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03-13-2007, 08:30 PM
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#1 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 13
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Soon to be 1st build...
Hello, been reading this forum for the past few days. I'm ready for a new PC and I want to build it.
My budget will be around $1000 for this. I like to multitask when on my PC. Switching between videos, music and internet mainly. I play PC games from time to time also but not like I used to. On my current PC, Firefox freezes often when I have multiple windows open (like 3 or 4) when I have other programs running. I want to have XP Media Center on this PC so I can record shows from digital cable to PC and watch videos that are stored on my HDD on my bigger TV screen. So I'll be getting a TV tuner card also. I also plan to get a new keyboard, mouse (recommend wireless or not?), monitor and webcam. But they're not immediately needed. Case: Probably a Black ThermalTake one Motherboard: ? Processor: Core 2 Duo seems to be the popular choice here. RAM: 2 GB DDR (2*1 GB) HDD: What do u guys think is better? A 60 GB 10,000 rpm boot drive, or a 250 GB 7200 boot drive? I'm gonna use my 320 GB IDE drive as my slave HDD. Video Card:? Optical Drives: ? DVD-RW 16*, Liteon or any good brand. PSU: U guys say don't go cheap on this part so what brand is trusted here? Should it be higher than 400 W? Card Reader: I have a Palm PDA and it takes forever to hot-synch files from my PC to Exp. Card. Should I get one if that's the case? TV Tuner Card: ? That's all I can think of right now. Any suggestions? |
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03-13-2007, 08:37 PM
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#2 |
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Wx geek
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Indiana
Posts: 6,638
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I'd look at the ASUS P5B for a motherboard with an Core 2 Duo E6300 for the processor. You'll want DDR2-667 in a dual channel kit (the 2 1 gig modules). Cosair is the recommended brand...
I'd go for a 250gb or so 7200 rpm drive. I'd look at the 7200.10 series from Seagate - they give the 10000 rpm drives a run for their money... I would try to find a video card that fits within your budget...I'd start at a nVidia 7600 series or X16xxx ATI card and go up from there. I would check to see if the drive you pick out has burning software with it, that's always a nice bonus. FSP (Forton Source) has a decent 450W for fairly cheap. If you think you may upgrade to heftier video card down the road (if you really get into the gaming) you may want to go with something beefier to save yourself the trouble.... I'm sure there's plenty of card readers to chose from on Newegg (which is our recommended vendor). Welcome to the forum BTW 
__________________
"It is the way of man to make monsters and it is the nature of monsters to destroy their makers." |
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03-14-2007, 12:59 PM
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#3 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SoCal Inland Empire
Posts: 11
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I recommend going with a MSI AM2 mainboard. There are plenty to chose from depending on what features you are looking for, i.e. 1394, SB Audigy, LAN, etc.
I don't know where you plan to get your parts from but your budget will be very tight at only $1000, but not impossible. See my MSI K9N Diamond site for build info. http://www.bosamar.com/K9N/ |
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03-14-2007, 02:04 PM
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#4 | ||||||||||
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Shiro Usagi
Premium Member
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Kaneohe, Hawaii
Posts: 34,002
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Also, many IDE controllers are not native to modern chipsets...they're 3rd party controllers that may need drivers installed before they work. You can get around this by getting all SATA drives (hard drives and optical drives). Quote:
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Don't install the motherboard into the case until after you've verified that the core parts are okay. You do this by assembling the motherboard, CPU, heatsink, video card, RAM, power supply, PC case speaker and keyboard out of the case. Follow these instructions. Cricket
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03-17-2007, 04:57 PM
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#5 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 13
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Thanks for the Welcome.
Update: Case: PSU: FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX500-A = $89.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104934 Motherboard: ASUS P5B(Is there a major difference between the two, is there a preference for one or the other?) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131070 OR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131030 CPU: Core 2 Duo E6300 = $183.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115005 HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 SATA 3.0Gb/s = $89.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148140 RAM: CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 667 = $139.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145098 1st Optical: 2nd Optical: Current Total = $502.97 + CPU = $627.96 or $652.96 |
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03-18-2007, 02:13 PM
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#6 | |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 13
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E
Edited again:
Quote:
Last edited by gotem217; 03-18-2007 at 09:27 PM. |
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03-18-2007, 02:59 PM
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#7 |
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V12
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Houston, T.E.X.A.S
Posts: 3,488
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If your doing only light gaming, a 7600GT would be plenty.
You can also get away with a cheaper powersupply. A 450W should be fine if you wish to save money. The P5B-E has firewire and raid. The P5B doesn't.
__________________
“We must not let ourselves get driven off course, no matter what happens we must stick to our natural game” -Zenedine Zidane |
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03-18-2007, 09:05 PM
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#8 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 13
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When you said 7600 GT, did you mean this card?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130062 And if Firewire/RAID are the only differences between the two motherboards, then I'll just get the P5B. |
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03-19-2007, 09:37 AM
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#9 |
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Forum Administrator
Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Joplin MO
Posts: 37,766
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Yes, that's a great card for the money.
