Friend's building a computer...

standard235

standard235

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Ok, my friend Riley is spending like $500 to build a new computer, or mostly. He has a HDD and burner. I talked him into getting a new PSU just in case.

Rosewill Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811147033

MSI Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813130067

Thermaltake 430W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817153023

Corsair XMS2 1GB Dual Channel (512MB X 2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145566

AMD 3800+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103029

All of that totals up to $365. There's a few bucks of cushion there but it has to toal to $400 altogether.
 
What is it being used for? That power supply is way too powerful for what this pc will be needing. Try grabbing a 350w Antec. Better yet, go to silentpcreview.com and check their reviews on silent power supplies and pick one of those.

In fact, drop that PSU and case combo entirely. They're too big for a Micro-ATX motherboard. You'll get all the power and space you need in this. You'll also get a MUCH smaller setup this way :)

With the money you have left over, I'd invest in 1) a fan speed controller and 2) a set of low flow 80mm PanaFLO fans to fill in the fan slots on the case. At 3 volts, those fans should be inaudible. If you're feeling ballsy, you can swap out the stock fan on the psu for one of these as well 👍. The stock AMD cooler will be nearly inaudible at 3 volts and more than cool enough, so upgrading that is unnecessary.
 
Form Factor doesn't matter to him. ATX and Micro ATX are both fine. As long as everything with tax and shipping totals up to $400, he couldn't care less. I told him I'd ask you guys though.

He wants to know if he could use his old PSU out of his HP which is about 6 months old.

It's the 1410y which has a 300 watt PSU. Should he use that? He has a HDD, Disc drive, pretty much a whole computer of parts to use including a monitor and speakers.


Thanks in advance.
 
You're friend should invest in a better case, because it is as important as picking a good CPU and GPU.
 
standard235
It's the 1410y which has a 300 watt PSU. Should he use that? He has a HDD, Disc drive, pretty much a whole computer of parts to use including a monitor and speakers.
Click to expand...
300w out of an HP? I doubt it *actually* provides more than 250w, so no - not enough imo. Besides that, it's probably using 80mm fans which == noise.

Seriously though, if you have a micro-atx mobo picked out, I'd say you should find a matching case. The smaller size and the potential noise reduction is great :D

give the Antec Sonata II a very serious looksie if you go full sized anyways. It's steel and heavy as a mofo because of it, but it's one of the best built cases I've ever used and it comes with a VERY reliable 450w power supply which is designed for minimal noise. Besides that, it's unconventional ducting and fan layout allows for some pretty heavy duty low noise cooling in it's stock configuration 👍

It shouldn't cost you more than $100
 
Alright. Noise and size don't matter to him.

Another thing is this is his gaming computer. He will be putting in a nice PCI x16 card eventually. He wants to have an idea of what he's getting like Wednesday.

I told him to buy the core stuff now, and get stuff like fans, thermal paste, and stuff like that later. More than likely, it won't be bootable for a while.


EDIT: Ok, we have a new parts list. Shipping included, totals up to $392.51

Rosewill Case with 450W PSU ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811147033

MSI Motherboard ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813130056

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835100007

G.SKILL 1GB (512MBx2) CAS Latency 4 DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231094

AMD X2 3800+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103735

Silverstone 120mm Case Fans MAX 110cfm (Two of them)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835220014


He'll be using his ATA HDD out of his HP and he has a monitor, keyboard, mouse, he will get a Graphics Card in the near future, he has a Lightscribe Disc Drive, and I think he's going to run Linux.


Any ideas or changes to be made? Also, are there any incompatibility issues I might have missed? Help majorly appreciated
 
It comes to $435.52 with shipping with the X2. He said he's going to do it.


EDIT: Oh yeah, Sean, that processor doesn't come with a heatsink and fan...
 
standard235
Alright. Noise and size don't matter to him.
Click to expand...
My choice for the case/power supply combination stands. Antec make great stuff. Some of their cases have sharp edges, but they won't be anywhere near half as bad as what a $20 no-name would have. They also know how to keep a system nice and cold 👍

Thermaltake makes only 1 thing reasonably well, and those are cases... and that's only because they rip off Coolermaster for most of their more expensive lines. If you can budget it, I have the Tsunami Dream and a modular OCZ psu for my gaming system. It runs ice cold, and of course, I have things inside tweaked for noise. The Antec on my bro's pc runs about as cold but without using any aftermarket parts though
 
Well, he has a budget and he needs dual core for longetivity in life. He needs 1GB of DDR2 800 RAM, he needs a mobo with pci x16.

Noise, form factor.. those things don't matter to him. This is the best I can do to fit him. He doesn't do too strenuous of anything, if the case starts getting too hot, we're going to fab 2 more ports for 120mm fans...


Along with all this, he's ordering Cyber Acoustics CA3550RB 68 watts 2.1 Black Speaker for me. I'm paying him $45.32 for them which doesn't seem too bad. What do you guys think? Should I just go with Logitech 230's instead? Mostly music with some gaming thrown in.
 
i built my computer

O/S winXPpro
HDD:149GB westgate
ODD:lite-on DVD-RAM
M/B:foxconn 661 SIS
CPU:intel celeron D 3.2Ghz(overclocked to 3.7Ghz)
RAM:512MB
 
mrnoname
i built my computer

O/S winXPpro
HDD:149GB westgate
ODD:lite-on DVD-RAM
M/B:foxconn 661 SIS
CPU:intel celeron D 3.2Ghz(overclocked to 3.7Ghz)
RAM:512MB
Click to expand...


