hardware dummy needs help

[dubstar]

ok, i'll jump right in.

in the next 4 months im going to need a computer, and i dont want one thats "cool." i plan on building it all myself, i have read some tutorials, and it doesnt seem hard at all. the only that that bugs me is this, the "Athlon XP 2100" stuff. I dont know what i need. Right now I have a Athlon-K7, 533mhz (aka, IBM Aptiva supposed to be running 98se, but upgraded to XP, and the video card sucks ass).

This is what im thinking, please let me know what you think, i am just a rookie, and you are all..well, guru to me. I will call it, Rupert

thanks!:blink:

 

[RagnaroK]

Very nice system... I wouldn't mind haven't something like that myself... but with my "student" budget, I can't get much... LOL

Although... if you're gonna run WinXP, don't consider anything less than 512MB RAM. The rest seems fine with me... (well according to my standards anyways).

-RaG

P.S. Oh, and welcome to the forums.

 

[dubstar]

forgot to add that i will probably use this case, and that i want to be able to over-clock.


also, is there a way to upgrade the usb on the tower to usb2? i was thinking somebody may have done it already.

thanks.

 

[Zedric]

They should already work with USB2. It's just wires... It's all up to the USB controller afaik.

 

[Taurus]

yeah, the front usb ports on the case connect to the header on the motherboard. if the mobo is usb 2.0, there you go.

to help you pick an amd processor, look at their prices.

2000+ (1.67ghz) = $ 70
2100+ (1.73ghz) = $ 79
2200+ (1.80ghz) = $ 80
2400+ (1.93ghz) = $137

it's easy to see that the 2200+ is the best value right now and is plenty fast for all but the most hardcore gamer. and, of course, you can upgrade to a 3000+ in a year or whenever they come down in price.


and i recommend that once you start buying parts for your computer, you get as much as you can to get it running, all at once. cuz if you order one part a week, then you have parts sitting around that aren't being used... and their price is going down all the while.

so, get your case, ps, mobo, cpu, memory, video card, and any drives you need (or you can use the ones from your old comp in the meantime) all at once. then once you get it running and start enjoying it, then you can upgrade the memory, drives, and add any cards you want (sound, etc).

 

[rettahc]

I totally agree with Ragnarok, 512 at least. I recently uprgade my machine, and went from 768 megs of pc-133 to 256megs of DDR and the load time between levels for some of my games went from seconds to minutes (have since added and additional 256).

 

[dubstar]

wow 2200+ is a great price, but i thought the Thoughobred were bad ones.. the Polomin (bare with me, i dont know the names off the top of my head, and im too lazy to look it up) were the good ones.. and then of course the Barton which let us all down.

and what about Thermaltake Volcano 7 + Athlon XP Shim. what is a Shim? and this volcano thing, should I get an Artic Silver III.


also, recently i heard someone say "subzero cooling" i've heard of fans, and watercooling, but what in the world in subzero? do you set it next to an open mini frige, or build it to be apart of a mini frige for the extremely lazy 'seat to frige, get the beer, and walk allllll the way back to the seat' problem solver?

 

[[CpK]Bastid]

Originally posted by dubstar

and what about Thermaltake Volcano 7 + Athlon XP Shim. what is a Shim? and this volcano thing, should I get an Artic Silver III.


also, recently i heard someone say "subzero cooling" i've heard of fans, and watercooling, but what in the world in subzero? do you set it next to an open mini frige, or build it to be apart of a mini frige for the extremely lazy 'seat to frige, get the beer, and walk allllll the way back to the seat' problem solver?

a shim is to help prevent you from crushing the core

subzero cooling would be vapochill or prometia......

 

[dubstar]

oh my god, thats beautiful.