Having New Computer Built

[marquess]

Yes I am I having a new computer built and would like some advice on hardware. Firstly I am prepared to spend about 20k and this excludes the monitor or anything else external. I want the computer primarily for watching DVD's surfing the next and listening to music. I already have an Audigy Sound Card, so that doesn't need replacing but everything else does. I want the computer to be pretty fast, to have at least a 200GB hard drive and about 1 GB worth of Ram. I have heard that AMD is pretty good chip, which one would you recommend, and at what possible price, which Motherboard, should I be looking at, Which Graphics Card should I be looking out for and how much and is there anything else that I need but but have not menetioned?

[youngkiwi]

I would recommend a Pentium D dual core processor with at least 512MB of RAM. If you want to run Windows Vista, due for public release shortly, I would recommend 1GB RAM if your budget can extend as performance will be superior especially when running Vista.

I would steer clear from AMD processors being an Intel fan myself. I have seen very few Intel processors fail over the years but have seen many AMD processors suffering from overheating.

The Geforce cards (or variants) have a good reputation. For your requirements of surfing, listening to music and playing DVD's, you only need a basic entry level card.

Seagate hard drives are the most reliable and you would be best going for SATAII drives which offer better performance over the older IDE hard drives.

Asus and MSI motherboards are very reliable and widely available at the likes of Pantip. Stay away from Gigabyte boards which again have a higher failure rate, in my experience.

You can achieve this specification within your budget of around 20,000 baht. A reputable computer shop at Pantip can build the computer up from parts for you. This is usually provided complimentary when purchasing all of the parts from them.

[Kaysfeld]

Yes I am I having a new computer built and would like some advice on hardware. Firstly I am prepared to spend about 20k and this excludes the monitor or anything else external. I want the computer primarily for watching DVD's surfing the next and listening to music. I already have an Audigy Sound Card, so that doesn't need replacing but everything else does. I want the computer to be pretty fast, to have at least a 200GB hard drive and about 1 GB worth of Ram. I have heard that AMD is pretty good chip, which one would you recommend, and at what possible price, which Motherboard, should I be looking at, Which Graphics Card should I be looking out for and how much and is there anything else that I need but but have not menetioned?

You should read this article Bang for the Buck at ExtremeTech where they describe the best general-purpose PC that can handle almost any task (as they see it. This system is both fast, have very good graphics and is designed with low noise in mind. I am soon also going to my build myself a new PC, and my configuration is very close to theirs. Build a PC with the Best Bang for the Buck

Are you into very a silent PC, you will find the expert advice at Silent PC Review

My system will look something like this:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600

Passiv CPU cooler/low noise cooler: Scythe SCNJ-1000 Ninja heatsink

Motherboard: ASUS P5B Deluxe/WIFI-AP (Core 2)

Memory: Corsair 2x1GB KIT DDR2 PC6400 800MHz XMS2

Graphics: XFX GeForce 7900 GT XXX

VGA Cooler: Zalman VF-900CU

Keyboard: Microsoft Ergonomic 4000

Mouse: Logitech G5 Laser Mouse or Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse

Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5000YS or SE16 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

Optical drive: Lite-On SHM-165H6S Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer

Case: Antec P150

Monitor: Sony MFM-HT205 20" wide-screen LCD Monitor and TV

Floppy drive/media reader: Mitsumi FA404M 7-in-1 combo

If low noise is not your priority, you simply do without the special lownoise VGA and CPU coolers, and use the standard one supplied with the CPU and graphics card. This will make the system a little cheaper and easier to put together.

I hope this help you to choose a system that fits your budget.

[nikster]

Yes I am I having a new computer built and would like some advice on hardware. Firstly I am prepared to spend about 20k and this excludes the monitor or anything else external. I want the computer primarily for watching DVD's surfing the next and listening to music. I already have an Audigy Sound Card, so that doesn't need replacing but everything else does. I want the computer to be pretty fast, to have at least a 200GB hard drive and about 1 GB worth of Ram. I have heard that AMD is pretty good chip, which one would you recommend, and at what possible price, which Motherboard, should I be looking at, Which Graphics Card should I be looking out for and how much and is there anything else that I need but but have not menetioned?

I have not followed the desktop market for a while, but I can already tell you that for 20K you are not getting a high-end gaming system.

At the same time, pretty much any random configuration will play DVDs for you in this day and age, the main limitation will be your screen (which you said you already have).

Luckily, there are geeks out there who do all the hard work for you, I recommend you have a look at the "Budget Box" option at Ars Technica System guides - it's all right there, better than I could ever do it. It's $800 but already 2 months old so with any luck you will get a similar system for 20k baht:

http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/system...de-200608.ars/2

One thing to keep in mind in AMD vs Intel is that AMD seems to be a lot harder to get in Thailand. I don't know why but in my local computer shops it's usually 99% Intel and there is the odd AMD machine, but always some very low spec Sempron or something. I was looking out for AMD 64 X2 for a while, and that didn't appear until they were already out for months in the U.S.

