Building a PC, Help needed with parts

[YAN-3]

hey guys, well the Vaio isnt cutting it for me anymore, so im having a friend at work build me a PC, and my budget is about $1000. thats for the machine only. Monitor, keyboard and mouse, i have.

here is what i know I want. Its main goal will be photo/video editing.

a smooth running PC that can take images from 72DPI to 300 and higher without slowing down for 20min. LOL. I know just a little bit about PCs. I played around with VISTA and it seemed cool, but I heard there were problems with it right now. any input would be nice. I did pick out a case on new egg that I likes. lol

[IMG]http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/11-208-019-16.jpg[/IMG]

[LINUS]

Slick looking case Yan. If I knew more about computers, I'd say something more intelligent.

[Jscotty]

Shop around for a used PC. I bought a Gateway 3.4 Mhz PC that had a 200GB hard drive, a gig of ram and a bunch of other bells and whistles. I payed only $1000 for it back in 2005 so I know you can get the same thing much much cheaper.

I used to build my own PC's but I learned that this method is not very reliable or cost effective. I would build my own PC if I was willing to invest $1500 to$2000 in parts so that I can ensure that I am getting the best PC that money can buy if I was into gaming or some other application that was very resource intensive. Photo and video editing, although they require a lot of power, do not need as much of the system resources as the gaming does.

There is a company near me called "PCRetro.com" that sells used computers and they ship worldwide. They are currently selling G3 Imacs for less than $100 when they were well over $1000 not too long ago. You can get a decent PC for less than $300. I bought a 2.0 Mhz and it does the job just fine.

[Jean]

Start with a good motherboard, this is the most important component in your computer. Have you decided if you want to stick with AMD or Intel ? That will narrow down your choices and selection and a matching CPU and RAM. Most motherboards will have a 10/100/1000mbit network card and a sound card on it, unless you have to have something else you'll be fine with the built in nic/sound.

Then add your choice of video card (most likely you'll go with pci-e and not agp anymore) and probably a raptor sata hdd (since you do a lot of gfx, pay a little extra for a faster hdd).

I've been in IT for over 10 years now, started on a home built 386, then bought a p90 and since then have only been building them from scratch. That's the only way to go if you know exactly what you want in it and know exactly what will be upgradable and what won't be...

[YAN-3]

Start with a good motherboard, this is the most important component in your computer. Have you decided if you want to stick with AMD or Intel ? That will narrow down your choices and selection and a matching CPU and RAM. Most motherboards will have a 10/100/1000mbit network card and a sound card on it, unless you have to have something else you'll be fine with the built in nic/sound.

Then add your choice of video card (most likely you'll go with pci-e and not agp anymore) and probably a raptor sata hdd (since you do a lot of gfx, pay a little extra for a faster hdd).

I've been in IT for over 10 years now, started on a home built 386, then bought a p90 and since then have only been building them from scratch. That's the only way to go if you know exactly what you want in it and know exactly what will be upgradable and what won't be...

thanks man. in a nutshell can you give me info on AMD vs Intel.

lol all i know is Ferrari uses AMD and BMW F1 uses Intell.:p

[Jscotty]

Intel is the way to go because most applications are written for it. The AMD is not necessarily worse and I think its actually a superior product, however the AMD is not supported as well as the intel.

[eighteight325is]

Start with a good motherboard, this is the most important component in your computer.

+1

Also, buy a good solid case with a decent power supply. Find one that gets good reviews for things like cooling and noise. There are a lot of trick looking cases on the market these days but a lot of them are crap. I built up a machine a while back for someone else in a cheap case with lots of glowing neon tubes and whatnot and it gave me constant issues. I'm convinced to this day that it had some sort of bad ground that caused all sorts of issues that I had to keep trouble-shooting. These hours of my life I will never get back.

Intel vs. AMD...meh...they are both good I guess it depends what you are looking for and what you are going to do with it. AMD was always big with home builders and often times you were able to push them a little farther when over-clocking. I have built with both and personally I find the Intel chips to run a little cooler and last a little longer over the long haul.

[adept]

Go with intel... get a nice Asus motherboard, quality stuff.

Dont get a flashy case, get a case that will work. A quiet one without acryclic. Any more specific advice needed I may be able to help.

[Jscotty]

I have built with both and personally I find the Intel chips to run a little cooler and last a little longer over the long haul.

A few years back I read a comparison article in PC Shopper about how intel chips run cooler and last longer simply because AMD and Cirus chips were already overclocked in order to keep up with the intel platform. ( I mean obviously you cannot set the clock speed on a CPU without it being in a motherboard but the settings that they call for put the chip in an overclocked state.)

[ivo316]

I own a small IT firm here, and assemble PC's for my customers at least once a Week.

I would recommend you to get a new intel/intel combination (motherboard/processor)
Some people don't like this, but since windows is developed for Intel, it will give you the most stable configuration....

Motherboard:

http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/DG965WH/index.htm

Processor:

http://www.intel.com/products/processor/pentium4HTXE/index.htm

to this add a 256 meg video card and you are all set.

[Jean]

I own a small IT firm here, and assemble PC's for my customers at least once a Week.

I would recommend you to get a new intel/intel combination (motherboard/processor)
Some people don't like this, but since windows is developed for Intel, it will give you the most stable configuration....

Motherboard:

http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/DG965WH/index.htm

Processor:

http://www.intel.com/products/processor/pentium4HTXE/index.htm

to this add a 256 meg video card and you are all set.

Just my opinion, get a card W/O built in video since PC is going to be used for video/gfx work. There are other good boards out there by ABIT, Intel, ASUS to name a few that use intel chipsets but don't come with a built in video... yes you can disable the onboard video, but why pay more for the board with it if you aren't going to use it. Boards with built in everything is priced / made for average home users that don't need much from a pc. IF you are building one from ground up and are looking for quality then select the best you can.

Newer intel cpu's do run pretty hot, so either get a retail version with it's fan or if you get an oem then make sure you don't go cheap on a heatsink/fan combo for it. For PSU, i would recommend something with modular plugs to decrease clutter in the case.

[ivo316]

Just my opinion, get a card W/O built in video since PC is going to be used for video/gfx work. There are other good boards out there by ABIT, Intel, ASUS to name a few that use intel chipsets but don't come with a built in video... yes you can disable the onboard video, but why pay more for the board with it if you aren't going to use it. Boards with built in everything is priced / made for average home users that don't need much from a pc. IF you are building one from ground up and are looking for quality then select the best you can.

Newer intel cpu's do run pretty hot, so either get a retail version with it's fan or if you get an oem then make sure you don't go cheap on a heatsink/fan combo for it. For PSU, i would recommend something with modular plugs to decrease clutter in the case.

Totally right, the ideal would be with nothing built in, but sometimes those boards are not stocked in smaller stores, (at least here in Chile those are really hard to find), and sometimes are a bit more expensive.

But other than that you are totally right. No built in stuff if possible.

Regarding cooling there are some really cool water coolers, a lot more efficient than air and not very expensive, the pump noise can be rather annoying after a while though. ;)

[92 mtechnic cabrio]

2x (1 front and 1 rear) 120mm case fans > 4-6x 80mm case fans.

[1991 318is]

I'm a big fan of trailing edge technology. That's where the most bang for the buck is. 128 MB video card is fine for pictures and video editing. Compiling video takes CPU power and RAM. I'm using an AMD 3800 with a Gigabyte board that cost $179 as a package. 1 GB of RAM, an old case, new power supply and 128MB video with the onboard sound - total - about $500. XP from an R3V member.

[benDASHDASH]

id advise against the case. but since you're at it, may as well pop a window in the m3 hood