Yo guys an gals! ive come to decide i want to build my own comp, dug out ym old PC Zone mags and searched thru the old archives. I wrote to them once in reply to a dell xps system if you read it back in issue 153, basically, they said: get athlon 64 4000+, A8N-SLI mother, 1GB crucial ddr pc3200, XFX GeForce 6800gt 256MB. It sounded good when i researched it, and beacause its been 6 mneths it was alot cheaper. Well, it sounded good until the last bit 256MB. Wait a min, isnt that ure RAM or summet??? the thing that u need 512MB of it to play BF2, is it?? please help me?? any suggestions? btw, i could also do with some help on what else i need to build a PC, i am what they call a noob.

that 256mb is the ram dedicated to the video card, the system itself has 1gb and crucial is a pretty good brand for quick ram.

ah thnx, what about other stuff i need to buy.... i can only think of case, speakers, DVD drive, electric cable... anything else i need?

Well obviously you need a powersupply to power everything

erm... will a plug do?? lol, do i need some cables or summet to go inside.... ribbon cables i think, what bout them?? btw the link to the motherboard is http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?partno=2909&source=pr i cant tell wither i need to buy cables seperate or what???

To build a computer you will need the following:

Memory
Hard Drive
IDE Cables
Power Supply
Prosessor
Prosessor Fan
Case Fans
Video Card
Sound Card
Mother Board
Computer Case
CD-Rom
Floppy Drive
Mouse, keyboard, screen, ect.

quote:

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Originally posted by Methos2
erm... will a plug do?? lol, do i need some cables or summet to go inside.... ribbon cables i think, what bout them?? btw the link to the motherboard is http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?partno=2909&source=pr i cant tell wither i need to buy cables seperate or what???

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quote:

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Originally posted by .Norma
For good power supplies at cheap prices, may I suggest tigerdirect.com

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Oh, and you will also be needing case fans to cool the computer. If your computer doesnt get cooled correctly, you will have just waste several hundred dollars

And seriously, if you dont know what you are doing, ask someone who does to guide you threw putting the parts and stuff together. It is really easy to mess up a brand new computer in the building proccess. You might try asking the old .blade, I beleive he ordered parts and built computers and then sent the computer to you for a cheap price.

your motherboard has built in sound, so you won't necessarily need a sound card (unless you want uber awesome sound).

i'd suggest getting a Serial ATA harddrive, what size you want depends on what you want to use it for. i'd say about 200GB? they are the cheapest for their size from what i can tell. (note: if you want to install windows XP onto a SATA harddrive then you have to install the drives for it manually because Windows XP doesnt detect them by default. more info on how to do this here

really what you get depends on what you want to do with it.

well... my dad said he'd guide me through the building process but syas ive got to figure out the parts myself... hmm.... ok, so the folowing list is what ive got so far and the links the the pages::

• Processor: AMD ATHLON 64 4000+ http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?partno=0823&source=pr
  
• Motherboard: ASUS SOCKET 939 A8N-SLI PREMIUM SOUND/LAN HT http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?partno=2909&source=pr
  
• RAM:
  Crucial 1GB DDR PC3200 RAM http://www.more4computers.com/Product.do?productI...rom=product&page=2
  
• Graphics Card: XFX GeForce 6800GT
  http://www.wisemouse.com/Catalogue/catProductForm...?idProduct=1014239
  
• Case: THERMALTAKE CASE SHARK VA7000BWA (BLACK)
  http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=1455
  
• Speakers: GENIUS SPEAKERS 2.1
  http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=22
  
• DVD-ROM: BTC 16x IDE DVD BDV316G
  http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=2504
  
• DVD-RW: ASUS DVD±RW DUAL LAYER 16x6x16x8
  http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=2108
  
• Keyboard: GENIUS KEYBOARD LUXEMATE SCROLL PS2
  http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=1540
  
• Mouse: GENIUS MOUSE NETSCROLL+MINI BLACK
  http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=556
  
• Windows version (duh)
  
