Another "Build a PC" thread

**swedish** · Aug 21st, 2008, 12:19 AM

So instead of dealing with my laptop's overheating (lol 100C) and trying to get it repaired for the 3rd time, I'm going to finally get a desktop PC. Problem is that I don't know which parts are good enough and won't break after a freaking year.

My budget for a tower is around $600-$700 USD. Power doesn't matter, but upgradability does so I'm looking for a good motherboard or anything that'll last for quite a while.

And oh, please make sure the damn thing won't overheat either.

**Sonic** · Aug 21st, 2008, 02:35 AM

Budget is a couple hundred low, unless you have salvage parts.

Generic Case and 500+ watt ps.
Radeon 4870
Intel Core 2 Duo 8500
4 Gig DDR 2 or 3 Mem (Corsair is a personal fav)
Western Digital Sata Drives @ 7200RPM
A good mobo from Gigabyte or Asus
Samsung DVD writer
Vista 64 bit

**ShadowbaneX** · Aug 21st, 2008, 03:30 AM

Get the best Motherboard you can find, preferably one that will be upgradable for a long time to come (pay attention to the CPU socket as well). This past christmas I tried to upgrade my CPU and it was nearly impossible to find a socket 939 cpu and that was only 2 years after having the system built.

Actually, having a good powersupply isn't a bad idea. My friend spent at least a week spec'ing out just the Power Supply on this system, and I think that's partially why I've had so few problems. His explainations were mostly lost on me, something about 'clean' power vs 'dirty' power (the difference having to do with static or some such) but appearently it is a factor. So if you've got a few extra $$ it wouldn't hurt to toss it at a better PSU

**Mr. Burns** · Aug 21st, 2008, 11:53 PM

Definitely get a good power supply. The good ones will actually be able to supply the amount of watts listed on the box. The ones that come free with cases (with the usual exception of Antec case/PSU combos) are junk and can't actually sustain the wattage listed. Good brands are Seasonic (personal favorite), fortron, and Antec can be decent. Truth be told though, most of the really good PSU companies get their PSUs made by Seasonic. That includes the high and mighty (and expensive) PC Power & Cooling.

Also, when you consider that all the expensive crap inside your computer is connected to the power supply, it's a good idea to get a well-proven brand since if it goes it can take other things with it.

The Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 are probably the current video cards with the best performance at their price points.

Get a Core 2 Duo/Quad motherboard and processor. When shopping for a motherboard, I like to find the ones with really good overclocking scores even though I don't overclock because that means they use quality parts. That way I'm less likely to have stuff go wrong with it in the long-term. Pay attention to bus speed too - with DDR2 you can get a decently priced motherboard with a 1066 MHz bus, which is pretty fast. I haven't looked into DDR3 much, and I think it's still pretty pricey to build a system around. It is the future though, which means prices for it will fall and the prices for DDR2 will start to go up.

As for overheating, a lot of that can be solved with a good case. Make sure your case has enough spots for air to flow both in and out. I'm partial to Antec cases because they don't leave a bunch of sharp edges and pay attention to noise and efficiency. I like http://www.silentpcreview.com a lot for their case reviews too because they rate how quiet the cases are. The quietest cases are also the ones that can usually be made very cool inside.

Hope that helps.

**Cheeto** · Aug 22nd, 2008, 03:29 AM

Get at least 2GB of memory, preferablly 4, run Vista 64bit or XP 32bit, get at least 500 GB of storage (no excuse not to have at least that much), dual core processors are better for gaming than quad core, if you go for an Intel CPU get a P45 chipset (preferably from Asus or Gigabyte), if you go AMD get an nForce chipset, never get the latest or greatest GPU, go for one or two generations behind on the GPU, you get better price/performance and more proven technology, get a GOOD case (I love the Antec P180 series and all it's derivatives, but Coolermaster, Silverstone, and Thermaltake aren't bad).

**swedish** · Aug 22nd, 2008, 08:56 AM

Didn't really go into depth and just searched/dumped these, I'll check on them later. For now, can you guys check it out and see if they're good and if I'm missing anything?

Motherboard

Processor

Memory

Hard Drive

Video Card

DVD Drive/Burner

Case

PSU

EDIT: Wow, the total comes to $921. Can you guys help me shave it down to around $700 at least? I still need to buy myself a monitor.

Aug 22nd, 2008, 10:02 AM

Originally Posted by swedish

Didn't really go into depth and just searched/dumped these, I'll check on them later. For now, can you guys check it out and see if they're good and if I'm missing anything?

Motherboard

Processor

Memory

Hard Drive

Video Card

DVD Drive/Burner

Case

PSU

EDIT: Wow, the total comes to $921. Can you guys help me shave it down to around $700 at least? I still need to buy myself a monitor.

Dunno if this help m8 but this what i built for £590 minus case/monitor parts from old system

System:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz CPU
Geil 4x1024mb DDR2-800 Ram
Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R motherboard (rev2.5)
EVGA E-GeForce 9600 GT KO
Creative X-FI Elite Pro soundcard (from old system)
Creative Inspire T7900 speakers (from old system)
Speedtouch 576 v6 (from old system)
Samsung SATA2 Super Writemaster DVD Multi
Samsung SATA2 160HD
PSU Thermaltake Pure Power 680 APD (680watts)

I highly recommended the Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R motherboard because if i remember correctly theres another two memebers here that use the very same mobo?

Edit:Just remebered it's Wheately007 and Gingerlord who have the same mobo as me but may have diffrent Revs?

Cpu support list:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Moth ... uctID=2631

**Sonic** · Aug 22nd, 2008, 03:48 PM

Don't you have a monitor now? Plus, I've run aspire's included PSU forever with no problems. They got good reviews for their included and extra psus. I'm also a fan of corsair memory.