Building/Buying First Computer

[Raim]

First time im building, or at least avoiding retail in buying a new computer. Im working on a very limited budget while trying to get the most out of it, and im a little confused as to parts im lacking. All suggestions regarding parts or barebones packages to buy are appreciated. I generally buy parts from TigerDirect.

Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H AMD Athlon II X2 Barebone Kit - Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H MOBO, Athlon II X2 240, 2GB DDR2, 500GB HDD, XFX Radeon HD 4650, Case & PSU at TigerDirect.com

This is something i've been looking into. I already have my own keyboard, mouse and monitor. This is a featured buy for now and I was wondering what else I would need to purchase in order for all to be operational in this? Also, I do have the discs required, but not sure if it comes with an operating system, hoping to get Vista Professional 64.

Even if things don't add up well with that package, what can you suggest for $400-500 considering I already have the mouse, keyboard and monitor? I plan to use it mostly for gaming such as MMOs, so nothing too extreme like Crysis. Thank you ahead of time.


Second Option:

Gigabyte G41M-ES2L Motherboard Barebone Kit - Gigabyte G41M-ES2L MOBO, Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2GHz, 4GB DDR2, 1TB HDD, Case, 300w PSU at TigerDirect.com

Intel option. Considering buying a cheap 500W power supply and a graphics card in order to get this beast. Any recommendations?


In short, should I go Intel or Athlon AMD? I checked the processors and the AMD leads, but the other one has 500 GB more space, 2 GB DDR Ram and I may have to buy an internal fan if AMDs do really overheat.

Edit: Yes, in the U.S. and the budget is around $400-500. Im thinking im going to end up getting the AMD Athlon one and just purchasing Ram and either a Case Fan or CPU Fan soon.

[Nude_Lewd_Man]

Hi, and WELCOME TO TECHIMO - from the Folding@Home Team (#111)...!

I'm (really) not the best at making suggestions/recommendations, but normally you would not get the OS within the bundle... That doesn't mean that it isn't available somewhere, but as a general rule, the barebones 'systems' only have the bare minimum in the bundle...

To be certain, I would suggest that you double-check the spec/detail of any bundles that you're looking at....

I'm sure that some of the others who are (in my experience) great at making suggestions will be along shortly. Hope you enjoy your stay...

[KarmaKiller]

What's your budget for this build? Do you live in the US? (if not, where)

[Nude_Lewd_Man]

Hi Karma, thought you might be around to assist...

I thought they were in the USofA, but they've now amended their original post (instead of submitting a new one) to answer you....

[KarmaKiller]

Thanks NLM, I wouldn't have seen the edit.

Edit: Yes, in the U.S. and the budget is around $400-500. Im thinking im going to end up getting the AMD Athlon one and just purchasing Ram and either a Case Fan or CPU Fan soon.

No no, don't do that. With $500 you can get a pretty nice rig. You just need to find the good "bang for buck" parts.
What's this PC gonna be used for? Games? Office work? This tells us how to configure the system.

[Raim]

Will be used for gaming, but nothing high end like Need For Speed or Crysis, just MMOs for the most part.

These two are the best I could find for the price range even if I looked up each part individually. Although, I dont quite know whats the best processor for my money, and im not good with knowing the GeForce equivalents of Radeon products.

The only reason I was led away from the Athlon is because I was told they are more prone to overheating, so I decided getting another fan could compensate for less.

[KarmaKiller]

That's what we're here for.
Let me whip up a list real quick.

[KarmaKiller]

CPU + Case Combo
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
$136

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards
$80 ($70 after MIR)

Newegg.com - Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT12864BA1339 - Desktop Memory
$39

Newegg.com - BFG Tech GS-550 550W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.8 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply - Power Supplies
$50

Newegg.com - MSI N250GTS-2D512-OCv2 GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
$120

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAKS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
$47

Newegg.com - LG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners
$29
-------------------------------------------------
Total = $501 without shipping or rebates.

