My first computer build-- help!

[tim0chen]

I'm about to build a computer for the first time, and I'm going to need some help lol. I'm planning on building a medium performance computer, as the only semi-intensive programs I'll be running Warcraft 3 and online poker programs (I play many tables at once, which consumes quite a bit of memory), though I'd like these to perform very smoothly. I would also prefer that the computer is as quiet as possible. My budget is around $600, though I'm willing to spend more if necessary (I already have a decent hard drive, cd-rw drive, and sound card).

Anyway....

1) Can someone link me to a good computer building tutorial? The ones I find all seem to be outdated.

2) What parts should I look into? I'm particularly clueless about cases, motherboards, and fans, so I'd really appreciate some pointers there. Keep in mind that I'm willing to pay more for quiet components.

Thanks in advance!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

mechBgon's guide

Motherboard depends on your processor naturally....
If you're getting an A64, an NF4 based board would be a good choice.

For case and fans, try the Antec SLK-3000B coupled with a Seasonic PSU.

 

[Mrvile]

Well with a budget of 600 lets see...

You might want to get a Chaintech or Foxconn NF4 mobo, a 3000+ Venice, 1GB Corsair Value ram, and a 6600GT, which will run WC3 flawlessly.

 

[AustinMatherne]

mechBgon's Guide
Build Your Own
Tom's Hardware Guide Part 1
Tom's Hardware Guide Part 2
My Super PC

 

[Sforsyth]

to play poker and Warcraft 3, you could get 2 cheap PC's

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Sforsyth
to play poker and Warcraft 3, you could get 2 cheap PC's

I don't think he means at the same time

How cheap are we talking btw... two computer for $600?

 

[The Pentium Guy]

If you've got another $50 I can suggest a decent system for WOW.

 

[tim0chen]

Another $50's fine, what's your suggestion?

 

[AustinMatherne]

Motherboard: Chaintech VNF4/Ultra $79.99
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ $146.00
Memory: Corsair Value Select 1 GB $79.99
Video Card: eVGA 6600GT PCI $169.00
Case: Antec Solution SLK3000-B $50.00
Power Supply: Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 $75.00

Total: $599.98

 

[poisonthewell]

Originally posted by: Fishers Web
Motherboard: Chaintech VNF4/Ultra $79.99
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ $146.00
Memory: Corsair Value Select 1 GB $79.99
Video Card: eVGA 6600GT PCI $169.00
Case: Antec Solution SLK3000-B $50.00
Power Supply: Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 $75.00

Total: $599.98

Don't forget about $30+ for shipping and the PS is OOS. Nice suggestions though.

 

[Powermoloch]

Lol I built a sub 600 $ mid range gaming rig just a couple of months

here are the specs (from new egg)

Scores : 2500 in 3dmark05

CPU: AMD SEMPRON 3100+ "Paris" Sock. 754
MOBO: BIOSTAR NF325-A7 Socket 754 NVIDIA nForce3 250 ATX AMD
RAM: 2x pqi POWER Series 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
HDD: Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 6Y080L0 80GB 7200 RPM 2MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA133
CD : Asus IDE CD-Driver Burner
Vid: Chaintech Nvidia 6600 256mb/128bit AGP 8x
Case: Rosewill R214P-BLK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 400W Power Supply

 

[Cares]

Originally posted by: Fishers Web
Motherboard: Chaintech VNF4/Ultra $79.99
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ $146.00
Memory: Corsair Value Select 1 GB $79.99
Video Card: eVGA 6600GT PCI $169.00
Case: Antec Solution SLK3000-B $50.00
Power Supply: Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 $75.00

Total: $599.98

I don't think he needs such an expensive PSU. Go cheaper for his system.

 

[AustinMatherne]

Originally posted by: AlphaQ

Originally posted by: Fishers Web
Motherboard: Chaintech VNF4/Ultra $79.99
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ $146.00
Memory: Corsair Value Select 1 GB $79.99
Video Card: eVGA 6600GT PCI $169.00
Case: Antec Solution SLK3000-B $50.00
Power Supply: Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 $75.00

Total: $599.98

I don't think he needs such an expensive PSU. Go cheaper for his system.

