My 1st pc build

[Theophylact]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShyguyXPC

don't know what he's talking about with a $250 1TB hard drive, most I've seen are around $90-100 these days.

DDR3 1600 IS NOT needed if your not going to be doing any overclocking, and with a 3GHz CPU there's really no need anyways, money can be saved a bit by going with DDR3 1066 or 1333Mhz instead.

relatively cheap video card is NOT $100 (maybe if your into gaming, but from the opening post, its safe to say this will not be a mid range or even budget gaming rig), you can get a decent one for $50 on average.

Not $250 for the hard drive; $250 for the hard drive, the case, the keyboard, the DVD burner and the mouse. And that's including the PSU with the case. DDR3 1600 is for lagniappe; it's still only $88 for 4 GB. And if he's not doing serious gaming the integrated graphics will do anyway.

[N8N8N8]

Which pc would you choose if I would not be gaming? This one (your 1st post) or the budget gaming pc for under $500? I like the this one better (the 1st one AMD CPU) b/c of the quad core and the ddr3 ram. Also I would get better performance out of this one if im not gaming..... right?

Like you said I always have the option to upgrade the video card

Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShyguyXPC

Under $500 budget:

Newegg.com - ASRock M3A785GMH/128M AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT - Desktop Memory

Newegg.com - Antec Basiq BP430 430W Continuous Power ATX12V Version 2.2 Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners

Newegg.com - APEX TX-381-C Black Steel Micro ATX Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Case is personal taste, but I figured for a basic use multi task system, something like that with the built in handle was kind of nice.

no dedicated video card, but the onboard video has 128MB of dedicated Memory, so should be more than adequate.

the 430W PSU is more than that system needs, but does leave option to upgrade to a medium size Video card down the road if you wanted or needed one, just opens up some upgrade options for future use, one less component to upgrade, and its not THAT much overkill for what you need now.

DDR3 RAM, 4GB total, if you use a 32-bit OS you won't be able to use all of it, but should be still able to use about 3.5GB of it at least.

3GHz AMD Phenom II Quad core, more than enough for multi tasking.

Western Digital Caviar Black series is one of the 7200RPM drives I was referring to, this one is on sale marked down, and free shipping, so costs the same as the 500GB model, so for same price you get an extra 250GB of storage.

SATA DVD Burner, smaller cables so less clutter. the only thing that will be a pain in the ass is tucking the excess power cables away to enable proper airflow in the case.

after shipping its just under $500, leaving another $100 for an Operating system, Windows 7, or XP or whatever...

if you opted for a Triple Core, that would lessen the price still maintain a decent multi tasking system, and even give some cash to spend on things like better case fans or add in a Flash Media card reader or something.

[ShyguyXPC]

if it were me and the system purely for multi tasking with the occasional low level graphics games, or old school games, from 5-7+ years ago, then I'd go with the above list...

to fit an Operating System in the budget, I'd lose the Quad and go with this Triple Core (200MHz slower and you only lose one core, plus its a Black Edition, so should be easy to Overclock if needed, and not sure if its still the case, but some of these Phenom II X3 Triple cores you can unlock the 4th core and have a Quad core, but would have to ask around how to do that)

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor - Processors - Desktops

total after shipping with that change, comes to just under $405, another $100 and you could pick up an OEM version of Windows 7 or Windows XP to install.

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows XP Home SP3 for System Builders - Operating Systems

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

[ShyguyXPC]

forgot to add, that Mouse, Keyboard and Monitor are not included in that list, not sure if your looking for newer replacements for those, or just use from current system.

[N8N8N8]

I would like to stick with for sure...

Newegg.com - ASRock M3A785GMH/128M AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT - Desktop Memory

^^^^^^^^
(from the 1st post)

I will buy separate OS,monitor, keyboard and mouse. I just want the tower..

The quad core I will get better performance out of then the triple core.. correct. I dont mind spending like another $40 for the quad core 3.0ghz if its better performance

To me that sound like a really good performance wise the cpu ram and mobo.. Idk I could be wrong. Do you think it a good start for a solid pc.

Ty

[ShyguyXPC]

it really depends, usually the software your using has to be optimized to be able to use multiple CPU's or Cores to really benefit from them.

I remember going from Single to Dual core initially and noticed a noticeable jump in performance of apps, mainly since the OS wasn't just using the same core as the apps, it allowed more power for apps to use on a single core.

going from Dual to Quad was less of a jump, but there was still a noticeable increase.

in this case, you going to a Quad would be better in long run, possibly less of an upgrade down the road, or at least hold off longer for one, but even still going from your old single core to a triple core, your definitely going to notice a difference.

if your willing to spend the money for the quad, might as well go for it.

as to a good start for a solid PC, yes, I'd have to say those parts would be a good start.

[Networker4321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by N8N8N8

If I get a motherboard with onboard video and sound, do I still have the option to upgrade the video and sound or do I need to buy a new motherboard to do that?

On my last two builds I added nVidia cards and they took over the graphics without me having to turn off the onboard components.

I added a $9 video card and a $10 speaker set for a 5.25 bay and got the same result. I expected to lose system sounds but did not.

Have at it!

[N8N8N8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Networker4321

On my last two builds I added nVidia cards and they took over the graphics without me having to turn off the onboard components.

I added a $9 video card and a $10 speaker set for a 5.25 bay and got the same result. I expected to lose system sounds but did not.

Have at it!

When you said you added a $9 video card and took over the onboard video, does that mean the $9 video cards is better then the onboard video that came with the mobo?

[ShyguyXPC]

unless it was one hell of a deal, I doubt it. The onboard Radeon 4200 on that one motherboard, is similar to a $30-40 Video card of the Radeon 4000 series, just a notch down from the bottom run Radeon 4300's.

[N8N8N8]

what type of case is this? I want this one but cant find it online. Is this case like the clear case? This one looks like its glass?


I seen some clear cases on newegg but none of them look like this one

http://c2.api.ning.com/files/gJRgmF*.../ClearCase.jpg