[Guide:] Things to note when building a new computer
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Time flies, and to some of you, it means that your computer needs to be upgraded, or it's time you build a new Computer.
I will try my best to cover various aspects of the computer, from building to case modding and to overclocking (im not very good at overclocking)
There are many uses of a computer, mainly, Office work, Normal Household Computers.
So, before building, you need to know the purpose of you building this new computer.
Office Work Computers
In an office, computers are meant to run normal programs like Microsoft Word, publisher, powerpoint etc. These programs usually does not takes up a lot of system resource. Therefore, a simple processor, simple motherboard, a Harddisk drive with reasonable storage space. Onboard graphics will do the job if it is just for normal use. Windows XP, 1gb will be more than enough
Normal Household Computers
In this category, it can be divided into a few sub classes. Mainly, Normal computers, Media centre, and Extreme gaming systems for you child who will play first person shooter games non stop even with you nagging at the side for the past 4 hours.
Normal Computers
Lets say for a family of 4 in singapore, and your children is in primary school, or just started primary school, you don't really need to own a metal box with very powerful parts. The reason is that, firstly, your wife or husband is busy with work, and they do have their own laptop. This is provided that your wife or husband is not a serious gamer, or just a casual gamer who plays normal RPGs, or maplestories. And since your children is in primary school, they onli need to use MS word, powerpoint, simple learning games.
Thus, you may need a dual core processor, simple motherboards, a decent graphics card like the 8600 or 8400, to be abit 'future proof'. Windows XP, 1gb ram, should be enough
Media Centre Computers
Media centre computers, this is something that i believe is taking over the home entertainment systems you have at home. The reason being that Media Centre, basically controls the living room by letting you watch your TV and being able to record them, a ALL in 1 cd/dvd/blueray disc drive, a multimedia card reader that comes in handy when you want to show off the videos and picture of you and your family have taken during your trip to US, to your relatives.
NOw, the Medias comes in high definition, and therefore, you need a good processor, and a good graphics card(w HDMI out to your new 42" full HD 1080p tv, which im sure you are going to show off to your friends when they come over).
So, you might need a Core 2 duo, a reliable motherboard, and a good graphics card, say a 4870, or 4850, as they out put sound through the HDMI out. If you are building a small box PC, you need to make sure your graphics card can fit into the case, and that you have sufficient cooling.
Windows XP or vista home(as it comes with media centre), 3-4gb of ram, TV tuner, sound card
Extreme Gaming Systems For you whole family to play their graphics intensive games.
I enjoy writing this category the most, as i have a computer that is in this range. A budget of $3K and above, should get your computer up to this range. It is important that you buy a computer that is in this range, if you have children or you wants to be enjoying the new game you bought from the stall, instead of you finding out that your system canot support that game.
Everything must be good and durable, if not overkill if you lke it. A quadcore processor, an extreme series motherboard, 1 or 2 or 3 graphics card running together, a huge power supply, a large harddisk, good cooling.
Now, you have decided what type of computer you are going to build, lets look at each of the individual components specifically.
Power Supply
Power supply supplies your computer with power(obviously...). What is so important about this is because electricity will kill your system if not properly configured. A 350 watts power supply is enough for a normal basic, word processing computer to be up and running, but this is not enough, for a higher end PC. As though who build computers may know, high end PC draws a lot of power, in order for everything to run smoothly, not to mention when you bring up the voltages while over clocking. I have friends whose computer have a low wattage powersupply, and because he plug in too much ext hdd, thumbdrives, and as the power supply tries to cope, the power given out is not constant, some times more, sometimes less, causing damage to his motherboard. It is importtant to check how much power you computer needs to use before purchasing power supplies. u can do that easily by entering info on this website:
http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/
Motherboards
MOtherboard serves as the heart of the systems, linking everything together. If you aer just running a simple system, there is not a need to buy a very high end mobo. ON the otehr hand, if you are building a computer that is the best in block, you might want to consider a high end motherboard. High end motherbaords have more cooling heatsinks/fins that help cool down the northbridge and southbridge of your chipset, this is importtant as you dun wan ur system to overheat and crash when you are gaming. Some motherabods are water cooling ready. If you are into crossfire, i heard that crossfiring with the x38/x48 or the extreme chipsets, will produce better framerates than crossfiring with a non extreme chipset that has PCI express 2.0 x16 slots
PCI express 2.0 X16 slots are what the newer graphics card are using now, and it is important to know that the graphics card you are buying now can fit into the slot.
So, if your mobo have 2 or more pci express 2.0 x16 slots, you can either crossfire or SLI. Crossfire means putting 2 or more ATi graphics card, and have them running simultaneously, while SLI means to have 2 or more nvidia grpahics card running at one go.
How to determine whether your mobo is use for SLI or crossfire? look at the chipset that it is running on. For crossfire, u need an intel chipset, for sli, u need an nvidia chipset.
