17 replies to this topic

[karunama]

I've never built a computer before, and to be honest I don't know where to begin, or even what all parts I need to buy. I'm currently using a dell dimension 2400 series, i.e. a total piece of scrap. As far as I understand it, not one single piece of it will be even remotely salvagable for a newer more modern system, and because it's a dell, and they only upgrade a system 'within original specifications' it is impossible to make it worthwhile for what I'm using it for (gaming). Basically, what I'm asking for is: a list of the types of parts I need to get, a good place to get them, (I know a lot of people buy from newegg, but idk if thats the best place to go or not) confirmation as to whether or not any single piece of my current machine is salvagable. I realize I'm asking for quite a bit here, but I really don't know where else to go to get advice. I absolutely refuse to ever ever EVER give dell another penny in my life, as I wouldn't wish my current system on anyone. Trying to play an MMO on it is just painful, and more often than not, if someone decides to gank me, I'll be dead before I've loaded that I'm in combat >_<... Anyhoo, thanks for your time.

[John B..]

Hi and welcome to WhatTheTech,

I am not the system builder you are looking for, others here on the forums probably are, but I just want to comment on a couple of things you said.

a list of the types of parts I need to get

Do you want to keep the monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard of your current computer? In that case:

• Case
• Power supply
• Motherboard
• Memory
• Graphics card
• Sound card (if not on-board or on-board is too bad)
• Network card
• Hard drive(s)
• Optical drive(s)
• Fan(s)

That's about it. Others can give more detailed information, like compatibility of different parts, etc. but this is basically what you need to look for.

confirmation as to whether or not any single piece of my current machine is salvagable.

This depends on the specifications of your current computer and how high-tech you want your next computer to be.

I absolutely refuse to ever ever EVER give dell another penny in my life, as I wouldn't wish my current system on anyone. Trying to play an MMO on it is just painful, and more often than not, if someone decides to gank me, I'll be dead before I've loaded that I'm in combat >_<...

I have a Dell Dimension 4600 and am pretty happy with it. I also play games like MMORPGs and shooters. The only things I upgraded after buying it like five years ago are a new graphics card and an addition of 512 MB (this means doubling). I did this myself/local computer shop.

The thing I do not understand is that you think all Dells are incredibly slow. This is of course not true. If you take a look at their website you will see that they have very good machines. In the right week/month (they have different types of discount, sometimes double RAM for free, sometimes free shipping, etc.) you can get a nice machine for a very reasonable price. Anyway, the choice is still yours, but I recommend that you give Dell (or some other big manufacturer) another chance.

Please tell us both the specifications of your current computer and how you want your next one to be in your next reply. If you do not know the specifications, I suggest you download Belarc Advisor:
http://www.belarc.co...ams/advisor.exe
It can give you a detailed log of your specifications.

Regards,
John.

[tallin]

Hi karunama,

I am also not the system builder you are seeking, however I would strongly advise you not to touch a Dell Computer of any make model or size. I have seen my immediate family buy two (horror horror) of different configurations at the very same time and they have had nothing but trouble with both ever since. They are very computer literate too and are not newbies at this game. Dell's service is appalling, all they want is the money, then if problems occur even under warranty it is a struggle to get any satisfaction. One gets pushed from pillow to post all the time and almost always gives up to land at the local IT shop for help in frustration.

I see on this forum alone the trouble folk are having with their Dell Machines, so many of the posts are problems and<<<<<< bingo>>>>>>> a good percent of the time they own a Dell of some description or other.

If you have a reliable, family IT shop near to you, how about a visit to them, sit down and talk about what you expect of a new computer, take their advice, contribute your wishes and between you, a new machine will take shape that can be custom built for you alone without the bloat of a system off the shelf as it were.

I have done this twice now here when I live, PC and Laptop, hugely happy with both that run only what I want on them without all the superfluous 'stuff' shelf manufactured systems carry. The list John B.. has given you in his post is a good start to take along to the IT shop for discussion.

@John

but I recommend that you give Dell (or some other big manufacturer) another chance.

Not for me - they would not ever get a penny of my money..sorry, and we were really good friends.

