Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: Building a PC from scratch - Advice needed please.

  1. #1
    Forum Member Mike R.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Princeton NJ, USA
    Posts
    7

    Building a PC from scratch - Advice needed please.

    OK - I have decided to build my new computer from scratch. Much cheaper, more features and I can get EXACTLY what I want.

    Here is what I have listed so far:

    Processor- $80 AMD Athlon XP 1700 (clockspeed of 1.47) **Might go faster, but not sure if I need to**

    Motherboard - $80 Soyo K7TVA Pro Socket A 300 w power supply
    - supports up to 1.8 gb processor
    - 6 USB ports ( 4 in back 2 in front)
    - up to 2 GB of RAM

    Hard Drive - $ 83.00 Maxtor 40 GB OR $65 Maxtor 20.4 GB **Might get two 40G HD's**

    Memory - $55 540MB PC 133 SDRAM (easily increased, I believe the motherboard can hold up to 2.0GB of memory)

    Case - $40 ATV mid tower case 6 large (CD, DVD) bays and 2 floppy

    Video Card - $70 GeForce 2 AGP Video Card (mid-top of the line)

    DVD Rom - $60 16x DVD Rom. If just CD wanted, $40

    Audio card - $150.00 ST Audio DSP24 value sound card with digital add on.

    Now, I want to make this computer recording friendly, maybe some games too but Im not really into that. What would you guys change or add to make it so? Also, what would you change or add to increase its power or speed or functionality?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks,

    Mike R.

  2. #2
    Forum Member Black Bear's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    172
    Understand that I come from a geoprocessing and statistical software stand point, but here's my 2 cents...

    Honestly, if it were me I'd bump up my processor and hard drive at least two notches higher than I think I'd actually need. it's relatively cheap to go big now and not replace nearly as soon later.

    Twin hard drives are a great feature. I'd make the secondary at least the same size as the primary, two 40 G drives would be a great route. That way you can run programs from the primary drive and use the secondary for mass storage. Since you're wanting a recording friendly system, that'd be a good way to go.
    Jason
    The Bear Guy

  3. #3
    Forum Member Cdayhoff's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Boise, Idaho
    Posts
    29
    I've got a 60gig HD now in my HP.....Do you guys realize on long it takes to Virus scan...Defraq that big HD ?? You won't believe it!! MY computer is a 900mhz with 256 ram so it's not that slow
    I'm a program downloader and checker outer:)..I check out all the programs that sound interesting...and I've never got above 12gig's used...
    Do you really need 2- 40's ??
    WWJD?

  4. #4
    Forum Member Black Bear's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    172
    Originally posted by Cdayhoff
    Do you really need 2- 40's ??
    I do. But like I said I come from a geoprocessing, statistics, and wildlife habitat modeling standpoint. I have one GIS project alone for a very small study area that's over 12 Gig in size. I consistently crash a top of the line DELL Xeon machine because I have to ask it too much. A single habitat variable coverage for me is often in excess of 500 M. DVD RW's excite me purely from a data storage standpoint.

    I do alot of this stuff at home now so yeah, I need the space and the processing power.

    I don't have alot of experience with computer recording, but I'd assume that the fasster the processor and the more the dedicated storage space, the better.

    Ain't it amazing how wildlife researchers are huge computer nerds!
    Jason
    The Bear Guy

  5. #5
    Forum Member Homer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    101
    my advice: forget about buying SDRAM, get a Mobo that accepts DDR memory and go for that.
    "If you wind up with a boring, miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on TV telling you how to do your shit, then YOU DESERVE IT."

    - Frank Zappa -

  6. #6
    Forum Member Mike R.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Princeton NJ, USA
    Posts
    7
    Originally posted by Homer
    my advice: forget about buying SDRAM, get a Mobo that accepts DDR memory and go for that.

    Homer,
    What is DDR memory?

    I am researching the components online as well before I make any decisions.
    Thanks,

    Mike R.

  7. #7
    Forum Member stonetone's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    s.centralpa.
    Posts
    304
    i did the same thing about six months ago, went to a computer show and bought all components separately and assembled them at home with the help of techie friend who used to put them together for a living. without him, i'd have been lost.

    the machine came together quick. —_it's surprisingly easy, screws and plug-in connections only.

    i too got the athlon xp 1700, a 40gig hard drive, ATI 32meg DDR video card (double data rate, equivilent to or faster than a standard 64med card) DVD-rom drive and a 16x CD-burner, intel 56k modem, don't remember the make of motherboard though. i use the soundcard on the motherboard, which works well for my uses.

    the only problems i had came when trying to install all the software and drivers. i did that on my own and it was a real pain in the ass, but it was also my first experience working with the guts of windows. i inquired about the specs required for recording music and was told "get a mac for that." seriously, i'd want a huge (at least 80gig) hard drive, 512 ram and the fastest processor you can buy, plus a top of line sound card. it can be done, apparently, but it was the difference between the $600 i spent on the machine i have or another $400 or so for all the recording extras.

    it's a fast, stable, first-rate game machine now. but it took a while to tweak all the software and drivers.

    watch out for those computer show vendors. my first video card (also an ATI) was defective and i went nuts on the assumption that it was an incompatible driver. get receipts, mailing addresses and phone numbers. i went to return mine, found only an email address on the receipt... SOL...
    "Wait, it's a trap. Get an axe."

  8. #8
    Forum Member Homer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    101
    DDR stands for Double Data Rate. These memory chips are practically twice as fast as SDR (Single Data Rate). It activates output on both the rising and falling edge of the system clock rather than on just the rising edge, potentially doubling output.

    This would be the perfect match for any modern AMD system, as AMD uses the DDR technique in the bus protocol for the Athlon family; you might have heard that the modern AMD's have a 266MHz front side bus instead of 133MHz.
    "If you wind up with a boring, miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on TV telling you how to do your shit, then YOU DESERVE IT."

    - Frank Zappa -

  9. #9
    Forum Member Homer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    101
    oh one other thing... depending on if you want to play modern computer games or not, your gfx card might be a little underpowered. OTOH for a business machine, internet terminal or maybe a recording platform, the Geforce 2 is fine.
    "If you wind up with a boring, miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on TV telling you how to do your shit, then YOU DESERVE IT."

    - Frank Zappa -

  10. #10
    Forum Member Marcondo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    way over yonder by the methane sea
    Posts
    4,409
    Definatly go for the DRR memory and a fast AMD chip.

    I build computer systems for people and you can actually buy a system completly built and assembled with windows xp forway less than the parts themselves cost.

    Here would be a bare min system 1.3 gig AMD chip MB with 266 FSB 256megs ddr memory 40 gig harddrive Geforce 2 video card with 64 megs mem.

    Harddrives are cheap the difference in a 40 gig and 80 gig might only be 15-20$ so buy the biggest harddrive you can afford.

  11. #11
    Forum Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Posts
    23
    Mike,
    I just did something similar. Athlon 1.8, 256 DDR, 40mg IBM. Soundblaster live5.1, etc.
    Went to pricewatch.com and followed some links, ended up getting the whole system assembled for $600.
    Depends how much time and effort you want to put into it yourself. I liked the idea of it coming already assembled, and half the price of what I would've had to pay at circuit city, the wiz, etc.


    Here's a link to the place I actually got it from.

    http://www.antaresnow.com

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •