Advice for a 1st time build

starrboy · August 2nd, 2002, 03:15 PM

Any1 got any advice for a 1st time build. So far i have got a case with a 300watt psu and a kr7a-raid...any suggestions on what i could put in it or any problems i may encouter wil be a great help. I'm buying bits for it bit by bit at the mo as most on my cash is being spent on clearing debts

i'm thinking 512 ram maybe more amd athlon 1800xp or maybe even a 2000xp. 80 gig udma 133 harddrive..

EndobioticChaos · August 2nd, 2002, 03:29 PM

Question: What are your goals for this machine? What do you want to use it for?

jman01pa · August 2nd, 2002, 03:31 PM

Welocme to Techimo!

If you are slowly buying piece by piece you may want the CPU to be the last major component you buy becasue the prices drop so quickly...

starrboy · August 2nd, 2002, 03:34 PM

gonna be a for games and net gonna have a go at setting up a small network aswell.. got a copy of mandrake 8.2 her to try as well

SNUG · August 2nd, 2002, 04:09 PM

build it in the kitchen>> sounds funny but usually u don't have carpet in there.. anything that will cut down on elecrostatic charge is a must.. you can never be to careful.

If u are looking for a good place to buy online let me suggest newegg.com the have been great for me.

and lastly keep posting we would love to see how it progresses for u.

newbie~wan · August 2nd, 2002, 04:48 PM

If you don't have much cash, but still want a performer, I say go for an XP+1600-1800, maybe even a duron (they still kick a$$). 256mb ram will get you bye just fine, especially w/ prices the way they are right now. You won't need 512.

I don't know who is actually using these 60, 80, 100, and 120gb drives. I have a 30gb drive w/ win2k, winxp, linux and about 10 gb of mp3's and I still only use about 1/2 of my capacity. Definetily go w/ the 7200rpm drives, maybe even the 8mb cache ones. Also check read/write access times.

Dont scimp on the power supply! Pick up a good 300W, but also check the max amperage ratings on each rail. All power sources are NOT built alike.

If you want to save some serious money on a burner, go w/ a 32x or 24x. Since the 40x writers are as cheap as $70 now, I'm sure the 32 and 24 are even cheaper. Go w/ a GF3 ti200 on the vid card. The GF4's have driven the prices down on them.

Brangwen · August 2nd, 2002, 05:25 PM

Starrboy:

I agree with several sentiments expressed thus far and I'll add a few of my own:

1. Hold off on CPU till near ready to build: AMD prices (Athlon/XP) are going to fall through the floor. And as newbie~wan pointed out, Durons do very well, though you may want more cache ...

2. I presently own 60GB, 40GB, 30GB HDDs ... I use about .33 of the 40GB, and I have many duplicitous files ... I need to go through and dump a lot of stuff that never gets used. The 30GB and 60GB HDDs are being given to my wife and brother. In fact, I'm installing a SCSI 18.4GB HDD (SCSI) and I'll likely not fill it, unless I begin video work. But good point: who really needs HDDs larger than 30 - 40GB. That old adage just came into my roomy brain case: "A fool learns from his own mistakes." In other words, learn from other person's mistakes and experiences.

3. The computer case is as important a component as CPU, memory, vidcard, etc. You are selecting a "box" that will (hopefully) protect the other components that make up your system. And a box / case should see you through many computer upgrades. My present case is preparing for its 4th upgrade! And I haven't seen anything better than it on the market. Comparable: yes. Better: no. Also don't skimp on case ventilation, i.e., fans. Keep the components cool and they will give you long life!

4. And the burner advice, again by newbie~wan I agree with. I just bought my brother a 40X burner - who the heck (truly) needs to burn at 40X? I really didn't think about that till after I bought it: $67 I think. I use a good ole Plextor ATAPI 16/10/40 CDRW. And I burn at 12X ... just to be positive that I don't make coasters. Wow, I have to wait 6 minutes to burn an 80min CDR! Really, not that long to wait! Although, better check prices. I think my slow Plextor is a bit more expensive than the 40X Liteon.

Okay. Last thing other than get a good (all or mostly copper) heatsink with triple-clasp socket connectors ... "Have fun!" Welcome to TechIMO and the World of computer building ... your life will never be the same!

Brangwen

Redwolf · August 2nd, 2002, 05:32 PM

Welcome Dude!

IF you bought a raid mobo, I'm sure you want a raid config!

The hard drives I reccomend? Western Digital. They have excellent drives. For space, get as mucg is reasonable. 2 40GB hard drives is good.

Windows XP Pro is a great OS to suppliment Linux. You may be able to find Win2K for cheap, but I doubt you'll find it for $50 like our friend Jerrygarcia in the post http://www.techimo.com/forum/t29836.html.

Unless you want to play Shadows of Lucin, 256mb is enough! BTW, a 128 mb swap partition for linux and a 512 mb permanent swap file for windows is a good setting for both 256 and 512 mb RAM.

Look through that post to see what other parts are good as well. Have fun!

starrboy · August 2nd, 2002, 05:54 PM

already got a phillips cdrw so thats some cash saved thanx fo rthe advice i'll keep yas posted with any problems i have

caddmannq · August 2nd, 2002, 06:26 PM

Since nobody mentioned it: Read the motherboard manual TWICE before you set up the hardware. Check the manufacturer's website too. There might be notes, erratta, drivers, flash BIOS, etc there that you should know about.

If anything therein is not perfectly clear, come back and ask questions. Nothing hurts worse than to find out too late that the Pazuzi video board you bought doesn't like your Indonex motherboard when you use MindowsXYZ.