Taking the plunge into the custom built world

[kpac]

Please note this thought is still in beta stages.

I'm looking for some information/guideance on what's involved in making a custom built machine.
I'm not sure about budget yet, as I only want some information first.

The PC would be mainly be for gaming, music, design etc. I do a lot of website design using Adobe software, so it's quite resource intensive. I'd like a fairly high-end graphics gard anyway, sound possibly high-end also. I'd like at least 4 gigs of RAM to keep up with what I'm doing.

Even though I live in Ireland, I'd possibly be buying from Newegg or someone similar in the US. Do they ship  worldwide? It would probably be cheaper to buy the parts in the US and ship them over instead of buying them here. Prices are mad here, especially now when 1 Euro = about 1.45 dollars.

That's about all I've thought about for now...

Thanks for any advice.

[Aardobard]

Hey, and welcome to the amazingly rewarding world of do it yourself!  A budget is usually a good place to start as it gives the conversation some parameters.  Since you aren't to that stage yet, let me give you a brief overview of the kinds of information that will help narrow down good options for you.  I will be talking about Intel CPU's specifically as I am more familiar with them than the AMD offerings (I'm working on it).

Things that are handy to know:
1) Budget
2) Usage
3) Hardware you have or intend to use
4) Time until upgrade
5) Ancillaries (desire to overclock/case mod/specific upgrade plans/etc.)

#1 is out of play.  You've given us a little about #2, but you haven't mentioned any games, or what hardware you are using now as a frame of reference.  For #3, if you have a monitor or other hardware you wish to re-use, that's handy info. And I think #'s 4&5 are self explanatory.

It will help us to help you if you can fill in some of these specifics and at least ballpark your budget (<$500, $500-$1000, $1000-$1500, >$1500).

[Aegis]

or what hardware you are using now as a frame of reference.

He mentioned Adobe, and was smart enough to state 4 GB RAM to start.  Spot on.  I'd go with a higher end video card, though I know not much about them, anymore, except the remarkable wide range of pricing available.  I should think 512 MB of video RAM as ABSOLUTE MINIMUM -- more is better.  Build for speed and efficiency in the Adobe Suite, and you'll be able to play just about any video game out there.  I've seen Creative Suite 3.  I know CS4 is even more hardware demanding.

[kpac]

Thanks for the replies. I'm sorry I haven't given more detail, but I am very new to the hardware industry. I'll try and answer the questions as best I can...

1) Budget

I'd be talking about your second option, roughly between $500 - $1000. Anything over than might be a bit too much for me right now.

2) Usage

Right now I'm using 2GB RAM and a 128 MB video card, but this is a laptop, so the video card isn't too great. I can play most of the standard games now but the way things are going, it'll be hardly no time at all before all games will require something higher. So, as Aegis said, 512 MB at least, but I must have a look at prices on some 1 GB cards. I'd be talking about Call of Duty etc, new games like that with high detail levels. Also I mentioned Adobe - it is CS4 I have and I can't really run one of the programs in CS4 along with some other program without having slowdowns/programs not responding etc.

3) Hardware you have or intend to use

I have absolutely nothing at the moment regarding spare hardware. As I mentioned above, I primarily use this laptop.

4) Time until upgrade

I really don't have a time preference, as in I don't mind when I get it done. To set a time, I'd say more than likely within a year.

5) Ancillaries (desire to overclock/case mod/specific upgrade plans/etc.)

I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you mean here! What are the disadvantages of overclocking? A case mod - maybe, and I'll look more into it. On a Wikipedia article on case modding, "Cases may also be modified to improve a computer's performance" - how does that work exactly?

I have no preference over makes/models at the moment. I'd be using Vista as the OS, so I'll be able to use DirectX10.

Thanks for that, Aegis and Aardobard.

[kpac]

I looked at some 1 GB video cards on Newegg and they're not as much as I thought they'd be, so that's almost a certain choice.

Also, I forgot to mention about a disc drive and HDD. I have a 1 TB external HD so which I use for backups at the moment. My laptop has a 160 GB HDD, so I'd say I'd want a 500 GB. For a disc drive.... What way are Blu-Ray drives going? I see some Blu-Ray/DVD Drive combos on Newegg (here). Would they be a good buy?

[Quantos]

Don't scrimp on the NIC....

[kpac]

Don't scrimp on the NIC....

Note taken.

[kpac]

Sorry for all the bumps, but I've got some prices and a list of parts I think will suit. Right now I'd appreciate any advice/help/information on the parts I have, how good they work with each other, improvements etc. Also, I think I'll be "upping" my budget a bit, after looking at what I want.

