Help a Ultranoob build a PC

Horsefumbler

Hi. I know this gets asked a lot here and everyones probly sick of hearing this and all. I have read some threads on it already but I don't get a lot of whats being said. I wanna build a new PC ( gaming PC)and i got a budget of about 2000 ooroh. i was going to just get whatever dells top of the range is but it seems building your own is better AND cheaper.

my first questoin is what's the best graphics card? I had heard about the 6800 and decided i'd hold off upgrading untill it was released(it is out now yeah?). But then I saw this new radeon one which seems similar. Which would yall advise?

Any advice on motherboards, CPUs , RAM, cases? I know absolutely nothing about any of them.

I take it 2 grand is enough to build a decent PC yeah?

Another thing, is there anywhere u can go where some one put all the parts together for you, like PC world?

lastly is alienware just a rip off?

thanks in advance:)

zoro

Originally posted by Horsefumbler
Hi. I know this gets asked a lot here and everyones probly sick of hearing this and all.

Yeah it's asked _alot_ probably the most popular topic It's ok though - it's better to start a new thread for yourself than have to wade through 5 pages relating to someone else's pc.

my first questoin is what's the best graphics card?

The latest card out is currently the ATI X800 XT. there's also an X800 Pro (which a few ppl have managed to 'fix' to make them XT's) which is a good bit cheaper.

I take it 2 grand is enough to build a decent PC yeah?

That'd be the average upper limit I'd put on it - but of course, you can go for wings and a jet engine and it'll go alot higher

Another thing, is there anywhere u can go where some one put all the parts together for you, like PC world?

I'm not sure about that actually - but I wouldn't go to PC World for it I'm sure that I've read about people here willing to do the same for a mug of tea, a packet of choccie biccies, and a pint afterwards

lastly is alienware just a rip off?

I'd have to say yes and no. Yes because the prices are F*CKING ENORMOUS. and No because the machine yuo get is amazing. But I'd always say build your own instead.

Try reading http://boardsie.dyndns.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=152842 <-- that.
It's a brilliant sticky on another forum that may help you out alot.

Best of luck with you build! I wish I had that much money to buy a new machine

BKtje

2000 euro is gonna get you a top of the line pc with all the bells and whistles on. (assuming u need a monitor, keyboard and mouse tho?)

i was going to just get whatever dells top of the range is but it seems building your own is better AND cheaper.

Ive gotten the impression that Dell dont sell AMD's and therefore wouldnt be as good as a build it your own (or a get a custom built at a shop) jobbie.

my first questoin is what's the best graphics card?

I'd suggest you look at some reviews at some sites like Hardocp or anandtech. Atm it seems the radeo 800XT is the card to get tho there is a 800XT vs nvidias 6800ultra at the hardocp link i posted.

Any advice on motherboards, CPUs , RAM, cases? I know absolutely nothing about any of them.

Take a look at this thread which i posted yesterday to give you some idea. Im going for a top of the range pc as well and while its prob a bit technical atm for you ( is for me but im learnin ) it will give you a good indication how much you'll be spending.

I take it 2 grand is enough to build a decent PC yeah?

If you already have a monitor you can buy pretty much the best pc that you can get with some change left over for a choco bar, if you dont you could still probably get a high end system without too much skimping. Really depends what you go for.

Another thing, is there anywhere u can go where some one put all the parts together for you, like PC world?

Im not sure. Im sure there are people who do it tho i dont know any as ive always done it myself, theres probably some people on boards who might do it for you if you give them something small for their trouble. Could always give it a go yourself tho this might be risky if you go for the very top end machine as it would be costly if somethign went wrong. (its how i learnt tho it did cost me a fried motherboard but wont go into that )

lastly is alienware just a rip off?

Always been led to believe that they are but i dont really know. Good Luck

BKtje

and No because the machine yuo get is amazing.

