----------------------------------- recneps Mon Mar 29, 2004 3:35 pm Building computers ----------------------------------- I have a question, is it really hard to build a computer? i mean is it hard to learn, and so i mean could i build a computer from components i buy with no knowledge of this. (i would learn a bit of course ;)) ----------------------------------- Tony Mon Mar 29, 2004 4:24 pm ----------------------------------- yes, lol :lol: If the component fits - that's the place it has to go... I'm serious, building a computer is equivalent to solving a jigsaw puzzle with as many pieces as there're computer parts. ----------------------------------- Dan Mon Mar 29, 2004 5:25 pm ----------------------------------- yep tony is right, it is a pice of cake if u are not making the componts and just buying them. hard thing may be making shure they work together. ----------------------------------- Tony Mon Mar 29, 2004 5:42 pm ----------------------------------- well it mostly depends on the motherboard... such as your harddrive will have no effect on your video card :wink: so just ask some tech guy at the store if w/e component fits with the motherboard of your choice. They would give you a blank stare, wonder wtf you're talking about and say "yes" :lol: ----------------------------------- poly Mon Mar 29, 2004 5:49 pm ----------------------------------- Computers are very simple to build, inless you make it hard.... Maybe you could give us an idea on your budget and what this computer is gonna be doing and we could head you in the right direction (parts wise)... ----------------------------------- recneps Mon Mar 29, 2004 7:37 pm ----------------------------------- well i dont have the money yet (sent resume into McDonald's! :lol: :D) Anyways, yeah what i meant was is it hard to get compatible stuff, like am i gonna start it up and its like "Error" lol. Im going for something that is good for games, as well as programming, all that good stuff, so its gota have at least 512 ram and hd doesnt matter, and p4 processor, cdwriter (for the whole 5 times i use it ;)) and thats about it, oh and good vid/sound card. my budget (im hoping is under $1000) (in other words i dont want top of the line stuff like a $500 vid card lol) ----------------------------------- wtd Mon Mar 29, 2004 9:23 pm ----------------------------------- For the budget-minded consumer building their own computer, I'd recommend a Athlon-based system. Athlon64 would be nice, but 32-bit processors will remain mainstream for a long while, at least on the Windows side of things. When it comes to the motherboard, look for something with Serial ATA connectors as well as regular IDE connectors. The latter will support older hard drives and optical drives, but the Serial ATA capacity will let you use the hard drives and optical drives that are going to be quite popular in the next year. On video cards, I think anything with 64MB or more of memory is going to be sufficient for most gaming. I'd suggest trying to secure a smaller, older hard drive to serve as a disk for your operating system, and use a larger disk to store applications and documents. ----------------------------------- poly Mon Mar 29, 2004 9:28 pm ----------------------------------- I agree with what wtd had to say. I would go AMD Athlon system (not the 64bit cause thats a bit pricey). But seeing as you are going to have to save up the money and its going to take some time, parts will come down in price.... ----------------------------------- shorthair Mon Mar 29, 2004 9:52 pm ----------------------------------- just remeber when buying your parts and building the pc " you only go as fast as your slowest component " The problem with most computers seed is that one device ca ngo fas but the processor is slow ,so say the video card is real fast and you have a 300 Mhz Processor , the video card has to wait for hte processor to finish the last job before it does the new one ,so the video card is always waiting , never running at its potential So think about Your hardwares potential and gettign the most out of all of it ----------------------------------- Martin Mon Mar 29, 2004 10:09 pm ----------------------------------- Ordering the components isn't too bad...design your rig, post the stuff here and i'm sure there are people who can give you the thumbs up or down (like myself for example.) As for putting it together, it's pretty straightforward...except putting a motherboard in is kinda scary. I built my computer from parts...it took about half an hour, half of which was putting in the mobo. You have to put it on these risers, so it doesn't touch the case...and the whole part feels like it's going to break in half in your hands while you do it. Other than that...pretty straightforward. The ram goes in the ram slot, the video card goes in the AGP slot and so on. You have to do a bit of connecting for the disc drives, but that's pretty easy. Also don't work on carpet and make sure you're grounded. ----------------------------------- jonos Mon Mar 29, 2004 10:12 pm ----------------------------------- maybe practice on an old computer, thats why i do. i bought a really old computer for 10 bucks that i have been taking apart and building for a long time and it is good practice for my good computer. make sure the ram goes in the right way, or you will fry it and that is not good :/ ----------------------------------- poly Mon Mar 29, 2004 10:32 pm ----------------------------------- I bought a computer... i mostly learnt from just figuring stuff out when i went to upgrade it, and reading helps.... I think the best thing you can do is ask at forums, tons of people, with tons of experience and we(including everybody even with just the slightest info on pc's) can tell ya how to do something and there will be numerous ways ----------------------------------- PaddyLong Mon Mar 29, 2004 10:57 pm ----------------------------------- go for athlon 2500+ barton and like asus asv600 ... throw in a bit of ram (like 512 ddr 2700 or some thing) ----------------------------------- poly Mon Mar 29, 2004 11:09 pm ----------------------------------- go for athlon 2500+ barton and like asus asv600 ... throw in a bit of ram (like 512 ddr 2700 or some thing) depending on when youll have this money saved up this would be a good idea....If you got the money saved up near the middle of the summer, hold off intil school starts again because ATI, AMD and other companies usually release there new toys during the end of the summer which means prices go down for the other stuff and youll be able to get a bit better things ----------------------------------- recneps Tue Mar 30, 2004 3:37 pm ----------------------------------- k, ill keep all that in mind, and is working in the crawlspace or basement a good idea (concrete floor, little dust, constant temp?) ----------------------------------- PaddyLong Tue Mar 30, 2004 8:33 pm ----------------------------------- I think it's more like october when asus, ati and amd do a big release (probably is one in summer too though).... I remember I built this comp (t-bird 1.4, asus a7a266 and ati radeon 64mb ddr) in like the first week on september, then like a month, month and a half later my friend builds pretty much the same comp, but with the new stuff (athlon xp, asus a7v266 and radeon 7500) ----------------------------------- recneps Thu Apr 01, 2004 3:47 pm ----------------------------------- Ok, i was looking at some parts at FutureShop.ca 1) is that a good place to get parts? 2)am i understand right that this is a case + Motherboard? http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10032729&catid=10481&atab=4&spviewed=&logon=&langid=EN&dept=18&WLBS=fsweb16 Thanks. :D ----------------------------------- poly Thu Apr 01, 2004 6:58 pm ----------------------------------- 1) I wouldnt recommend buying from futureshop...Everything is overpriced and most of there staff aren't looking to help you get the most efficient computer for your needs, they just want you to keep buying better PC. Check out these online sites: http://canadacomputers.com and http://ncix.com. Both are excellant sites, Ive bought off both and there great, cheap prices too... 2) Yes its a motherboard and Case ----------------------------------- PaddyLong Thu Apr 01, 2004 8:50 pm ----------------------------------- oemexpress.com if there's one near you dealsdirect.ca ----------------------------------- recneps Fri Apr 02, 2004 5:30 pm ----------------------------------- i want to buy the parts from a store if possible, and theres a futureshop in my town, and i dont think theres anywhere else that sells the parts :/ ----------------------------------- poly Sat Apr 03, 2004 1:24 pm ----------------------------------- i want to buy the parts from a store if possible, and theres a futureshop in my town, and i dont think theres anywhere else that sells the parts :/ Canada Computers is a store, there just outside of brampton i think, check out there locations on there site. I would not recommend buying from Futureshop, there stuff are overpriced, why pay more when there is a store/online site that has it for less ----------------------------------- recneps Sun Apr 04, 2004 10:17 am ----------------------------------- Ok, Canada Computers is too far from my house :( So ive decided, start easy and simple. Im gonna upgrade the ram on this comp. But how do I know its compatible? And what its max is? (this comp isnt even made near me its a big brand) so i cant really ask someone. Its 3 years old.... if anyone knows where they can get info on my comp its the emachines 633irx (the stuff is no longer on their website, it used to be like 2 years ago ;D) ----------------------------------- recneps Sun Apr 04, 2004 3:59 pm ----------------------------------- Ok, disregard the last post. I never thought a big computer company would give such detailed manuals (i found the PDF manual on my comp in "C:\Manual\" Who'd a thunk it eh? lol) It even shows in like 5 steps with pics and everything how to replace processor, add / remove ram, even open/close the case! Lol anyways, heres what it says about ram. (attached pic) ----------------------------------- recneps Mon Apr 05, 2004 2:40 pm ----------------------------------- BIG QUESTION!: Is ram autmatically detected at startup? Or do i need to run the setup prog? And no ones reading this anymore, dont even know why im asking. :( ----------------------------------- Dan Mon Apr 05, 2004 3:42 pm ----------------------------------- i bivle if the mother borad and biso is set up right it should decteted it aucamiclu. at least it did when i was messing with my comps, i dont know atone about this stuff so i could be wrong. ----------------------------------- naoki Mon Apr 05, 2004 4:01 pm ----------------------------------- Tiger Direct has a warehouse in Toronto, I think off of Highway 5 They sell pretty good stuff, and you can ask dodge when he comes back about his system that he bought there. Free shipping is a bonus for all :lol: ----------------------------------- PaddyLong Mon Apr 05, 2004 4:28 pm ----------------------------------- yeah man.. you should tell us what cities or whatever you live close to so we can help you find a store nearer to you ram is detected automatically on computers newer than like 10 (dunno exactly how long ago) years ----------------------------------- recneps Wed Apr 07, 2004 2:46 pm ----------------------------------- Ok, Oshawa is largest city next to me, but pickering is only like 20(?) minutes down the 401 :) And heres what im getting (on sale PLUS $20 mail in rebate :D AND its a good brand :D) http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&dept=0&WLBS=fsweb11&sku_id=0665000FS10006748&catid=&newdeptid=18 Hopefully my mom will take me to FS when she gets home from work :D