chuckshriner said:
alright, so lets start from where i left off.
1. acphenom, if i felt that i had the potential for making a laptop w/out screwing up royaly i might consider it, however my trust level for myself can be measured in inches.
2. treehugger, your my hero, thanks so much, but im not saying thats what im going with, but its a really good start
3. some key points, my top prioritys for my computer in order are
1. i want to be able to surf the net fast. i know that it depends on more than just my comp.
2. i want to be able to run alot of programs at once.
3. i wanna be able to play good games on full graphics.
4. i need windows OS for my basic school program needs.
4. prosser, i really wanna learn what im doin with hardware but i dont know where to learn and those questions you gave me e.g. SLI, Duel core, overclocking... i dont know what any of that means.... i hate my life...
Well firstly i see that you live in victoria, BC and that
www.newegg.com can't ship you stuff since you live in canada. I am in the same situation i live in vancouver. WOOT go canada. some canadian sites are
http://www.anitec.ca
http://www.ncix.com
-Both are vancouver based, look for one in victoria.
I will explain many things to you:
Processor:
1.NO INTEL, because they are too expensive and overated and u have wisely already made this decision
2. The lastest socket for AMD processors is "socket 939", you want this. You may see new AMD 64 processors, but they could be on the old less superior "socket 754". You don't want "socket 754", you want socket 939.
Notes:These socket names are refering to the number of pins the cpu has.
3. You have a choice between the normal single core processors AMD Athlon 64, for example like a 3500+ or 3700+. Single core processors(cpus) are typically not as good at multitasking (having many programs open) than dual cores.
OR
You could get a dual core. These excellent at multitasking. Something you said you want. But the are not as fast on games as single cores, but this difference is EXTREMELY small. An example of a dual core cpu is the AMD Athlon 64 X2-series, for example the 3800+.
Note:Both the x-2 and single core althon64 should be pruchased in the socket 939 models.
Finally, dual core literally means two single core processors combined into one cpu,so workloads can be shared, thus there are better at having many programs open (multitasking)
Motherboard (mobo):
Motherboards have many features that are unique to each brands. You need to find one that is socket 939 compatible. There are many brands to consider. Ones I suggest are DFI (thes best in my opinion), MSI, Abit, Asus, Gigabyte.
Features:
Video card slots: PCI-expessx 16,AGPx8, PCI
You want pci-express for your video card slot, it is the lastest and greatest. It is also the most common kind of video card slot on mobos to day. AGP and pci are very slow compared to pci-expresss.
SLi and Crossfire:
SLi- Im sure youve heard of nVIDIA video cards. Well they have developed a fairly new technology(SLi) that has two video card slots(pci-express x16) side by side, connected by a physical link(cable). This allows the two cards, that must be identical in brand and type, to share the workload of the video processing. This often increases speed seeing as they can two cards combined can do less work and get a higher result. I highly suggest this, if you are into gaming.
Crossfire: Is exactly the same except it is Ati's attempt at SLi, and it connects the two cards through the motherboard.
Ram Slots: These are where the ram goes. There tpyically will be 4 slots side sbie (2 and 2) Most mobotherboards can only have 4gigs max. A good amount for your pruposes is 2gbs-1gbs. These slots can allow for dual-channeled ram and regular sticks of ram. Dual-channeled ram is two sticks of ram that once again, work together. You want this. The typical type of ram supported by the mobo is DDR400 (pc3200), not ddr2 or ddr500, but these sometimes can be supported. I would suggest just getting ddr 400(pc3200) dual channeled. You'll know if the ram is dual channeled, if it says like 1gb(2 x 512mb).
Pci slot: Pci slots used to be used for everything, video cards, sound cards, modem cards etc. Now their primary function is for any ethernet cards or sound cards you want to upgrade. The mobo does have these things bult in most of the time, but you probably will want to upgrade them.
