new to building

[mis4matt]

hi i am new to building computers and was planning on building a gamming computer and was looking for some help with either finding information or pointing me in a direction to find some.

1) where can i find a diagram to help with building. any generic will do

2) how do you instal quad core and what kinda motherboard do i need for that. also where can i find that kinda stuff. lastly is it worth it

3) is intel really worth it over AMD

4) are duel videocards worth it and how do i install them

5) any other suggestions for building a gamming pc i mean evan if you think i know i prob dont so throw it out there

thanks for the help

[XenaWP]

As a recent first-time builder:

Read the manuals that come with ALL the parts. The motherboard documentation in itself is virtually a full set of instructions on doing the build.

Print out or better yet, order the DVD from this site on Building a PC. Tom's Hardware also has a building guide, so does PC Mag.

Make sure you understand everything before you start plugging stuff into each other.

[maxnik]

hi,
welcome to pcmech!

how about this guide right on this site.
Build your own PC guide

people here can help you to pick all hardware with links. Just give purpose of the build, budget and if you already have any parts.

It's good to look through few threads to get a rough idea what's going on.

At this point Intel CPUs are ahead of AMD, it may change in a few months or maybe not.

Having two video card - SLI or crossfire only worth it if you have huge monitors with high resolution.

good luck

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by mis4matt hi i am new to building computers and was planning on building a gamming computer and was looking for some help with either finding information or pointing me in a direction to find some. 1) where can i find a diagram to help with building. any generic will do

PC Mech: Build Your Own PC

Building Your First PC From Parts

Originally Posted by mis4matt 2) how do you instal quad core and what kinda motherboard do i need for that. also where can i find that kinda stuff. lastly is it worth it

Since this is your first computer it's best to build with proven parts. Quad Core is so new that many of us here don't have any experience with it and if you run into problems we may not be able to help you. Go with a Dual Core processor computer and you'll end up with a fine computer.

Originally Posted by mis4matt 3) is intel really worth it over AMD

At the moment Intel has the performance edge over AMD, but that doesn't mean AMD processor are bad...on the contrary, AMD processors are very good values and if you choose the right parts you can end up with an awesome gaming rig.

Originally Posted by mis4matt 4) are duel videocards worth it

Nope.

Originally Posted by mis4matt 5) any other suggestions for building a gamming pc i mean evan if you think i know i prob dont so throw it out there

There's more to building a gaming rig than just picking out the latest and greatest (and unproven) parts. You have to carefully select the right parts that will work well together. Go with proven technology and you'll have a nice stable gaming rig.

Cricket

[bd1886]

Welcome! Most important things are board and psu selection (to start with). The three things that aren't fully up to speed are Vista (still glitchy so upgrade later),SLI (landscape is changing fast with new developments for the new direct- x 10 introductions) and Quad. If your wanting to "future proof", pick a board that allows these paths and upgrade the three down the road (once things mature or shake down).

[mis4matt]

its great that the same 3 people i see in all forum chats are helping me

i am a soldier deployed right now and wont be building till i get home i am just trying to start learning.

my budget is honestly what ever it cost my goal is to make the best gaming rig possible and hope it will play at top graphics on most mmo games fora few years.

i hear alot of new things are comming out in a few months...should i waite

i have been looken at the other forums i learned about newegg today which is great and i also found about other things as well.

things in the dark still are what is thermal paste? do i i need it for my cpu?

cooling how do i hook up the fan and where do i want it in the tower

by act of god say i get this computer put together...... what happens when i push the power butten?? i heard all sorts of stuff about bios and recognition of hard draive but that to say is way over my had. could some one explain what needs to happen after i turn it on

also how will it recognize drivers b4 OS is put in? what will i have to do to get it recognised

thanks again for help
oh i am on the other end of the clock morning is night nighit is morning to US

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by mis4matt i hear alot of new things are comming out in a few months...should i wait

No, new stuff is unproven and tends to be buggy. Use current proven parts and you'll be happier.

Originally Posted by mis4matt things in the dark still are what is thermal paste? do i i need it for my cpu?

If you're getting a retail CPU it'll come with a heatsink that will already have a thermal pad on it so you really don't need thermal compound. But if you're getting a OEM CPU it doesn't come with a heatsink so you'll have to buy one and you'll probably need thermal compound too. One thing to remember is the retail CPUs have 3 year warranties with the CPU maker but the OEM CPUs generally have a very short warranty period (usually about 15 to 30 days) with the seller.

