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having my son build a computer for me


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#1
Ah Choo

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i am having my son a computer tech build a computer for me. I really know very little about computers so its hard for me to give any input other then it has to be fast!!! (i am a hardcore gamer) i dont really have a clue where to start my first question is what is better agp or pci e?
best motherboards? best processors? i would like to play high end games do i have to have liquid cooling or will fans work?
not sure if my son really understands i also want to be able to upgrade later and that i want it bug free so im not spending alot of time fixing instead of playing i am trying to keep my price kinda low. He does get discounts etc on parts
quad core? is it still buggy? do i really need it?
i feel really dumb trying to talk about computers since all i really do with mine is play, play, play, oh did i mention i like to play?
thank you for taking time to read and reply
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#2
rev_olie

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Hi
There isn't really any strict guidelines as to what is the best out of motherboards of processors but i prefer. I'm not sure I'm afraid about motherboards their just something you need to decide on at the time so are you going with the best RAM with I'm guessing you are so you need something compatible with DDR2 ram at least. Also you need to make sure it is compatible with all types of hard drive SATA probably.
I prefer Intel as they seem to work much better than AMD but its up to your budget.

You said you want to keep away from high prices so stay well away from water cooling. Its expensive for the piping etc and also you need to it be completely water tight because any water on you components and its bye bye to your new machine so if you use plenty of fans then that will be good. I use this case if you can get your hands on it:

http://www.maplin.co...=...184&doy=9m6

Keeps everything cool but you will need to get other fan for the CPU (Central processing unit)

Quad core will be excellent if you can get one of the newer chips. The older ones you are right were buggy but as of say a month ago they have been fine and ti will really boost the performance of the machine

As of the most important part the Graphics card. i would go with a Nividea card something around the 8000 series although the newer 9000 series is out now and they are well....very very tasty in terms of high end graphics if you have the screen to go with them...40 inch plasma i think lol

As long as you get nice new components they upgrading will be easy certainly for the next 3-4 years. Just keep looking for new parts on the net i recommend Ebuyer.com cheap and really quick but of you are not sure of some parts then post back with the list and I'm sure we will be able to tell you if they fit.

Here are some parts and web links to help you:

Web help
http://www.pcstats.c...?articleID=1444
http://www.pcbuyerbe...co.uk/Build.htm
http://www.tomshardw...guide-for-water cooling-your-pc,1573.html (heres some info on watercooling just in case)


My PC parts
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/125082 (MOBO)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139967 Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139552 G.C
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/111439 RAM


There are other parts eg power supply and sound card but thats the bare bones hope all this helps

****sorry i missed a bit i dont really find much difference between agp pci-e so il let someone else add input there

Edited by rev_olie, 09 June 2008 - 02:49 PM.

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#3
Samm

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Welcome to G2G

MOTHERBOARD:

- Possibly the most important component of all as it can directly affect the operation of all the other components. Several things to look out for - firstly, stick with a good brand. My personal favourite at the moment for stability & reliability is Asrock. Other good ones are Tyan (excellent but expensive), Abit, MSI, Asus, Gigabyte (usually ok). Avoid Jetway, PC-Chips, ECS.

- Motherboard Chipset. I would recommend probably either Nvidia or ATI chipset, but I can't be any more exact than that as I'm not a gamer. Personally I don't like SIS chipsets but thats just me.

-Upgradeability - check things like the boards cpu support - obviously you need one that supports the cpu you want (I would recommend an AMD cpu of some description) but also check on support for faster / future cpu's.
Number of ram slots - make sure the board has 4 slots.

VIDEO CARD:
- Like I said, I'm not a gamer so I can't recommend specific cards. You will be looking at PCI-E however, if for no other reason that the fact that you can't really buy boards with AGP slots any more (and even if you do find one, don't buy it as they're being rapidly phased out).
You may want to consider SLI support though (this is something the motherboard would need to support). You don't need to run 2 video cards initially but at least you would have the option to add a second card later if you wanted.


I suggest though that before you settle on a specific motherboard and video card, you google each of them to check for any known issues etc, especially in relation the games that you play most frequently.

RAM - Make sure you don't buy generic, stick with decent stuff (e.g Corsair, Crucial, OCZ, Kingston, Samsung). Basically if its good, it should come with a lifetime warranty. Also make sure the FSB matches or exceeds the CPU FSB.

