome vid card
more ram
another hdd
 
NinjaFetus said:
justification behind that? I've already said "next summer I'll do this"

...that was a year and a half ago :p
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Well, lets say you bought an AMD 64 now, if you got a socket 939, you'd have to wait till october for a pci-express board. If you got a socket 754, same deal with the 939's, but by next year, when DDR 2 comes out, well you're fucked. Socket T, well if you want an expensive, and hot cpu, sure. When it comes to video cards, if you buy a high end AGP card, you probably won't be able to use it in a high end system next year, unless you upgrade to a new PCI express card.

just stolen from the OCers article, http://www.overclockers.com/articles1065/
 
I bought this a month ago:

Athlon 64 3200
Zalman 7000A-Alcu HSF
MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R mobo
1 gig OCZ DDR400
120 gig Western Digital 7200rpm HD
Radeon X800 Pro
Sound Blaster Audigy 2
16x DVD
52x32x52 CDRW
Logitech Elite Keyboard/ Logitech MX500
Antec 430w PSU

Altogether for 2300 Canadian, so you can get a bit better things, eg. more ram or an XT version of the X800, that sort of thing. Put it together on www.ncix.com and pricematched from cheaper sites.
 
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go to www.ncix.com

for more than 2000$ (I think, could be 1500) CAD of parts, they will build the computer for you.

edit: beaten on ncix.com
Also, go to www.pricenetwork.ca
to pricematch items. (they only allow pricematching against canadian stores)
 
i figured id upgrade a lil while ago because before a month ago i was running on a 750mHz Duron with a voodoo 3...

for CPU it depends on whether you want AMD or P4, since it will affect what mobo and ram you buy(AMDs barely get a performance increase from dual channel ram, whereas p4s utilize this already and there is a nice increase)

if you do more gaming then graphics then id recommend an AMD, but P4s tend to be better at handing rendering and general graphic work

atm i have a radeon9800xt(got it for $420cdn through a special deal) and for everything i use it for its great, handles 3d programs nicely, i can crank up the detail on every game i have(not that many new ones tho, which could be the reason for that :p) but if i could i would get the x800xt because itll deffinately help for t:v, doom3 and hl2

my whole system came out to ~$2000 cdn, and i love it :p
if you want details i can post my specs
 
^wargod said:
Well, lets say you bought an AMD 64 now, if you got a socket 939, you'd have to wait till october for a pci-express board. If you got a socket 754, same deal with the 939's, but by next year, when DDR 2 comes out, well you're fucked. Socket T, well if you want an expensive, and hot cpu, sure. When it comes to video cards, if you buy a high end AGP card, you probably won't be able to use it in a high end system next year, unless you upgrade to a new PCI express card.

just stolen from the OCers article, http://www.overclockers.com/articles1065/
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yea but once again, what about dual cores and beyond that? ddr2+pci-e+dual core+ whatevers next.

ddr2 and pci-e shows NO improvements so far, so once they are in boards 4 months from now you might be getting the same speeds as now. where the article says 'thats not the point', its not like companies wlil just PHASE out agp real quick, upgrading should be no problem in the next 2 years

dual cores are a ways out yet, and i dont want to wait. im upgrading now, then again in 2 years with dual core + ddr2 + pci-e


my conclusion is that if you have a good enough PC to play d3/hl2/t:v, don't upgrade. if you dont, mise as well as buy a new pc :cat:
 
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also from overclockers.com
Also consider the possibility that if a game can't run decently enough with a new $200 video card, the game just isn't worth it.
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what kinda horseshit is that... that article is one shitty one imo.
 
when is ati x800 pci-e card coming out? im only seeing x600 which doensnt seem that great. I need to upgrade soon for hl2, etc. 900mhz t-bird aint cuttin it.
 
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