Originally Posted by mis4matt cooling how do i hook up the fan and where do i want it in the tower

Case fans generally connect one of two ways...directly to the power supply with 4 pin molex connectors, or to the motherboard with 3 pin connectors. It's better to connect case fans directly to the power supply instead of the motherboard...you don't want to overload the motherboard power circuit.

Case fans are installed like this: front fans are intakes (blow into case), rear fans are exhaust (blow out of case), side fans are generally intakes and top fans are generally exhaust. For cooling you want the least amount of fans necessary to help keep the noise levels down. In my computers I only have an exhaust fan on the back of the case along with the power supply fan (which normally blow out of the case as well). I don't use front intake fans.

Originally Posted by mis4matt by act of god say i get this computer put together...... what happens when i push the power butten?? i heard all sorts of stuff about bios and recognition of hard draive but that to say is way over my had. could some one explain what needs to happen after i turn it on

If everything goes well you'll see an image on the monitor and you'll get a single beep from the PC case speaker or the small piezo speaker on the motherboard. Then you'll get an error message saying there is no boot device (because you haven't installed the OS yet) and the computer will halt. Hopefully you're doing this with only the core components assembled out of the case...for your first POST you don't want any drives or other unnecessary things connected to the system. Once you know the core parts are good (motherboard, CPU, CPU heatsink, video card, 1 stick of RAM, keyboard, power supply and monitor) then you can install the system into the case and attach the drives (1 hard drive and 1 optical drive) so you can install the OS. You really don't have to worry about setting up the BIOS much as most things are detected and set automatically. You just have to set the optical drive as the first boot device so that the Windows CD can boot the system and then you can start the OS installation.

Originally Posted by mis4matt also how will it recognize drivers b4 OS is put in? what will i have to do to get it recognised

Basic drivers for the optical drive is on the Windows CD. The other components are running in a very basic mode just to get you going. You only install the main drivers (motherboard chipset, video card, NIC, sound, etc...) after Windows is already installed.

Cricket

[minsonngo]

Originally Posted by mis4matt i hear alot of new things are comming out in a few months...should i waite

I usually don't plan a build until I am ready to build. Things change quickly in the technology world.

Originally Posted by mis4matt i have been looken at the other forums i learned about newegg today which is great and i also found about other things as well.

NewEgg.com is a great place to buy from.

Originally Posted by mis4matt things in the dark still are what is thermal paste? do i i need it for my cpu?

Thermal paste is a compound that helps increase contact between the heatsink and processor die which helps with heat management. You do need it... but if you buy a retail boxed processor it will be included already.

Originally Posted by mis4matt cooling how do i hook up the fan and where do i want it in the tower

The processor and power supply will have fans already included. Some people chose to install extra case fans to help pull out heat from the case. There are areas in the case where you can mount the fans. They get power from the PSU.

I recommend around two if you want case fans. Intake fans go in the front and exhaust fans go in the back of the case.

Originally Posted by mis4matt by act of god say i get this computer put together...... what happens when i push the power butten?? i heard all sorts of stuff about bios and recognition of hard draive but that to say is way over my had. could some one explain what needs to happen after i turn it on

If everything is working and installed properly it should power on and POST. If it does that sucessfully... you can go ahead and install the operating system.

Originally Posted by mis4matt also how will it recognize drivers b4 OS is put in? what will i have to do to get it recognised

When you are setting up the OS it will load generic drivers from the OS cd to get your system up and running. Then when the OS installation is done... you can load the drivers included with your hardware in the OS enviroment.


EDIT: Cricket beat me to it.

[mis4matt]

i apreciate all the help and you broke it down well where i understand it. i will be buying the site dvd guid and i will keep in touch as i am ready to build . i will post my parts and hope for some feed back on what to change what to keep

see ya soon

[bd1886]

Minsonngo gave you the best advise in the thread...purchase when you actually are doing the build. If you were just wanting to do a great build there is tons of wiggle room. But if you want the "Bleeding Edge", stay tuned here,start googling reviews on products you like from competent sites (like Newegg) and your choices will get ratcheted in nicely. One thing about those review sites...for as big as the internet is,the best reviewing sites will stand out (amongst the chaff) pretty clearly.