CASE/PSU
Computers get hot when used intensively e.g gaming so make sure the case is large with plenty of places to mount case fans. The PSU is especially important - again, buy a good brand one that has a max power output of at least 480W. Good brands include Hiper, Thermaltake, Silverstone, Tagan, Enermax, Antec, Coolermaster

HARD DRIVE:
I highly recommend Seagate as the brand - they're the only manufacturer I know that offers 5 year warranty as standard on all their internal hard drives.

Hope some of this helps
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#4
sandman01086

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depending on what games you play i would recommend going SLi - crysis and cod4 are games that i would say you should have SLi for. I hear that a 780i chipsets are the best for SLi: http://www.overclock...132-CK-NF78-A1) something along those lines will suit.

as for graphics cards PCI-e is definately what you want to be looking at. I would say 2 of these would play pretty much anything out at great performance: http://www.overclock.......ress) - OEM

but it all depends on your budget

Edited by sandman01086, 09 June 2008 - 05:30 PM.

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#5
Ah Choo

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my son has a TA770 A2+ motherboard is this good? he said i can hook up a quad core and plenty of memory is this true? plenty of room for expansion? remember i am a hardcore gamer and i need fast :)
thank you for your very informative and quick responses
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#6
BravoZulu

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Yes that Biostar AM2+ board is a good one. If you haven't bought any components yet and you're really are a hardcore gamer that's thinking about a quad core in the future I would go with an Intel P35 setup not AMD. A fast Core2Duo or quad is going to outperform an AMD setup. AMD is ok for budget though I have one myself, and yeah I'm also a gamer :)
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#7
Ah Choo

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im soo confused about all the dif companies making all the dif stuff to build a computer with my son is trying to help me but im not sure if he is doing is homework or just wanting to piece something together
so far he says the TA770A2+ motherboard and the AMD Phenom 9850 BLACK EDITION 2.5GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor will work well together and last a long time for me is this a good processor or should i go with something else? he says i have to pick out a graphics card for the system because there are soo many to pick from well to be honest i still dont have a clue what is really good for playing games and that will work with this set up and i would really rather not replace it in 6 months can you please give me some more insight?
you have been very helpfull
i will also be adding 4g ram is there something i should look for when purchasing that?
ive been looking at video cards and i am still very confused i was looking at the The XFX NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800 GTX 512MB but now im looking at the XFX GeForce 8600 GT Video Card - 1GB DDR2, PCI Express, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) DVI, VGA, HDTV the 1g card is almost half the price of the 512 why? is it not as good even though it seems to me is should be a faster card???

Edited by Ah Choo, 26 June 2008 - 01:08 PM.

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#8
Samm

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Hi

The AMD Black Edition is a very fast processor. Whether you actually need one this fast is another matter but the bugs that were present in the early Phenoms have apparently been ironed out. The point of the black edition is that it's the only one which has a unlocked multiplier so it can be overclocked. However, I wouldn't recommended doing this because apart from the fact it would void the warranty, it can also make the system unstable.

The main thing I wanted to alert you to however was this:
The Biostar TA770 A2+ does not support that processor according to Biostar. It supports the Phenom series in general but not the 9850. Or at least, not straight out of the box. It appears that there is a bios update for latest Phenom support available which may provide support for the 9850.
However....
Biostar also state in you may experience a problem when trying to boot that motherboard with one the latest Phenom cpu's before the board has been updated with the latest bios. You need to be able to boot in order to update the bios so this could be a problem! Biostar suggest you install a standard AM2 processor in the board first, update the bios, then replace the cpu with the Phenom cpu.
To make matters worse, when I searched for reviews on this board, I kept coming across people who were warning NOT to install the latest bios because it can cause lots of problems.

You don't seem to have said which OS you plan on installing? XP or Vista?
Be aware that the 32 bit versions of Vista (and XP) don't fully support 4GB or ram. They do in theory but have problems addressing the full 4GB correctly, so it will be limited to 3 - 3.5GB. That said of course, memory is ridiculously cheap at the moment so no harm in having 4GB of it.

Back on the subject of motherboards a minute - seeing as you don't appear to be on a very tight budget, a Biostar motherboard seems like a slightly odd choice. They are ok normally but certainly not my first choice of board (or my second, third or forth choice either...). I know your son said he thought the TA770A2+ was a good board but is that just because it supports quad core AMDs & lots of ram?
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