New to building.. got some questions

[Maxer64]

I'm looking to build my own computer pretty soon and have started compiling information about the best way to go about doing it. I'm pretty knowledgable with computers in general, but I'm iffy on the specifics. I've got a friend that's built his own, but I really don't know if he's the best source considering he killed his CPU by building his on carpet...

I want a computer that doesn't need to do incredible gaming, but I've got a laptop with the Intel 950 integrated chipset right now and would like something better than that. So.. decent gaming and the ability to run 1080p video without lag. Also, I just want my basic computing to be lightning fast.

Any recommendations for the components would be really appreciated.

OS - I go to UMich and students can buy 32bit Vista Ultimate SP1 for $18. It's an unbeatable deal, but they only sell 32 bit.

That brings me to some other questions.

CPU - I'm looking to go Intel, but 32 or 64? I've got the cheap 32-bit OS available, and my friend says that 64 bit is still glitchy/he doesn't see the point.

RAM - I know that the 32bit only uses 3GB of RAM max. Will any negatives from the 64bit (if there are even any) be negated by being able to use more RAM? Also, I'm not sure whether to go with DDR2, DDR3, or something else. I really don't know anything about the bang for your buck factor in RAM.

CPU cooler - Is it needed, or will stock do?

Power supply - What kind of capacity should cover my needs?

Floppy disk - is it really needed? Like I said, I've been using my laptop for 3 years and have never needed a floppy drive.

I could use some recommendations in general for my needs for a mobo, graphics card, optical drive, HDD (Looking for around 1TB), and monitor (in the 20-22 inch area would be all I need).

Price wise, I'm not really set on that yet, but $500 is probably the max I'd go not including the monitor.

I really appreciate the help.. jumping onto Newegg is a little overwhelming when I don't know the specifics of what I should be looking for in regards to what I'm looking to build.

[Masaki 7-11]

Pretty much all CPUs are 64-bit, that means they'll run fine with either 32-bit or 64-bit OS. From my experience, 64-bit hasn't been as stable/fast as 32-bit when running on a system with 4GB of ram (the rig in my sig). DDR2 is probably the best option for you right now; it's pretty fast and inexpensive. If you are not overclocking the stock cooler is fine, otherwise an aftermarket fan is a good idea. Usually a 450+W power supply from a good brand is fine for a computer in your price range. I doubt you would use a floppy drive anymore, most things that were done by floppy can now be done with a USB drive. Here is a parts list for a good gaming computer for under $500:


LITE-ON 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS322-08
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106286
$25.49

COOLER MASTER Elite 330 RC-330-KKN1-GP Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119115
$39.99

Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136317
$99.99

SAPPHIRE 100265HDMI Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102822
$89.99

OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500W ATX12V / EPS12V Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341012
$59.99

mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996557
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146692
$39.99

ASUS P5KPL-CM LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131288
$54.99

Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116072
$69.99

Subtotal: $480.42

Here is a good, inexpensive 22" LCD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824254035

[Maxer64]

Thanks.. but I've heard that getting the graphics card to fit on the ATX micros is a hassle. What's the opinion?

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Maxer64 Thanks.. but I've heard that getting the graphics card to fit on the ATX micros is a hassle. What's the opinion?

Fitting a graphics card into a microATX motherboard is no different than fitting one into a ATX motherboard. The case I linked to is ATX which has enough room for longer cards and can use either ATX or microATX motherboards.

[shadowpr]

Masaki has a nice build there.

[Maxer64]

Alright.. well I built the pc masaki recommended. Pretty painless, appreciate the help.

One thing though.. I think the graphics card is broken. The computer locks up and restarts everytime I play an HD video or a game, and when it comes back to life I get a video hardware error of the livekernelevent kind.

I checked the mobo, the RAM, the gpu, making sure everything was seated, everything that needed power was getting power. Everything seemed to be fine.

Then I took the graphics card out and now the computer is running fine on the integrated video and playing HD videos and the games it locked up on before.

My deduction is that the graphics card is fubar. RMA time?

[shadowpr]

Did you install the latest drivers for the video card?

[Maxer64]

Yup.. I went to the ATI site and installed the latest drivers. Nothing changed though.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Maxer64 Yup.. I went to the ATI site and installed the latest drivers. Nothing changed though.

If you think the video card is broken, get an RMA.

[glc]

Did you disable the onboard graphics in the bios and uninstall the drivers?

[Maxer64]

Originally Posted by glc Did you disable the onboard graphics in the bios and uninstall the drivers?

Yeah I think so. The BIOS has four options for which graphics is booted: [IGD] [PCI/IGD] [PCI/PEG] [PEG/PCI]

I've got it set to [PEG/PCI] and the problems still happen. My guess is the graphics card or the PCIe slot on the mobo is bad. I think my roommate has a PCIe card, so I'm going to try that and see what happens.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Maxer64 Yeah I think so. The BIOS has four options for which graphics is booted: [IGD] [PCI/IGD] [PCI/PEG] [PEG/PCI] I've got it set to [PEG/PCI] and the problems still happen. My guess is the graphics card or the PCIe slot on the mobo is bad. I think my roommate has a PCIe card, so I'm going to try that and see what happens.

Good idea, that should let you know if it is the card or the motherboard. Make sure you uninstall the integrated graphics drivers before you boot into the OS with the PCIe card.

[Maxer64]

Well I tried my roommate's nividia 6800 and it fixed the problems, so I'm RMAing my card.

Once I get a new one I'll post results.

[Maxer64]

Got the new graphics card today, plugged it in, smooth sailing. Looks like my computer is finally done. Thanks for the help!