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From the Ground Up (Read 984 times)

Sep 8^th, 2003 at 12:23am

Scorpiоn Offline
Colonel
Take it easy!
The Alamo

Gender:
Posts: 4496

I'm planning on perhaps building a system from scratch, but I'm not sure where to start. What are the major things I'll need to play music and run intense 3D games (CFS3)? So far I've thought of:

Processor
Video card
RAM
Hard drive
Audio card
Power supply
CD/Zip Drives and the like
And of course, the shiny case
Mouse, keyboard, moniter, speakers

Certain questions, are there any incompatibilities I should look out for (XP - processor)? Can a laptop with the same specs as a PC be just as powerful?

The Devil's Advocate.&&

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Reply #1 - Sep 8^th, 2003 at 12:24am

Scorpiоn Offline
Colonel
Take it easy!
The Alamo

Gender:
Posts: 4496

Oh, yeah, I forgot. Roll Eyes

Roll Eyes

I won't be able to reply until the weekend, unless my mom feels like being nice. Stupid school... Tongue

Tongue

Lips Sealed

The Devil's Advocate.&&

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Reply #2 - Sep 8^th, 2003 at 9:12am

KnightStryker Offline
Colonel
What do you mean you can't
hear the voices???
Muskegon, Michigan

Gender:
Posts: 432

You left out two very important things.
1. Motherboard
2. Joystick or Yoke (afterall its the single most important part of the computer when your flyin, right Grin

Grin

).

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Reply #3 - Sep 8^th, 2003 at 4:42pm

Iroquois Offline
Colonel
Happy Halloween
Ontario Canada

Gender:
Posts: 3244

Based on what I've heard,

Motherboard
High Quality: I've heard Nvidia nForce boards are the best for AMD and gaming
Value:ECS K7S5A standard or pro, holds a max AMD Althlon XP 2000.

Processor:
AMD is best for gaming. For the best gaming, try anything between an Athlon XP2000 - 3200.

Ram: At least 512MB SD or DDR ram. Rambus is very over rated.

Hard Drive: Size doesn't matter, they're all pretty cheap now. Get a 7200RPM or better.

Video Card: For the best quality, cant beat an Nvidia Geforce FX5900 256mb. It will work best with that nForce board. For value, the FX5200 or FX5600 are good too.

Audio Card: Soundblaster Live! 5.1 or Audigy cards are best and compatible for most games. New EAX HD provides surround sound on all Soundblaster 5.1 cards.

Power Supply & Case: You should have at least 300W power or greater these days. Liquid cooled cases provide the best cooling but are more expensive and require more maintenence. Get a case with as many fans as possible if air cooling is your choice. Liquid cooling is safer if your going to overclock.

Drives: DVD for watching movies. CDRW or DVD-RW for high capacity removable media. Floppy is still a must for your school use.

And the Rest: Any monitor will do but LCD saves desk space. Any mouse will do, optical is better. Keyboards are all the same. As for speakers, I use Creative Inspire 5.1 speakers. Thoes Harman Kardon ones look great but are way too expensive.

Joystick: The stick I use cannot simply be bought. It came with an RC airplane sim. It suites me but I've heard good things about the Saitek X-45 Hotas.

I only pretend to know what I'm talking about. Heck, that's what lawyers, car mechanics, and IT professionals do everyday. Wink

Wink

&&The Rig: &&AMD Athlon XP2000+ Palomino, ECS K7S5A 3.1, 1GB PC2700 DDR, Geforce FX5200 128mb, SB Live Platinum, 16xDVD, 16x10x40x CDRW, 40/60gb 7200rpm HDD, 325w Power, Windows XP Home SP1, Directx 9.0c with 66.81 Beta gfx drivers

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Reply #4 - Sep 8^th, 2003 at 5:08pm

Scorpiоn Offline
Colonel
Take it easy!
The Alamo

Gender:
Posts: 4496

Aren't the motherboard and processor the same thing? My dad says you can't upgrade your processor without changing the motherboard. Thank you for the info, by the way.

The Devil's Advocate.&&

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Reply #5 - Sep 8^th, 2003 at 5:17pm

Iroquois Offline
Colonel
Happy Halloween
Ontario Canada

Gender:
Posts: 3244

Quote:

Aren't the motherboard and processor the same thing? My dad says you can't upgrade your processor without changing the motherboard.

