Building 2 computers, Would love some help

Glassball

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3
I'm looking into several computer components to custom build two different systems and I would really appreciate some opinions and insightful feedback.

The first computer is going to be more on the expensive side, but I'm looking for the best bang for your buck. I'll be running software such as Maya, 3D Studio Max, and Soft Image (fairly heavy software). Also, I plan on running multiple software applications at one time. I will be working a lot with audio applications and audio editing as well, but I'm fairly knowledgeable when it comes to sound cards. I plan on transfering video from video cameras and saving it onto my computer. I also need a DVD writer/reader and a CD writer/reader separate, but that's not too important. What is important that I'm not too knowledgeable on is the CPU, the motherboard, and the RAM.

1. CPU - I'm thinking of going with Intel because I've read that they're better with multitasking (which is better for me? I don't know). Can you reccomend any models that might be suitable for me? And why would you reccomend it? I'm all ears.

2. Motherboard - I'm clueless when it comes to motherboards. I've tried researching and reading but now I need the opinions of more intellectual people. I'm not sure what to tell you to (or if I've already told you) in order for you to know which would be an appropriate motherboard. What would you reccomend is the best bang for your buck, and why?

3. RAM - Basically, I've decided that 2GB is probably the way to go. I'm just not sure if I should go for DDR, DDR2, EEC, or any other out there. I'm thinking I may need the EEC, but I'm not sure. I would be greatful if anyone is able to link me to a reasonable model. :)

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The second computer is going to be low budget. Basically, the types of software that will be run on it will be Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, Windows Moviemaker, nothing heavy. There wont be any audio editing or anything like that on here. No transfering video from camcorder to pc. No games. The budget is $500-$750 (no higher). That's including monitor, router, video and sound card, motherboard, RAM, CPU, and harddrive.

CPU - I'm thinking AMD Athalon, I just have no clue which model would be the best bang for your buck

Motherboard - No clue here, any "must-buys" or "must-not-buys"?

RAM - I'm thinking just 512MB of RAM. Also, like I wrote above, I don't know if I need DDR, DDR2 etc.

Thank you so much in advanced to those of you with the patience to read this post and to help a guy in need. :)

EDIT: Also, a side question. When RAM says for example 1GB DDR, that's really a 512MB chip running like a 1GB?
 
comp 1:

core2duo E6600
asus P5b-sli motherboard
you will ned ddr2 ram
if you arn't playing games then you would want a video card like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133179 (pricey, but worth if for 3ds max, and amya, and stuff like that)
if you are playing games, then you should go with an 8600 (when them come out in a month or so)

computer 2:
AMD SEMPRON 3000+
MOBO - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138041
DDR2 RAM

and no, 1gb DDR isn't a 512 chip running like 1 gb. it just describes the speed of data transfer (ddr100, ddr133, ddr400, ddr2 533, ddr2800, ect)
 
For the low budget system, I would also suggest the Athlon 64 with 1GB RAM is recommended. You don't have to have a flashy motherboard and all that junk.

For high end system, get a Core 2 Duo CPU and at least 2GB of DDR2 RAM. Motherboard, there are some expensive ones but I really don't feel it's necessary to get a high priced board. There are some nice ones in the lower $100 range such as:

GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128017
 
Intel core 2 duo E6600
asus P5b
2gb of ddr2 (800mhz preferably) And it would be a very good idea to get the ram from a well known brand, like kingston, corsair, mushkin or ocz. There are a few more good brands, just can't think of any others right now.
 
Thanks for the prompt replies. If you guys don't mind, I'd also like to know why you have suggested such components. And the DDR and DDR2 stuff still has me confused.
 
For HDDs I would suggest Seagate. It kills me to watch people sink a ton of money into CPUs and ram, motherboards and video cards...and then go out and buy a cheap ass Western Digital hard drive...lol.

I've ran Seagate HDDs for years. Put 'em through hell and back again, and I've only had one fail me, and that was after months of unnessesary torture. It gave me three years of dedicated service prior to that. I've dropped them, kicked them into the wall (accidentely people), and ran them into the friggin' ground. And I'm still running those same drives today. These things are simply amazing. Seagate also offers a decent warranty, though I've only had to use it once. I broke a data pin on the IDE of one of my 160 gig server drives. Believe it or not it still ran like a champ. But I wanted it fixed properly and offered Seagate full charge for the job. The drive was far past its warranty. Seagate fixed it up and charged me the shipping and handling fee to send it back to me. Their an amazing company.

Maxtor is another great brand. Although Maxtor is now a division of the Seagate line. Hitachi are...ok, but their expensive as hell!

I've owned two Western Digital in my life. Thats two of the worst mistakes I've ever made. One ran under a year and then failed after I installed another OS onto it. I had no idea that an operating system could destroy a hard drive...lol. The other failed after two months of normal use. The thing just quit working! Both drives were purchased new. I sent the latter back because it was still under warranty. That was years ago. I'm still waiting on them to replace my hard drive.