Edit: I just saw that the budget box includes a monitor, so subtract that and you are exactly at 20K baht. Consider getting the RAM from the U.S. if you can, for some reason it's always overpriced in Thailand (other components are just as cheap as in the U.S. but I have found that RAM is the exception)

Edited October 18, 2006 by nikster

[nikster]

You can achieve this specification within your budget of around 20,000 baht. A reputable computer shop at Pantip can build the computer up from parts for you. This is usually provided complimentary when purchasing all of the parts from them.

That reminds me: Definitely get all the parts from one shop. That way you know where to go when something goes wrong.

Otherwise you could end up with a problem and a lot of fingerpointing between the shops, it will be a pain to prove which component is wrong...

[Kaysfeld]

Yes I am I having a new computer built and would like some advice on hardware. Firstly I am prepared to spend about 20k and this excludes the monitor or anything else external. I want the computer primarily for watching DVD's surfing the next and listening to music. I already have an Audigy Sound Card, so that doesn't need replacing but everything else does. I want the computer to be pretty fast, to have at least a 200GB hard drive and about 1 GB worth of Ram. I have heard that AMD is pretty good chip, which one would you recommend, and at what possible price, which Motherboard, should I be looking at, Which Graphics Card should I be looking out for and how much and is there anything else that I need but but have not menetioned?

The system that adviced about earlier will not fit your budget, but if you start with the motherboard and case, you can a cheaper core 2 duo cpu and less ram, and standard graphics and upgrade later. You can also go for a smaller harddisk. WD also make a good 320 GB. Seagates harddisks are very good and faster than the WD, but a little noisy.

[marquess]

Yes I am I having a new computer built and would like some advice on hardware. Firstly I am prepared to spend about 20k and this excludes the monitor or anything else external. I want the computer primarily for watching DVD's surfing the next and listening to music. I already have an Audigy Sound Card, so that doesn't need replacing but everything else does. I want the computer to be pretty fast, to have at least a 200GB hard drive and about 1 GB worth of Ram. I have heard that AMD is pretty good chip, which one would you recommend, and at what possible price, which Motherboard, should I be looking at, Which Graphics Card should I be looking out for and how much and is there anything else that I need but but have not menetioned?

The system that adviced about earlier will not fit your budget, but if you start with the motherboard and case, you can a cheaper core 2 duo cpu and less ram, and standard graphics and upgrade later. You can also go for a smaller harddisk. WD also make a good 320 GB. Seagates harddisks are very good and faster than the WD, but a little noisy.

Thanks! I am looking at the website that you were talking about. It seems that having a very good Graphics card is a must, I already have a Seagate 160 as a secondary drive and will be transferring this to the new computer, thus I think that a 200GB should be sufficient. Even if I go over by 5k I am not too bothered, I don't want to have to keep going back for upgrades, too soon!

[Kaysfeld]

Yes I am I having a new computer built and would like some advice on hardware. Firstly I am prepared to spend about 20k and this excludes the monitor or anything else external. I want the computer primarily for watching DVD's surfing the next and listening to music. I already have an Audigy Sound Card, so that doesn't need replacing but everything else does. I want the computer to be pretty fast, to have at least a 200GB hard drive and about 1 GB worth of Ram. I have heard that AMD is pretty good chip, which one would you recommend, and at what possible price, which Motherboard, should I be looking at, Which Graphics Card should I be looking out for and how much and is there anything else that I need but but have not menetioned?

The system that adviced about earlier will not fit your budget, but if you start with the motherboard and case, you can a cheaper core 2 duo cpu and less ram, and standard graphics and upgrade later. You can also go for a smaller harddisk. WD also make a good 320 GB. Seagates harddisks are very good and faster than the WD, but a little noisy.

Thanks! I am looking at the website that you were talking about. It seems that having a very good Graphics card is a must, I already have a Seagate 160 as a secondary drive and will be transferring this to the new computer, thus I think that a 200GB should be sufficient. Even if I go over by 5k I am not too bothered, I don't want to have to keep going back for upgrades, too soon!

I understand why you don't want to upgrade to much later.

The most difficult to change is the case and the motherboard, so select a good one from the start, that you can live with the next couple of years. The CPU is not difficult to upgrade, but can be a waist of money if you have to do it to soon. The Intel core 2 duo is the best CPU right now, for the normale PC, and the Intel core 2 duo E6600 if the cheapest with 4 MB cache, like the higher end ones. This will satisfy most for at least the next couple of years. You can start out with 1 GB of RAM without lossing any money, as this motherboard can fit 4 RAM modules. Be advised that many good graphic cards make a lot of noise, because of all the heart they generate. Having two harddisks in one PC also generate a lot of noise. I have this in my current PC, and I will not recommend this. If you need an extra drive for backups etc., I will recommend an external one. It can be an USB of firewire one or the highspeed ESATA II. The ASUS motherboard support all 3 types. It should be easy to upgrade from the standard graphic to a better one latter. Just open the case and plug in the card.

