I have little clue how to build a comp, but it sounds fun! Will look to this thread, or make my own in the future when i'm ready

I made a computer one time, I'm never doing it again. The thing you have got to be the most careful of is don't mix up the power wires from the comp switch to everything else. You get that wrong and metallic sparks will fly out of the computer like a fireworks explosion.

As for components, I don't know all the news ones as well so I can't be sure which is the best or for what reason.

Next computer I get, which will be soon, I am buying made-to-order. That's the only way I ever do it now.


Sir Spectre


Like Master Yoda's speak, Olde English is, yes? Hehmmmmhaha!
-- From the play "Zlothello"

I have designed and built my own Hifi system, I am happy with the electronics aspects, anti static etc. it’s the component parts I would like to know about.

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If there is anything more important than my ego around here, I want it caught and shot immediately ~ (Zaphod Beeblebrox - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)

LV38, if you want the quickest way. Just do a search for Custom computers on a search engine. You'll get a couple of websites that give you a list of choices for all the components. And usually they have an info icon for each component.

Use that as your research, it's the fastest way.

I'm not saying buy it from them, just research it and see the prices they attribute to each component.

When I did mine, I had to use a trade mag. I did a pretty thorough job too, the only thing I ended up missing was the HD controller card, but nowadays you don't need those.


Sir Spectre


Like Master Yoda's speak, Olde English is, yes? Hehmmmmhaha!
-- From the play "Zlothello"

Edited by - Sir Spectre on 27-10-2003 16:42:53

Thanks Spectre, this is what I have come up with so far, don’t know if it will all work together or even if the processor will fit the motherboard, but would appreciate comment


Case ~ Antec Sx835ii/ws 350w 3x5.25 2x3.5 Atx

Mother Board ~ MSI Nforce K7N2 Delta-ILSR Motherboard

Processor ~ Hp Pentium4 Xeon/2400mhz 512kb 533fsb

HDD ~ Seagate ST3160023AS 160gb 7200rpm Barracuda 7200.7 SATA - OEM

RAM ~ Corsair (TWINX1024-3200LLPT) 1024MB (2X512) DDR400 Memory Module

CD Drive 1 ~ NEC 4x DVD DUAL R/RW IDE BURNER

CD Drive 2 ~ Sony 52x CD ROM Drive

Graphics Card ~ GAINWARD FX PowerPack! Pro/680 TV/DVI, nVidia GeForce FX5200, 256MB DDR, 8x AGP

Sound Card ~ Soundblaster Audigy 2 - 24bit 64 Voice Pci Sb1394

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If there is anything more important than my ego around here, I want it caught and shot immediately ~ (Zaphod Beeblebrox - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)



Edited by - LV38_Eagle on 27-10-2003 17:53:10

@lv38 I can't remember which country you're in...but if you are in the UK try this place...I built a machine 2 months ago using this place and I can highly recommend their custom service.

I was just about to say that gromit.

what about ebuyer

"What? Another girl! Tell me my boy. *whispers* what have you been doing?" - Tobias

BUY parts? what's BUY, precious?

seriously though in ur proposed spec I'd chuck out the FX5200, it's a lemon.


visit my junkshop and make me an offer!
..you think you're done with the past, but the past isn't done with you..

Edited by - Tawakalna on 27-10-2003 21:45:54

Agreed, the fx5200 is a naff card, you'll be dissapointed with the purchase.
Bare minimum go a fx5600 or an Ati 9600 or if you can still get one a GF4 Ti4800. Personally i'd recommend the Ati, the FX series has left a sour taste in my mouth.

Couple of other things.

Xeon P4's are built for servers not desktops, you'd get better performance out of a stock P4 with an 800FSB for less money. Plus you can easily overclock a P4 800FSB 2.4ghz chip to 3ghz without breaking a sweat.

Seagates are good drives, but are you sure you need that much space? You could cut back to a 120Gb or even a 100Gb and use the spare cash to get a better Video Card.

Corsair RAM rocks and a Gig of it will serve you well for a good few years.

suggest athlon rather than pentium cpu as you get more for your money
spending a bit extra on a better cpu heatsink/fan is money well spent tharmaltake i tend to go for
another couple of case fans are also money well spent
i tend to place one of the "flat" extractor fans directly above the graphics card if you are in the uk check maplins for this type of fan
as for sound and graphic cards i will not suggest one in particular but have a look round the gaming forums before you decide paying more attention to issues and problems as some cards can be ruled out this way as they are more trouble than they are worth
USE ARCTIC SILVER PASTE FOR HEATSINK/CPU as it is by far the best
nb. i said PASTE NOT EPOXY this is important !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
btw beware cheap copies of arctic silver

Athlon XP is betetr value but make sure u get a decent power supply well over 400W as its a hungry cpu, i'd say 430W min.

All of the responses so far are sound advice. You never really said what your price limits were though. I'd skip the audigy 2 and opt for just plain audigy (or less). Unless you're spending hundreds of dollars on Klipisch Pro media speakers, that sound card capabilities are going to waste.

What are you going to use this computer for? Gaming? Work? Graphics? All of the above? Decide what you'll use it for the most and then build the computer around the most important peripheral. 1 Gig of RAM seems a bit of overkill as well. Give some details on what you're planning on using this for, time frame inolved before prchase and price limitations and I'd be glad to configure you some choices. Everyone likes choices. Right now the top end PC's are being sold with the new FX-51 AMD 64 bit processor, but you'll pay thru the nose for that. Drop down in price, then Intel processors are a good choice. Bare bones, Athlon XP. The choices are too numerous at this point not knowing some details from you.

Rob "Stinger" Lordier
Moderator - Lancers Reactor
Creator Privateer FAQ
no good deed will ever go unpunished
Co-Admin Elite Freelancer Server
"Corwin02 spell-checked" for ackuracee

I have two laptops I use for work and study etc, this computer is a 100% games orientated machine. it will also be used to test run server side mods for another server, (no more than 4 users).

As far as cost goes, I don’t want to say money is no object, but if spending an extra few hundred quid at the time gets a computer that will give a good 3 or 4 years service, so be it. Something around £1500 parts only was my guess. But if there is something good for less, tell me.

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If there is anything more important than my ego around here, I want it caught and shot immediately ~ (Zaphod Beeblebrox - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)



Edited by - LV38_Eagle on 28-10-2003 14:49:48