• Monitor: LG LCD MONITOR 17IN
  http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=2361
  
• Cable: SERIAL ATA 46CM CABLE
  http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=2534
  
• Harddrive: SEAGATE HARD DRIVE SERIAL 200GB
  http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=470

• PSU: ENERMAX EG495AX-VE 24P 485W ACTIVE PFC PSU
  http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=1615

wait a min... i just noticed something, on my HDD its says the interface is SATA, which is compatable with my motherboard. BUT my DVD drives (ROM and RW) say they are IDE. This is worrying me becasue im not too sure if SATA HDD/motherboards are compatible with the IDE DVD drives, anyone know what i can do? a friend said something about being able to do it but having to do it in bios or something but he hasnt done it before, does anyone know if you can do this or has done it themseleves maybe??

You will need fans in the case to cool the computer..

fans sorted, one front one rear, processor fan, first two built in, im sorted now except for the SATA and IDE thing thnx

all dvd/cd drives are currently ide*, sata is only used for hdds. and yes, if your motherboard was built after 1990 you will be able to use ide drives

* or scsi, i meant all common ones.

ah thnx mate, i can get on with buildin now (was wonderin why i couldnt find any SATA dvd drives, loool), Thanx for all the help guys an gals!!!!

Remember to post pics! and benchmarks!

i've always wondered.. are there programs that do the benchmarks and stuff for you? where do these 'benchmarks' come from... im not sure im making sense here...

You use a benchmarking program, it will run tests, and then give you scores and an overall score.

Most are free downloads, with the option of a paid version with more tests and premium support.

Futuremark (previously MadOnion.com) has the 3DMark and PCMark ranges of products, along with numerous other benchmarking tools.

SiSoftware has the Sandra benchmarking suite. It has tests (modules (icons)) for almost everything in your computer. It also has heaps of diagnostics tools. Be warned of the extremely disorganised website, but the program is really good.

and the file sizes are HUGE!! lol i think ill be right... my computer does what i need it to do, i dont need to know how well it does it lol

okies, will do, but im short of cash atm so first on the adgeda is my mums credit card and a job, il post pics asap, im gettin the case an motherboard close to x-mas, after that it shoudl be quick to build after that, thanx for all the help guys an gals!!

okies, aint posted a help thing in this thread for ages, (still lookin for a job to actually get the money to build the comp, hehe) but when scoping around and trying to convince my mum to let me borrow her credit card i noticed that the case and motherboard are ATX yet the PSU is ATX 2.0, ill post the links so ya can ave a gander your selves but im confused now....
case:: http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=1455
motherboard:: http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?partno=2909&source=pr
PSU:: http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=1615

Pleeeeaaaase help me!

I'm pretty sure the only significant difference is that ATX 2.0 has an extra 12V four-pin connector, so you shouldn't have any problems.
Last year I thought I'd upgrade dad's Duron so I picked up everything else but a case. I soon found out that I needed the new PSU too.

ive posted a seperate thread for it and the guy says they arent compatible::

quote:

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originally posted by DragonX
Nope they won't work together - the difference between them (the psu) is the power rating and output. Just be sure that yur mobo is rated ATX 2.0 too.

    quote:The most significant difference between ATX v1.3 and ATX v2.0 involves the splitting of the +12V rail.  ATX v2.0 requires that in cases where the current requirement for +12V exceeds 18A, a second +12V rail must be included.

U can read more here

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It will work (fit). There is no such thing as an ATX 2.0 case. ATX 2.0 (for PSUs) was invented to better serve more power hungry components in your PC.

In ATX 2.0 there must be two 12 V rails. To explain a rail; demands by something on the PSU will only affect devices on the same rail, those on the other 12 V rail, or one of the lower voltage rails will be completely unaffected (unless the PSU catches fire ).

I could buy an ATX 2.0 PSU and switch it for my ATX PSU in my computer right now, no worries.

Get some logitech 5500's for the speakers they own.

okies, thanks guys an gals!!