Ok, but this is somebody else's computer building thread.
 
Standard, just do this case, and then not worry about the PSU stuff.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811147001

I used that exact case and PSU, had no trouble over the year I had it (got stolen). I liked the layout on the case so much I plan to get it again, easy to get stuff in and out of.

Unless of course he already has it :P Just didn't see anything saying he had, so just posting my thoughts.

MSi is a brand I love, and Corsair I hear good things about. Just swap to that cause I would say
 
Ebiggs
Ok, but this is somebody else's computer building thread.
Click to expand...

since i have bulit i can help


don't use Power supply units from cases unless the case is really good $90+

cheap power units don't have surge protects in them

trust me it blow by m/b
 
Since this thread is about PC building, I may as well as a question...

I was talking to my friend the other day about computer upgrades, and he told me that instead of me buying a new GPU, RAM and 120-250GB HDD, he told me to just get a new motherboard and screw it in. Right now, according to Compaq, my PC only supports PCI (no PCI-e or AGP port), has an extremely crappy GPU, only a 80GB HDD, does not support Duan Channel RAM, and a Pentium 4 CPU. My friend told me that a new motherboard would be cheaper than buying a new PC but is better than upgrading the individual parts.

Now my question is, would the new motherboard work with rest of my PC? Would I have to upgrade the power supply, my HDD, etc? Would it include lots of soldering and work? I'm aiming for an AMD Athlon X2 3800+ if possible. I can install RAM, PCI cards and such, but replacing a motherboard is a new thing, if I choose to do it.

Model: Compaq SR1234NX PC
CPU: Pentium 4 2.8GHz
Manufactured: around September-November 2004.

Thanks in advance.
 
a new motherboard is compatible with all new hardware & old, but then you need a new CPU,RAM & PSU if you buy one with interigated sound,graphics,LAN

if you buy one that doesn't have a interigated chipset you will neeed to get a LAN, sound & graphics cards
 
on ebay yes but the added with the item


real motherboard that you buy from stores don't have a CPU in them

so you will need a AMD motherboard(theres intel types as well) with the same socket type as you CPU if you want to save money
 
Depends. There's different socket types. Go AM2 if you go AMD since it's going to last a lil bit.

You'll have to upgrade your parts no matter what. A mobo will get you more bang for buck because you'll be spending the same money on a better CPU, GPU, and all that.
 
Unfortunately, the answer is kinda; your friend is kinda right. A motherboard upgrade alone may or may not benefit you, since it depends a lot on your usage. A motherboard upgrade can improve performance since it does connect everything, so its performance will affect the other parts as well. Also, IMHO a bigger benefit of upgrading your motherboard is to upgrade for the expansion lots that you currently don't have. It kinda depends on your usage though; for example, do you only use this computer for word processing and internet, but also have a huge music collection on the computer? If that is the case, then a harddrive upgrade will be better. Or maybe you want to play the latest games at a decent setting? If that is the case, and you still want to take the upgrade route, then you should upgrade your mobo so you can put in a video card and upgrade the RAM, but the processor would be ok.

From what it sounds like though, you want to upgrade your graphics and RAM at the very least (and the processor too?). If that is the case, then at the very least you'll need to buy a new motherboard becuase everything attaches to it. It looks like that your motherboard has reached its limit in terms of upgradability

If you only upgrade the motherboard, as long as you buy a Socket 478 motherboard, everything should plug in just fine (no need to solder). If you decide to upgrade to an Athlon 64 3800+, then it might cost you a pretty penny. Upgrading to that means that you'll also have to upgrade your mobo to an AMD Socket AM2 board; you'll also have to upgrade your RAM since your RAM is DDR RAM and Socket AM2 uses DDR2 RAM. Then chances are you will need to upgrade your power supply becuase your old one may not provide enough juice (i don't know how much you have right now, you'll have to check on the PSU itself, but you probably want at the MINIMUM 350W now). I don't know if Compaq does this, but I have heard of Dell and like use proprietary designs that will not fit a standard ATX mobo. If a standard ATX mobo doesn't fit in your Compaq case, then you'll need to either get a mini-ATX mobo (might limit upgradability and cost more?), or buy a new case At this point, with all these upgrades, you might as well buy/build a new computer.

The good news is, your current harddrive and CD/DVD drives should plug right into a new motherboard no problem, but this might not seem like such great news anymore after all the other upgrade headaches.
 
If you UPGRADE your mobo, chances are it will be a different socket type. Hop on over to www.newegg.com and check the stuff out. I would go Socket 775 if you go Intel, and AM2 if you go AMD. AM2 is compatible with single core AM2 processors, and when you wanna upgrade, dual core too. Socket 775 supports the new architecture from Intel that runs the Core 2 Duo and I think even Core Duo/Solo.

AIM: fisherphdrider06
MSN: zach.reliford@gmail.com
Drop me a message on here or on MSN/AIM and I could help you.
 
Hey thanks for the help everbody. After looking through, I decided not to do it. I may get some old PCs from my parents' friend (who runs a PC building business) and experiment first so that when I actually want to do it, I have some knowledge instead of next to none :lol: But thanks for the help, I appreciate it. Now I have a bit more knowledge.
 

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