School me: building a custom PC

[KangamangusDriver]

My laptop is not cutting it anymore, I have been looking into new desktop PC's and have entertained the thought of building a custom PC.

I dont know much about building a PC, so if you would be so kind to chime in I would greatly appreciate it!
(I used the search function and did not come up with much)

Im looking for a computer to obviously do the intrawebs and music, but mainly for photo editing and processing.

I like the idea of being able to expand/replace components as necessary.
I dont want to spend thousands on building a custom PC, just looking to weigh my options.

Custom PC vs. Store bought PC

If I go store bought what do you recommend?

What type of components do you guys recommend? (for custom pc)
Software/operating system? pros vs. cons?

What are your thoughts computer Guru's?? Thanks ahead of time!

[Adam1990325iC]

To be honest, it is very simple to build your own home PC. I would truely suggest it as you can tailor it to your budget and specific needs. An Intel dual core or quad core processor is where it's at, as far as motherboards go, check out anandtech.com and search their reviews. I am not a gamer at all so I know little about what the hot graphics card are now, but I am sure nvidia is still dominant. But in all honesty, use the site above to read some reviews, visit the boards, then check out newegg for prices. I am sure others will chime in with more details, but do not buy a mass produced store model.

[StereoInstaller1]

I can tell you this: if you buy an "off the shelf" PC, make certain it has a PCIe video card slot, make sure it uses dual channel DDR2 RAM and that it has SATAII hard drives.

Buy your RAM and video card elsewhere, like Tigerdirect or Newegg.

No other specifications will matter as much in upgradeability or performance.

Oh yeah, make sure it is a full size case, too.

DO NOT buy a DVD burner or even a CD burner from Dell...get it cheap from someone else. Try and get a Plextor burner, but use Lite-On as a second choice. Sony is doo-doo, IMO.

I know if I were looking into a new PC, I would wait until Flash-based hard drives become cost effective, which should be about 3rd quarter '08. Hard drives are easily the biggest bottleneck these days, and flash drives have no moving parts, don't get hot, and are insanely fast. Samsung is leading the pack on this technology, which means Seagate and Western Digital are pissed and gonna beat Samsungs ass soon.

Most flash based hard drives will be SATAII interface, so you cold buy now and upgrade later.

Good luck!
Luke

[TwoJ's]

Luke is right, solid state storage is soon going to make disks obsolete. For example, my old ass ipod mini had a hard drive in it, and it went out. I bought a $60 8gb flash card and doubled the memory. It will also last longer now that it has no fragile moving parts.

As far as building one, it's really quite easy. If you can change a timing belt, or basically do anything mechanical, then you can build a computer. To give you an idea how easy it is, I took a 3 hour course at the local CC when I was 14, bought the parts and put it together at home. If an eighth grader can do it, so can you.

[KangamangusDriver]

Luke,
Any recommendations or examples of said example?

Can you guys get me pointed in the right direction, any recommendations for components?

Thanks for your help so far!!

[atomic]

Damn I had NO idea there was such thing as a flash based hard drive !

COOL ...

[nando]

Luke is right, solid state storage is soon going to make disks obsolete. For example, my old ass ipod mini had a hard drive in it, and it went out. I bought a $60 8gb flash card and doubled the memory. It will also last longer now that it has no fragile moving parts.

As far as building one, it's really quite easy. If you can change a timing belt, or basically do anything mechanical, then you can build a computer. To give you an idea how easy it is, I took a 3 hour course at the local CC when I was 14, bought the parts and put it together at home. If an eighth grader can do it, so can you.

sorry, but not any time soon - flash drives are still significantly slower, and while the storage densities are getting higher it costs around $5000 for a 64gb flash drive. when you can get 1 terrabyte on a traditional platter based drive for a few hundred it's hard to justify.

[E30 Wagen]

it's really easy to build a computer.

List of parts:
motherboard
processor
RAM
powersupply
hard drive (S-ATA)
video card (may be optional depending on motherboard)
DVD-ROM

I'm biased toward Intel, so I would just shop around online at newegg.com or tigerdirect.com for what Intel has to offer for motherboards and cpu's. Just make sure the cpu is compatible with the motherboard. Or if you are interested in AMD, then research about that. It's really simple once you start to figure out what is compatible with what.

I have a 3.2 ghz Pentium 4 HT LGA775 if you want. $50 shipped.