Best regards to you both,

[karunama]

First of all, its not that I think all dells are slow, its that trying to upgrade my system from its original specifications is impossible. Their customer service is just terrible, and their policies annoy the piss out of me. Lastly, on my talk on dell, I want to be able to upgrade my system as long as I have it. Proprietary pieces just make that impossible. As far as what I can keep, i do have a monitor, external HD, headset, and input devices. I'm cutting/pasting the advisor thingie. Its kinda long, and if there's an easier way to show you, lemme know (for next time ) Operating System System Model Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600) Dell Computer Corporation Dimension 2400 System Service Tag: 7K2MP51 (support for this PC) Chassis Serial Number: 7K2MP51 Enclosure Type: Space-saving Processor a Main Circuit Board b 2.80 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 8 kilobyte primary memory cache 512 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Dell Computer Corp. 0F5949 A01 Serial Number: ..CN7082148AK0LM. Bus Clock: 533 megahertz BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A05 12/02/2003 Drives Memory Modules c,d 340.06 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity 58.12 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space HL-DT-ST RW/DVD GCC-4481B [CD-ROM drive] QHI UFOLEVS1U3 SCSI CdRom Device [CD-ROM drive] 3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive] Maxtor OneTouch III USB Device [Hard drive] (300.08 GB) -- drive 1 WDC WD400BB-75FJA1 [Hard drive] (40.00 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WCAJA3171094, rev 14.03G14, SMART Status: Healthy 766 Megabytes Installed Memory Slot 'DIMM_1' has 512 MB Slot 'DIMM_2' has 256 MB Local Drive Volumes c: (NTFS on drive 0) 39.99 GB 3.82 GB free g: (NTFS on drive 1) 300.07 GB 54.29 GB free Network Drives None detected Users (mouse over user name for details) Printers local user accounts last logon Owner 12/29/2008 6:43:08 AM (admin) local system accounts Administrator never (admin) Guest never HelpAssistant never SUPPORT_388945a0 never DISABLED Marks a disabled account; LOCKED OUT Marks a locked account HP DeskJet 1120C on LPT1: Controllers Display Standard floppy disk controller Intel® 82801DB Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 24CB Primary IDE Channel [Controller] Secondary IDE Channel [Controller] Intel® 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller [Display adapter] Sony CPD-4401 [Monitor] (18.0"vis, s/n 8002965, June 2000) Bus Adapters Multimedia AVN3TIOD IDE Controller Intel® 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host Controller - 24C2 Intel® 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host Controller - 24C4 Intel® 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host Controller - 24C7 Intel® 82801DB/DBM USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 24CD SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio Communications Other Devices Conexant D850 56K V.9x DFVc Modem Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller Physical Address: 00:0F:1F:58:AB:90 Compact Wireless-G USB Adapter #4 primary Auto IP Address: 192.168.2.3 / 24 Gateway: 192.168.2.1 Dhcp Server: 192.168.2.1 Physical Address: 00:1C:10:65:37:62 Networking Dns Server: 192.168.2.1 USB Human Interface Device (2x) Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard HID-compliant mouse USB Mass Storage Device USB Root Hub (4x) For my new computer, I know that I need a computer thats at least dual core. I'm planning on staying on XP if at all possible(upgrading to pro, probably). Need at least 2gigs ram base. I need a good video card with DDR 3... hmm... I want to be able to play Age of Conan, and to be honest, I want to be able to play any game on the market right now or for the next 2 years without upgrading parts. Again, a fairly big list, I am sure.

[tallin]

Hi,

For my new computer, I know that I need a computer thats at least dual core. I'm planning on staying on XP if at all possible(upgrading to pro, probably). Need at least 2gigs ram base. I need a good video card with DDR 3... hmm... I want to be able to play Age of Conan, and to be honest, I want to be able to play any game on the market right now or for the next 2 years without upgrading parts. Again, a fairly big list, I am sure.

In the above quote, you have the beginnings of a good chat with a family friendly IT shop near to where you live.

OR

At the same IT shop where you most likely would buy parts if you build it yourself the engineer/s will assist you to build on what is in the above quote to get the best performance system required for your personal circumstances.

Try it, it works fine with warranties to boot if you deal locally.

Best regards,

[karunama]

Unfortunately, I don't know of any IT places anywhere around

[tallin]

Unfortunately, I don't know of any IT places anywhere around

I am so enthused with offering you help here, if you don't know a good IT business, do some research in the town/city where you live, ask friends and colleagues for recommendations. I promise you it is the way to go.

