******Hardware and System Building Guide For New Users******

[KoolDrew]

Just so you know the link for the Biostar motherboard for the low end AMD based system actually leads to a Chaintech motherboard.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Nice thread man. Great work.

 

[babylon5]

Keep it up, very handy for anyone upgrading! thanks

 

[Svnla]

Good work OP. Very nice format and edit. Easy on the eyes.

 

[UsandThem]

Thanks for the kind words

Now that I am back from my two week vacation, I will be updating this guide soon.

It's good to be back.

 

[UsandThem]

Newly updated.

Any suggestions or advice on something I missed?

 

[imported_rod]

Hey all.
I see so many people post here asking "is this the right PC for me" or "I've been out of the loop for so long, and I need to know what to get to play Half-Life 2"etc... So I'm currently working on writing a computer program which will design a complete system for a person, based on their budget and requirements. Anyone know of a program that already does this? Anyone got any suggestions for me about the program?

Newayz, just wanted to see if anyone was interested...

RoD

 

[imported_CPUFreak]

Hey guys, I'm a relative newbie to anandtech, and to avoid creating a new post, I thought I'd post my query here.

After some research, I've decided on the following parts for my new PC:

1) M/B: DFI Lanparty NF4 SLI-DR
2) 2x 512MB pairs of Patriot dual channel DDR (~total of 2GB)
3) A64 3500+ "venice" core CPU
4) WD Raptor, 10000RPM, 74GB hdd
5) Antec NeoPower 480w PSU (maybe upgrade later for SLI, not sure)
6) Case TBA.

My questions are as follows:

1) This thread didn't highlight the differences between the SLI-DR and SLI-D versions of the lanparty mobo
2) Should I stick with OEM venice or go for packaged and use the stock fan (I don't plan to o/c anything for 6-8months at LEAST). If I should go OEM, what cooling solution would you guys suggest? Fans only please. I'm stretching my budget enough as it is
3) Finally, what video card? I have my heart set on a 6800GT atm (to be paired with another later on) and my price range is 300-400 US for whatever card I can get. I've heard people suggest BFG and Leadtek, but I could've sworn the first one was outta my price range. Not sure about LT.
4) If I decided to go with a 6600gt, because I only have max 1500 to spend on this PC, what does turbo cache do, and what would be a good flavour to pick? The usual Leadtek or something else?

I have about 3 more days to finalise my parts. As you can see, I've already got *most* of what I want researched, and yes, my heart IS set on SLI as an upgrade path. The PC, as you can see, uses mostly quality components and has to be able to run pretty much any current game, or any other game in the next 1-2 years fine (albeit lowering gfx detail as needed).

So, please hit me with some suggestions and also, why you chose those parts. Thank you

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: CPUFreak
Hey guys, I'm a relative newbie to anandtech, and to avoid creating a new post, I thought I'd post my query here.

After some research, I've decided on the following parts for my new PC:

1) M/B: DFI Lanparty NF4 SLI-DR
2) 2x 512MB pairs of Patriot dual channel DDR (~total of 2GB)
3) A64 3500+ "venice" core CPU
4) WD Raptor, 10000RPM, 74GB hdd
5) Antec NeoPower 480w PSU (maybe upgrade later for SLI, not sure)
6) Case TBA.

My questions are as follows:

1) This thread didn't highlight the differences between the SLI-DR and SLI-D versions of the lanparty mobo
2) Should I stick with OEM venice or go for packaged and use the stock fan (I don't plan to o/c anything for 6-8months at LEAST). If I should go OEM, what cooling solution would you guys suggest? Fans only please. I'm stretching my budget enough as it is
3) Finally, what video card? I have my heart set on a 6800GT atm (to be paired with another later on) and my price range is 300-400 US for whatever card I can get. I've heard people suggest BFG and Leadtek, but I could've sworn the first one was outta my price range. Not sure about LT.
4) If I decided to go with a 6600gt, because I only have max 1500 to spend on this PC, what does turbo cache do, and what would be a good flavour to pick? The usual Leadtek or something else?