Of course, these are only the opinions and experiences of one person.

Hope all this helps



Matt
 
Glassball said:
Thanks for the prompt replies. If you guys don't mind, I'd also like to know why you have suggested such components. And the DDR and DDR2 stuff still has me confused.

well the E6600 is a damn good processor, and it's pretty cheap too. Probably the best price/performance ratio available. And as for the mobo, I've always been happy with my asus mobos and my friend has the p5b and from what I've heard it working great. And the ram, ddr2 is a newer version of ddr. No reason to get ddr, ddr2 is better and it's not too expensive. And also I don't think the core 2 duo supports ddr ram, has to be ddr2.
 
PC1:

Motherboard: ASUS P5B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131030
$123

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo FSB 1066 2.4GHZ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115003
$308

RAM: G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDRII-800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231112
$340

GPU: Nvidia Geforce 8800GTS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130071
$390 Recommended
OR: ATI FireGL V7350 1GB 512-bit GDDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195005
$1480

Hard Drive: Maxtor Maxline Pro 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144016
$135

DVD Burner: LiteOn 20X DVD Burner with Lightscribe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106045
$39

Case: Foxconn with 550W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811153084
$136

The total cost without taxes and shipping is set to two prices:
With ATI FireGL: $2600
With 8800GTS: $1510

PC2:

Motherboard: Intel BOXD945GNTL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121291
$96

CPU: Intel Pentium D 915 2.8GHZ FSB 800 2x2MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116253
$88

RAM: Wintec DDRII-667 1GB (2x512MB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161676
$62

GPU: ATI Radeon X1300PRO 256MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102681
$120

Hard Drive: Maxtor Maxline Pro 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144016
$135

DVD Burner: LiteOn 20X DVD Burner with Lightscribe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106045
$39

Case:Broadway Comp. With 450W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811162032
$33

The total price without taxes is set to: $573
 
ISOwner said:
For the low budget system, I would also suggest the Athlon 64 with 1GB RAM is recommended. You don't have to have a flashy motherboard and all that junk.

For high end system, get a Core 2 Duo CPU and at least 2GB of DDR2 RAM. Motherboard, there are some expensive ones but I really don't feel it's necessary to get a high priced board. There are some nice ones in the lower $100 range such as:

GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128017

The Athlon 64 prices have been slashed tremendously and they're pretty cheap now for the kind of performance they give out making it a so-called high performance CPU on a budget. More cache, higher bus speeds than the traditional budget CPU. As for RAM, you can technically get by with 512MB with no problems. It just seems like the more you multitask, the more RAM is needed in my experience (especially when new software are so demanding on system resources these days--and the fact that you're dealing with a lot of multimedia files such as MP3's, pictures, videos, etc). Plus, youu're running some big software too. I'm lookng forward to upgrading to 2GB myself.

That motherboard is a very nice price for the feature is carries. It's a new model and suport the latest and greatest for your Core 2 Duo CPU. Gigabyte is a very reputable brand too so there are no questioning their product.
 
lhuser said:
PC1:

Motherboard: ASUS P5B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131030
$123

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo FSB 1066 2.4GHZ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115003
$308

RAM: G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDRII-800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231112
$340

GPU: Nvidia Geforce 8800GTS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130071
$390 Recommended
OR: ATI FireGL V7350 1GB 512-bit GDDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195005
$1480

Hard Drive: Maxtor Maxline Pro 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144016
$135

DVD Burner: LiteOn 20X DVD Burner with Lightscribe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106045
$39

Case: Foxconn with 550W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811153084
$136

The total cost without taxes and shipping is set to two prices:
With ATI FireGL: $2600
With 8800GTS: $1510

PC2:

Motherboard: Intel BOXD945GNTL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121291
$96

CPU: Intel Pentium D 915 2.8GHZ FSB 800 2x2MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116253
$88

RAM: Wintec DDRII-667 1GB (2x512MB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161676
$62

GPU: ATI Radeon X1300PRO 256MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102681
$120

Hard Drive: Maxtor Maxline Pro 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144016
$135

DVD Burner: LiteOn 20X DVD Burner with Lightscribe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106045
$39

Case:Broadway Comp. With 450W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811162032
$33

The total price without taxes is set to: $573

I see. Hmm, why should I get the Intel Core 2 Duo FSB 1066 2.4GHZ and is this all the speed I'll need? I'm willing to pay a little more if I need it.

Also, is 4GB of RAM really a neccessity? And why do you reccommend the Nvidia Geforce 8800GTS?

As for the video card for the cheaper PC. I'm planning on going cheap here, like under $50.

The hard drives are just what I was looking for, thanks!
 
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