building computer, few questions

[mylife]

What's a good motherboard to get w/ a 1.8gHz p4?

Also, looking for a decent video card, nothing special. Which of those should I order?



I'm building my parents a computer and it's my 1st time doing it.

I plan on using pricewatch.com for each individual part and hopefully it will be cost efficient.

Is this a good method of building a computer from scratch?

 

[supersizeme]

go to www.arstechnica.com

it's an excellent resource for anyone trying to build a computer

specifically...this page will probably help you out
http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/index.html

 

[mylife]

How does this setup sound for $802 shipped? It doesn't include the case, wires, fans, etc.



OEM **OEM W/ Retail Accessories** Intel D845BG, P4 1.4 GHz to 2.6 GHz, Celeron 1.7 GHz to 2.0 GHz, 400MHz FSB, DDR Max 2GB,4x AGP, Audio, ATA 100, 6PCI, CNR, 7 USB 4 back pannel 2 front pannel and 1 to CNR, FULL ATX (BLKD845BG A74063-405)----------- $69.00



Intel Pentium 4 1.8GHz 400MHz 478pin CPU OEM -$128
Micron 256MB DDR PC2100 266MHZ ram - $33
WD 40GB 5400RPM UATA/100 Hard Disk Drive - $68
ATI Radeon 9500 128MB 8X 2H DVI TV AGP Video Card - $155
Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 - $29
Hewlett-Packard F50 15inch LCD Monitor - $244 (Refurbished)
Panasonic SR-8587 16X DVD-ROM OEM - $40
SONY CRX210A1 48X12X48 CD-RW Drive (OEM Bare Drive) -$34

 

[anythingbutsane]

have you looked here? www.refurbdepot.com

i set clients up with their stuff.....

 

[TC2]

www.pricegrabber.com has a lot of good prices too.
You can recycle a lot of parts from your old computer. I just built

 

[Juiceme]

For the technical stuff -
www.tomshardware.com is the only place you need

for the components -
www.newegg.com is my personal fav.

J

 

[OKIE]

I like Biostar MBs. You may also look at pricewatch.com for some good deals. I got most of my components from pcdirectsource.com

 

[johnb]

ssme-

Do you post on the forums at Ars?

 

[mylife]

I have everything ready to order but i'm still unsure which accesories i all need. (fans, wires, mounting brackets, cords, screws, etc)

how do i figure this out?

 

[TheProject]

I have everything ready to order but i'm still unsure which accesories i all need. (fans, wires, mounting brackets, cords, screws, etc)

how do i figure this out?

Generally, when you buy a case, it'll tell you what it comes with. Mine came with a power supply, fan, and all the mounting hardware I needed.

You'll get your IDE cables with the motherboard, and as long as you have a power cord from another PC...you should be set.

You might need some Y cables for the power supply connections, but that's probably it.

 

[Lao Tzu]

Why would your parents need a RADEON 9500, unless they are gamers. Why not get a GeForce III titanium or GeForce IV MX? they are half the price

 

[mylife]

Generally, when you buy a case, it'll tell you what it comes with. Mine came with a power supply, fan, and all the mounting hardware I needed.

You'll get your IDE cables with the motherboard, and as long as you have a power cord from another PC...you should be set.

You might need some Y cables for the power supply connections, but that's probably it.

ok thanks... can you or someone else take a look at this link and let me know which of those accesories i should order with the case?

http://www.electroseller.com/Mercha...roduct_Code=AL_4616B1-PSR&Category_Code=00041



I'm also upgrading my computer. right now i have an athalon 1ghz processor and i'm unsure of the motherboard. i want to order an intel motherboard w/ a p4 2.4ghz cpu and 512 ddr ram.

will that motherboard and cpu swap in place of the old shit with no problems? one of my friends said it depends on the ati sockets???

 

[mylife]

Why would your parents need a RADEON 9500, unless they are gamers. Why not get a GeForce III titanium or GeForce IV MX? they are half the price

i actually ended up deciding on the radeon 7500 for $47. how do the geforce cards compare w/ the 7500? (price and performance)

 

[Baby Gorilla]

Huh?

OEM **OEM W/ Retail Accessories** Intel D845BG, P4 1.4 GHz to 2.6 GHz, Celeron 1.7 GHz to 2.0 GHz, 400MHz FSB, DDR Max 2GB,4x AGP, Audio, ATA 100, 6PCI, CNR, 7 USB 4 back pannel 2 front pannel and 1 to CNR, FULL ATX (BLKD845BG A74063-405)----------- $69.00

Intel Pentium 4 1.8GHz 400MHz 478pin CPU OEM -$128
Micron 256MB DDR PC2100 266MHZ ram - $33
WD 40GB 5400RPM UATA/100 Hard Disk Drive - $68

You trying to build a slow system or not?

On processors. Go with Celeron rather than P4. It costs less and unless your parents will do hardcore applications, they won't notice the difference. Or, you can go with an Athlon XP of equivalent clock speed.

I have an ABIT KD7-E mainboard. It has 133 ATA IDE. You want a 7200 rpm ATA/133 HD in any size. It's worth the few extra bucks it costs. Don't waste the bandwith of your interface....it kills what your CPU can do. Since a better mainboard and HD are not expensive, spend the few extra bucks for one that gives the most for your chosen CPU.

Rethink your RAM. DDR266 is okay. I have DDR333. HOWEVER, watch the latency time of the memory. DDR266 running 2.0 CL will match or outperform DDR333 running 2.5 CL. Just a hint when comparison shopping. Also, go put in 512MB. In these days, it's best for computer speed and minimizes upgrading RAM anytime soon.

NOTE: I'm not sure if your chosen CPU will limit mainboard options. I have an Athlon XP2400+ (2.0 Ghz). My mainboard allowed up to DDR333 memory (fastest out is DDR400). It also allowed ATA133 IDE. Hence, I made sure my memory was DDR333 at 2.0 CL and my HD was 7200 rpm @ ATA133.

Definitely use www.newegg.com and www.pricewatch.com for price shopping.

On buying a CPU, most don't come with fans, heat sinks, etc., but the place you buy from will have it listed for sale.

On video cards....

My guess is that any 32MB accelerator works fine for most people. Those can be had cheap. I got an ATI Radeon 32MB basic card cheap for my mom. She's not into games though. I am and am using the card until the one I got for my system shows up, and it runs good. Make sure what you pick supports DVD playback as it's getting common nowadays.

On sound cards....

The SB Live! rocks and the value edition is perfect for most people out there. I have the Platinum one and I have no need to upgrade it anytime soon for how I use it.