For an OS, head over to Microsofts site and grab a key for Win7, then google for a download. It's free till June 2010, and it's WAY better then Vista. When Win7 is released, you have to pick up a full retail copy then, but that'll give you some time to save up more $.
But the above system is a fully capable gamer box. I doubt you'd have problems playing any games.

[Nude_Lewd_Man]

(...and I'm sure it would Fold pretty well too... )

[Raim]

How much more capable would that computer be compared to the one I linked? I noticed the Processor speed went from 2.8 to 3.0 GHz each, no idea about the graphics card.

[KarmaKiller]

Graphics card is a good deal faster, as the ram is literally double the speed in my system I made up. The motherboard is more "future proof" due to the AM3 socket.
Power supply is MUCH MUCH better. And this is a part that is often overlooked, but is the one part that you don't want to skimp on. The PSU that comes in your linked rig is an ultra, which are known for going kaput. Bad thing is, when your PSU goes out, most of the time it takes hardware that is hooked up to it out with it. So it's something to consider.
All around I would say my listed rig is better.

[Raim]

I'll keep that one in mind. What could you recommend for just $400 though? If you managed to down grade some things, which would it be?

Could the other one manage if I switched out the PSU? I was just going to not so much top of the line games, keep in mind. :x

For reference if it helps: Im trying to get such games as Warcraft, Aion and Guild Wars to run smoothly, preferably on maximum.

I checked their stats on Srtest and it doesn't seem too high at all.

[pullmyfoot]

i dont suggest 400. there is not much you can do to bring down the price of that system without seriously cutting some corners. thats about as low as you want to go without wasting money on sub-par components. you could get a cheaper graphics card I guess. thats about all I would do.

Newegg.com - HIS H467QS1GH Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

its only 20 less though. and you get about half the performance of the GTS250. I suggest spending 20 bucks.

[Raim]

Could someone help explain capabilities of CPUs one last time? Say for instance, I found a computer with a Quad Core 1.8 GHz and one with a Dual Core 3.0 GHz.

Is there Quad Core better because the total GHz would be higher?

[KarmaKiller]

That's kind of a tuff one to answer really. The Ghz can make a difference sometimes when talking about the same chip family, but when comparing say a AMD dual core to a Intel Dual core, you can't really go by just Ghz. You have to look at the L2, L3, core size (65nm, 45nm, etc).
Quad cores show some benefit in apps that are extremely CPU intensive, but for gaming normally dual/tri cores are the better buy.

Really depends on which CPU's your talking about, and which apps your trying to get to run the best.

[Raim]

HP Pavilion a6700y Refurbished Desktop PC – AMD Phenom X4 9150e 1.8GHz, 4GB DDR2, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, Vista Home Premium 64-bit at TigerDirect.com

Thats the one I found with Quad Core. I was planning to swap in a new better graphics card for gaming of course.

Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H AMD Athlon II X2 Barebone Kit - Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H MOBO, Athlon II X2 240, 2GB DDR2, 500GB HDD, XFX Radeon HD 4650, Case & PSU at TigerDirect.com

This is the original find, ready to go, but may add in 2 GB more ram later.

[KarmaKiller]

Out of the 2 you linked to, the dual core (2nd link above) would be the better buy. But IMO, you should go with the system I put together. It's MUCH better quality all around.

[Nude_Lewd_Man]

I would trust what Karma (and PullMyFoot) have to say, they've been very handy for giving advise for my rigs - not to mention that PMF builds computers (as a side project, from what I remember) for his customers......

There are others on here too, but these have been the best in the past for me...
(I mustn't forget to mention Aaron either, but he hasn't posted here)

[pullmyfoot]

well I think KK has a bit more experience than me, to be fair and he does that too.

[Nude_Lewd_Man]

I thought he built them for friends etc... I didn't know how much experience you have, but I know that you have a business doing such....