That used to be true but not anymore. Different boards can accept different processors. My K7S5A is currently running a Duron 950mhz but it can accept any K7 level processor up to an Athlon XP2000. The only computer today in which you cannot upgrade the processor is the Macintosh. You can however get special processor boost cards for them.

I only pretend to know what I'm talking about. Heck, that's what lawyers, car mechanics, and IT professionals do everyday. Wink

Wink

&&The Rig: &&AMD Athlon XP2000+ Palomino, ECS K7S5A 3.1, 1GB PC2700 DDR, Geforce FX5200 128mb, SB Live Platinum, 16xDVD, 16x10x40x CDRW, 40/60gb 7200rpm HDD, 325w Power, Windows XP Home SP1, Directx 9.0c with 66.81 Beta gfx drivers

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Reply #6 - Sep 8^th, 2003 at 10:33pm

Daz Offline
Colonel
in the morning im making
WAFFLES!
Leeds, UK

Gender:
Posts: 1171

yeah motherboards with nforce 2 chipsets are said to be good......put that together with an amd 2800 and your rockin! my motherboard is sweet and decently priced

EPOX EP-8RDA3G (SKT A) 6 Chn Audio / DDR400 / USB 2.0 / 8X AGP / LAN / 400 FSB

i got mine for £76.06 which is about $110...

thats the one i suggest although there are others out there cheaper

AMD athlon XP2800+ @2.34ghz&&Epox 8RDA3G 400 fsb, 8x AGP&&1024MB DDR400 PC3200&&XFX 256MB FX5950 Ultra (oc 525/1.04)&&40 gig maxtor 7200rpm&&80 gig seagate baracuda 7200rpm&&

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Reply #7 - Sep 9^th, 2003 at 9:12am

Silent Exploder Ex Member

-motherboard: a board with a Nforce2-chipset.

-processor: AMD Athlon 2700+ (~130 US $) or higher..

-video card: ATI 9500pro/9700pro/9800pro or nVidia 5800ultra/5900ultra. (depends on your money. Wink

Wink

)

- RAM: at least 512mb PC 2700 ram.

- hard drive: as orenda already said, a drive with at least 7200rpm.

- audio card: Soundblaster Audigy 2.

- power supply: at least 350 watts.

and for the rest: orenda already said everything.

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Reply #8 - Sep 11^th, 2003 at 4:17am

Daz Offline
Colonel
in the morning im making
WAFFLES!
Leeds, UK

Gender:
Posts: 1171

if you have the money and follow these hints you will have youself a screaming hot comp Cheesy

Cheesy

AMD athlon XP2800+ @2.34ghz&&Epox 8RDA3G 400 fsb, 8x AGP&&1024MB DDR400 PC3200&&XFX 256MB FX5950 Ultra (oc 525/1.04)&&40 gig maxtor 7200rpm&&80 gig seagate baracuda 7200rpm&&

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Reply #9 - Sep 11^th, 2003 at 1:54pm

Ivan Offline
Colonel
No, I'm NOT Russian, I
only like Russian aircraft
The netherlands

Gender:
Posts: 6058

ASUS A7V333 rev 1.02 Sad

Sad

(can't take 400MHz FSB Athlons)
onboard RAID controller (harddisks)
16x DVD-ROM
ZIP 250
TEAC Floppy drive (5 years old or so)
512MB DDR2100, planning to make that 1024MB as soon as possible

Video:
NVidia GeForce 4 ti4200 with 128MB

HD's
1x70GB Maxtor H6 series (ATA-133)
1x60GB Maxtor H5 series (ATA-100)

Audio
SB Live 1024

PSU:
350W AOpen, came with the case

Case:
AOpen H700A, biggest bigtower you can get here whitout moving into the 19" rackmount stuff

Mouse MS intellimouse explorer rev2
Keyboard: cherry AT/XT switchable one (VERY old, still working)
Monitor: iiyama 19"
Speakers... Kenwood Dolby Prologic amplifier with a full surround setup

Russian planes: IL-76 (all standard length ones), Tu-154 and Il-62, Tu-134 and An-24RV&&&&AI flightplans and repaints can be found here

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Reply #10 - Sep 11^th, 2003 at 4:39pm

Scorpiоn Offline
Colonel
Take it easy!
The Alamo

Gender:
Posts: 4496

Well, this was my list:

Any of those 3.6 Ghz processors I saw at Fry's
At least a GB in RAM
Looking to see if NVidia or Radeon is the way to go with video cards
Zip drive, CD-RW, DVD Drive
20 Gb hard drive would suit me well. I've managed with 8, 20 would be a dream!

