I will Build a new PC.

[springx]

Hi, there,

I am going to build a new pc (P4). It is the first time I build pc by my own. so I need some suggestion from you guys.

I want to use my current AGP ATI video card, and creative xgamer 5.1 sound card and hard drive, other
things I get a quote from newEgg.

http://www.columbia.edu/~qx2101/pc/quote.htm

Can any one tell me:
1) if the mother board, cpu and ram are compatible with each other?
2) if the mother board fits the atx case? It looks to me some position of the ports in the back are not the same. if it doesn't fit, which box should I use?
3) is there any performance bottleneck in my combine?
4) is the mother board ok for later upgrade to faster CPU?

Thank you so much for any suggestion and comments!!!

 

[LordPhoenix]

Looks like a decent build, my only concern is that you upgrade the case to something like Antec.

What is your video card? ATI what? Rage? Radeon? Model? You could bottleneck the gaming side if you have an old ATI.

 

[jamesey]

first, it all depends on how much you can spend. there can be a big difference between a $500 computer and a $600 computer
second, what do you want it to do? you want it to game well, you want multimedia capabilities, or are you just gonna do work and surf with it?

 

[xsilver]

You should look at the sticky on the top of this forum too.....

 

[springx]

Thank you for your comments, I have a ATI All-In-Wonder 64Mb Radeon 9000 card. It had some conflict with my Xgamer Live 5.1. but it is ok so far.

the box your suggested is Antec, any model #? thanks.

 

[springx]

Most of the time I will use it for work. Computing things, so that is why I need a faster CPU than my current P3 1.0 / 512mb from DELL.

I don't gaming quite often now. but will use it to watch TV and listen music. So I will just keep my current video can sound card. my buget is $600 for the motherboard, cpu, ram and case. and I need a 400W case. That is all. I most and only concern the compatibility issues since I have no experience in building pc.

I will stay with intel p4.

 

[SneakyStuff]

The P4 is a fine choice for work, but keep in mind, the Athlon 64'S are the price/performance leader at the moment. If you are an intel fan, thats cool, the only thing I would reccomend, is getting a nicer case. Because a "rosewill" power supply rated at 400 watts, isn't going to perform that well, I gaurentee you, you would be much better off with a case like this. Antec, and this case is a rarity, it has completely free shipping. You can also save yourself some moola, and not buy that 80mm fan, because this case already comes with a 120mm fan

 

[gururu]

looks pretty good to me. have you taken a look at some recent Dell offerings? you can add more Ram to these and get a much better service package for around the same price, not to mention a monitor.


in hot deals


edit: although with Dell, you may not be able to upgrade the cpu later... I'm not sure

 

[springx]

Thanks a lot, Sneaky, . So you think 350W is ok with me? I will hang only 1 CDRW and all other slot will be HardDrives. My other question: which is better? one 120 rear fan in this case or two 80mm fans with side windows like the rosewill case? ( the $3 is an extra one I put in the front, the case include a fan at the back ). the rosewill one also have good ratings, and the sidewindow is said to be a good design to provide better air flow.

what do you think?

 

[springx]

Thanks a lot, I looked the link you provided. They seems to be all "Dimension 3000", I must say I am not an expert, but some people told me the 3000 series's mother board is not a good choice if you want to upgrade later. you need model 4000 or above.

I don't know if this argue are true or not. and I am quite open to any idea and suggestions.

 

[gururu]

I don't know Springx I'd imagine if you were hoping to upgrade, then Dell might not be a good choice. I recently bought a PE400sc from Dell a month ago and found that upgrading the cpu, hardrive, ram, cdrom, video and sound cards was very easy. it also came with a i875p mobo. the computer was very cheap too and compatibility issues were nonexistent. but again, stick to your original idea, because I think the upgradeability may be more certain.

 

[Blain]

Don't get an Intel MB if you will want to overclock.

 

[springx]

gururu,

I don't know what mother board DELL use, and they don't provide manual for the Moboard. so that is why I finally decide to build one by myself. but still, thanks a lot for your suggestion, and the link of deals.

btw, I am waiting for some 700m deal, just missed one deal couple of days ago.

 

[springx]

why please? they don't have jumpers on it?

 

[ts3433]

I don't know about that, but think: why would Intel actually want you to overclock? (After all, didn't they put a 10% OC lock on the 915 chipset that had to be broken by board makers?) You'll have to look into a board from, say, Abit or Asus for that. If you decide to OC a lot, you'll need probably a quality ~400W PSU (Antec, Enermax, Fortron, PCP&C, etc).
(I also would recommend an A64. IIRC, you can buy a S754 3200+ for the same price as a 3.0C.)

 

[jamesey]

have you considered small form factor?

 

[springx]

One more very stupid question:

I check the enlarged image of the mother board and the ATX cases.
the mother board has a built-in net card, right below the COM and printer port. But seems to me None of the case have opening at that locations. they all seems have some holes for build-in sound card. May this be a problem?

link of Mother Board img:
http://www.newegg.com/app/Show....JPG/13-121-206-05.JPG

cases img (#7 is the back view of case ):
http://www.newegg.com/app/Show....JPG/11-147-001-27.jpg
and
http://www.newegg.com/app/Show....JPG/11-129-122-01.JPG



Thanks a lot.

 

[springx]

hi, I am a new guy to computer hardware, so what is PSU, what is form factor? and lots of terms I don't know in your post. ((

 

[springx]

anyway, I am not doing Overclock, I need it runs very STABLE, maybe years later I will do OC or maybe I just choose to buy a faster CPU then. So I am trying to choose now a upgradable motherboard ( for faster CPU and bigger RAM years later ). and I am looking for a case I can put everything in.


thanks everybody for the help! building own pc seems not as easy as find best rating parts.

 

[fireontheway]

Originally posted by: springx
One more very stupid question:

I check the enlarged image of the mother board and the ATX cases.
the mother board has a built-in net card, right below the COM and printer port. But seems to me None of the case have opening at that locations. they all seems have some holes for build-in sound card. May this be a problem?

link of Mother Board img:
http://www.newegg.com/app/Show....JPG/13-121-206-05.JPG

cases img (#7 is the back view of case ):
http://www.newegg.com/app/Show....JPG/11-147-001-27.jpg
and
http://www.newegg.com/app/Show....JPG/11-129-122-01.JPG



Thanks a lot.

this should be no problem at all,your new mobo should come with its own I/O plate.

 

[fireontheway]

Originally posted by: springx
hi, I am a new guy to computer hardware, so what is PSU, what is form factor? and lots of terms I don't know in your post. ((

PSU stands for Power Supply while Form Factor refers to standard specification (meaning an ATX PSU should be compatible with an ATX Case and an ATX motherboard).

 

[springx]

Do you mean there is a pannel plate from the mobo and I can use it to replace the one come with the case? Thanks a lot!

And for a quiet case with better air flow and enough room for my mobo, which case do you think better?

 

[springx]

fireontheway, Thank you so much.

Originally posted by: fireontheway

Originally posted by: springx
hi, I am a new guy to computer hardware, so what is PSU, what is form factor? and lots of terms I don't know in your post. ((

PSU stands for Power Supply while Form Factor refers to standard specification (meaning an ATX PSU should be compatible with an ATX Case and an ATX motherboard).