Graphics card
Graphic card for normal office computer need not be a very high end one. Maybe a low end or onboard graphic card will do.
NOrmal home computers, with family members who do some light gaming, or more intensive gaming, a graphic card that can run the lastest game will be good. Such cards maybe be the 9800gtx, 9600gt, 8800gtx, if u are on a budget, a 8600 will get u through also.
Media centres PC, i will recommend ATI graphic cards, as they output sound through the hdmi breakaway cable, and they have the Universal Video Decoder that will do most or all of your formats like the dolby dts or other formats. Such cards are the 4850, 4870, if u are not spending a lot, maybe a 3870 is more than enough if you are just watching movies and do some gaming.
Extreme gaming computers need a more powerful graphic card, as the users tend to play demanding games at 30" resolution at veri high graphic settings. In that case, maybe you should get three GTX 280 on SLI, or 2 4870 x2 on cross fire, be sure to get a fast CPU in order not to bottleneck your graphic cards
Harddisk drives
Harddisk drives are important for storing documents and movies and progs.
Office use computers generally do not have a very large capacity. Maybe a 80gb at most? Reason being that most of the thing you store are powerpoints, word documents. If you are working in an office, or company that does graphic design, video editing, 80gb is not enough, as nowadays, the FULL HD resolution videos takes up quite an amount of space. maybe a 750-1terabyte storage if you are doing lots of videos, and u might consider stripping or RAID your HDD.
NOrmal Home computers without much gaming will be enough will 80gb.
Home with qutie some gaming and media centres wil requires more space. Nowdays games takes up a lot of gb, eg, the game "race driver grid" takes up 10gb. if you have a family member that plays different types of game, you might want to consider 250-500gb. Reason being that home PC will store more games, more home videos, more music. Also, get a good quality HDD if you want your data to be safe.
Gaming rigs will tend to have raptor HDD, as they spin @ 10,000rpm instead of the normal HDD that spin @ 7,200rpms. that means faster loading. I believe all those who build gaming rigs knows abit of everything, like video editing, music, installing a lot of games, graphic programs like photoshop, that is why a 500gb might be the minimum, if you want to go to the extreme, maybe a few terabyttes if you want to store a lloottt of stuffs
DVD drives
RAMS
Soundcards
3rd party CPU/VGA cooler
- Passive/fan/watercoolingAgeia Physics card
Right now, there is not a need to buy physics card, as they will soon be integrated on nvidia graphic cards, maybe on ati graphic cards. Moreover, physics card only help in some games.
Case and Case cooling
Casing is quite an important part when building a new computer, and is can also be not a very important part.
LEts say u are building a computer for offic work, u dun need a case that have fanciful lights and tons of fans to cool down the system. You just need an intake fan, and an exhaust fan to ensure there is some ventilation. Maybe a cooler master centurion 5
For home use, with a graphic card that gives up quite some heat, u might need to consider case that both ahve intake fan at the front, intake at the side, and exhuast at the back.
If you are building an extreme gaming system that can acts as a radiator in winter times, u might need a case with both intake fans at the front, at the side, udner the case, exhaust fan at the top and at the back, and some even ahve fan at the motherboard side. One good choice will be the antec 900 or the nxzt tempest case, If you are going full tower, the lian li armoursuit is good, cooler master cosmos 1000 is also good
Case modding
- Lights/fansOverclocking Your Systems
i will continue when i am not so tired
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LOL... ATI Crossfire is not just limited to Intel boards.
http://ati.amd.com/technology/crossfire/faq.html
Support AMD!
For fast and cheap computers... I suggest AMD ones...
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Originally posted by ndmmxiaomayi:
LOL... ATI Crossfire is not just limited to Intel boards.
http://ati.amd.com/technology/crossfire/faq.html
Support AMD!
For fast and cheap computers... I suggest AMD ones...
ah ya... i mean intel chipsets......im using 3870x2 -
Just to ask, what is ur view on DIY comps from sim lim^2?? I'm abit paranoid about the casing part... they never indicate which case eh...
meanwhile... v.good guide 4 newbies...
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Casing wise i believe they will throw u the cooler master centurion 5 if you get from bell systems.... i am using that casing also, as it is cheap, it cause my graphics card to overheat due to lackof ventilation
i think you should get a case that hvave fan intake at the front at the side, and exhuast at the back if u are building a system, nowadays things run quite hot
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Originally posted by MyPillowTalks:
Casing wise i believe they will throw u the cooler master centurion 5 if you get from bell systems.... i am using that casing also, as it is cheap, it cause my graphics card to overheat due to lackof ventilation
i think you should get a case that hvave fan intake at the front at the side, and exhuast at the back if u are building a system, nowadays things run quite hot
Thought centurion 5 got one 120mm in front @ the HDD there then one 80mm at the side? (wat about Ace tech comp? know anything?)