The rest doesn't really mater.

The Devil's Advocate.&&

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Reply #11 - Sep 11^th, 2003 at 10:29pm

swanny338 Offline
Colonel
Switched from PC to Mac
and loving it
Houston, Texas

Gender:
Posts: 1140

a case i would recommend... GET A LIAN LI CASE

http://www.xoxide.com/lianli.html

Still have a nice PC but I just switched to a hella nice mac

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Reply #12 - Sep 17^th, 2003 at 11:47am

congo Offline
Colonel
Make BIOS your Friend
Australia

Gender:
Posts: 3663

Actually, Scorpion,

The rest DOES matter.

You have to get a decent Mainboard or you're screwed from the very start. Then, the CPU , RAM , and Video Card all need to be performance matched to the mainboard.

Get a Decent Mainboard!

Make sure you get a good MOTHERBOARD........

Get an excellent Mobo. It Matters.

It doesn't have to be expensive, It's the Chipset that matters in the mainboard. Make the right choice or you simply won't get decent performance.

What you want is the latest, greatest chipset on a motherboard with all the features you require. Pick the one you want and then research it on the net. There is plenty of info out there. If the research shows problems, pick another board.

The motherboard is the heart of the system, a poor uninformed choice will prove to be the system's downfall.

Good Luck

Mainboard: Asus P5K-Premium, CPU=Intel E6850 @ x8x450fsb 3.6ghz, RAM: 4gb PC8500 Team Dark, Video: NV8800GT, HDD: 2x1Tb Samsung F3 RAID-0 + 1Tb F3, PSU: Antec 550 Basiq, OS: Win7x64, Display: 24" WS LCD

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Reply #13 - Sep 17^th, 2003 at 5:32pm

Scorpiоn Offline
Colonel
Take it easy!
The Alamo

Gender:
Posts: 4496

What's a mainboard?

The Devil's Advocate.&&

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Reply #14 - Sep 20^th, 2003 at 12:40pm

congo Offline
Colonel
Make BIOS your Friend
Australia

Gender:
Posts: 3663

Ummmm,

I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you....... Grin

Grin

Mainboard: Asus P5K-Premium, CPU=Intel E6850 @ x8x450fsb 3.6ghz, RAM: 4gb PC8500 Team Dark, Video: NV8800GT, HDD: 2x1Tb Samsung F3 RAID-0 + 1Tb F3, PSU: Antec 550 Basiq, OS: Win7x64, Display: 24" WS LCD

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Reply #15 - Sep 20^th, 2003 at 9:34pm

Scorpiоn Offline
Colonel
Take it easy!
The Alamo

Gender:
Posts: 4496

Roll Eyes

The Devil's Advocate.&&

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Reply #16 - Sep 20^th, 2003 at 10:36pm

4_Series_Scania Offline
Colonel
He who laughs last, thinks
slowest.
Stoke on Trent England U.K.

Gender:
Posts: 3638

Quote:

Roll Eyes

Hey 605, glad to see your upgrading!

My suggestion,
If your funds allow....

An Asus motherboard (or mainboard as some call them Wink

Wink

) that supports RAM Bus memory, 1GB of this would be nice, but pricey.... Some Fast DDR Ram would be far cheaper,, although RAM Bus is worth the extra if you can afford it....

A Geforce FX 5800/FX 5900 , Ati 9700,9800
A 80gb Minimum 7200rpm HD - or possibly two, one for back-ups etc... Wink

Wink

550Watt PSU - to provide plenty of power, a crucial component in many a pc, yet often overlooked.
Decent Soundcard, Soundblaster live / Audigy - I'd try to avoid on-board Sound which in other words is sound built into the motherboard/mainboard.

Some would say a flat screen TFT monitor, me I'd say shop around for a decent 19inch crt monitor (as in like a tv style screen...) to run CFS3 at nice high rez! 8)

And probably spend less than £1k if you shop around.

