first time builder

[brokecollegestudent]

let's see... im going to try and build my first pc and just have some general questions and also some specific ones. First let me just say that i want to use my pc mainly for internet and dvd/cd burning but i do want play many newer games and listen to a ton of music on it as well. that being said i also would like it to last for a little while before any major upgrades have to be done. i have been doin some research and have narrowed down my processor to a pentium d 3ghz dual core socket 775 since it was fairly cheaper than most dual cores i saw and seemed to have good reviews. i also looked at an intel g965 atx motherboard with graphics and sound on board 1066/800mhz fsb with ddr2 800 4gb max ram. i guess my first question would be how are my choices? am i going overboard or not enough? after that i would also like to know how you decide what power supply and cooling fan to go with? ill probably be building it almost from scratch besides software which is why i was looking at a motherboard with sound and video on board although i will probably upgrade to a better vid card if need be.... i will have plenty of other questions but this will at least point me in the right direction for now... sorry it was so long and let me know if you need more info... thanks

[The_YongGrand]

First of all, what's your budget? If you are willing to spend a little bit more, you can get the Core 2 Duo.

[Alaron]

Your choices are solid. I would try to fit a Core 2 Duo into the build. The e6300 is around $180 on Newegg, a great price on a very powerful chip. Can you give us a link to the motherboard you're considering? Intel makes great boards.

If you want to play games, you'll need to spend a bit on a video card. Onboard graphics will be too weak for new games. I'd pick the Geforce 7600GT, a great mid-range card.

We can recommend a power supply after the other parts are picked out. The wattage depends on the components you use. For the cooling setup, the heatsink/fan that comes with the CPU will be fine.

Do you have a budget? And do you need just the computer, or a monitor,speakers, keyboard/mouse etc?

[newbuilder14]

Core 2 Duo would be best, if not I'd go for an AMD based Athlon 64 X2. All depends on your personal choice and budget.

[brokecollegestudent]

i was hoping to keep it under 500 for the whole thing if it was possible besides an os that is.... newegg has the processor for 155 and the motherboard for 125... is the core 2 duo really that much better for the money?

[brokecollegestudent]

processor:
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819116238

motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813121052

i have a monitor i can use and keyboard and all that... the components i was actually going to buy on top of the motherboard and cpu were a new hd around 150GB or so, RAM, Power supply, a dvd/cdrw drive

[glc]

You aren't going to game well with onboard video. You have to face that reality. Don't even bother with a Pentium-D any more.

Core 2 Duo E6300 - $180
Asus P5L-MX - $75
Corsair Value Select DDR2-667 2x512mb kit - $105
Quality brand 400w dual rail PSU - $50 - Fortron or maybe a XClio 450BL?
Lite-On DVD burner - $30
Seagate 7200.10 SATA 250gb 16mb cache - $80

This is $520. I wouldn't cut it any tighter than that. Throw another $100 into a halfway decent video card and you wil have a good machine. Look at a Radeon X800GTO or a GDDR3 version of the Nvidia 7300GT.

[brokecollegestudent]

i have decided to go with the core 2 duo its obviously got killer reviews from just about everyone.... couldnt find that motherboard on newegg glc... is it better to go without onboard graphics even if i plan on upgrading to a better card? what should u look for when deciding on a power supply?

[glc]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131041
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817189003

[brokecollegestudent]

thanks this should help point me in the right direction for now..... you guys have all been a great help... ill go with this for now and if i have anymore questions ill be right back here

[Cricket]

A guide to building your first PC from parts.

Cricket

[brokecollegestudent]

thanks cricket this is gonna help a bunch

[Alaron]

We have a guide as well: http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/index.htm

[brokecollegestudent]

hey glc can u recommend a regular atx board instead of a micro? also what do u guys think of the type of ram? is ddr2 800 that much better than 667 or 533 with the duo? i was just wondering because the motherboard i was looking at by intel (see my post above) is apparently picky about the maker of the ram that it allows so if i wasnt sacrificing much performance then i could go with a less expensive board and cheaper memory... i was planning on going with a gig of ram by the way

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by brokecollegestudent hey glc can u recommend a regular atx board instead of a micro?

Why don't you want to use a micro-ATX motherboard?

Cricket

[brokecollegestudent]

well more likely than not im gonna be getting a case for free which im 99% sure is an atx midtower so anything i dont have to buy is a plus... on top of that the atx boards looked like it would leave more opportunities for upgrading later due to the extra pci slots an dimms and such..... are there any benefits im overlooking for going with a micro? any thoughts on the ram question?

[newbuilder14]

ATX boards seem to be better in my opinions - for OC'ing and whatnot.

[Alaron]

mATX motherboards fit into ATX cases. The mounting holes will be there. Yes, there are fewer PCI slots, but with sound and lan built into the board, most users don't need very many PCI cards. And the mATX version of a motherboard is the same as the full version, features-wise. And for your budget, you need onboard video. And any board that has onboard video is almost always mATX.