Found out somewhere that HDD 'optimal' op temp is around 30~45C degree... makes me reconsider case cooling sia~
Wats the diff between mid-tower & full tower anyways? size only? Then PSU they give 350watt std ar? (how 2 add 4850 like tt? T,T)
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LOL... you want to get a full tower for? It's for those with lots of CD/DVD drives. Kinda like those who switches between burner and reader all the time.
I know forensic scientists do that... reader is reader, burner is burner, CD drive is CD drive, DVD drive is DVD drive, extra compartments for Blu-ray... in total like got 5 or 6 drives, just for CD/DVD only.
Mid tower is enough for most...
How much wattage you need depends on your needs... you don't need a 500W PSU for a basic PC... likewise, 350W PSU is not for a gaming PC.
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Originally posted by Anonymous User:
Thought centurion 5 got one 120mm in front @ the HDD there then one 80mm at the side? (wat about Ace tech comp? know anything?)
Found out somewhere that HDD 'optimal' op temp is around 30~45C degree... makes me reconsider case cooling sia~
Wats the diff between mid-tower & full tower anyways? size only? Then PSU they give 350watt std ar? (how 2 add 4850 like tt? T,T)
there is fan, but it is not 120mm, i using that case, firstly was quite dissapointed as it overheated my graphics cardnow i took off the side cover, and exchanged with distro for a card with better cooling
30-45 should be alright, my processor is around 39, when load is also around 45, if i do multitask or game, both the graphic card and processor will shoot up to 56-60
actually full tower means that u ahve more room to work with, there is more cd drive, the space betwwen the cd drive and the mobo is bigger, the case is taller
if you are not gaming/plan to put a lot cd, a lot hardware, u might not want to get that case, since it's the same, but they look pretty. the new coolermaster HAF 932 is very nice
some cases comes with PSU, those are for normal computings, they do have options for you to exclude the PSU
gaming cases or full tower usually dun come with a PSU, as they noe u are going to upgrade anywway.
if u wan crossfire buy a PSU lor, oh ya, PSU dun get the minimal watt that ur graphics card needs, sometimes when u plug in a thumbdrive, or some other hardware, ur PSU not enough, then goodgame.
also, get those that supply constant power. if your graphic card need 660 watts, dun get the one with max power 660, it will means that you areforcing ur PSU to work at max, that is not good, as it will tend to deliver 660, then 640, mayb 635. then up to 660, it will spoil ur hardware
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Well, i've estimated how much power my new comp is gonna use, so that's about settled. Think i'm choosing cooler master extreme pwr + 460w...
any nice casing you're usin? is nzxt gd?
oh & which ram clock speed is best for c2d ah? 667mhz or 800mhz?
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i think u get the 550watts to be safe
and ram speed as high as possible bah
800 is good
make sure ur mobo support 800mhz, actually most do
mine can go up to 1600fsb for ddr3
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add on:
Most Media centre pcs do normally have a remote (bluetooth, infrared) which users use to control the volume, start stop a video ect
Now adays, TV tuners are a must or quite a norm in media centre pcs, due to the vast availability of components.The newer ones - on top of having a tv tuner, has a FM/AM radio tuner - with broadcast capabilities. This allows you to play your songs via the media player and select whichever songs are to be broadcasted. This does not come at a cheap price though, further more, it is only able to broadcast up to a certain distance. -
Hdds:
Shouldnt go into much details here. Just to note that while building a pc, the most essential component would be - the hard disk.
Without it, everything is useless - regardless of how good your specs are.
While getting a hdd. Look @ the amount of Rpm it is running @.
The higher the rpm, the faster the hdd disk spins and as such, data can be read/ wrote faster.
These are for conventional hdd.
Nowadays the trend would be to get solid state drives. I shallnt go into much detail here to.
Just that it functions like - a flash drive/thumb drive.
It is less fragile than a normal hdd and it performs faster (there are many videos in youtube which shows comparisons) - without those stupid disk needles in the hdds.
but it is $$ now due to the low quantity produced and capacity is significantly lower than normal hdds.
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hmm.. my pc falls into the media center catrgory..
im thinking of getting e follwing setup:
mobo: any thats compatible with ati hd4850/4870 (single card only, not X2 or xfire)
gpu: intended hd4850/4870 single
psu: will 650w be enough??
cpu: sticking to my pentium D 930
case: my hp casing will do. cus its already got a plethora of lightings.
fans: 80mm fans that roar, not sit idle at 1712rpm when it can actually do way better than that.
lighting: hmm ive alrd got a lot of lights but a neon strobe or two wd be nice to light up the floor since i got a habit of dropping stuff i never find.
audio: somehting that fits a PCI (not pcie!!) slot. maybe auzentech or asus cards. dun like the creative one. they sound bloated, juz like all their speakers.
internal cables: my friend's got asus cables to spare.. so its fine.
optical/hdd drives: no need. im using back me previous ones.
anyone able to reccomend fitting parts for the stuff i didnt mention and the cost? thanks.
