Ever built a computer?

  • Thread starter Geeky1
  • 42 comments
  • 1,741 views

Have you ever built a computer?

  • More times than I care to think about

    Votes: 19 44.2%

  • Once or twice, yeah...

    Votes: 21 48.8%

  • I couldn't build a computer to save my life

    Votes: 3 7.0%
  • Total voters
    43
Geeky1
There are no pins on the CPU. As you know, they're now on the motherboard. And everything I've read about LGA775 sockets is that the sockets are very easily damaged. They're also supposedly only rated for 20 CPU insertion/removal cycles, and I've read that motherboard manufacturers are seeing real-world lifespans of about 10 cycles.

The CPU itself is less prone to damage, yes, but the pins in the motherboard are supposedly more fragile than the s478 cpu pins were.

As for DDR1 vs. DDR2 motherboards... you're right on that. I just checked Newegg. Apparently there are more LGA boards that are *not* running the i915/925 than I thought.

AMD vs. Intel...
Yes it depends on what you're doing. However, the A64 is fairly consistently faster than the P4. There is really only one area where a P4 can outperform an A64 (where the A64 has a PR equivalent to the P4's clockspeed)- video encoding. HT works well for light multitasking, but load "both" CPUs to 100% in a single CPU system and I've found that it tends to fare no better than a single cpu system with no HT. The best example I can think of of this is before PeerGuardian 2 came out. PeerGuardian 1 was a CPU hog- it could and would use 100% of the CPU power if it needed it. By the same token, a P2P app like Kazaa or Morpheus, with several thousand queued downloads, can and will use 100% of the available CPU power if it can. On a HT or SMP system you can dedicate a whole CPU to each application... that works very well on a SMP system, but try it on a single HT P4 and it runs just as slow (subjectively) as a single CPU without HT does when asked to deal with both programs at once.
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It's nice what people say.. I have experience with them, a lot of it. They're not fragile, and neither are the motherborad pins. Just keep in mind, you can't hit them with a hammer.. It is a CPU..

HT doesn't double the speed or anything, yes, that's true. It does, however, (in short, hugely.. Read up on it for the technically correct answer) more efficiently line up processes for the processor.

I am an AMD guy myself.. I'll recommend an A64 over a P4 anyday, however, I don't say that the LGA P4 is crap. P4s performance nearly as fast in every situation of single processes, even though it's obvious which will do faster in situations such as gaming.

As a side note, i915 supports DDR1.
 
Burnout
Excuse my french: wtf ?

*snip*

AMDs have been better than Intels.. For certian things. Completely subjective on what you do. Gaming? A64. Multitasking? P4. Encoding? P4. Content Creation? A64. Neither is better, they just accelerate over eachother in certain areas. It all depends on what you're doing.
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Very well put! As my wood shop teacher in high school used to say, "use the right tool for the right job!"
 
Geeky1
And unless you already have some of the parts for that P4, you really, really, reallyreallyREALLY don't want that system.
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Well, this is my first built system, and I already have the mobo for it, specificially this one, and I'm probably going to buy this processor. I am fully aware of the cooling problems that this processor creates and will be taking appropriate steps to alleviate that problem.

However, I am open to any suggestions concerning which processor to get, as long as it will work with the motherboard I already have.
 
While I haven't built a computer from scratch, I have torn apart my current computer enough times to know what I am doing.

The last major project I did for my computer was to completely dissasemble my power supply, sleeve it with UV reactive cable sleeving, and also change all the connectors on it from white to UV reactive as well. I wish I had taken pictures of the project as it progressed. Eventually I'll post before and after shots of my case once I can take a picture of the case as it is now (I don't have a digital camera but know someone who does).

I also replaced my motherboard with a much better one because my 9600XT was throwing a fit with the old one.

Eventually though, I want to build a Linux Box/Server that I can use to test server-side programming on. I basically need everything to build a computer minus a motherboard and videocard, though.
 
Burnout
It's nice what people say.. I have experience with them, a lot of it. They're not fragile, and neither are the motherborad pins. Just keep in mind, you can't hit them with a hammer.. It is a CPU..
...
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Interesting. I haven't installed any LGA CPUs myself so I have no experience with them. Frankly it wouldn't surprise me if the people saying that they're fragile didn't install them properly... seeing as how in many cases these are the same people that do power supply reviews by throwing them in their computer and then saying "well it powers my system just fine... i give this ps a 10/10." :yuck:

And granted, the P4 is fast. It's sickeningly inefficient, but it's clocked high enough (now) to make up for it... So it's still a piece of crap, it's just a FAST piece of crap. :lol:

VTGT07
Well, this is my first built system, and I already have the mobo for it, specificially this one, and I'm probably going to buy this processor. I am fully aware of the cooling problems that this processor creates and will be taking appropriate steps to alleviate that problem.
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Actually the "cooling problems" the Prescott creates are more myth than reality. It's another case of reviewers not knowing their ass from a hole in the ground and not thinking before opening their mouths (or in this case, before opening up their word processor).

A lot of the older P4 boards, ABIT's in particular, did not read the thermal diode in Prescott core CPUs properly. This resulted in CPU temperature readings as much as 30*C higher than what the actual CPU temperature was. The Prescotts DO put out more heat than the Northwoods, but in a desktop environment I've never found it to be that big of a deal... my 2.8E only hits 55*C under full load with the Intel retail heatsink. While warm, this is well within the CPU's operating range, and it's also significantly cooler than some of the older AMD CPUs ran with the retail AMD heatsinks.

Just get a decent heatsink and case and you'll be fine. :)

jimihemmy
I would love to know where I could find those.......
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http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=37-102-151&DEPA=6
XP Home, $93

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=37-102-153&DEPA=6
XP Pro, $143

Yes, they have to be purchased with hardware. But a CD audio cable or whatever qualifies as hardware. The only difference between the OEM and retail versions is that the OEM versions don't come with the pretty box and user's manual that the retail versions do.
 
Geeky1
Interesting. I haven't installed any LGA CPUs myself so I have no experience with them. Frankly it wouldn't surprise me if the people saying that they're fragile didn't install them properly... seeing as how in many cases these are the same people that do power supply reviews by throwing them in their computer and then saying "well it powers my system just fine... i give this ps a 10/10." :yuck:

And granted, the P4 is fast. It's sickeningly inefficient, but it's clocked high enough (now) to make up for it... So it's still a piece of crap, it's just a FAST piece of crap. :lol:
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👍
 
Being 14, i dont have much money. However, a few years ago i was given a p1 133mhz old Gateway computer off my cousin. Since then it has got a new case (complete with a window and cold cathodes), completely new internals and is running 2.2Ghz, 512mb Ram, a 128mb graphics card and 40gb of HDD.
I would like to do the same to my Dads old PC, but i dont have enough money.
 
Been doing this **** for a living for 10+ years... Please someone make it go away.....
 
RX-7_FC_DrIfteR
I have and i'm useing it now.

Option 1 - Have a big corporation buid it= big bucks
Option 2 - build it your self= cheaper, but takes long

I like option 2
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Option 2 isn't always cheaper. I find that if you're getting a low end machine for an older relative, you'll be paying almost double cost for the parts. For a mid range, the price is slightly higher, but the video card is going to be slightly better. For anything more than $1200 canadian, I'll build myself just because I like doing it and the case mods I get to do because of it. The big companies charge WAY too much for minor things on their high end rigs... well, alienware's top machines are just about par when compared to home-built pc's if you consider that software is included and these things go through quality control testing before you get your hands on them.
 

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