Newbie Looking To Learn And Build

[Wartung]

Hi guys,

I'm kind of new to the IT world. I've always played games and whatnot but since computers really took off I kind of lost track of things. Since then I've owned laptops as well. I sort of knew about the reliability problems, though I'd buy them anyways. Now I see that I should have just been putting my money into PC's all along as my latest 'gaming laptop' is crapping out. Gaming laptop is kind of an oxymoron, isn't it? I didn't really realize that even though I had enough friends tell me on several occasions to forget about a laptop.

So, now I'm going to build a PC, well, I'll probably build more than one. Two or three at least. My boss, the other day, gave me his old tower and it still has a few pieces in it. I'll probably only use the tower and the power supply from it, those are pretty standard, right? I'm thinking of just buying some cheap parts and putting something quick together so I have a backup when the notebook craps out. Then, slowly acquire some parts and build something worthwhile.

I see people coming on here and saying hey I need this for this much and someone comes on and says buy this this and this, and they buy it. I'd love for you guys to just tell me what I should buy, but I want to know about what I'm buying and understand what makes it good and what I'm looking for. Then, I want to get it for real cheap, like, wait around on the internet for weeks and when some crazy motherboard goes on sale somewhere, some great deal, get it then. Wait for some wicked deal, get all your parts on sale. This is my kind of plan. I have no idea if I will succeed (though I got a power supply and a tower for free so I'm already doing pretty good), though I will be working on this project for the foreseeable future.

I don't really know what anyone is going to say to that, or what I'm really asking for. Maybe it's where I can find good deals on the internet? Good companies vs cheaper companies? Right now, if I wanted to spend 100-150 for a motherboard, possibly cheaper, is there any wicked deals or if I wait around is it possible to find gems?

 

[BK_123]

So first we need to establish what is the computer going to be used for gaming, photo/video editing etc, What is your budget?

 

[Wartung]

So first we need to establish what is the computer going to be used for gaming, photo/video editing etc, What is your budget?

Okay, as for what this will be used for. As it stands, I have two laptops, one of which is completely non functional, and the other which is on the brink. Basically, right now I am trying to rig together something so I will have a backup for when the second laptop falls.

As I said, I am new to computers so more than anything I'm just tryimg to experiment a bit. I have acquired an old box from someone and it had a power supply. So I found out the different towers you have, I know I have an atx mid and my next project will involve an atx full.

Today, I went online on kijiji and I found myself some cheap parts all in all I paid sixty five and I got a motherboard I'm not sure what it is exactly. I'm pretty sure it's some kind of intel pentium four. Pretty sure there is 2Gb of ram. It's not much, obviously, but it's just a first project for me. Bought a hard drive from another guy, 20Gb, he gave me a whole bunch of scews.

My next project though, the real project where I will build my dream machine. The kinds of computers all of you gurus have, no doubt. That will be something completely different from this little test flight I've got goin here now. I was looking at that Thor V2 or whatever the name is the other day. That looks like a good way for me to start to start. I'm thinkin some motherboard with like 8 or 16 Gbs of ram but I don't know how much I will initially put down on say my graphics card for example. I may buy a cheaper one of each of my parts and just upgrade them over time, ie buy a 100 dollar graphics card and savefor a few months to get the 250 dollar one.

But anyway, right now, like I said I've got the first tower pretty much set up. I'll need a screen, keyboard etc. and will also be trying to get the two laptops going. With the two laptops of course I've got my two windows keys, one for vista and the other for 7. This one I have now my plan is to use windows xp, someone told me to make sure and use service pack two and not three.

Anyways, what I really want to do now is find out what good brands are like of motherboards and cards. What kind of motherboard is good for playing games? What's a good graphics card? My old laptop has a 1.5 Gb Geforce of some sort. How is a 1.5? Should I probably have a 3 nowadays? I sometimes play all different kinds of games, really old and new. My computer doesn't need to be on the cutting edge playing anything on max setting though I would hope that if I turn my graphics in my game down I'll be able to handle it.

On this current project, that I have pictures of (I don't know if I can post them using my phone but I messed up my laptop while messing with it and now it doesn't work), I've spent sixty five dollars total and by the end of it after my screen and that I'll have spent 80-90 and I'll have my first Pc. Then I'll probably be looking for a good case, one with good ventilation that won't overheat. So, I'm open to some suggestions if anyone would like to tell me what kinds of motherboards they like/use. One of my friends said I should be the motherboard and the cpu separately. I don't know, hopefully this website can help me make some informed decisions. Thank you all for reading my thread, I'll go ahead and try tk post those pictures, if I can't I'll have to borrow someone's computer and upload them.

Thanks

 

[ja6on]

with motherboards it really comes down to the chipset of the motherboard and the cpu you put in it. first thing you have to decide is which way you want to go.

Intel or Amd, and there is always an argument over which is better for what. the two cpus your probably going to be looking at are the Intel 4th gen I5 codenamed "haswell" Newegg Clicky

And the Amd piledriver fx-8350 Newegg Clicky

Just a heads up, Amd cpus are always unlocked, meaning you can overclock them, with Intel you have to buy the "k" version if you want to overclock it.

Check out lots of reviews etc to see which cpu will suit your needs best.

Then you can look at the motherboards.

 

[ja6on]

With motherboards, always look at the specs and speeds of ports and bus etc and dont go spending hundreds on a board that has features your not going to need.

the main chipset to go with the 4th gen Intel cpus are the z87 or h87 mobo with socket size 1150.

And for AMD the sockets are always the same size but most up to date to work with the piledrivers is the AM3+ and then there are 4 main chipsets to choose from 760g, 970, 990x and 990fx. but you'd want to be only looking at 990x and 990fx really, again look at products tests and reviews etc.