n00b attempting to build first computer

[Green_Eyed_Lady]

Hi

I am a new member of your forum. After being prodded by CCSDUDE to post my questions here so all of you could give me feedback, I have finally made my first post to the forum. He assured me you would all be kind and helpful.

Basically, I am in need of a new machine, and am toying with the idea of building one myself. I have done things like install a hardrive and various pci cards into my machine, so opening the top of the box and fiddling with it's innards doesn't scare me too much, though I am always nervous about doing new things.

My knowledge about pc's is limited, but growing daily by chatting with the helpful folks in the zeropaid IRC channel. There is so much though that is still unclear to me.

I was wondering if any of you could shoot me some suggestions, links to product sites, buying sites, info sites, etc about the process of building a machine and it's various components, and basically help me out while I tackle this lofty process of building my dream machine.

I use my computer mainly for on-line conversing, file-sharing, basic stuff like winxp, and some simple things with photoshop. Of course when i run a P1, 200 mhz processor, with only 64 mb of ram, my capabilities are VERY limited. In the future i would like to view movies on my pc, possible with tv out too, do more advanced photo-imaging, and even learn some pogramming languages as well for fun. I'm not really into gaming, so as far as graphics are concerned, i would only requre something good enough for an enjoyable movie viewing experience, but enough to make a game decent to see as well if I decide to explore that form of entertainment.--My bro likes to play that old Battlezone game online, he says my current graphics suck :(

So far i'm in the research phase of this project, looking at motherboards. I have to admit, I get lost in all the numbers and don't really know what they all mean and what I should be looking for and watching out for. Some tutoring would be helpful

Thank you all so very much

Happy computing adventures to all

[Rahwgwar]

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article...20,pg,7,00.asp

There's a wealth of information here......... www.tomshardware.com

Buy a good CPU fan especially if you want to overclock later on

http://www.networkclue.com/hardware/...ding/parts.php

My friend was looking at some Dell parts today, I dunno if you wanna give that a whirl or not.

[Winphuk]

Here's another good place for used PC parts

http://www.outpost.com

not a hard thing to do.
Just be careful of the static electricity.

[Green_Eyed_Lady]

Thanks much for the links, both of you. I have spent all morning reading and have aquired a wealth of information. :)

[cpugeniusmv]

when i'm buying online, i usually use www.pricewatch.com in conjunction with www.resellerratings.com . pricewatch gives you the lowest prices, and reseller ratings tells you whether or not to buy from them.

[rainbowdemon]

I am not knowledgable enough to offer any real help. But all I have to say is GO FOR IT!! Let us know how it works out. You are probably better at this than you think you are! Good luck!!:love

[isus]

good place to buy:

from me. i was building my own computer as well, but windows betrayed me for the 5492874 time, so...

amd athlon xp 1800+
msi kt3 ultra2
antec truepower 430w
western digital 40gb se

make your best offer before i post on ebay.

this goes for anybody. just pm me, i dont think the mods want this to be a bidding post...

[kuajmc]

I would recommend you to buy a barebone system they're small, functional for your needs, and easy to install. you usually only need to get cpu, ram, harddisk,
dvd/cdr combounit, input and output devices...

URL:
http://www.shuttle.com/index6.html
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/produc...&MODEL=MEGA651

I've got 2 shuttle pc's in my apartment and they haven't caused me major problems ;)

[danielmusician]

Originally posted by Dealie
good place to buy... they will ship you the pile of parts. or put it together for a lil more.. all from stuff you pick... configurator helps you pick crap that works well together..

www.micropro.com

I agree, I bought my computer there, so did 3 other friends of mine. They are either CS or CE majors, and serious geeks. They know what theyre doing.

I also reccomend getting an nforce2 deluxe motherboard. Those are sweet. It will also save you lots of money.

[Kyle06]

Hello and welcome to Zeropaid