Wherever you live, do a google search "IT Business/shop in ???????" research the results, then get recommendations from Teachers, Council, local papers etc. There will be someone of good standing that can assist you with a good word to say about one or the other in your place of residence. If you don't know a business of any kind, where would you buy the parts for this computer you are planning to build. Not over the internet I hope.

and best regards,

[Troy]

Hi karunama, and welcome!



I am a system builder, and I can help you choose parts for this build. I am assuming you are intending to build yourself, correct? I always promote a self-build if at all possible, it's very satisfying, and as you've found, with the correct parts, it can last for some time, and upgrades are a little bit easier.

First up is your monitor, as you say you are going to keep it. What size and resolution do you intend to run the games at? This will help me know which graphics card would be a good choice for you.

Other than that, I want to know your budget. This will be the complete amount you intend to spend on components and the operating system. This will give me an indication of the type of system we can build.

Also feel free to include anything you'd like for this build, like if you know you want a 1TB hard drive, or a specific case or something... That way I can be sure to check it out for you. So far on this list you've got minimum 2GB RAM, Windows XP Professional edition, and you'd like it to be quite a high-end system as you'd prefer not to upgrade it for the next two years, and still be able to play new games as the come out. This is a pretty good start, and already I've got an indication in my mind of where we can go with it.

Already I'd like to think you want minimum 4GB of RAM (or 6GB with an i7 build), and to run a 64-bit Windows to take advantage of this - in which case I cannot recommend XP Professional 64-bit, but enthusiastically recommend Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit. Any comments on this also?

Also, Newegg is a reputable e-tailer, as is TigerDirect and a few others. Thousands of people have purchased from these companies with great success, they have a good range of parts, and excellent customer service. To purchase over the internet, of course you need to be cautious, which was Tallin's point, but when it comes to the large companies like these, you can rest assured.

From there, we can start throwing out a few parts.

Cheers

Troy

[karunama]

Yup, I was planning on doing it over teh intarwebs . Thats why I asked if Newegg was the place to go. Keep in mind that I'm planning on doing this over the course of several months, cuz i just don't have the money to buy everything all at once. I'm afraid that if I go to an IT place, they'll act like I'm wasting their time cuz I can't actually do any of this stuff yet, or at least not all at once. Oh, and as a sidenote, as I may have said before, I'm a gaming fanatic (all kinds), and I want to know whether I need a specific video card or specific monitor or both in order to use my monitor for console gaming.

[karunama]

Yup, I was planning on doing it over teh intarwebs . Thats why I asked if Newegg was the place to go. Keep in mind that I'm planning on doing this over the course of several months, cuz i just don't have the money to buy everything all at once. I'm afraid that if I go to an IT place, they'll act like I'm wasting their time cuz I can't actually do any of this stuff yet, or at least not all at once. Oh, and as a sidenote, as I may have said before, I'm a gaming fanatic (all kinds), and I want to know whether I need a specific video card or specific monitor or both in order to use my monitor for console gaming.

[karunama]

Argh, didn't mean to reply three times in a row, but i didn't see Troy's response, and i got two of the same ones via lag, and i don't see a delete button for those posts... hmm... oh well, anyway... I would like to say on the side that I do want to *eventually* replace my monitor, but as the one I have now is servicable, it will do the trick. Anyhoo, that aside, I tend to run my everything in 1152x864 resolution. I would strongly hate to spend more than $800 on it, but I will if I absolutely have to. If I have to choose between buying upgrades more often, and spending more than that, I'll choose getting the upgrades later down the line. I'm assuming for my graphics, I need a motherboard that supports a x16 PCIe 2.0 Bus. And for vista, well, I like to play alot of vintage games that simply don't work at all on vista, even on compatibility mode (I would know, I do compatibility/bug testing as my job, so...). I suppose the big thing for me is that it can't be like my current system that can't even possibly be upgraded to today's standards. Also, if I can help it, I want a dayam good processor. As I understand it, that is the primary quotient in system performance, and everything else merely adds to it(correct me if I'm wrong please, thanks). I'm hoping that building it myself will be cheaper than what Dell would charge me, because the systems like I put together on their site inevitably ranged from $1k to $1.2k. Also, may I ask why you wouldn't recommend xp pro 64 bit?

