n00b building my own PC

[SweetDreamz]

Don't get that PSU. That PSU is made by the same company that makes crappy PSUs, Powermax.

What's your budget? And what 3d app are you using? Most people here would recommend a Geforce series card.

[rokxal]

Most of process of building a pc is actualy spent on researching the components and asking others for opinions on a particular setup. Basic composonents of a computer include a mobo (motherboard), processor(s), power supply, graphics card, sound cards or built in nowadays, hd, ram, and the other peripherals.

Processors: AMD dual-core K8 Athlon 64 processor is the way to go for pure gamming speed. Read http://www.a1-electronics.net/AMD_Section/CPUs/2005/AMD_Athlon64x2_Apr.shtml for details and comparison. Price for most athlon processors from 3200 to 4200+ range from $160 to $500. Keep in mind that intel processors are tailing amd right now and most softwards haven't been optimized to take advatage of 64bit.

Mobo: Find one that supports dual core. If your graphics card is pci-e, get one with one of those slots. Mobos are faily cheap imo and cost around 150 to 300. Lookinto nforce3 and 939 motherboards.

Graphics Cards: I'm a nVidia fan and the new 7800 just blew ati away IMO. Its a bit pricey right now $(400-500) but its worth every penny if you can shell out enough flak. Otherwise, stick with the 6800s. Buy the extended versions from BFG since most of their products offer lifetime waurantee and come oc out of the box.

Sound: Most mobos come with built in sound so don't waste money on this.

HD: 120 gigs is quite common these days. $100-120 maybe

RAM: This is really mobo dependent. DDR2 ram is very common for high end systems and is very pricey. $100 a pop for 512 mb

Final notes: Its a terrible time to buy/make pcs since amd and intel are murdering each other in new tech. I'd say wait a year to see who the victor is and go from there.

[ReaperXVIII]

I would like to keep under $1,000. I can't necessarily afford to get the new nVidia card, though I would love to have one. I decided to go with an ATI card on the recommendations of others. I'll wait for a few more opinions.

The power supply was recommended to me by someone else, and I like it because you only plug in the cords that you need, and with the round cords it makes for a very clean system with good airflow. Is there a better brand of power supply with this same type of functionality?

I have 3ds max right now, and I soon hope to get Maya in the near future.

Edit: I have been looking at this mobo...tell me what you think.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131540

Edit edit:

I've noticed that the mobo I selected has a 24 pin power connector. Is this a good PSU?

http://www.xoxide.com/ocz-modstream-450w-modular-psu.html

[Sephiros9883]

PSUs are one of the most neglected and yet most important part a a PC, just like memory. 90% of crashes/blue screens/reboots are due to bad PSU and/or memory.

The OCZ is a good one, yet maybe not the most silent... but certainly is of good quality.

the mobo is good, from what i heard.

CPU, the athlon 3800 X2 is like a must. Excellent for gaming, it will be like dual opterons for rendiering. a complete must and yet affodrable.

Graphic card: X800XL is one of the best options for the moment. you can get a 6800GT too for future SLI upgrade

as RAM goes, the timing issues are over rated. Take some OCZ value or Kingston or Curcrial, Corsair....and take 2gig, helps a lot on heavy renders :)

hope it helps!

[MadMax]

Asus A8N SLI Premium. 172.00 Chipset is heatpipe cooled. Tons of positive responses on Newegg about this board. I have a couple and they are great.

OCZ 2gb PC3200 Platinum, roughly 250.00 give or take.

Antec truepower II 550w PS. 110.00

Video card... Ditch ATI. It isn't a card for graphics work. You can get a decent 6800GT for around 250.00

What you want is a socket 939 board, (like listed above) with the nForce4 chipset. It is flat out the standard for AMD based systems.

CPU's is a toss up. If you want to budget a bit, go for the 3800 X2 dual core. it's around 400.00 and you can overclock them to around 2.7ghz fairly easily.

And while there isn't a lot of 64 bit software out there, that argument is irrelevant. It doesn't stop you from using all the technological advancements of the 64 bit CPU's like SSE2/3, integrated memory controller, the increased bandwidth, the faster speeds, etc.

[SweetDreamz]

The power supply was recommended to me by someone else, and I like it because you only plug in the cords that you need, and with the round cords it makes for a very clean system with good airflow. Is there a better brand of power supply with this same type of functionality?


Antec Neopower 480, I have one myself and it's way quieter than the Ultra and it's modular.


If you're gonna be using Maya in the future, go with the nVidia card.

