PC questions

[Wabbit]

I hope this is the right place to ask...

I need a new PC so I'm going to build my own. I've never built a PC before.

I know about Tomshardware.com and NewEgg.

Can anyone recommend a good website (or sites) for asking questions about hardward/software and other general questions a newb might have while building a PC the first time?

Hardware recommendations would be very welcome. While I'm not currently gaming, I'd still like to build a gaming rig.

Does anyone here run a system that has more than one video card?

Also, I know there's a big debate on it but, NVIDIA or AMD? Do you have a preference and what made you decide to go with the particular video card you chose?

Thanks in advance for any help and I apologize if I have this in the wrong forum.

[SoM]

wow you`re still alive

this is the site btw, you can try techreport.com or hardocp.com

just buy the parts you`d want, it`s that simple

[Wabbit]

Yep, still alive and kickin'

To be honest, I'm not even sure which parts I should pick first. I'm assuming it's video card, motherboard.

I have a book on it and the parts list they have is:

Case
CPU/Motherboard (fastest processor available; PCI and PCI-Express slots)
RAM - 4GB
At least one SATA drive, 500 GB min
Optical drive (optional but needed if you want to use Blu-ray)
For video card they have PCI-Express 3-D adapter, 512 MB min of Vid memory; nvidia or ati chipset
Sound card
Monitor (going to keep my current monitor)
Ports

I'm hoping a few of you guys will have some recommendations on hardware and why you like what you have.

[SoM]

just buy the latest, greatest, if it don`t work return it

[obsidian]

Most motherboards come with decent sound cards so you shouldn't need to buy one. The normal list of stuff is as follows:

Case
Power supply
CPU
Motherboard
RAM
Video card
Hard drive/Solid state drive
Optical drive

Some other stuff that may/may not be packaged with stuff above:
Fans
Thermal compound
CPU heat sink
SATA cables


What parts you get really depends on how much you are willing to spend in total. Work out a rough budget and we can probably work out a good list of parts for you.

There are a number of build threads in T&T and you can search for a few to get an idea. Here's mine from 2 years ago (can't believe it's 2 years now - still bloody fast).

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=39781

[U4EA]

Optical drive

How far do you reckon we are from being able to get rid of this? With the advent of Steam and the continuing move to streaming/downloading content, pretty much the only thing you need it for at the moment is getting the OS on.

I was recently mucking around with Ubuntu on a spare laptop and evidently you can do the OS install off a USB key. Is that possible with Windows 7 yet?

[obsidian]

Sure you can, but you'll still need a computer with an optical drive to create it (though while you're at it, you might as well slipstream all the service packs into it as well).

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/howtos ... _a_usb_key

My optical drive isn't seeing much use these days, I have a few DVD movies I watch and some software/games that still need an optical. I haven't bought a new one in ages, trusty old NEC drive keeps getting recycled into new systems. BluRay on a computer is probably more hassle than it's worth (see Foo's experience in link below):

http://www.quake3world.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43026


In other news, I just bought an SSD drive and it's amazingly fast! Woooooo!

[U4EA]

Sure you can, but you'll still need a computer with an optical drive to create it (though while you're at it, you might as well slipstream all the service packs into it as well).

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/howtos ... _a_usb_key

Thanks, I read the article, but as far as I can tell, you should be able to do the following from a mounted ISO, correct?

"Insert the Windows 7 install DVD into your drive, and view the files that it contains. Copy all of the files here to a folder on your Desktop."

That's the only place I can see you'd need the disc.

My optical drive isn't seeing much use these days, I have a few DVD movies I watch and some software/games that still need an optical. I haven't bought a new one in ages, trusty old NEC drive keeps getting recycled into new systems. BluRay on a computer is probably more hassle than it's worth

Exactly, and fully agreed on the BluRay point. My current optical drive is recycled and I'll be able to recycle it into the next PC as well. In fact, the reason I brought this up was I used my optical drive over the weekend to check out if my Deus Ex CD still worked. Then I found out I could just add my key to Steam and download it from there. Then it hit me that this was the first time I'd used it since last installing the OS.

In other news, I just bought an SSD drive and it's amazingly fast! Woooooo!

SSD is one of my most eagerly anticipated upgrades for the next PC

PS: SSD drive = solid state drive drive

[obsidian]

And just where exactly do you intend to get a Windows 7 ISO from? You still have to make one by putting your legally purchased Windows 7 DVD into your optical drive.

[U4EA]

MSDN? o_O

[Wabbit]

Thanks for all the replies!

I've bookmarked the website links and I've been reading through the threads in T&T.

Obsidian, I'd like to keep the total price under $1,500 if possible.

[SoM]

Wab, you can get a kickass PC for under $800 and that`s canadian, with all the latest stuff.

[Peenyuh]

Optical drive

How far do you reckon we are from being able to get rid of this? With the advent of Steam and the continuing move to streaming/downloading content, pretty much the only thing you need it for at the moment is getting the OS on.

I was recently mucking around with Ubuntu on a spare laptop and evidently you can do the OS install off a USB key. Is that possible with Windows 7 yet?

I use my OD all the time, mostly to make photo discs for family and friends. Discs seem to be a bit safer long term storage than USB's as well. What I don't understand, though, is why some new comps still com with floppy drives.

[AmIdYfReAk]

Wab, you can get a kickass PC for under $800 and that`s canadian, with all the latest stuff.

i guess it really depends on what your definition of latest stuff is.

it cost me around that for my CPU, ram and motherboard.

[SoM]

sorry i didn`t mention it but was refering to AMD

i got a 3.2GHz with 4DDR3 on asus with a 1.5TB drive for 700 and that was over a year ago

[obsidian]

Basic suggestions, tweak as necessary:

Code: Select all

Case (hot pink)				100
Corsair TX650 V2 PSU			 75
Intel Core i7-2600K			340
Asus P8P67 Pro				190
16GB (4x4) DDR3-1333 RAM	160
nVidia GeForce GTX570 1GB	300
120GB OCZ Vertex 2			170
1TB HDD 7200RPM			 70
Optical Drive				 25

Total:					1430

This leaves a bit of room for other stuff like fans and cables. Canadian listed prices.

Also, don't buy a case with an included PSU in the same box, it'll be shit.

[AmIdYfReAk]

Hey, You could always go with something like this:
[lvlshot]http://img863.imageshack.us/img863/5967/img0056wh.jpg[/lvlshot]

[obsidian]

...if that's what you can afford.

[VolumetricSteve]

I sincerely hope that machine is used exclusively to play MDK 2.

[AmIdYfReAk]

doesn't it suck to know the machine pictured will never play a game other then say Facebook games?

it pained me a little to find that out =]

[Deathshroud]

One of the big hardware sites recently had an article on how triple SLI setups scale, and it seemed like a waste of money. Apparently, 2 cards makes the best gains.

[VolumetricSteve]

It's cool and all that people can do multi-gpu scaling....in their homes..., but for the cost, the power use...on top of its intended purpose, it'd really serve you better to get one (big one if you must) and then swap it out for a more modern one when you actually need to.

[SoM]

i wonder if he's also paying for hydro (electricity), especially running it 24/7 i wanna see the bill

but still i'm sure most of us here would like that setup.

[AmIdYfReAk]

The computer belongs to a local doctor, He runs it at a local hospital and they use it to render soft tissue.

the program and etc that they use supports Cuda offloading, with that setup they are extremely close to doing real time full rendering.

Its prob going to be the only time i'll ever touch a EGA Classified motherboard, To bad its not the 2XCPU one.