What I mean by that, is my own system comprises of old, new and second hand bits, it now however runs CFS3 well,but not superbly...., but at a total cost to me of less than £350!!!

Once my Celeron has finally been replaced with a p4 chip, my machine will be as good as the crappy cheap motherboard I use allows, but, despite its cheap origins, it comfortably matches far more expensive machines I've built for friends!

Have fun my friend, my upgrade path's been a nightmare! - I can't afford the stuff I know I want.... Sad

Sad

Paul.

Posting drivel here since Jan 31st, 2002. - That long!

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Reply #17 - Sep 20^th, 2003 at 10:49pm

Dogfighter Offline
Colonel
`This way up'

Gender:
Posts: 159

Sedate me with a big stick of gelagnite Tongue

Tongue

Wait, am I dreaming ? This is fairyland where the people are pleasant and the air is thick with test wreckage dropping in flurries of schrapnel and ....

Is this mike on ? ... oh I am sorry, please excuse me I ...I was dreaming because my buddy Scania is lobbying for his favourite allie the Nvidia chipsets and mighty universal screen effect special with high res 3d scope and thrumblenotic heads up display drivers n stuff

Am I joking or being seerious ? hehehe... I'll tell you next year when I kill my next cpu by letting him run riot on it :bg:

&&&&3d modelling, graphics, print ready advertising.&&MSN: Mox3d&&http://www.myspace.com/Mox3d

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Reply #18 - Sep 20^th, 2003 at 10:53pm

Dogfighter Offline
Colonel
`This way up'

Gender:
Posts: 159

Target engaged, six high, uuum capn its Scania in his Lanky old crate. Come get some

&&&&3d modelling, graphics, print ready advertising.&&MSN: Mox3d&&http://www.myspace.com/Mox3d

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Reply #19 - Sep 20^th, 2003 at 11:02pm

4_Series_Scania Offline
Colonel
He who laughs last, thinks
slowest.
Stoke on Trent England U.K.

Gender:
Posts: 3638

Yeah! Nvidia, there the best! No question! 8) 8) 8)

Oh No!!! Shocked

Shocked

, next month/week/day/hour... Ati / McGraphics Grin

Grin

ca release the next uber product and its tits up for the chaps who thought its the way it was supposed to be played........ Shocked

Shocked

???

But fear not!

Intel are coming stumping along to the rescue with not 512k , nor 1024k but 2048k yup thats 2mb of CPU cache! = woah! yet more stonking perfromance!!!!! - Think I'm kidding?

www.intel.com
have a peek Wink

Wink

CFS3 may work smooooothly at last!!!

Agh!!! - I've upgraded too soon...... I need to start all over again..... More damn cost!

'trouble is, it never stops. Cry

Cry

Do ya upgrade now, wait & go for the new kit or pickup a cheap bargain on the older, now obsolete stuff??? - 800fsb boards etc..... ???

I think I know what I'm on about, perhaps not. ???

Undecided

Undecided

Undecided

Undecided

Undecided

Undecided

Undecided

Lips Sealed

Wink

Posting drivel here since Jan 31st, 2002. - That long!

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Reply #20 - Sep 20^th, 2003 at 11:08pm

Dogfighter Offline
Colonel
`This way up'

Gender:
Posts: 159

Hey Marvin ?

Marvin, are ya there buddy ? This is planet mox calling planet zog.... Come in. You have a tail fire sir... I, sorry I mean we repeat, you have a tail fire...

Do you hear that really large sucking sound Marvin ? Yes, you are correct sir, that IS the local national grid getting a little load in your immediate vicinity.

Thought I'd let ya know, we Nascar racers like a draft hehehehe Grin

Grin

&&&&3d modelling, graphics, print ready advertising.&&MSN: Mox3d&&http://www.myspace.com/Mox3d

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Reply #21 - Sep 20^th, 2003 at 11:12pm

Dogfighter Offline
Colonel
`This way up'

Gender:
Posts: 159

The best Dogfighters drop out of the blue Wink

Wink

Tongue

&&&&3d modelling, graphics, print ready advertising.&&MSN: Mox3d&&http://www.myspace.com/Mox3d

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