im probably going to making my own pc in the summer...
my uncle is going to help me cuz he has built a bunch before and has had alot of experience in the whole subject...
but i would like to know what i should put in it for RAM, Gfx cards, etc.
i will prob. be doing some gaming obviosly but it doesnt need to be that good but it needs to run cod4 atleast
i will be using 3d, game dev, and photoshop
i will prob download stuff alot so idk wat u need for that if thats relevant at all
it needs to be cheep though i dont need 4 gigs of RAM lol, i just wanna kno generally what i should need or get
well if u want u can get me at
afed5@comcast.net
AIM: Bassmasta2575
XBL gamertag: AFeD225
and ofcourse you can just reply here!!!!

i also dont know if i put this in the right spot im a modsonline.com noob!!!

edited on Apr. 4, 2009 08:04 pm by afed

well i have a nvidia geforce 9600 graphics card its very cheap and runs on all my games very good it only cost me €60 which is about $70 but thats just my opinion

my rig is
Manufacturer: me
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs)
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Hard Drive: 750 GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO
Monitor: 19" Plug and Play Monitor
Sound Card: SoundMAX HD Audio
Speakers/Headphones: cheap sweex speakers
Keyboard: cheap USB crap
Mouse: cheap USB crap
Mouse Surface: desk
Operating System:
Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)
Motherboard: asus striker extreme

There are a few more questions to narrow down our answers:

- what is your budget? 'cheap' has different meanings to different people.

- do you want to be able to upgrade in the future or is this a one-time-build and the next machine will be completely new too.

- do you have a preference of nvidia geforce video cards vs ati video cards?

- do you have ANY parts already, perhaps in an existing machine, that you plan to use? Do you need to include a monitor, keyboard and mouse in your budget?

We guide you to building a $500 machine (really low end, but still possible) up to ... well, is there a limit? lol. up to say $2000.

oh.. and welcome to the site. I didn't realize this is your first post.

foyleman writes...

That limit is way higher.

May i recommend you look into using AMD and ATI products,some people say they are inferior to intel/geforce but too be honest i have built many rigs over the years and unless specified i always stick to amd, they are generally of much lower price than there over hyped counter parts yet they still perform very well.

The rig I'm using now was built over 2 years ago, was never built as 'amazing spec' pc yet can still run most games at high spec and maintain a decent fps, after all that it cost me only a fraction of the cost the intel equivalent would have.

Rasta writes...Over the past year or more, Intel has been the leader in chips and the current Core i7 will give you the most bang for your buck. That used to be AMD's position, but not anymore.
Intel is also better optimized for video encoding and working with some modeling programs (at least Lightwave) if that is your goal.

I ran into two issues this year where AMD failed on specific video encoding requirements. I was surprised because up until 2 years ago I was a proponent of AMD as well. But this has changed my mind completely.

I have built hundreds of rigs over the years and have used both amd and intel. I never had any bad amd's but never really liked the performance for the most part. I stick with Intel now. However, this is not going to become a amd vs intel thread.....

I would recommend Intel with an nvidia video card. The 9600 is a good card but if you can afford it then go up to the 9800.

If your operating system is XP then stick with 2gig of DDR2 ram. It using Vista then go for 4gig of DDR2. I would suggest DDR3 but it is still a bit pricey if you are trying to keep costs down and still end up with a quality rig. As for sound cards I use the onboard and never thought I would do that. For the most part the onboard sound works great and sometimes has less issues ingame. Strange but true.

Get a decent power supply, minimum in my opinion would be 750w. Also make sure that you have good big fans to draw air into the case and another to vent the air as well.

If you can go with the i7 as foyle mentioned above. That will be my next chip later this year. In the meantime a good quad core from intel will serve the purpose nicely and inexpensively.


Ray

Moderator [RGN]

The only note I would add to LPRay is if you plan to do audio recording, you need an audio card. You cannot rely on the onboard audio for recording. You will get a ton of noise.
Go with an audio card from Creative.

thanx for the welcome by the way....
but i was thinking under 1,300 maybe
i dont have a mouse or anything really but im probably just gonna steal my bros bluetooth mouse...
ill prob just get low quality speakers and such i think i got that i just need help with the inside...
soo ya i kinda prefer nvidia since i trust them yet if you kno of something that is higher quality and would help with the budget.

i do have a windows 95 pc that i could upgrade but i dont think its worth it cuz the whole thing is piece of crap it has intel pentium processer like 8mb of ram or something and old style plugs for the mouse and keyboard etc.
i was thinking of just getting bigger hard drive and ram and using it on windows ME but idk...

i dont want to get rid of or upgrade the system im using currently though cuz i wanna have my own and not my families pc...

and it does need to be upgradable or atleast the gfx card needs to be...and maybe RAM soo i thinnk that should help...