A m8 of mine got one not too long ago. It tends to over heat on him which kinda made me question them. No doubt they are quality machiens tho

zoro

beat you by SECONDS!

zoro

If you don't feel up to building a machine, or having someone else do it for you, have a look at http://www.jes-computer.de/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=151_121&products_id=16104&language=en < -- that machine.

It's none too shabby at all at all! Maybe see if you can have it delivered with no RAM or GFX card (maybe knock some of the price off??) and get yourself an X800 Pro and 1gig of ram.

That'll have you set nicely Maybe even get a nicer case too. If you've the money to burn, sure why not?

Dempsey

Motherboard: Abit KV8-MAX3 €169.40
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ OEM €201.07
RAM: Corsair TWINX1024-3200LLPRO DDR 1024MB Kit €363.00

Priced off Komplett.

Get a ThermalRight Socket 754 CPU Cooler, Artic Silver 5, Vantec Stealth fans (80mm) Optical Drives and two 74Gb Raptors and RAID 0 them and youll have the guts of a cracker machine

zoro

+ gfx card--> http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=300413&cks=PRL --> 441.65E (X800 Pro)

RE*AC*TOR

If there's one thing I can recommend to you Horsefumbler - don't buy top of the range cpu or graphics card. The product cycles for these are really low - you buy a new X800XT now for 600 it'l be more like 200 in a few months. The same for cpus.
Instead, get a really good motherboard that will be upgradeable for a good while. €2k is an obscence amount of money to spend on any kind of PC. I reckon you could make a very respecteable gaming rig for about a grand (excluding tft monitor).

Lastly, unity etail on Jervis street will put the parts together for you if you buy tem from them. Probably not as cheap as Komplett / Jes though. It really very easy to put a pc together - like a jigsaw.

neokenzo

I dont know about Intel but I dont think AMD are going to decrease their new cpu price anytime in the near future. Eventually maybe they will but it would be some time from now and by then they would have come up with something better. The same with graphic cards. The reason the 9800 por's have been cheaper is because the X800 was coming out soon at the time.

Deadwing

Im planning on building one myself soon, as far as ppl were saying with the gfx card, im just going to put my 9800pro into my new rig (when its built) for a few monts until the price of the X800 or 6800 comes down a little, also by then itll be clear which is the better card.

Horsefumbler

Originally posted by RE*AC*TOR
It really very easy to put a pc together - like a jigsaw.

made of really expensive, fraglie parts:) thanks for the advice tho

I think i'll have a bash at putting it together myself.

Quick question: how do you fix the motherboard to the case? is that one of the hard parts involved in putting together the PC?

Deadwing

Most of em just screw in, piece of p!ss.

Horsefumbler

Actually i've found a better idea i'm going to go with alienware. i was looking at their top of the range PCs when i thought they were too expensive. but now I realise that is mostly because they use the latest CPUs and they alone cost about a grand which is why the overall cost off they machine was so high (about 3500 euro). So i'm going to go with a lower end CPU Athlon 64 3200+ but still all good other shit (gfx card, RAM, hard drive, sound card etc.) which only comes to about 2500 which i will grudgingly pay. So thats that sorted.

thanks to everyone for their help and advice:)

BKtje

2500 sweet jebus!?

Just get someone on here to build it for you and teach you as he/she goes. That way you'll know for next time. But its your money (i can hardly give out about spending big either but 2500 dwarfs even my spending spree)

made of really expensive, fraglie parts thanks for the advice tho

Expensive yes but not as fragile as you think. Biggest danger is actually static, more so than actual (visible) physical damage.

neokenzo

Originally posted by Horsefumbler
Actually i've found a better idea i'm going to go with alienware. i was looking at their top of the range PCs when i thought they were too expensive. but now I realise that is mostly because they use the latest CPUs and they alone cost about a grand which is why the overall cost off they machine was so high (about 3500 euro). So i'm going to go with a lower end CPU Athlon 64 3200+ but still all good other shit (gfx card, RAM, hard drive, sound card etc.) which only comes to about 2500 which i will grudgingly pay. So thats that sorted.

thanks to everyone for their help and advice:)

You could build a system for much less with the same spec. I think you are paying about €500-€1000 more with alienware. Also, it doesnt come with a monitor or speakers. If you build it yourself, you could get a great rig with that money including monitor and speakers.

