Looking to make a PC

[Ponoiko]

i want to make a pc the only problem i have is that i really dont know much about morther bords or processors i already have a video card in mind (ATI Radeon 9800 Pro) and a hdd (Western Digital 80Gb 7200 rpm) and i can spend around 1000-1200 on it can some one help me out with the mother bord and processor and thanks in advance

[Cadois]

I'm also building my first computer and still don't know everything there is to know, but I think I know enought to do it. I SURE HOPE SO! I highly recommend you not get a Celeron. Go with AMD Athlon or Pentium. I would go with AMD, but that is just me speaking. If you decide to go with an AMD, a good motherboard is the A7N8X Deluxe, but just make sure you get a certain kind of memory for this. There is a lot of memory that dosn't seem to work with this mobo, but is the probably one of the best ones out there for the Athlon. I really don't know much about Pentiums so someone else will have to help you there.

[Ponoiko]

Originally posted by Cadois
I'm also building my first computer and still don't know everything there is to know, but I think I know enought to do it. I SURE HOPE SO! I highly recommend you not get a Celeron. Go with AMD Athlon or Pentium. I would go with AMD, but that is just me speaking. If you decide to go with an AMD a good processor is the A7N8X Deluxe motherboard, but just make sure you get a certain kind of memory for this. There is a lot of memory that dosn't seem to work with this mobo, but is the probably one of the best ones out there for the Athlon. I really don't know much about Pentiums so someone else will have to help you there.

of all the days today at work they cut my hours :mad: well its not a problem getting the comp but ill just have to wait to buy a nice LCD monitor (sigh ) for that mobo what athlon chip (i mean like a 3000 or something like that) will work with it and i think i will go with AMD also is there any thing else i need like a fan for the chip

[Cadois]

Well, the Athlon processor should come with a heatsink fan with it.

[Ponoiko]

how does this look
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...st=electronics

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...st=electronics

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...st=electronics

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...st=electronics

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...st=electronics

with a keybord and mouse and FFXI im up to $986.23 and i think the only thing i need is a case

[Cadois]

what's your AOL Screen name. That would be much easier to talk to you. (send a personal message)

And save money from buying from New Egg. www.newegg.com

[Ponoiko]

i lol i though i was at newegg but i was at egghead its amazon

[Devryn]

If your going to use this computer primarily for gaming do yourself a favor and avoid the LCD monitors. Yeah they're flat...Yeah they're cool, but even a cheap CRT is going to give you better picture quality. My 2cents. Also the the A7N8X is a motherboard not a processor. I would recommend the Athlon 2500+ Barton (333 mhz FSB) because it's VERY easy to overclock with very little extra cooling needed. It will stomp any Celeron in the dirt...Not that that's all that hard, and will give the Pentium equivilant a run for the money. If you're looking at the Radeon 9800 Pro see if you can find a powercolor 9800 NP. The reason being is you can flash the bios of the card and make it a pro with no overheating for about 100 bucks less. I would also go with New Egg. Don't forget your Chassis (ATX, Mid tower) A good power Supply (about 400W Antec should do) CD Drive, OS, RAM, Modem (if you need to dialup) and a soundcard...Although the built in sound on that board is really quite nice. For n00bs always buy a boxed processor or "retail" version. No OEM. Video card can be OEM because you just stick the sucker in the AGP port anyways. ALWAYS buy good RAM. I like Corsica, Kingston, and Crucial. It's worth the investment to pay for the right RAM. Another n00b mistake is to not mount the Mobo properly. REMEBER TO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS.

[Cadois]

Yeah, I knew that the A7N8X was a motherboard. I just typed it wrong. I got the AMD Athlon XP 2500+, but I haven't put the computer together yet. I did read a lot of good reviews about it and it looks like it will work great. Like I said before, watch out for the memory on this motherboard. I have read reviews and people reccomend Corsair memory for this mobo. Here is what I'm getting: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...145-420&depa=1.

[Devryn]

Sorry bout that. When I said Corsica I meant Corsair. That's what happens when you have too many things on your mind. Anways you picked a good stick there but if you're really a performance hound you mind find dual sticks more pleasing.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...145-432&depa=1

[Cadois]

I was debating between getting one 512MB stick or two 256MB sticks. I am just going to go with one 512MB stick for now and just forget the dual channel until I have enough money to buy another 512MB stick.

[Ponoiko]

thanks of all the help ive just started looking and probly wont buy anything untill next week and now that you have said it i could get a bigger monitor for about the same price as a LCD and at neww egg i built up the same system with the ram and the os and it came out to be around 1100 which i dont think is that bad and ill look in to that grafics card would www.pricewatch.com be a good place to find some of the stuff

[Cadois]

I'm sure pricewatch is good, but I've never used it. If you want to find the cheapest price on an item pricewatch shouldn't be bad then!

[Devryn]

Well the point of buying a matched set is that they're performance matched to give you a bit of a boost. Even from the same company if you were to buy two sticks at different times there could be conflicts between the two that you would never know about. Yeah you'd get some increase but not as much as a matched pair would give you. But even so if your plan is 1 GB in a step process just make sure that you buy GOOD chips, preferably the same brand.

[Ponoiko]

i was wondering if it would be better to get an asus radeon card instead of an ATI and i was also wondering about linking the comp to my tv with a s-video link its not that i dont have a monitor (i do its just small and kinda burnt out, the screen becomes beige where white spots should be) but i was wondering if i would lose grafics if i hook it up to my Sony Wega humm there was somthing else i wanted to ask but ive forgotten