Complete Newbie! Be Warned :)

[JustinSampson]

Hello,
I'm sick of upgrading my decaying P3 450, time for somthing new!

I do have a bit of knowledge, managed to install a CD-RW and Ram by myself. So, I'm planing on building a new system. It'll be a great learning experiance and will be plain fun (and frustrating sometimes, I know )

I want to make somthing modest, not a super computer, but good for gaming.

Right now there's a only a basic things I'd like to know. I'd like to have at least a 1.0Ghz prosessor, so here come the questions!

1. What's a good prossessor, at least a 1Ghz, and I was thinking about an AMD, but not sure which one?

2. What's your recomended mother board to go with that?

3. What video card? I'm thinking a Geforce 2 looks good, and it's in my price range, which one is best for gaming, and is no more then $150-250, that's all this PC is going to be used for, so I don't need the TV stuff if it's not nessasary?

Thanks for answering my newbie questions,
Justin Sampson

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Happy reading.

 

[ProjectPat]

go with an AMD thunderbird 1.2Ghz, it seems to be the best for price/performance right now, also, go with a geforce 2 Pro, they're getting cheap right now, and for a motherboard, everyone seems to like that EpoX one, also, go with DDR, it's cheap and is 2x better than SDRAM

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

I disagree. As far as video cards are concerned I highly recommend the Kyro2. You'll be able to find them online for ~$100 USD or less and they are very competitive to the Geforce2 GTS and Pro.

 

[JustinSampson]

Thanks for the Help!

So far this is what I'm looking at getting:

Fong Kai FK-603 ATX Mid-Tower
AMD Thunderbird 1.2Ghz
EPoX EP-8KHA
Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 OEM

Ok, the power supply in the tower is only 250W, is that a big problem?
Video Card, still not sure...

Thanks,
Justin Sampson

 

[slipperyslope]

<< I disagree. As far as video cards are concerned I highly recommend the Kyro2. You'll be able to find them online for ~$100 USD or less and they are very competitive to the Geforce2 GTS and Pro. >>



I have no experience with the Kyro 2 but I KNOW that nvidia drivers and hardware are solid. For a newbie you want to go with something that is least likely to give problems so I would also suggest an nvidia card.

EDIT: I would suggest a 300W power supply.

Jim

 

[ProjectPat]

You are probably going to want to go with a 300W, but that 250 might do it for you

 

[FlippyBoy]

you may want to consider a 300 or 350. the 250 will probably be enough, but it will be stressed pretty hard, especially with the 1.2 chip.

 

[JustinSampson]

Ok, yeah wasn't sure about the power supply, better safe then sorry! What's a good looking case with a 300W powersupply?

 

[Athlon4all]

Looks good, good board for the non-overclocker. You will certainly need a 300W Ps for a 1.2GHz T-Bird (Make sure u get a T-Bird-C). I do havwe to agree that nVidia's products are proven and usually don't have many problems, while KyroII just came out from well, a no-name company until now. So I'd if u can, spend $150 and get a GF2 Pro it should last u a while, or even better if you are in the low $200 range, u might be able to snag a GeForce2 Ultra for even more performance).

 

[CraigP]

Antec sx1030 would be a good reccomendation for a case.

Try directron.com or emscomputing.com

 

[JustinSampson]

<< Antec sx1030 would be a good reccomendation for a case. >>



Thanks for the suggestion, but no quite what I was looking for, I'm looking for a round smooth looking case, if you know what I mean. Or a nice silver or aluminume case would be cool.

 

[FlippyBoy]

how about the inwin s506? its kinda round, and an excellently built case. i am using the enlight 7237, and liking it very much. both come with quality power supplies (from most vendors, anyway).

 

[gopunk]

<<

<< Antec sx1030 would be a good reccomendation for a case. >>



Thanks for the suggestion, but no quite what I was looking for, I'm looking for a round smooth looking case, if you know what I mean. Or a nice silver or aluminume case would be cool. >>


if you don't mind paying 150-200 for a case, check out the lian li pc-60. it's cool...

 

[JustinSampson]

Ok, thanks for the suggestions, so most people think a Geforce will be good?

 

[EdipisReks]

the geforce2's are really nice, though i am personally going to be getting a 64 MB Radeon VIVO once i finish building my new system.

--jacob

 

[JustinSampson]

<< ...(Make sure u get a T-Bird-C)... >>



How can I tell if it's a C??
Thanks!

 

[mrbios]

A C-type Thunderbird will be a 266MHz bus speed chip, which helps to enhance performance.

Russell &quot;Mr.Bios&quot; Sampson

 

[CraigP]

My first pick would be the Gainward Cardexpert GeForce 2 Pro 4.5ns ram

get it at newegg.com for $147

 

[JustinSampson]

Ok, thanks for the help everyone!

Now, where do I buy this stuff? Any suggested online stores?

 

[Athlon4all]

Newegg's a good store.

 

[JustinSampson]

Ok, last question (for now ), what's the differnce between OEM, and, well, stuff that doesn't say OEM?

And when you say go with DDR, whats the differnce between that and SDRAM? Will i need a differnt mother board, or does it work with the one I listed above?

Thanks again for answering my somewhat stupid questions

 

[majewski9]

The Differenc between OEM and retail can be huge! An oem product comes usually unwrapped and without any extras. Some OEM comp supplies can be different than the retail also, but generally OEM is a good buy.

Example differences! An OEM CPU will come without a fan/heatsink and unboxed in a plastic holder. A retail cpu comes with a fan and heatsink in a box. Ill never buy an OEM again because they are more subject to bent pins. OEM vid card has no package software only drivers and usually no cables.

 

[majewski9]

An Athlon C has a 266 bus!

Youre mobo uses DDR! Get DDR ram. 256megs of PC 2100.

DDR SDRAM is Double data rate of SDRAM. In actually there has been a DDR chipset out that will deliver a schocking performance gain over SDRAM. Get DDR though since it will be the new standard for a couple years.

 

[majewski9]

If you aren't a total game fanatic get an ATI Radeon instead of a GeForce2 or 3! The 3 is a huge overkill and the GF2 isn't the best for 2d or DVD.

A Radeon 64meg VIVO will set you back 150$. A radeon 32 meg can set you back a mere 71$. The best graphic card value is the Radeon LE for 71 since you can make perform like a reg DDR Radeon for 120$ with a simple Registry hack.