I believe in spending a little more on the PSU.

 

[AustinMatherne]

Originally posted by: Powermoloch
Lol I built a sub 600 $ mid range gaming rig just a couple of months

here are the specs (from new egg)

Scores : 2500 in 3dmark05

CPU: AMD SEMPRON 3100+ "Paris" Sock. 754
MOBO: BIOSTAR NF325-A7 Socket 754 NVIDIA nForce3 250 ATX AMD
RAM: 2x pqi POWER Series 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
HDD: Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 6Y080L0 80GB 7200 RPM 2MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA133
CD : Asus IDE CD-Driver Burner
Vid: Chaintech Nvidia 6600 256mb/128bit AGP 8x
Case: Rosewill R214P-BLK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 400W Power Supply

I wouldn't recommend that setup.

Edit: Sorry for the double post.

 

[furballi]

Where's the OS? You may also want to include a CPU cooler if you're going to overclock the 3000 Venice. The stock fan can be noisy.

I'd say $700 min for a decent gaming system.

 

[i1o0i]

MSI K8N Neo-F NF4 Motherboard-$86
Antec Solution Case w/400W Antec SmartPower 2.0-$98
Corsair ValueSelect 1 GB RAM-$80
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Vience Processor-$146
Leaktek PX6600GT TDH Extreme 128MB-$200

Total-$610
Shipping-$26
Overall-$636

If you willing to pay 636 dollars.. get this rig..

 

[LyNX31]

Originally posted by: i1o0i
MSI K8N Neo-F NF4 Motherboard-$86
Antec Solution Case w/400W Antec SmartPower 2.0-$98
Corsair ValueSelect 1 GB RAM-$80
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Vience Processor-$146
Leaktek PX6600GT TDH Extreme 128MB-$200

Total-$610
Shipping-$26
Overall-$636

If you willing to pay 636 dollars.. get this rig..

i would go with the chaintech like the other guys were saying.. u'll get the ultra chipset too.. there were some issues with overclocking with the msi board read this thread it might help you

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=29&threadid=1604769&enterthread=y

the chaintech worked perfectly for me and corsair value ram

 

[i1o0i]

Lol I agree... there are lots of complains about MSI Motherboard.. so I'll go with Chaintech

 

[i1o0i]

So I'm strongly recommend that tim0chen should have this rig.

Chaintech VNF4 Ultra Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
Corsair Value Select 1 GB RAM
Leaktek PX6600GT TDH Extreme 128MB Video Card
Antec Solution Case w/ 400Watts PSU

Everyone, agree with this rig??

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: i1o0i
So I'm strongly recommend that tim0chen should have this rig.

Chaintech VNF4 Ultra Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
Corsair Value Select 1 GB RAM
Leaktek PX6600GT TDH Extreme 128MB Video Card
Antec Solution Case w/ 400Watts PSU

Everyone, agree with this rig??

:thumbsup:

 

[tim0chen]

Thanks for all the input!

Originally posted by: i1o0i
So I'm strongly recommend that tim0chen should have this rig.

Chaintech VNF4 Ultra Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
Corsair Value Select 1 GB RAM
Leaktek PX6600GT TDH Extreme 128MB Video Card
Antec Solution Case w/ 400Watts PSU

Everyone, agree with this rig??

Would this rig be semi-quiet? If not, what could I do to make it more quiet?

 

[theMan]

Originally posted by: furballi
Where's the OS? You may also want to include a CPU cooler if you're going to overclock the 3000 Venice. The stock fan can be noisy.

I'd say $700 min for a decent gaming system.

what do you mean? ever heard of bittorrent?

Thanks for all the input!

quote:
Originally posted by: i1o0i
So I'm strongly recommend that tim0chen should have this rig.

Chaintech VNF4 Ultra Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
Corsair Value Select 1 GB RAM
Leaktek PX6600GT TDH Extreme 128MB Video Card
Antec Solution Case w/ 400Watts PSU

Everyone, agree with this rig??