I have about 3 more days to finalise my parts. As you can see, I've already got *most* of what I want researched, and yes, my heart IS set on SLI as an upgrade path. The PC, as you can see, uses mostly quality components and has to be able to run pretty much any current game, or any other game in the next 1-2 years fine (albeit lowering gfx detail as needed).

So, please hit me with some suggestions and also, why you chose those parts. Thank you

1. You should check out the motherboard forum for info on SLI boards for the most accurate info. I personally think SLI is a waste of money at this point, because you do not get that much more performance for all the extra money you pay for it.

2. Yes, get the retail CPU. It comes with a three year warranty. OEM CPU's have no warranty from AMD.

3. Currently at Newegg (could be less at other sites), you could choose from XFX, eVGA, MSI, Gigabyte, and Leadtek. All are $399.00 or less.

4. The problem with getting a 6600GT, is it is really pointless later on to add another for SLI. You would get better performance from a single 6800GT. You could always sell the 6600GT, and get your 6800GT's at a later date.

Everything else you picked out looks good. There is some good Cas2 Patriot memory for around $130.00 for a 2 X 512 Mb kit at Newegg.

 

[imported_rod]

2)If your building it yourself, go OEM. That way you get a HSF and a 3-year-warranty for about $10.
3)6800GT is a good card. And offers SLI L8er on. The above post tells you where you can get it for a reasonable price.
4)The 6600GT doesn't use turbocache. The 6600 and 6600GT use normal GDDR3 memory. The 6200 uses TurboCache. TC is being used on cheap PCI-E cards, because the bandwidth of PCI-E allows the card to utilise system memory instead of having much memory on the Video Card. Since system memory is much cheaper than the GDDR3 stuff that video cards use, it can offer decent performance at low prices.

Hope that's helped
RoD

 

[Kitomaru]

Very helpful.

 

[imported_CPUFreak]

lol I have no idea what a HSF is.

Yah, I'm getting a 6800gt. No problems there.

I'm buying in the US but making it at home, in aussie land. Hope that isn't a problem :/

 

[Budman]

Originally posted by: CPUFreak
lol I have no idea what a HSF is.

Yah, I'm getting a 6800gt. No problems there.

I'm buying in the US but making it at home, in aussie land. Hope that isn't a problem :/

HSF is short for Heatsink and fan combo.

 

[bjc112]

Good post.



Good info.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Originally posted by: UsandThem
Newly updated.

Any suggestions or advice on something I missed?

I quickly skimmed through "The Beast" - I beleive you're missing the HSF for the Venice.

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy

Originally posted by: UsandThem
Newly updated.

Any suggestions or advice on something I missed?

I quickly skimmed through "The Beast" - I beleive you're missing the HSF for the Venice.

Good catch

 

[UsandThem]

^up^ for another sticky?

 

[KoolDrew]

DFI now REQUIRES native 24-pin ATX molex & 480W for all the DFI N4 mobos.
http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showpost.php?p=101722&postcount=34

 

[TwoGrizzly]

Well, I dont know if this thread is being watched by you UsandThem, but I wanted to add my kudos to you also! Im one of the newbs that has gotten a LOT out of your guide (even tho I did find it after posting a couple of newb post lol ) Thanks again!

 

[UsandThem]

Thank you for the kind words Two Grizzly.

My thread no longer has a sticky at the top of General Hardware, so I don't update near as much as I did.

 

[McRhea]

I was about to make a post asking if there was a nice guide floating around, but before I made that post, I decided to use the Search function and found this guide.

I'm really happy I found this guide, thanks a lot UsandThem. This guide is exactly what I was looking for.

I'm assuming that the info is relevant after 4 months?

 

[KoolDrew]

I think this should be a sticky....

 

[Jakebrake]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
I think this should be a sticky....

:thumbsup:

 

[Paul]

 

[Paul]

Any chance this post can be updated?