[RobertK]

If its mainly for internet, music, and photo editing and processing.. get a Mac.

No seriously.

[StereoInstaller1]

Mac and cheese is very good food to eat while building a PC.

[ia_e30]

I agree with everyone else. A custom PC is where it's at. That way you know there are quality components going in, unlike 95% of store bought PCs.They use alot of generic ram and power supplies.

I am an avid Newegg.com shopper when I'm building. But sometimes you can get a better deal at Tigerdirect.com.

I'll add to the list previously posted:
List of parts:
motherboard
processor
RAM
powersupply
hard drive (S-ATA)
video card (may be optional depending on motherboard)
DVD-ROM

Make sure you get a heat sink for the processor and a case to put it all in :)

Now, I have to make another recommendation. It was mentioned before that if you are only using it for music, internet, and photos, macs are a great machine.

[equate975]

I know intel shit, not AMD.

Get a core2 duo make sure it has 4mb on die cache or better. Get the most expensive one you can afford.

Seagate SATAII Hds, 32mb cache if you can, I think anything over 500gb it is already

I usually stick with Abit Boards, I have never really had a problem with them. Asus is also good, and I use a lot of MSI for work.

SLI is up to you, if you wanna shell out for it

PCIe Vid card, I know nothing of these though

Ram, get as fast as you can. MAKE FUCKING SURE it works with the board. Most is 1.8v but even then it won't work. I just went over this for a computer I just made. I had 2 1gb sticks of ddr2800 1.8v from mushkin. Comp just crashed like crazy, I couldn't even install windows. Went to corsairs site and used their ram selector deal, told it what computer I had, they recommended some ram, and it worked like a charm. Same specs too, 1.8v DDR2 800

Get ram with lower CAS Latencys, I don't know why DDR2 is so high, but decent stuff should be 5-5-5-5-12 IIRC, I forget the latencys off the top of my head. Lower is better

For a case, I really LOVE the Cooler master Centurion 5. I use them for everything. Full tower, aluminum, keeps shit nice and cool. Some comps at work I am running packed full of HDs, they used to blow left and right before I swapped for this case.

PSUs, I would stick with a good brand. ThermalTake, Enermax, OCZ, Corsair. If you want SLI make sure the PSU can do it. Active PFC is nice. Hold-up Time isn't too big of a deal. I would get a battery backup/surge protector if I were you.


Edit:

Start out by picking a board you like, and build around that. I order EVERYTHING off newegg all the time. Just search google for reviews and whatnot. If you need anyhelp let me know.

I would suggest Abit with build in RAID, its damn fucking nice. Which reminds me, don't get some board with a shit chipset. Get a SB Intel, I would go ICH8 or better. IIRC ICH8 has built in raid, and I think intel does and outstanding job with their onboard raid. NB I think the p35 is standard for intel, don't have to worry about that one as much.

You probably want to run RAID 1 for mirrored drives.

FSB make sure atleast 1066


Edit #2

A homemade computer is going to be better than any store bought crap if you do it right. You will get WAY more for your money. If you look at what you can get for $500 from dell lets say, and what you can build for $500, your would blow it out of the water. I never buy any namebrand crap anymore.

[alex]

I just finished building mine.
Most of the info (reviews, tests etc) I gatherred from these two sites:

http://Tomshardware.com

http://motherboards.org

Most of parts are from http://newegg.com some are from http://mwave.com and some are from http://provantage.com

It is definitely worth checking the prices before you buy as the spread can be significant. And, most importantly, you can never have the fastest PC out there, the moment you buy something it is improved upon the new and better version....

Here's my setup:
Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 RC case
Cooler Master 1000W PSU
ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/Wifi
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
ASUS ATI Radeon 3870 512Mb
3xSamsung Spinpoint F1 750GB SATAII 7200K Raid 5
2Gb DDR3 memory
Dell 24" 2407WFP
Plus 7.1 speakers, wireless keyboard/mouse, DVD burner.

To do list:
Second video card for CrossFire setup.
HD DVD/Blu-Ray combo drive.

Pics:

http://e30.us/pc/cosmos-build

[KangamangusDriver]

Great help guys!

Thanks a bunch!

[MasukBMW]

any of you guys using water cooling? I build mine about 4 years ago. It was absolutely state of the art then, is still very fast but that was right when water cooling was getting big. Traditional fans or water?