Hi, I have never built an entire system before but would like to start now. I've found some good tutorials on the 'net, but yould like some advice on what components I need, having only bought complete systems before and upgraded basic things like memory and harddrives. I have about £350 to spend (about $650) and I'm looking to make a fairly basic system, nothing too fancy in the graphics or sound departments, but I want it to be fairly beefy in terms of the cpu and ram, and I'm pretty insistent on having (at least) two screens. The harddrive needn't be too large (I can expanded it as I go). I'm mostly going to be using it for programming on *nix (C++ and coding in HTML, PHP, and PERL). Can anyone suggest the components that I should investigate? Also, is a 64-bit system worth the effort as a first system, or shall I just stick to a plain ol' 32-bit one? Thanks in advance for the help , LOI Kratong
Hi, welcome to Bit-Tech £350 is a tight budget for a good power supply, processor, motherboard RAM and graphics card. You can clip off £50 for a cheap dual-head graphics card (Radeon X1300/GeForce 6200) and case, which leaves us with £320 to spend on the main bits. For that, I'd recommend 1GB of Crucial/Corsair/GeIL value RAM, an Athlon 64 3500+, a Tagan/Antec/Seasonic 350W power supply and an Abit AN8-Ultra/Asus A8N-E motherboard. Any cheap graphics card won't have a problem with two screens now - just pick up one of the aforementioned cards, both of which will give you crisp enough output for dual monitors. The current crop of 64-bit processors are a worthwhile investment, but you won't want to run 64-bit applications on them. If that doesn't make much sense, it's because the Athlon 64 processors (my recommendation) are very fast - however, this is not because they are 64-bit, but because the design of the processor is efficient. The problem with taking advantage of the 64-bit capability is that 64-bit Windows lacks the driver support and performance to make it justifiable, so you might as well stick with the conventional version. For the tasks you are using it for, though, a 64-bit Linux distribution could be something worth looking into.
Thanks, I am going to look at these products, and hopefully start making my first homebuilt system (w00t!). Any other comments about this would also be appreciated . One slight bit of confusion, if I have a 64-bit processor such as the one you mentioned, must I install a 64-bit OS onto it, or will it run normally (albeit more efficiently) with ordinary my regular 32-bit system? Also, what difference will an older power supply make? I have an old computer from about 8 years ago which I can sack for parts. I don't know what sort of power supply it is off hand, but is this likely to be a possible alternative to a new one, or will it be a hinderance?
32-bit software will run just fine . You don't need a 64-bit OS (nor is it recommended in the case of Windows XP). Unfortunately, older units lack the power to run modern systems. Consumption of computers has shot up and so you'll need a quality power supply to run your new rig - I would recommend anything from Seasonic, Enermax, Antec or Tagan of about 350 watts for your PC.
Yeah 64 Bit CPU's run 32 Bit, hardly anyone has 64 bit Windows because of the reason Hitman stated, driver issues. As for the PSU its voltage is probably to low to run any recent system. Better off buying a decent brand PSU. **EDIT: Ops, didnt realise Hitman had already posted a reply.**
normal windows will run fine on a 64bit system, in fact it should run really well. An old psu isn't worth messing with, do you really want to put a couple of hundred quids worth of components at the mercy of a 9 yr old psu? buy a new one they aren't pricey anymore, besides the old computer is going to be pretty much incompatiable with a newer system, ram changes, slots change etc; Good luck with your build, you'll be surprised how easy it all comes together, and if you get stuck theres plenty of info available edit me too....damn must type quicker
Okay I see, thanks a lot for the help guys. And by the way the site is awesome: Not only am I attracted by the sexy mass of blue neon lights, but the 'service' is also really fast and helpful. I'll definately stick around!!! Cheers guys!
From ebuyer (QF = quick find code): Asus TA-210 Black silver with 360W ATX2.0 PSU QF: 098548 Seagate 160GB SATA2 QF: 099773 Asrock 939 Dual SATA2 QF: 102900 2x512MB Kingston RAM QF: 049296 NEC ND-4570 DVD-RW drive QF: 106565 I have had good personal experiences with all the above products apart from the motherboard (haven't had any personal experience with that - but seems a very good board for the money and supports AGP and PCI-E). The above items come to £217 delivered which leaves just over £130 for the CPU and graphics card. If you're not playing any games then there are lots of cheap cards under £30 with dual outputs, and you can choose AGP or PCI-E as that board has both slots. With what's left you're probably looking at a 3000+ or 3200+ Athlon 64. If you wanted more CPU juice you could go for less HDD storage, get a cheaper motherboard (Abit UL8 if you don't want PCI-E) and go for a cheaper optical drive (this would only save you a few £ though, many people rate the NEC's and my ND-4570 has been great so far).
Ah ha that seems good. Has anyone got any recommendation on that motherboard (Asrock 939 Dual SATA2)? It seems ok to me, or should I stick to the Asus A8N-E mentioned before?
The asrocks pretty good really, for a budget board anyway! Only issue with the above recommendation is the PSU... Would imagine, if tis bundled with a case its gonna be crap. Much better investment getting supply up to the job, go off Hitmans recommendations a bit further up on that one
Awesome, thanks again people. I'll let you know how the project is coming along (thinking of doing something snazzy with the case...). Just a thought, how is the speed of the processor determined (before overclocking). If I buy the Athlon 64 3200+ will that have a fixed speed or is it determined by the other hardware? Sorry, probably a simple question, but like I say it's the first system I've built.
If your on a really tight budget, then for the PSU you may want to look at the 350W Hiper supply, it's reasonably quiet and has good power, and can be found for under £20 including postage from here Other than that the components suggested above seem to be a good mix I too have an NEC dvd-rw and rate is highly (much better than the LG i also have).
Asus are a good brand - the PSU I used for my friends machine seemed quite weighty and reasonable quality (compared to other cheap PSU's). I'm sure it would power your machine fine since you wont have a powerful graphics card.