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03-19-2007, 02:14 PM
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#10 | |
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Shiro Usagi
Premium Member
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Kaneohe, Hawaii
Posts: 34,002
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Cricket
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03-20-2007, 09:55 PM
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#11 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 13
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Case: Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000SWA = $105.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133133 PSU: FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX450-PN = $50.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104954 Motherboard: ASUS P5B = $124.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131030 CPU: Core 2 Duo E6300 = $183.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115005 HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 SATA 3.0Gb/s = $89.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148140 RAM: CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 667 = $139.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145098 Pri. Optical: LITE-ON Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW SATA DVD Burner = $44.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106046 Video Card: EVGA GeForce 7600GT = $109.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130062 Total: $849.93 Looks like I'm almost done. Monitor: I want a 19 inch flat and DVI capable. Is name brand most important when picking out a good flat panel or finding one that isn't too expensive? I guess I'll be paying around $150 no matter what monitor I get...... |
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03-20-2007, 11:40 PM
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#12 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: tfp
Posts: 1,923
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Acer monitors are highly recommended around here (I'm using an old Dell CRT; just telling you what I've heard).
*Edit* I wouldn't stray too far into discount land; you'll start getting dead pixels, and other poor quality.
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System: ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe AMD Opteron Denmark 165 Sapphire Radeon 4850x2 2X1GB G.Skill DDR400 Ram Corsair 850W PSU Thermaltake Soprano case Seagate 7200.10 320GB |
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03-21-2007, 12:19 PM
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#13 | |
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Member (8 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 242
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Quote:
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Asus P5W DH Deluxe, Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4, HIS Excalibur Radeon X1950XTX, Samsung WriteMaster SH-S183A, Hitachi Deskstar 7K500, Seasonic SS-401HT, Antec P180, Acer AL1715 17", Logitech MX400, Logitech G15 and Logitech Z-5450 5.1 THX System.
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03-21-2007, 11:00 PM
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#14 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 13
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What do you guys think of these monitors?
Acer http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009091 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009083 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009100 LG http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824005075 Samsung http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001088 Also, is Widescreen recommended and what does 4 or 8 ms represent? Thanks. |
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03-22-2007, 12:53 AM
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#15 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: tfp
Posts: 1,923
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4 or 8 ms is the refresh time; how long it takes a pixel to go from black to white to black again. Lower is better; it's more important if you're gaming or watching movies (not sure if it really is visible even when watching movies) but if you can, opt for lower refresh time.
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03-26-2007, 08:43 PM
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#16 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 13
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Ordered the equipment on Thurs, got the stuff this afternoon. Going to start building it now following the sticky in this forum. Tell you how it goes soon....
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03-27-2007, 06:03 PM
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#17 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 13
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Problem: System won't turn on. I have the case (ThermalTake Tsunami) and power supply (FSP AX450-PN) that I mentioned earlier in the thread.
When I plug the power cable into the PSU, the System Board light in the Motherboard lights up green, but when i press the power button on the case, the system flashes on for a sec, then shuts off. Maybe I missed some connections from the PSU to the motherboard but I dunno right now. |
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03-27-2007, 06:10 PM
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#18 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 13
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Also, next to the "CPU fan" slot on the motherboard is a "PWR_FAN" slot. The CPU fan connector is in place but the PWR Fan isn't. Is that a problem?
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03-27-2007, 06:38 PM
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#19 |
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Kickin' it
Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: USA
Posts: 7,723
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Do you have both the 24pin main ATX power connection and the extra 2x2 square power connection on the motherboard?
The PWR_FAN is just a connection for an extra case fan, you're fine leaving it empty.
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Fold for PCMech: Team 13761 |
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03-27-2007, 06:43 PM
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#20 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 13
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Yes, both are connected. The 20 pins + 4 pins power connection and the separate 4 pin connection.
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03-27-2007, 06:46 PM
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#21 |
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Kickin' it
Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: USA
Posts: 7,723
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Give this a try: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=132409
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03-27-2007, 06:54 PM
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#22 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 13
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Was dreading that, it took long enough last night to get the motherboard set properly in the case. The holes weren't lined up well enough and it was hard to screw the mobo. Be back in a few mins.....
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03-27-2007, 07:08 PM
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#23 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 13
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Ok did it, The PSU is working now and the CPU fan is running, but I don't get a display. Am I supposed to? Do I have to connect the keyboard to get a display?
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03-27-2007, 08:04 PM
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#24 |
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Member (4 bit)
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 13
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Ok, I took one of the RAM sticks out and rebooted and it worked(the picture came on screen). So can I now just put everything back in the case?
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03-28-2007, 11:54 AM
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#25 |
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Forum Administrator
Staff
Premium Member
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Joplin MO
Posts: 37,766
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Yes, but add components ONE at a time and retest. That second ram stick may be defective.
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