Noob wants to build

[BostonD]

Hey all. Don't know a lot about computers but like to pretend I do. For the last 4-5 years my Presario laptop's been pretty faithful. I've upped the RAM to 760MB and added a 120GB Hard Drive, but now I'm looking for a desktop with more storage (so I can reserve my 320GB external for backup) and more memory (I watch a lot of videos, use programs like Photoshop a lot, and like to multitask), and I might even like to try gaming (not the most current/online titles, but software from >10 years ago). I know what I want in a system, but not sure what hardware I should aim for.

• ~1TB Hard Drive
• ~3GB RAM (This is the most a 32-bit system will ever use, right?)
• A 5.25" BD-DE Drive
• A 3.5" Card Reader
• A wireless card
• Hoping to dual-boot Windows 7 Home Premium and XP, in case there's incompatible software
• Not sure about monitor size, but I want to have a large window for PhotoShop, and I want one with reliable color representation - my laptop screen always looks so faded.

At the store where I work, we occasionally receive used (about XP-age) towers - they're the one electronic we don't test, we don't even know what's inside the damn things, but we sell them cheap, and I was wondering how feasible it would be to use one as a base and add/subtract parts as I need them.

Budget: I'm working, but not supporting myself. This gives me about $800 a month, but I'm not looking to spend it all.

[ShyguyXPC]

Depending on the specs for the XP era PC's that your talking about, it might be a waste to upgrade them, if their Pentium 3 and early Pentium 4 era PC's.

and even if they were reasonable performance latter Pentium 4 era PC's a newer Dual core era (AMD Dual cores, Socket AM2 or newer or Intel Core 2 series or newer, would still be more powerful and cheap to build right now)



just for an idea, can easily me tweaked to be a bit cheaper, but just an idea

Newegg.com - Rosewill Smart One ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, Black interior, comes with three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, 1x Top 120mm Fan, Option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBNT

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-M68M-S2P AM3/AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7025/nForce 630a chipset Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - ECS NR9800GTE-512QX-F GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Newegg.com - LG WH10LS30K 10X Blu-ray Burner - LightScribe Support - Bulk - Blu-Ray Burners

Newegg.com - Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB port / Extra silver face plate



$644 before shipping, not much room for an LCD and if you need any other accessories,

Ditching the BD burner, for a cheaper more basic BD-ROM drive, ($60), would save a big chunk.

which could be diverted to a Wireless card, and a decent LCD display.


Grabbing a Dual Core, instead of Triple Core would save you some, but not THAT much, plus the Triple core would come in handy for Photoshop, if it supports Multiple Threads for processing, allowing slightly faster render times. also better for multi tasking as well. and extra $20 or so more you can get a slightly slower clocked Quad core, though slower clocked, would be a whole extra CPU core for multitasking, etc.

Basically from what I'm getting from your description, gaming would be a secondary duty on this PC, which means you'll probably want as much CPU processing power as you can get with in budget. in which case going with a Triple or even Quad core, would be the best bet.

Forget Intels Quad cores, for your Budget, your best sticking with an AMD platform, Intels Pricing and performance is always Premium priced. but for an $800 budget or less, AMD is the way to go.

if you don't already have Windows 7, thats another $100, and more than likely your copy of XP from your laptop is non transferable to the new PC.

for monitor size, if your going to be multitasking, photo shop, etc, your going to want at least a 23 or 24 inch display.

The best color LCD's In my opinion, are the LED backlit models, but there EXPENSIVE, compared to standard LCD displays, Apples LCD's are an example.

should be more even color representation across the screen than standard style LCD displays currently.

you could get a basic 19 or 22" gaming LCD right now, and in a month or two, nab a better LED LCD if you can find one cheap enough, eventually having Dual Displays, which come in handy for Multi Tasking, and gaming, as well as Photoshop.