I also recommend to buy as many parts as possible from the same supplier, to avoid future problems. This also goes for future upgrades. So it is also important to find a good supplier and one that will also be there next year, when you need support or an upgrade.

[penguin]

Kaysfeld, sounds like a very nice system you're putting together there, what's it going to cost you...even without a monitor l'm guessing +50k baht. The E6600 cpu and motherboard are close to 25k baht, that's the total Marquess is saying he wants to spend so he can forget that.

Core 2 duo is flavor of the month but for Marquess an E6300 with say an Asus P5B motherboard is the only combination he can afford with his budget, even that will cost about 13k but worth it. Plenty of other not so cutting edge options if he wants to save some money as many older but still very good chips are great value right now.

As for the video card unless marquess wants to play games does he even need one? He doesn't sound like a very keen gamer from what he has said so far. The onboard video with the motherboard is all he needs if he is only going to be watching dvds. If he does want to play games then he could look for a 6600GT or 7600GS, around 5k. With a budget of 25k you can't expect to be playing all the latest games at the highest resolutions anyway.

[Kaysfeld]

Kaysfeld, sounds like a very nice system you're putting together there, what's it going to cost you...even without a monitor l'm guessing +50k baht. The E6600 cpu and motherboard are close to 25k baht, that's the total Marquess is saying he wants to spend so he can forget that.

Core 2 duo is flavor of the month but for Marquess an E6300 with say an Asus P5B motherboard is the only combination he can afford with his budget, even that will cost about 13k but worth it. Plenty of other not so cutting edge options if he wants to save some money as many older but still very good chips are great value right now.

As for the video card unless marquess wants to play games does he even need one? He doesn't sound like a very keen gamer from what he has said so far. The onboard video with the motherboard is all he needs if he is only going to be watching dvds. If he does want to play games then he could look for a 6600GT or 7600GS, around 5k. With a budget of 25k you can't expect to be playing all the latest games at the highest resolutions anyway.

Well you are right.

The system I mentioned was not the system that fit a 25k budget, but the PC I plan to build for myself.

You are right that the E6300 is only half the price of the E6600, and still e very good CPU. Faster than most AMD cpu's. Better save on the CPU now, and get a good mothernboard, and this is one of the best. Next year you can buy a E6600 or maybe even a E6700 or E6800 Extreme for much less.

For the graphics, many can do with the build in one, specially for normalle Office applications and Internet. A later graphic upgrade is easy, and can be done when you need it and want to spend the extra money. On the graphic card link, there is a good review on different graphic card in different price ranges. There are also some very good card much cheaper than the one I selected.

My selection of the XFX GeForce 7900 GT XXX is because I need a high capacity graphic card, and this is the best performance you can get under 300 US$ and it can handle most you can trow at it. With the upcomming Vista you really need powerfull graphics if you want all the fancy new graphic features. A game fanatic would probably buy one of the highend 600 US$ cards.

I am also seriously considering the XFX 7950 GT Extreme which is a high performance graphic card with passive cooling. Yes, you can now get super graphic performance without all the fan noise. As you can see from my configuration, I have tried to eliminate as much noise as possible from the PC, without going to the extreme like water cooling.

[binnsy]

ASUS motherboard very reliable have a job to beat.Stick with INTEL

GOOD LUCK

[Kaysfeld]

Yes I am I having a new computer built and would like some advice on hardware. Firstly I am prepared to spend about 20k and this excludes the monitor or anything else external. I want the computer primarily for watching DVD's surfing the next and listening to music. I already have an Audigy Sound Card, so that doesn't need replacing but everything else does. I want the computer to be pretty fast, to have at least a 200GB hard drive and about 1 GB worth of Ram. I have heard that AMD is pretty good chip, which one would you recommend, and at what possible price, which Motherboard, should I be looking at, Which Graphics Card should I be looking out for and how much and is there anything else that I need but but have not menetioned?

So did you find any info you could use?

You should also try the links on the different equipment in my configuration. They also contain reviews.

[marquess]

Yes I am I having a new computer built and would like some advice on hardware. Firstly I am prepared to spend about 20k and this excludes the monitor or anything else external. I want the computer primarily for watching DVD's surfing the next and listening to music. I already have an Audigy Sound Card, so that doesn't need replacing but everything else does. I want the computer to be pretty fast, to have at least a 200GB hard drive and about 1 GB worth of Ram. I have heard that AMD is pretty good chip, which one would you recommend, and at what possible price, which Motherboard, should I be looking at, Which Graphics Card should I be looking out for and how much and is there anything else that I need but but have not menetioned?

So did you find any info you could use?

You should also try the links on the different equipment in my configuration. They also contain reviews.

Yes thank you I have found it all of immense help, and I have been reading the reviews, and at present I am in thoughtful contemplation; as I am planning on having it all done on Monday!

[Kaysfeld]

[Kaysfeld]

Yes thank you I have found it all of immense help, and I have been reading the reviews, and at present I am in thoughtful contemplation; as I am planning on having it all done on Monday!

So what system did you end up with?