Deadwing

Seriously dude, alienware may look cool, and have a reputation as being badass p.c's but youd save a rakeload building it yourself, and you get the satisfaction of building it yourself too. makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

aaf

Originally posted by Horsefumbler
Actually i've found a better idea i'm going to go with alienware. i was looking at their top of the range PCs when i thought they were too expensive. but now I realise that is mostly because they use the latest CPUs and they alone cost about a grand which is why the overall cost off they machine was so high (about 3500 euro). So i'm going to go with a lower end CPU Athlon 64 3200+ but still all good other shit (gfx card, RAM, hard drive, sound card etc.) which only comes to about 2500 which i will grudgingly pay. So thats that sorted.

thanks to everyone for their help and advice:)

Christ, don't fork out 2.5g's on a rig! Honestly, you could build a beast of a machine for 2 grand no problem. I built my pc in feb. Easy. Bought a book on how to do it and followed the instructions in the manuals. Easy. The hardest part was deciding what to buy. I did a lot of research and I'm very, very happy with my decisions. If ya need a hand, I'll help ya and so will lots of folk here on boards. I bought all my components from JES and overclockers . I can highly recommend both companies.

wideband

u should check out Maplins cataloge...i think its in liffey valley @ €6.oo....gives a fairly good manual on building ur own plus prices for most parts...u can check the net for higher specs and makes after

Horsefumbler

it was actually going to cost 2700 coz i need a monitor aswel.

I spose it is waste of money really.



Bah I'm so confused now


It's only 2330 if i get the Athlon 64 3200+ , is that any good?

neokenzo

Originally posted by Horsefumbler
it was actually going to cost 2700 coz i need a monitor aswel.

I spose it is waste of money really.



Bah I'm so confused now


It's only 2330 if i get the Athlon 64 3200+ , is that any good?

I build my system a couple of months ago for a lot less than that dude. The A64 3200 is good. If you can get the A64 3400 even better. At the moment with the A64 3200, you can get the 2.2Ghz 512MB L2 cache or the 2.0Ghz 1024MB L2 cache. I would advice getting the bigger cache but others may disagree with me. Bottom line, its down to you whether you want to overclock or not.

AdMMM

Originally posted by Horsefumbler

It's only 2330 if i get the Athlon 64 3200+ , is that any good?

ONLY €2330?? If you can manage to put the word 'ONLY' in front of a number that big then go ahead and buy it because money isn't an object for you

aaf

Here’s the spec of my pc I built in Feb:

ASUS K8V Deluxe
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
2 x Mushkin DDR PC400 512mb
128mb Sapphire 9600XT
M-Audio Revolution 7.1 Sound Card
2 x Samsung SP1614C 160GB SATA Hard Disks (just bought the 2nd one and intend on setting up RAID 0 this month)
NEC ND-2500A DVD-RW
Antec Sonata Piano Black Quiet Case
Altec Lansing 5100 Enhanced 5.1 Speaker System
Hyundai ImageQuest Q17 17” TFT Monitor
Logitech Cordless Desktop MX (keyboard & mouse combo)
Floppy Drive

Total including shipping roughly: €2200

That’s everything you need. I went for a top end keyboard and mouse so you could knock off about €50 if you want standard keyboard/mouse. You might only need 512mb ram so knock off another €115. These were the prices in Feb and if you were to buy same components now, I’d say you could get them for a few hundred less!! You might want a better graphics card. I’m not a big gamer but I play occasionally so that was the middle ground card for me. The M-Audio soundcard I got is excellent for music playback but if you’re a gamer, one of the Creative Audigy cards will be for you and cheaper!