Cards:
Video cards- Like above you most liekly will want to go with SLi(nVIDIA's technology), so you will have to purchase nVIDIA cards. There top of the lien card is the 7800gtx 512mb.Next, the 7800GTX 256mb. If you can afford one of these, any game will whimper in your extreme power. With cards these expensive you probably will not be able to buy 2 to fill both slots in the SLi, but no worries you can get another one later, if you feel like it or can afford it. Another frewuntly asked question is that will two lesser quality cards preforms better than one 7800gtx, the answer in almost all cases is no, because the 7800gtx is so amazing.Nowdays you probably don't want to go below the 6800-series of nVidia cards, so any of the 6800,GT, Ultras, GS will be fine. And you definately want the pci-express(manditory for SLi) and at least 256mbs of ram on your video card.
Sound cards: Im not going to exlain these cards im just going to make a suggestion:
-Get Creative Labs Sound Blaster series
-makes sure its 7.1 (The 7 means u can have 7 normal speakers and the.1 means you can have 1 subwoofer)
Basically any of the creative cards that are 7.1 and say Audigy or x-fi in the name are GREAT cards.
Cases: Basically get whatever you want, get a desktop towe though that is atx (regular size) and if you want get a fancy window.
-I HIGHLy suggest you get extra 80mm or 120mm fans. They will help to keep you system extra cool. And you can get rad ones with leds.
COOL=FASTER=less heat=less frying of parts.
Brands-i suggest thermaltake as my favourite, but NZXT, lian lian, coolmaster etc etc. make great cases.
psu(powersupply)-You can opt for a case with a psu or without it doesn't matter, but youll have to get one if it doesnt, adn you can often get better quality if it doesnt come with a power supply.
Psu- If you have an SLi board i suggest 500, 550, or even 600 watt psu's. Anything lower, things will screw up. I highly suggest Antec as a brand. In my opinion they make the BEST psu's.
Harddrvies: i assume you want like 200gb's. Get Westerndigital, Maxtor, Seagate, or Hitachi. THe westerndigital raptor and caviar are great models and the hitachi deskstar is good too. In SATA or ATA150 formats and make sure it operates at 7200rpm and has 8mbs of cahce.
RAM: Like i said above get ddr400( pc3200) dual channeled. Good brands are kingston, corsair(my fav.), crucial, ocz, pqi(spelling?), etc. etc.
You can opt for any comibnation you think you want.
Timings: ram have CasLatency timings, put short, lower=better in most cases.
cas latencys of 2 are typically the best you can get for ddr400(pc3200), but 2.5 are decent as well. An example of a cas latency timing that is superb is: 2-2-2-5T. That has a cas latency of 2.
Cd-roms: get any dual layer dvd writer 16times +/-
Overclocking: This terms refers to the speeding up of processors, or other parts to speeds that are higher than stock. Typically it invloves chaging bios or speed mulitpliers settings of the computer and having VERY good cooling. Not something you should be doing, until you have doen alot of research and are willingly to replace your ocmputer if it frys. But if you arent overclocking or "ocing" lots of fans and heatsinks to cool the computer doesn't hurt.
Cooling-you will want extra fans. There are many liquid cooling kits, but those are out of the question for you. They can destroy your computer if assembled wrong. And are for overclockers mainly. Heatsinks are great. They are usually metal and decipate heat away for the part. I highly suggest some of these for your ram. "ram heatsinks". Some brands have them built in already. There are video card heatsinks, but most people consider this unnessicary if the video card has a fan(most do). There are also cpu heatsinks combined with fans. These just combine the best of both worlds to keep you processor running extra cool. When compared fans look at there cfm i think it is and rpm. And also consider if you want quiet fans so you don't make a racket of noise. Often they will have noise ratings, but i have never taken these into condieration.
If you have any more questions about parts i will answer them happily. Also when installing your computer, go to a local computer shop to buy something small liek a cd-drive and ask lots of questions (not futureshop, but little ones that are hardcore). I also suggest buying a book about installation. And google anything you don't understand. AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS!!!