As for the ram, go with DDR2-800 if you can afford it, it is the best match. But if you need to trim costs, 667 will work fine.

[newbuilder14]

If you really want to have an ATX board with onboard video I'd strongly recommend this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813121052

[The_YongGrand]

Originally Posted by glc ...Throw another $100 into a halfway decent video card and you wil have a good machine. Look at a Radeon X800GTO or a GDDR3 version of the Nvidia 7300GT.

The GDDR3 versions of 7300GT are very rare, and only 128MB is available in most places. The 7300GT can be very comparable if an overclocked version is obtained. Or else, the plain one isn't that very good.

[glc]

I suggested that board for a very specific reason. It's the only board under 100 bucks that I would put a Core 2 Duo in - with or without onboard video. DDR2-667 is the proper speed for that board and processor, DDR2-800 will not benefit you at all. It's a 945 chipset.

The questions you are asking now are bringing you out of the budget category. You are already over $500 without a video card. Now, if you want to ante up some more cash, we can start suggesting upgrades such as a P5B and XMS ram.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by brokecollegestudent well more likely than not im gonna be getting a case for free which im 99% sure is an atx midtower so anything i dont have to buy is a plus...

But as Alaron stated micro-ATX motherboard do fit in standard ATX cases.

Originally Posted by brokecollegestudent on top of that the atx boards looked like it would leave more opportunities for upgrading later due to the extra pci slots an dimms and such..... are there any benefits im overlooking for going with a micro?

The problem here is you have a limited budget which we're trying to help you stay within but you want parts that will push you out of that budget. Yes, a standard ATX motherboard does allow you to install more PCI cards and such, but are you sure you're really going to need them?

You're going to have to look at your finances and decide if you really must stay within your current budget or if you can muster a few buck more for this computer and build what it seems you really want to build...a mid-range gamer, which would mean you need at least $800 to build a halfway decent gaming rig with.

Cricket

[brokecollegestudent]

im not too worried about the graphics card right away.... i was only trying exploring options really.... heres what ive come up with...

processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115005

motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813121052

power supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182022

hard drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148144

now my first question would be is it worth getting this motherboard to have ddr2 800 or should i save my money and go with one like glc suggested or another one with ddr2 667?

my other question is would this power supply be enough even if i was going to upgrade the graphics card later to a decent one thatll play some newer games not necessarily hard core gamer but like u guys said mid range?


im only trying to see if its better to spend a little more than 500 now and have it last longer than trying to save a little only to have to spend more later than i would in the first place.... as i have it now before i buy the ram im at 430 plus another 100-170 for the ram wouldnt be too bad since i have a case, monitor, keyboard, mouse, floppy drive, etc.

thanks again guys

[glc]

Thats a good motherboard, but not very adjustable. If you want a G965 board, I'd prefer the Asus P5B-VM.

I'd prefer an XClio 450BL over that Rosewill. The Rosewill is made by "Solytech" who I've never heard of, the XClio is made by Channel Well.

[brokecollegestudent]

alright guys.... went with the core2duo the mobo i listed and that psu glc suggested.... got everything over the past couple days.... build went well everything seems to be working except i cant get anything goin as far as an os.... i turn it on and press f2 to enter the bios and it tells me there is something wrong with the boot device there is a pxe- media failure or something... ive been looking around and i think its trying to boot from the floppy drive but i dont have a floppy boot disk.... how do i get it to read from the cd/dvd drive where my windows cd is? i cant figure out for the life of me since i cannot press any other keys to take me to a different menu to change the boot device... (it says to press any key to boot) thanks guys

[newbuilder14]

The post message is fairly normal. It is saying that there is nothing on your hard drive and nothing to boot from. Now are you sure you cannot find the boot device order listed in the BIOS? Check all the tabs, I know it is in there. Is this what your asking? I cannot understand what you are saying at the end of your post, can you elaborate more?

[brokecollegestudent]

either im just really stupid... or im a god and can tell computers to do things simply by speaking... lol.... neways i just left the windows cd in there for a few min and lo and behold it started installing windows.... still dont know what the pxe error messages were all about but at least i can get windows up and running for the time being... there were no tabs or nething on the screen i was on i couldnt even get to a bios screen actually.... but i think its good for now ill let u know what else i run into thanks

[newbuilder14]

The errors are common among most Intel motherboards. How do I know? I had the error myself. Intel is telling you that it cannot read anything on the disk.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by brokecollegestudent still dont know what the pxe error messages were all about

That's just the computer trying to boot from the on-board LAN. Look for a setting in the BIOS referring to booting from LAN and disable it.

Cricket

[newbuilder14]

I stand corrected yet again.