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hmm, 650 should be able to get u through well
use the www.thermaltake.outervision.com to calculate ur power consumption, then buy some psu with a bit more power to play safer abit
mobo, since u not intending to crossfire, any mobo wth pci express 2.0 x16 will do
if running vista, 3-4gb ram
xp 2-3 should be more than enough
How much harddisk space? since u are not really trying to go to the extreme, a normal 7,200rpm will do, maybe 500 gb for u to store ur movies, if u are storing a lot, and have games that take up space, u may need more than 500gb
the seagate barracuda is onli 199 for 500gb
for ur 4870 or 4850, u need a lot of ventilation, or u wait till the company comes out with the card with professioanl cooling, the cards runnin up to 80+ degrees.
another way is to jack up the fan speed, abit noisy though
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but power really need that much meh? 4850 takes about 235~watts under load... so 460w should be good enough, + the rest of the system total load at most like 320w~...
btw my current 'gaming' comp with e stock psu is rated at 300w max.... then i install 1650xt very long ago... so estimated power @ load is around 260~watts... =s still can tahan eh.... but dunnoe if the psu will last...
btw did you consider capacitor aging when recommending higher pwr psu?
edit: oh dear...=s recalculated e cap aging part... now 282w liao... think got est. 1yrs before psu not keeping up wif demands liao...
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hmm... capacitor aging is one thing.....
but that is more for thermaltake powersupplies
what brand are u getting?
maybe 460watts is enough, u can ask go to bell systems and ask.
Vist computers will recommend u high power supplies, they recommended me 1000watts, i regretted not buying 1000watts, now i wan to upgrade graphic card and more HDD abit scared
U can look @ thevideo here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvClS_M-09o
quite useful
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eh pillow, i ask u
if u were to diy a com la, and no budget limit hor, wad parts would u buy?
and hor, wad happens if u use 1000watts on a com tt oni nids 450?
thanks!
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if u use 1000watts, they will give out onli the 450 watts u need, i tink they will eat more electricity...im using 750watts, bt i never used that much
If no budget, i will get the best one, but then, when better thigns come out will very sian
Maybe i will get the following:
Xeon Quadcore processor x2 OC them
A server grade mobo that supports 2 physical processors, and have 2 pci express slots that supports crossfire( i seen it somewhere, dunno wad make and model)
1 raptor HDD
1 500gb seagate barracuda
1.7K PSU
two 4870x2 on crossfire
Water cooling with 3 pump relays -
this should be a sticky!
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Originally posted by MyPillowTalks:
hmm... capacitor aging is one thing.....
but that is more for thermaltake powersupplies
what brand are u getting?
maybe 460watts is enough, u can ask go to bell systems and ask.
Vist computers will recommend u high power supplies, they recommended me 1000watts, i regretted not buying 1000watts, now i wan to upgrade graphic card and more HDD abit scared
U can look @ thevideo here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvClS_M-09o
quite useful
if the supplied psu not powerful enuff then i'll get cooler master eXtreme power + 460w.... but i read a related article max power output like 435w @ 25c... =s
but got fault protection la... besides... i'm not planning to make any major upgrades to this comp after the gpu wat... so 430-ish watts good enuff....
y i didnt even consider 1000watts is because not efficient... most efficient power usage occurs when the load is 65%~75%... i read somewhere... hmm... must go hunt for more price list liao... =D
edit: oh, any1 got experience with nzxt brand casing?
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Originally posted by kenn3th:
add on:
Most Media centre pcs do normally have a remote (bluetooth, infrared) which users use to control the volume, start stop a video ect
Now adays, TV tuners are a must or quite a norm in media centre pcs, due to the vast availability of components.The newer ones - on top of having a tv tuner, has a FM/AM radio tuner - with broadcast capabilities. This allows you to play your songs via the media player and select whichever songs are to be broadcasted. This does not come at a cheap price though, further more, it is only able to broadcast up to a certain distance.speaking of PC remotes, my HP desktop, which i would like to perform an overhaul on, will it continue to support the infrared remote? given that the sensor is an external USB plugin, and i will not be changing my HDD. i will still be booting from the 250GB HDD that came with xp MCE installed.
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i Think it will support
u are still using xp MCE, and if the usb still can be installed on the xp MCE it should work right?
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nice job pillow
hopefully you could start up a new thread.
"Guide to set up your own DIY PC"
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Originally posted by Chris1988:
nice job pillow
hopefully you could start up a new thread.
"Guide to set up your own DIY PC"
as in assembling?i will do so after my o levels