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nodice1996
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22 Jul 2008, 1:09 pm

I am building a computer, and before i order my parts I need to know if ive missed anything, I have found

processor
RAM
optical drive
floppy drive
case
processor fan
power supply
Hard Disk
Graphics
motherboard
case fan

and i have peripherals and a monitor and the motherboard has built in sound


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Cormac_doyle
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22 Jul 2008, 1:24 pm

Case, Power Supply & Case Fan
Monitor
Drives (Hard Disk and/or Solid-state "disk", Optical Drives) - "Floppy" drive should not be used; "Tape" drives are generally unnecessary.

Motherboard/mainboard (may include - Sound card, network card, graphics card & cooling fan, cpu & cooling fan, Hard Drive/RAID Controller)
Memory

if not integrated on motherboard/mainboard ...
Sound Card
Network Card
Graphics Card
CPU

Additional/replacement Cooling fans/cooling systems for the following components may be desired to reduce noise and/or enable overclocking
Memory, CPU, GPU (Graphics Card), Northbridge/Southbridge (Motherboard chipset), Hard disk, multiple case fans

Printers, scanners and other peripherals will generally connect via USB or Firewire - ensure that the motherboard can take the correct connectors or you may nbeed to buy an expansion card to them.



n4mwd
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22 Jul 2008, 3:10 pm

Just remember that all that stuff has to work together. You need the right RAM for the MB. You need the right kind of cards and the right case/power supply. You need the right CPU.

I used to build from scratch, but its a lot easier and cheaper to just buy a barebones system and upgrade from there.

Here is a link to a site that has custom bare bones. http://www.ibexpc.com/ib50basy.html
There are many other sites out there as well and you can google them. You can get AMD cheaper, but I've had problems with those so I only deal with Intel now. The bad part about ordering a case online is that they'll hit you with about $50 shipping, so figure that into it.



nodice1996
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22 Jul 2008, 4:29 pm

i made sure everyrhing is compatable


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22 Jul 2008, 6:06 pm

If the Motherboard does not have a Network adaptor built in, you will need a network card, same with the sound controller. Floppy drives are somewhat redundant these days, I would suggest getting a DVD-R/ RW that supports dual layer DVD's , or perhaps Blue Ray disks as your optical drive. Also, try to get a Motherboard that has as much expansion capabilities as you can afford.


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Fuzzy
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22 Jul 2008, 8:06 pm

1. Choose the best CPU you can afford.

2. From this, find a motherboard that is compatible. Make sure it handles the best graphics card you can afford. PCI-e is good, AGP is obsolete.

3. Using the stats of the motherboard, select the fastest memory you can. If the motherboard supports 4 sticks, then get four sticks instead of two larger ones.

4. If the motherboard does not support SATA or SATAII, then select a different one.

5. Choose LAN and sound cards if the motherboard does not include them. Its not very easy finding a motherboard that doesnt include these

5. Select hard drive(s) and DVD from SATA capable lists. IDE/PATA is obsolete. Get drives rated at 7200 RPM or faster. and 52x for the optical drives

6. Select the processor fan based on suggestion from the retailer. Opt to pay more for a quieter fan. You may wish to go with liquid cooling. If so, see below.

7. Choose a case based on personal aesthetics. Make sure the case does NOT include a power supply(or waste the money). It will likely be underpowered. Some cases come with liquid cooling built in. If the case comes with no fans that is ok. Bigger fans are better. 120 millimeter fans are way quieter than 80 millimeter

8. Add up the power requirements for all devices

    measured in watts
  • CPU/motherboard - 150
  • Graphics card 100
  • Drive/optical drive 30 each
  • memory sticks 10 each
  • fans 5 each
  • built in LED case lighting - 5 unless its cold cathode

    optional stuf
  • sound card - 30 at least
  • lan card 20
  • liquid cooling system - 100


Select a power supply that exceeds this total by at least 10%.

The requirements of the keyboard and mouse are sunk into the motherboard, as are the sound card and lan for the most part. Even if you are not a gamer, you will find that a dedicated graphics card will give you far superior performance. With a lot of integrated graphics cards, the graphics steals some of the system ram. Dedicated cards have their own.

I'm somewhat iffy on the power requirements of the separate sound and Lan cards, but those are ok working numbers.


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n4mwd
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22 Jul 2008, 8:25 pm

The only thing I would add is that when adding mechanical items (such as a CD/DVD), go with the cheapest one that will do what you want. For whatever reason, CD/DVD drives only seem to go a few years and then they die. It doesn't make any difference if you used them once a year or once an hour. I've removed good drives from a system, shelved it, then a few years later put it back into a system only to find that it no longer works. I've had the same thing happen with hard drives.

As was mentioned above, tape drives are a waste of money. While they do store a lot of data, the mechanism itself is unreliable and most companies that sell them are even more unreliable. At a company I worked for, we religiously backed up our stuff to a central tape server. Then one day, something happened and we needed to restore from the tape. The tape drive picked that moment to die. We called the manufacturer. They said that they don't make, support or repair that drive any more. So sorry. Fortunately we were able to find another drive second hand and restore the data. Never again will I make the mistake of using tape for a backup. They are proprietary and the technology is highly volatile.



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22 Jul 2008, 9:13 pm

Though a bit dated, it doesn't hurt to still have a floppy drive. (These days, you can get a new one for about $5.)

As a Linux user, I need a floppy drive to install BIOS updates (because the motherboard manufacturer won't bother to port their "BIOS flasher program" (for lack of a better term) to Linux. :x ) Though if you're installing M$ Windoze on your computer, I guess theres really no need to bother.


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Pobodys_Nerfect
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23 Jul 2008, 3:04 am

Hmm, sounds like everything.
You got the CPU heatsink ?



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23 Jul 2008, 6:03 am

Consider investing less money into your CPU and more into a graphics card, even if you don't intend on gaming or doing intensive graphics work. The newest graphics cards are being designed to offload processor work from the CPU and this will be further facilitated by the recent DirectX 11 release.

Get an Intel Core 2 Duo processor from the 8xxx series. Currently they're the best bang for buck processor and are miles ahead of any AMD processor in processing power and power efficiency. The E8400 is the best value processor in this series. Note that if you get one of these you need to make sure you get a motherboard that can support the 45nm Intel Core 2 Duos, older motherboards support only the 65nm ones.

Stick to a platter-based hard drive for now. SSDs are all the rage at the moment but they're overly expensive and have a more limited lifespan, at least until the newer Japanese developed SSDs are released commercially.



nodice1996
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23 Jul 2008, 12:35 pm

motherboard does all that and i prefer amd because im on a small budget for a gaming coputer, and i want the floppy drive for transfering word files and source code


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nodice1996
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23 Jul 2008, 12:39 pm

Pobodys_Nerfect wrote:
Hmm, sounds like everything.
You got the CPU heatsink ?

it and the cpu fan are sodered together


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Kiski
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23 Jul 2008, 7:47 pm

nodice1996 wrote:
and i want the floppy drive for transfering word files and source code


Well, in that case, a floppy drive would be unnecessary. A flash drive would be a much better alternative.


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nodice1996
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23 Jul 2008, 8:34 pm

i have some old computers that dont support usb


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Fuzzy
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23 Jul 2008, 11:59 pm

You have the option of moving those hard drives to the new computer for a much more efficient transfer of files? Or the machines are still in use?


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Cormac_doyle
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24 Jul 2008, 7:39 am

nodice1996 wrote:
and i want the floppy drive for transfering word files and source code


Most word files will be too large to fit on a 1.4MB floppy.

Shit-can it