Newbie wants to build

[glc]

Something is wrong - Kuurion's post is caught in the spam filter and I can't get it out. I'll paste his entire post below.

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Newbie wants to build

Hallooo PC Mech Forums!!

So. I'm new here. My basic situation is that my laptop is lucky to be alive right now, it's a model where the video card tends to melt itself off the motherboard. I learned this yesterday, it's understandably set me into a bit of a panic. I've been advised to build my own PC from scratch for a multitude of reasons that I won't go into here, but basically after some research and discussion I've decided that I undoubtedly want to build one myself, rather than buy another laptop or a prebuilt PC, I wanna learn about it and get that satisfaction for myself.

Anyways. Getting into the research part of what parts to get has been a little overwhelming, and I don't have people I can call on reliably to help me out with advice on a direction to take. the things I do on my laptop here and that I need the PC to be able to do are basically,

-Play WoW at a midrange to high level graphics setting (not lagging at 10 frames per second in raids would be good too)
-Run firefox with 10+ tabs open
-Run several art programs, SAI and Inkscape are the two I use
-MSN

I always have MSN and Firefox open, WoW and my art programs are usually interchanging. But I'm a bit multitasker so it needs to be able to handle this kinda stuff at once.

My budget is around $800 CAD/USD (as of this posting the conversion is something like .98 so it's pretty equal), and no more than $1000 after the Windows 7 OS, if that's at all workable. If a good argument can be made to go over that, I will make some wiggle room. I don't need it to be any kind of beast, just open for upgrades in the future if I need it (I don't really crack it open unless something breaks so I won't be upgrading very often) and the biggest thing is that I can be on warcraft and firefox at the same time without things getting all bogged down and slow.

I've done a bit of research but so far haven't managed to find a whole lot. It's largely gibberish to me without any sense of direction or knowing how things will work together. So that's why I came here! Basically so far I have a few options for cases:

Newegg.com - Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Or other things around that price range, and I know I probably want to get a dual core processor, quad is likely overdoing it for the basics I need. I did need to know if it's worth it to get a motherboard and video card with PCI express, or if that's unnecessary? Also, was advised to aim for 4GB of RAM. I'd like to get a GeForce Video Card if possible, but after all this that I've listed here I know nothing else. I tried researching a bit into ideo cards and motherboards and the like, but with all the options and then even further complications with different combinations, I'm lost.

Some help or direction would be greatly advised: what are some good parts I should look for, brand names or numbers that I need to be thinking or researching about?

[glc]

First things first - are you in Canada or the US? This makes a difference, because even though the $$$'s are at parity, parts cost more in Canada.

Does your budget have to include a keyboard, mouse, and monitor?

[Kuurion]

I am in Canada, but I've got no problems in buying from the states. Since I'm also getting most likely a bulk amount from a retailer site I'm hoping to take advantage of a shipping deal. There's also a good place based outta vancouver, directcanada.com, which based up here.

I have a mouse, I can find a keyboard for free or cheap, and I do not have a moniter - I'd forgotten to take that into account, but when it comes to a moniter I'm willing to go cheap, even downgrade to an old box one and wait for a deal. I know gaming on an LCD moniter tends to be hard to find, most LCD's have a large response time. I'm not sure how that would come into play on warcraft, which is an online game and already has a little bit of lag built into it. Maybe I wouldn't notice it and it wouldn't be a problem. I'm not big on the player vs player aspect of it, so milliseconds of reaction time is not a huge priority for me.

[glc]

You are going to take a bath on shipping and customs fees on anything you order from a US vendor that even ships to Canada. I'd recommend you compare prices from newegg.ca and ncix.com. Note that if you live in the Vanc area, you can will call stuff to save on shipping.

Here's a basic recommendation using newegg.ca (simply because I can find stuff on their site easily). It looks to be around $1025 shipped after rebates including a monitor and operating system. Note that I chose these parts VERY carefully! It's also a quad core.

Newegg.ca - COOLER MASTER Elite RC-310-BWN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Newegg.ca - CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Newegg.ca - ASUS P7P55D-E LX LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.ca - Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80605I5760

Newegg.ca - Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Newegg.ca - Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners

Newegg.ca - A-DATA Premier Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model AD3U1333C2G9-2

Newegg.ca - PNY VCGGTS4501XPB GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Newegg.ca - ASUS VW195T-P Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2000 :1 ASCR Built-in Speakers

Newegg.ca - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

[Kuurion]

Thank you for the help! I'm doing a bit of checking around on these things now, and I have some questions. If you can't answer them all that's fine, anything from more experienced minds is valued. I also apologize if they're kind of... out of order, I wrote them down as I came across them in my very randomized research.

What does the size of the Hard Drive matter aside from just pure storage space? Does it help the computer any other way? I have a terrabyte external hard drive and i'm not big on music or movies, so I'm thinking of downgrading here to a 500GB or maybe even less. I've had my laptop for 2 years and my 2 hard drives combined have about 120GB's used.

What other features of a hard drive are valuable? The one linked says:
"This hard drive incorporates WD’s Data Lifeguard, an exclusive set of data protection features, including shock protection, environmental protection, real-time embedded error detection and repair. Its mechanism ensures automatic discovery, isolation, and repair of problems which may develop in a hard drive."
So what is all that? Is it an extra addon, or necessary these days? Is it something I should look for if I shop around a bit more?

What are SATA cables? The DVD burner linked does not come with them. Is that something that's covered in the power supply, or are those different?

What do the amount of rails in a Power Supply mean? the one linked says there's only one +12V rail, and another similarly priced one I found has 2.

What is a PCI Express port? IS it necessary, or a worthwhile option for what I need?

In the comments on that ASUS motherboard, one person claimed that they had problems with it and ASUS didn't have warranty on their boards. Is that true? If so, do all motherboards come without warranty, or does Gigabyte support them?

Does the size of the case ever prove to be a problem? The one linked vs one of the cases I was looking at before are both about the same size, but in the comments of both I found people complaining they had trouble fitting their parts in. Were they just overstuffing it, would this size work just fine for what I need?

What is the specific difference between the linked processor and this one:
Newegg.ca - Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80580Q8300
Both are quad-core, and I see that the first one has a greater cache, which I think means it goes a little faster. Most of the rest is just numbers to me though. I saw something about the first one also having some technology that can speed it up or slow it down, and optimize power consumption... which is awesome, I like the sound of that, but is this all stuff I'm really going to need? What's the advantage, at what point would the difference be noticed?

Does the brand of the RAM make any kind of difference?

Sorry for another wall of text, I'd really like to understand all this stuff though. At least, more than I do now!

[glc]

Comments in bold.

Originally Posted by Kuurion Thank you for the help! I'm doing a bit of checking around on these things now, and I have some questions. If you can't answer them all that's fine, anything from more experienced minds is valued. I also apologize if they're kind of... out of order, I wrote them down as I came across them in my very randomized research. What does the size of the Hard Drive matter aside from just pure storage space? Does it help the computer any other way? I have a terrabyte external hard drive and i'm not big on music or movies, so I'm thinking of downgrading here to a 500GB or maybe even less. I've had my laptop for 2 years and my 2 hard drives combined have about 120GB's used. What other features of a hard drive are valuable? The one linked says: "This hard drive incorporates WD’s Data Lifeguard, an exclusive set of data protection features, including shock protection, environmental protection, real-time embedded error detection and repair. Its mechanism ensures automatic discovery, isolation, and repair of problems which may develop in a hard drive." So what is all that? Is it an extra addon, or necessary these days? Is it something I should look for if I shop around a bit more? I'm recommending a WD Black drive from a performance and warranty standpoint. The difference in price between a 500gb and a 750gb is only $10. All manufacturers have something similar to Data Lifeguard built into their drives, just ignore the ad hype. What are SATA cables? The DVD burner linked does not come with them. Is that something that's covered in the power supply, or are those different? The motherboard will come with at least 2 SATA data cables, and the recommended power supply has 6 SATA power connectors. You don't need anything else. What do the amount of rails in a Power Supply mean? the one linked says there's only one +12V rail, and another similarly priced one I found has 2. It's the total amount of +12v power that's important, and a single rail is actually preferable. The recommended PSU has 41 amps on the +12v rail. What is a PCI Express port? IS it necessary, or a worthwhile option for what I need? The PCI-Ex16 port is for your video card! In the comments on that ASUS motherboard, one person claimed that they had problems with it and ASUS didn't have warranty on their boards. Is that true? If so, do all motherboards come without warranty, or does Gigabyte support them? Asus motherboards have a 3 year warranty. Does the size of the case ever prove to be a problem? The one linked vs one of the cases I was looking at before are both about the same size, but in the comments of both I found people complaining they had trouble fitting their parts in. Were they just overstuffing it, would this size work just fine for what I need? I linked that case as being the cheapest standard ATX Coolermaster case Newegg sells. Choose another case if you wish. What is the specific difference between the linked processor and this one: Newegg.ca - Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80580Q8300 Both are quad-core, and I see that the first one has a greater cache, which I think means it goes a little faster. Most of the rest is just numbers to me though. I saw something about the first one also having some technology that can speed it up or slow it down, and optimize power consumption... which is awesome, I like the sound of that, but is this all stuff I'm really going to need? What's the advantage, at what point would the difference be noticed? The Q8300 is old technology. You can't compare it to a Core i3/i5/i7 by speed and cache. I chose the i5-760 as being the most processor for the buck for your use and within your budget. Does the brand of the RAM make any kind of difference? Somewhat. That's the cheapest ram kit that I'd recommend. Corsair, Crucial, and Kingston are also good. Sorry for another wall of text, I'd really like to understand all this stuff though. At least, more than I do now!

I recommend you read this thread:

Look here for Khalil's guide to the best computer hardware brands.

[Kuurion]

Thank you again. I'll read through that right away. You've been incredibly helpful!!