Would this rig be semi-quiet? If not, what could I do to make it more quiet?

that system will be quiet pretty quiet, especially since the mobo has a passive hsf. the only thing that could be noisy is the stock hsf. for a few some extra cash you could get a zalman or thermalright with a quiet fan, or get a passive cpu hsf like thermaltake whatever its called.

 

[razor2025]

Isn't 6600GT overkill for WC3 and Online poker? If that's the only thing you're going to play for sometime, I would suggest this

Athlon64 3000+ ~$150

JetWay Mobo using the RS480 chipset
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813153027 ~$100
Corsair/Kingston 1gb (2x512) PC3200 DDR RAM - $80
PSU - ~$50, you can definitely find decent 380-450+ watt PSU at this range
Case - Antec SLK3700 @ Provantage/Amazon $~50, one of best case, good cooling and easy to work with.
You got about $170 left on spending for HDD, Optical drives, and soundcard. Soundcard isn't really neccesary, unless you are picky about sound quality. On-board sound these days are quite servicable, but a trained ear can hear the difference quite easily.

As far as my reasoning for the RS480 motherboard and lack of video card, I think 6600 and 6600 GTs are over-kill for his requirement. A GF2MX/Radeon 9000 level card plays Warcraft 3 at practically the best possible setting, so there's no need for the $100+ video card. The Xpress 200 chip on the motherboard can provide grahpic power equivalent of X300 series, which is plenty powerful enough. If he wants to play more demanding game, there's always the open 16x slot on the motherboard for him to add the latest and greatest GPU.

 

[ND40oz]

Originally posted by: razor2025
Isn't 6600GT overkill for WC3 and Online poker? If that's the only thing you're going to play for sometime, I would suggest this

Athlon64 3000+ ~$150

JetWay Mobo using the RS480 chipset
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813153027 ~$100
Corsair/Kingston 1gb (2x512) PC3200 DDR RAM - $80
PSU - ~$50, you can definitely find decent 380-450+ watt PSU at this range
Case - Antec SLK3700 @ Provantage/Amazon $~50, one of best case, good cooling and easy to work with.
You got about $170 left on spending for HDD, Optical drives, and soundcard. Soundcard isn't really neccesary, unless you are picky about sound quality. On-board sound these days are quite servicable, but a trained ear can hear the difference quite easily.

As far as my reasoning for the RS480 motherboard and lack of video card, I think 6600 and 6600 GTs are over-kill for his requirement. A GF2MX/Radeon 9000 level card plays Warcraft 3 at practically the best possible setting, so there's no need for the $100+ video card. The Xpress 200 chip on the motherboard can provide grahpic power equivalent of X300 series, which is plenty powerful enough. If he wants to play more demanding game, there's always the open 16x slot on the motherboard for him to add the latest and greatest GPU.

I definitely agree with this suggestion. I wouldn't bother with the soundcard as that Jetway motherboard has the Realtek HD audio, much better then the crap that comes with the MSI RS480 board.

Then there's also the Asus RS480 board with an Intel chip...although intel seems to be a dirty word on these forums.

 

[tim0chen]

Originally posted by: razor2025
Isn't 6600GT overkill for WC3 and Online poker?

Actually, I should have stated it in my OP, but I may pick up some more intensive games in the future, so I do have use for a better graphics card. I'd also rather just complete my computer right now and leave it as-is for as long as possible rather than adding in a new GPU later.

As for the SLK3700, how would you rate it compared to the SLK3000B for my needs?

Also, I'm considering purchasing an X800 instead of a 6600GT, since I already have an ATI card and can make use of it to get dual-DVI. Is the X800 compatable with the NF4 motherboard?

Here's the build I'm leaning towards:

Case: Antec Solution SLK3000-B ($50) or SLK3700 (~50 also?)
PSU: XCLIO 450BL ATX 450W ($53) or Enermax Noisetaker 375W ($43)
Motherboard: Chaintech VNF4 Ultra ($88)
RAM: Corsair ValueSelect 1GB ($80)
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice ($146)
Videocard: Either a dual-DVI 6600GT or Radeon X800 (~$160-200?)

I think some of this is overkill for my needs, but the more I research, the more I want better components! What do you guys think?