Buiding A Pc From Scratch

[rio666uk]

I've decided that as much as I love my PS2 and even my old megadrive - I miss gaming on the PC

So - I will be building my first computer from scratch... despite working in IT for the past 6 years, Ive never actually started from scratch with the bare components.... im a LAN man!

For those of you that have built PCs - whether workstations or high end gaming platforms give some examples of what you would have done differently if you were starting over.

Also - ive been trying to figure out if getting a mid-range dual core is better than getting the top end single core AMD CPU... ive found conflicting opinions obviously!

your thoughts welcomed on CPU's, Motherboards, RAM, HDD Manufacturers, Optical Drives, Cases, Cooling....

[JSixpack]

It's all laid out for you here:

http://www.mysuperpc.com/build.shtml

You may also find this forum helpful:

http://www.howtofixcomputers.com/bb/forum3.html

Adjust for availability in Thailand. You can get sample prices for typical stuff carried in most shops here:

http://www.jib.co.th/default.htm

JIB has branches at Panthip and at TukCom Pattaya.

You can get the Thai shop, while you watch, to mount your CPU and heatsink/fan onto the mainboard and verify the combo free of charge if you don't feel confident about doing it yourself. This is often a problematic area for newbies and the source of many a damaged CPU and subsequent pain strongly felt in one's wallet.

A number of shops have Enermax power supplies, well worth the premium.

If you think you're going to get into this, I'd strongly suggest getting a premium case, too: a Lian Li, a CoolerMaster, or a Thermaltake, which again are available at a few Panthip shops, such as Busitek:

http://www.busitek.com/index.html

Besides the technical advantages, a great case makes working on your computer a far more pleasant experience. And you'll probably be living with it for a very long time. Me, I'm so pleased with the CoolerMaster Praetorian I splurged for in a first-floor Panthip shop; read the case review here (which will give you pointers on what to look for in a case anyway):

http://www.cooltechzone.com/reviews/cases/cp_1.php

Finally, don't forget the APC UPS to protect the baby.

Good luck! Your life may now change forever. For the better, to be sure.

Edited April 29, 2006 by JSixpack

[Tywais]

If you look up the thread by Condo_Bkk I have the full details of my system there. I had not announced that mine is finally completed and running and am very pleased with it. Put some heavy duty games on it such as Quake IV, Need For Speed, MS Flight simulator 2004, GTA San Andreas and cranked them up to there highest resolution and maximum features and zero problems running them. Waiting to get F.E.A.R for the real test.

However those games will be fine for a single processor AMD high end (You will need a modertly high end video card for these also.) but if you do a lot of multimedia or many apps running at the same time that is where the dual-core really shines. It's nice now that I can have a DVD being authored and still use my computer for other things. The large (2GB) memory compliment also helps.

I have put together a photo album of me putting together my new system and maybe motivate you for your new one. It also has some brief information on each step, just click on the "Image Info" bar.

Tywais's new computer

[Firefoxx]

Well, choosing the components is the biggest step. You need to consider your budget, your needs, reliability, and future expansion. A good PC will not come cheap. The ones you see advertised for 20,000 baht won't be very good for gaming. On the other hand, you're not getting much for your buck with top-of-the-line stuff.

I recently completed my own new mid-range workstation (for high-definition video editing) and gaming (for 3D games like Battlefied 2 and Half-life 2). I ended up paying 40,000 for it... and that doesn't even include the monitor and drives. But I'm quite happy with it.

AMD's new socket will be out soon, and Intel's new "Core" 65nm process cooler-running dual-core processors are out now (but not available here as yet... maybe in a week or two after current stock is sold?), so you might want to wait just a bit.

For your first foray, you should be in close collaboration with someone knowledgable (know any geek friends?)... it will help you make the right decision the first time around.

[solo siam]

If it was me I'd forget it and buy an Xbox 360, cost you about as much as a decent graphics card - Online is great, much better than on my PC and EA sells Xbox360 games here for 1490 Baht.

An Xbox360 has teh same gaming power as a PC costing almost 3 times as much, plus no blue screen of death.