[Troy]

Hi again,

You can get a decent system for the $800 mark, but it's nothing like what I had in mind for you previously! Nonetheless, we still should be able to make a good go at it.

A few comments...

I understand what you're saying about wasting their time because you're not planning on buying just yet, but it's for good reason... If I help you choose a whole bunch of parts now, by the time you finish buying the lot, better parts could be available in your price range. For that reason, give me another hoy (possibly by PM) when you have the money and are ready to buy. I strongly advise you to save, save, and save, and spend all at once.

The processor is one component in the computer system. In my opinion, all components need to be suitably chosen in accordance with each other, otherwise you might end up with a fast processor that's just sitting around, waiting for the other parts to catch up. I apply this method across every part, as I argue every part is just as important as another.

Lastly, XP Professional 64-bit was never a serious contender in the OS arena. It was released at a time when most hardware manufacturers and program creators weren't ready to "adjust" to the different ways in which a 64-bit OS works. It meant, for them, double the work for not a lot of results. When combined with the low uptake of 64-bit XP Professional, you'll find there's poor program compatibility and driver support. Vista 64-bit is a much different story, and there's not much that doesn't work on them.

Cheers

Troy

[karunama]

Ok, I'll keep that in mind. I'm still hesitant to switch to Vista though, but meh. Anyhoo, as you may have guessed, I won't have the cash for several months. I can only really save $100 a month, and thats if I'm lucky and don't have any unforeseen expenses or stupid holidays eating away at that. Now as far as the 64 bit goes, I recall the main reason that you need that is due to incompatibility of the earlier OS's with 4 or more gigs of ram, or so I want to say. That true? Also, again I'd like to ask one of my prior questions: In order to use my computer monitor as a television (just for my consoles, really) do I need a special video card, monitor or both? Just trying to figure out which parts I need to add notes to. Like 'get a DDR3 video card etc.' type stuff really

[Troy]

A 64-bit OS is able to fully utilise the whole 4GB (or more) of RAM. A 32-bit OS has a total limit of 4GB, meaning by the time it has reserved some for system use (called memory mapping or something like that), you're only left with about 3 - 3.5GB. Judging by your budget, though, it's possible that you may throw in 4GB and use it with a 32-bit OS. We'll see how we go. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A monitor will display anything that can plug into it, and send a signal within the frequency limits of the monitor. If you want to connect a gaming console to the same monitor, then this will be bypassing the computer altogether, as it will be the gaming console plugged straight into the monitor. Therefore the only thing you'd need to check is that your gaming console has the appropriate output. Cheers Troy

[karunama]

thanks! The only output/input slots/cables I see for my current monitor is the one that plugs into my computer, but then again, I may just need to look again (Its an ancient thing and heavy as hell, so moving it to look in the right places is a royal pain in the butt)... Either way, there are almost certainly adapters made specifically for that kind of thing, so that should be fine, since I can get that at any time, I'm sure. Anyhoo, I always thought that you needed to have a video card capable of letting you watch/record tv on your computer in order to play consoles on it, so I'm kinda relieved that that's not the case. Anyhoo, as I mentioned earlier, my highest priority is to be able to continue upgrading as needed for several years. I would say that it also needs to be better than my current computer, but that would be accomplished by simply not pouring molasses into the motherboard >_>... Yes, it is that slow sometimes, haha. In that regard, my next question is this: What parts are replaceable, and which parts are essentially permanent? From the way Dell is acting, the processor can't be replaced, but I'm leery about putting too much trust in those guys. I am fairly certain that the motherboard is essentially permanent, since it's what everything else plugs into. If it was possible, I would have just gotten a new processor in my current system and upgraded it piece by piece until I had the system I wanted, but they seem less than helpful in that regard. Oh, and one more question, do I definitely want to get the biggest case I can afford? I understand that a bigger case equals more room, but i don't know if thats ALWAYS a good thing or not, or if it's just overkill beyond a certain point. For all I know, by buying a certain size of case, I may be roping myself into getting a specific kind of motherboard. Again, thanks much for your help! I really appreciate you guys taking the time to help me out with this stuff.