All the prices are in GBP (from Amazon.co.uk), so convert if necessary.

Processor:
AMD HDZ940XCGIBOX Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Quad-core Processor - Link
£134.00

Motherboard:
Gigabyte GA-M720-US3 - Link
£50.63

RAM:
Corsair - TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) PC2-6400 DDRII-SDRAM - Link
£35.95

Graphics Card:
Sapphire Radeon HD 3650 512MB DDR2 PCI-E - Link
£44.50

HDD:
Seagate OEM 500GB Barracuda 7200.12 - Link
£41.35

Disc Drives:
LG GGC-H20L Super Multi Blue Blu-ray Disc & HD DVD-ROM Drive - Link
£79.99
LG Gh22np20 Auaa50b 22x DVD-RW Bare Black - Link
£15.98

Case:
Raidmax - Windowed Tower Case - Ninja 918W - Link
£61.90

Power Supply:
EZCOOL 650W ATX 24Pin Super Silent PSU - Link
£29.99

Monitor:
Acer 23-inch LCD TFT Monitor - Link
£122.00

Keyboard/Mouse:
Logitech Pro 2800 Cordless Desktop - Link
£45.13

Operating System:
Windows Vista, Ultimate Edition SP1 - Link
£165.51

Total: £826.93 / €966.55 / $1370.28

Go easy on me if some of those are stupid choices, this is my first time doing this and I've never really been too much into hardware.

Buying Vista on Amazon gives me a free version of Windows 7 when it comes out, so that's another plus.

Thanks again for replies.

[Aegis]

My impression is that those seem to be pretty good prices for your hardware choices.  I've not priced video in quite a while -- my guess is anything higher than 512 Video RAM starts really raising prices?

[kpac]

My impression is that those seem to be pretty good prices for your hardware choices.

I know - they are. The price of the monitor alone amazed me. 1080p HD, 16:9 aspect, and 23 inches? I couldn't believe that.

my guess is anything higher than 512 Video RAM starts really raising prices?

Yes, drastically. 1GB, 2GB.

I don't mind anyway - I've seen in so many places that the beauty of building your own PC is that you can always upgrade when you have the money.

[Aegis]

...and you can "kill yourself" over trying to save 10 here, 20 there...sometimes, it's best to just move forward once you have the basics covered.

[Quantos]

I don't see a NIC on there, are you just going with the integrated solution?

What about audio, is it going to be the integrated one again?

Something else to consider, many people don't is a good quality UPS with surge protection.

[kpac]

...and you can "kill yourself" over trying to save 10 here, 20 there...sometimes, it's best to just move forward once you have the basics covered.

My thought exactly.

I don't see a NIC on there, are you just going with the integrated solution?

Don't need one - not right now anyway. I'm also trying to keep the price down as far as I can.

What about audio, is it going to be the integrated one again?

Yeah, integrated for now, but I'll hopefully be looking at them after the build is complete.

Something else to consider, many people don't is a good quality UPS with surge protection.

Thanks, I'll have a look at that. Hmmm.... I'm looking at some here on Amazon, and they're not too expensive. Link

Right now I'm looking at around Christmas for buying the parts. Might wait until January depending on what way prices go up/down. I'll have to get a few more Web design contracts before this goes ahead.

[nate22]

Iv taught myself everything i know about computers. That may not have been the cheapest or fastest way to learn but that's how i enjoy learning.
Most of the other post are focusing on the system itself. Ill tell you about building itself.

When ordering your parts check if everything will work together, then DOUBLE CHECK.
Never order open box products as a beginner. As you become more familiar with building systems you might look into them then.

Patience...but not too much. I know this is key on find a video card. The big companies will come out with a new video card about every year. Wait till they release the latest card and then look at last years card. Theres always a significant price drop on last years card. If you don't mind having the " that's so last year " card.
Also if you find a good deal on anything GET IT not saying don't look around just don't wait a day or two. Iv noticed sales on the computer hardware doesn't last very long at all.

Organization. This is a big thing to a successful build. Get a small box to hold ALL of your screws. Trust me its alot nice to rumage around for 10 Min's in a small box than 10 Min's in an entire room. I always put my screws in in the box wether if I'm going to use them right away or if never again. Just good a practice.

RMA. Iv had some real bad experiences with returns. If ordering from newegg id recommend not ordering for a return. Nothing on neweggs fault just the shipping service i used i guess. Whenever i return something UPS always never tracks it well at all.

Not all that you need to know theres a bunch of other tiny things. These were just things that i thought of off the top of my head.

[patio]

Good tidbits of advice Nate...

And Welcome Aboard !