[monty]

Purely for gaming AMD is the way to go...

Take a socket 939 motherboard, preferably with SLI capability (with SLI you can pop in a second videocard and increase your video performance a great deal, only nvidia graphics though)

Then put on the rest, whatever your budget allows. You'll have good upgrading possibilities when the need arises...

If you want to do video editing / encoding or serious multitasking, Intel beats AMD by a pretty big margin, gaming will only take a small performance hit, as will your pocket (intel is always a bit more expensive with comparable performance, both mainboard and cpu)

Not sure when the dual cores will be available in Thailand, although you'll only have advantage with multitasking (a big one though). Unfortunately there are very few single applications taking advantage of dual core for the moment...

[astral]

There are lots of good suggestions here for a pretty fast machine.

This thread was running for several weeks quite recently.

Oops.

The link is correct now.

Edited April 30, 2006 by astral

[Tywais]

There are lots of good suggestions here for a pretty fast machine.

This thread was running for several weeks quite recently.

Why does it point to the HP Shopping site?

Perhaps you meant this topic.

Edited April 30, 2006 by tywais

[Firefoxx]

Actually, Intel dual cores are a *lot* cheaper than AMD dual cores. Intel dual cores are only 1-2k baht more than the single-cores, while AMD's can get pretty darn expensive. Cheapest Intel (and very overclockable) dual core is the 805... only around 5,000. AMD dual cores start at 12k. But their mainboards are very cheap indeed.

[thailand_property_search]

Games machines...easy. GRAPHICS, GRAPHICS, GRAPHICS.

Everything mid range EXCEPT the graphics card.

Think of a budget FIRST, spend 25% on yer graphics card and the rest on everything else (Geforce 7800 series are worth looking at if your budget extends that far).

HD-Anything (theyre all pretty much the same except for size).

CPU- AMD (better games compatablity) 2G+ will suffice and will handle all Microsoft bloatware too.(DONT GET A CELLERON).

Motherboard-Anything that DOESN'T have an onboard graphics chip.

//HINT Buy the CPU and motherboard together as a pack so you don't have to worry about sockets installation etc.

Memory 1GB is plenty and cheap so you can spend more on yer Graphics card.

(1GB DDR RAM PC3200 ECC 184-Pin DIMM will set you back about $100).

So. Choose your graphics card first then build yer games machine around it.

Edited April 30, 2006 by thailand_property_search

[Firefoxx]

Actually, it's been shown that for current 3D-intensive games, 1GB is good, but 2GB is even better. Reduces stutter by getting rid of loading times. When playing BF2, my memory usage can go beyond 2GB (most of it's used by BF2).

I use a mid-range graphics card, the X1600pro, and can play at 1152x864 with good framerates.

The Xbox360 is a lot of hardware for not so much cash... the games are a tad expensive, compared to PC games (genuine... usually around 400-600 baht here). However, it still boils down to this: does it have the games you want to play?

[thailand_property_search]

Actually, it's been shown that for current 3D-intensive games, 1GB is good, but 2GB is even better. Reduces stutter by getting rid of loading times. When playing BF2, my memory usage can go beyond 2GB (most of it's used by BF2).

I use a mid-range graphics card, the X1600pro, and can play at 1152x864 with good framerates.

Well these are the min requirements for BF2

1.7 GHZ CPU

512mb of RAM

Video card that supports 1.4 shaders.

That is Geforce FX and higher, Radeon 8500 and higher.(Geforce 4 Cards will not work).

and recommended

2.0 GHZ to 2.5 GHZ CPU

1gig of RAM

Video Card that supports 1.4 Shaders.

That is Geforce FX and higher, Radeon 8500 and higher.

I expect you see the increased memory usage because some of the 3D calculations cannot be done on the card therefore have to be done in memory.

And (a bit like microsoft) if ya got it we will use it mentality of the programmers.

If it's the difference of spending $100 more for 2G of memory or the graphics card...I'd go with the graphics card.

Edited April 30, 2006 by thailand_property_search