Building a computer

[Guest]

It seems like an interesting idea, since buying what I want will set me back a few grand, I might as well build one... My opinion is that it's best that you can choose your own components (decide quality/price compromise) and not add on all the junk that comes with store bought computers.

I'm thinking...
(part, price)

AMD Thunderbird 1 GHz, 175
256 MB RAM PC133, 150
GeForce 2 DDS, 170
CD & floppy, 75
Medium Tower, 50

Monitor, sound card, speakers, keyboard, mouse, I can use old parts I have lying around... DVD/RW drives, don't care about right now. The one thing I'm a tad confused about is the motherboard, bluntly put, I have no idea how to choose one.

I'm asking for opinions, experinces, and advice. Should I do it, is it hard, is it much more expensive than I have outlined?

Thank ye chaps.

www.flat-6.net

 

[Guest]

I can't tell you about any prices couse I am sitting in sweden and it's kind of hard to know your prices... But I can tell you this... There are two mobo-makers that I have all my fate in: Asus and Abit.

These two have allways been on the top, competing with each other. You want PC133 Sdram? That gives you eather Asus's A7V mobo or Abit's KT7 or KT7 RAID to choose from...
But obviously other mobo manufactures out there that also is good choices. But my advise is: go for Asus or Abit...

<b>Voodoo</b><i>Child</i>

 

[Guest]

He is right asus and abit are your best bet. I have a Asus a7v and it has turned out to be a very powerful motherboard. It can support up to a 1 ghz cpu and it has ata 100(thats an ide interface for the harddrive thats really fast). It has 5 pci slots and one agp 4x slot, and a AMR slot.(this is for something called an audio modem riser and i am not really sure what it is for. It will fit nice in a mid-tower case. I would recommend at least a 20 watt power supply. try to get a 300 watt. It will cost you on the internet about 150 - 140 US dollars. If you buy it in the local compuer stores, then it will be about 160 - 180 dollars.

 

[Crashman]

Read Tom's newest news on Microns DDR pricing cut, then read the article on the three new motherboards. The MSI MS-6341 K7 Master looks like the best board for power users, but the Iwill KA266 Rev. 1.1 looks like it might be a little easier to use for overclockers.
BTW, a porche fan sounds like it might be just the trick to cool one of these things!

 

[Arrow]

I recommend the Asus A7V.

Rob
Please visit <b><A HREF="http://www.ncix.com/shop/index.cfm?affiliateid=319048" target="_new">http://www.ncix.com/shop/index.cfm?affiliateid=319048</A></b>

 

[Guest]

Are you planning to overclock...if you are not planning on going any higher than 1G, why not get a 800 T-bird, and overclock it to 1000, that way you save quite a bit of money, and it is not very risky, as long as you have a decent heat sink and fan. The Asus and Abit boards will let you do this easily. I'm using the A7V, and have had no problems since installing latest drivers and bios.

DESIGN TEAM

 

[Guest]

best to get a name brand RAM like crucial or mushkin

 

[Guest]

Well I just built my first system over the past few days. I wouldn't say it's hard, but you need to have some patience, ability to follow instructions, and time to experiment with things.

I spent about a month reading every hardware site I could get my hands on so I knew a lot about my components and what I was getting into. Plus there are very supportive communities like this one, anandtech, ars technica, etc. to help you out if you get stuck.

It's been a very rewarding experience going from a know-nothing Dell owner (no offense to Dell owners to having my snazzy new 1 gig thunderbird humming away.

As far as motherboards, Tom has done a nice piece on them, and there are other comparison reviews out there if you look. I ended up choosing the ABIT KT7-RAID because I like the jumperless setup and having 2 extra IDE channels.

I would recommend getting a modern sound card though, you can get a Soundblaster Live Value for like 50 bucks and it may be less tricky to get working than an old one.

(edit) Oh I noticed you didn't mention a heatsink & fan for the CPU. Pick a good one, the $30 or so you'll spend is good insurance. I got an Alpha PAL6035 and it keeps my system at about 29C rest/38-40 full load. Good thermal compound like Arctic Silver is also worth it IMO.

Good luck.
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by PipBoy on 01/05/01 10:31 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

In your list, you may need to add a good power supply
(300W) too.