Hello everyone,

I once tried to build a pc on my own and one of the components ended up being defective out of the box, but I had no way to find out which one was bad since I was replacing a dead computer, so my build turned into a nightmare. It was really time consuming and discouraging.

I would like to build a new gaming machine for around $1000, but I'm scared to try it again, so I'm considering some kind of premade option. Now I priced Dell and the other big companies (HP, Gateway) and they are all way over priced and their customization sucks. I considered Cyberpowerpc.com but have seen some bad things said about them on these forums, and even their own.

So where does that leave me? Do you guys know a small internet shop that does quality work when building their machines, or is that something that is not possible to find?

Can you give me any advice on building a new machine? Have things changed a bit? Not sure how they could, but I'm hoping for some encouragement I guess.

Yours truly,
Noob

I wouldn't be scared to build your own PC. It's almost fail-proof, everything is normally labeled nicely, and if you go by the recommendations on previous posts on what parts to buy you should be good. I will say if you haven't built a PC before, or aren't savvy, I would post exactly what you intend on buying here in the forums BEFORE you actually buy it. Do you have any idea on what CPU? Video Card? or Motherboard? Intel/AMD?

Well I've been browsing these forums for the past few days trying to learn from other peoples builds and the only things I have set in stone pretty much is my CPU choice. The purpose of this comp is to be a gaming machine, and I'd like to spend around $1,000. I can spend a bit more if it'll be a substantial gain but $1k is my goal.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0

Seems a lot of people like this CPU on these forums and from my understanding it's all I'll really need for a good gaming CPU. Then again I have no idea if AMD will be a better choice for me, but I would like a system that doesn't run that loud and need's that many fans. Not sure if that's a problem for AMD anymore but I think I remember that being the case a long time ago when I tried building.

I have no idea what motherboard or video card I'm going to need. I'm clueless about motherboards, and I keep hearing about the 9800 or 8800 series cards being good but I have no idea which would be the best choice for the buck. I have a 20" Widescreen desktop which I run at 1680x1050.

Only other thing's I'm settled on is:

Antec 900 Case and I want 4g of RAM, I will also settle for Onboard sound.

Thanks for your time!

Ok here's some help:

The E8400 is great. The Antec 900 is great as well. I have both and love them.

If you want only one video card, get the P35/P45 motherboard. Depending on your budget, you should probably get a 4850 (ATI) or a 4870 (ATI). They have proven to be the best bang for your buck.

If you want more than one video card, or think you may want to run more than one video card in the future, the X38/X48 are great choices.

Make sure your motherboard is DDR2 for now - it's cheap for the 4GB that you want.

I would recommend the Western Digital 640 GB hard drive - great price and performance.

For RAM - go with brands you can trust: Crucial, Corsair, Muskin, OCZ, etc.

Don't worry about building. It's not bad at all. I find it quite enjoyable to put computers together.


Good luck. Post your potential components and we'll help you out.

+1 ^what huron says,though there is a new 640GB 2-platter Seagate with 32MB cache that might be better than the WD

I've had good luck with G.Skill RAM for budget builds if you want to save some $$$

Do you also need OS, mouse, keyboard, DVD drive?

Good point. If you need an OS, I have avoided Vista, but know some people are OK with it. I would get a 64 bit version - you can get Home Premium x64 for $80-90 at www.directdeals.com (or check them on Ebay).

Thanks for the info about the Seagate drive - that's probably a good choice too.

I think I am going to go with this vid card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102760

I would like the option to add a second card down the line if I want a boost in a year or two, which Mobo would you recommend for this?

I also want a PSU that will be able to support a second card down the line. Can you guys recommend one?

Rwpritchet: Yes I'll need a cd/dvd drive. Preferably a R/W drive for burning cd's. I don't plan on burning dvd's and I dont burn cd's often, usually for saving loads of pictures.

That video card is a good choice.

Check out the offerings in the X38/X48 category to add a video card in the future at full bandwidth/speed (just go to power search and check those boxes).

A good PSU company is PC Power and Cooling - you'll probably need to go with the 610w or the 750w for the ability to crossfire in the future.

Most of the CD/DVD drives are very much the same - you should be able to get them for $25-30 and can even get lightscribe on them as well.

OK, list time:

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $110

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail $170

SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $180

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Retail $110 ($90 after MIR)
-or-
PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Continuous @ 40°C EPS12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, cUL, CE, CB, TUV - Retail $110 ($80 after MIR)

GIGABYTE GA-EP45C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $150

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK - Retail $80

Seagate ST3640323AS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $85

SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q/BEBN - OEM $30

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM $110

That comes to $1025 before S&H, but also before mail-in rebates ($20-30). You can also shop around for better deals, drop to a crossfire capable P35 board, or go with a non-crossfire P45 board to stay within the $1000 budget.

Thanks a lot Rwpritchet.

Will I need some kind of cable or wiring kits to get everything all set up?

I'm also not sure what heatsink or psu cooling setup to go with.

No wiring kits necessary, you'll probably have EXTRA by the end The cpu he linked is the "retail" which mean it includes a CPU heatsink/fan. I would go with a PSU that is atleast $60+ dollars. Make sure you have two "12V" rails, and that both add up past say 26A. Look at the specs and read some reviews, the more you look into it, the more it will all make sense! have fun!

EDIT: that list looks good!

Woohoo.. the Antec 900 dropped another $10 today... going for $100 now on newegg. Plus, they have it bundled with a bunch of PSU combo's that can save you $30 to $70.

There's a combo with the Antec 900 plus Antec 850W PSU for $199.98 ($40 off).

OP: if you are going to run stock, the retail heatsink and fan are fine.

Does the PCU come with the heatsink/fan already attached, or do I need to order that thermal paste and put it together myself? If I decide to OC down the line, can I just replace my PCU cooler for something better?

Is there anything else I should know before I go ahead and try to make this happen? Any tips or hints?

Thanks again to everyone who took time out to help me with this!

The "CPU" heatsink/fan will not come attached, you will need to buy a tube of Arctic Silver 5 (put about a rice grain size and spread evenly with your finger, I would also clean the surface of the processor with rubbing alcohol, pour onto the rag, not directly on the CPU ) Yes, you can easily replace your HSF (heatsink/fan) after the fact. You should be good to go, checklist:

1. Mobo
2. CPU (HSF included)
3. Video Card
4. RAM
5. Power Supply
6. Case
7. Keyboard/mouse/monitor
8. Thermal paste.
9. CD-ROM/DVD-ROM
10. HardDrive

The only difficult part IMO is installing the CPU/Thermal Grease/HSF. It is actually pretty easy and strait forward. Install your CPU, apply thermal grease, and then install your HSF. Make sure to flip the toggle switch on your PSU from "off" to "on" before trying the power button. Other than that, everything should be labeled nicely, and if you need any help, there is always the forums again, good luck, have fun!

The heatsink installation is the only tricky step. The stock heatsink will come with thermal paste on it, but you should purchase some arctic silver 5 as w153r suggests because application is a one-time deal... if you mess it up the first time you will need to clean off all the paste and start again. Plus, arctic silver is much better than the stock thermal paste so it might be better to remove the stock paste from the beginning.

Go to youtube and watch a few videos to get the idea of how it's done. Here's some videos to get you started:

Intel LGA 775 install movie
#85 - Question/Answer: Applying Thermal Compound
"How To" #4 - Applying Arctic Silver 5 to your CPU