[ReaperXVIII]

Thank you so much for your help. After searching for a bit on Price Grabber and taking the advice, this is what I have come up with. I think it may be still a bit more than I want to spend (well, I would like to spend a whole lot more, but I can't afford it), but I think it would be around what I want. I have all the other components that aren't listed here, as I'm going to take them out of the PC I'm using now. Please tell me what you think. You guys have been a great help already.

Mobo: ASUS A8N-SLI Premium ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131540

Case: Aspire X-Navigator Aluminum Computer Case - Black/Silver
http://www.xoxide.com/aspire-x-navigator-black.html

PSU: OCZ ModStream 450 Watt Modular Power Supply
http://www.atacom.com/program/atacom.cgi?KEYWORDS=POWS_OCZT_O5_21&USER_ID=www&SEARCH=SEARCH_ALL

CPU: AMD ATHLON 64 X2 3800+ DUAL CORE
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?SCriteria=BA21810

Graphics Card: PNY Verto GeForce 6800 GT AGP 8X 256MB DDR3 Video Card
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322987&affiliate=pricegrabber

RAM: CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440

I'm wondering whether I should go with the 1gb sticks for the RAM, but this way would probably be cheaper, unless I'm overlooking something. 2gb of RAM would do me fine for right now. As for the brand for the graphics card, I really don't have much knowledge about these things. I am going by the rating on Price Grabber. Anyways if I could get some critiques on this setup I would really appreciate it. Thanks a lot.:)

[MadMax]

Not bad, but you are going to be real upset when you find out that video card won't work in your system.

A8N is a PCI-E board, no AGP. You might try this one......

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122207

[ReaperXVIII]

^You are a lifesaver. I made sure the ATI card I had picked out was pci-e, but I forgot to check the second one. This one is cheaper too. Thanks a bunch. :)

[ya3]

Please, do yourself a favour and get a low-noise Antec case:
http://pccasegear.com/prod2549.htm

Along with an Antec TruePower or Phantom silent PSU.

Enjoy :)

[imashination]

I decided to go with an ATI card on the recommendations of others. I'll wait for a few more opinions.

Which others? Nobody here would ever recommend an ATI card.

[rebo]

Why are people saying dual cores are excellent for gaming , I dont think a single game is available now or planned that takes advantage of the second core.

Ofcourse dual cores ARE excellent for DCC, but to say they are good for gaming due to their two cores is just well plain wrong.

If you are on a strict budget, 3000 or 3200 Venice with 6600GT based graphics ( thats kinda slow by today standards though). A bit more cash 3800 X2 (Entry level Dual core) + 6800GT. And if you got quite a bit more cash a 4200 X2 + 7800GTX sounds good. All the above are built on a 939 board. However these components will be less than half the cost of your upgrades, you still need to conssider monitors+harddisks+memory etc.

[ReaperXVIII]

Which others? Nobody here would ever recommend an ATI card.

By others I meant other people that I know and others at my school. This is why I came here though. I figured you guys would know what you're talking about.


If you are on a strict budget, 3000 or 3200 Venice with 6600GT based graphics ( thats kinda slow by today standards though). A bit more cash 3800 X2 (Entry level Dual core) + 6800GT. And if you got quite a bit more cash a 4200 X2 + 7800GTX sounds good. All the above are built on a 939 board. However these components will be less than half the cost of your upgrades, you still need to conssider monitors+harddisks+memory etc.


I don't need to worry about anything other than what I have listed because I am going to gut my old PC. The 3800 X2 + 6800GT sounds good.


Please, do yourself a favour and get a low-noise Antec case:
http://pccasegear.com/prod2549.htm

Along with an Antec TruePower or Phantom silent PSU.

Enjoy :)


The noise really doesn't bother me. In the apartment I'm staying at now the air conditioning is so loud when it comes on it will drown out my computer anyways. I'll have a look though. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

[deathman20]

Which others? Nobody here would ever recommend an ATI card.

I've had a great time with my ATI card and I do recommend them to others over nVidia cards. But my recommendations are more aimed at gaming rather then professional 3D work. I tend to do more gaming then working inside 3D Max so I still recommend an ATI card. If your using Maya or doing lots of 3D Modeling I'd recommend an nVidia card. Its all about what the person feels comfortable with or what company they like more then the next.

Why are people saying dual cores are excellent for gaming , I dont think a single game is available now or planned that takes advantage of the second core.

True no games out yet are taking advantage of it. But Unreal 3 engine takes advatage of dual cores, yet its not out yet and won't be til mid 2006 to early 2007. There are a few games in the future that will be taking advantage of it mainly offloading physics/sound onto a secondary CPU and leave the rest on the primary. There is a few lined up, and im sure we'll be seeing more when the next gen consoles come out soon too, since they will be really firing up the multi-cpu gaming arena.

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