[uzziah]

thanks to the help of you guys here at head-fi i've got my first draft of the pc i'll be building. i have to wait a little bit before the funds come in, so i thought i'd post me basic shopping list and accept and critiques people might have. this is not a fast pc. i just might as well say that up front. what i want to build is simple: a cheap, quiet pc that will serve my purposes for an audio source, internet usage, and basic word processing. that's really all i need, and my budget is really limited. if you can think of more ways to save me a buck or two, i'm all ears.

this is going to be ugly. i just don't want to re-type and reformat from my word document. the numbers on the right are $$ for parts at newegg.com, and the numbers on the left are totals up to that point. hope it's reasonably readable


Pc:

Duron 1.646
Abit nf7-s65
Ram40
Zalman northbridge10

160

video card33-50

210

160gb Seagate hd92

302

EVERCASE Beige ATX MID-TOWER CASE, Model "E4252-91" –RETAIL 45

347

enermax fan10

357


ZALMAN CNPS7000A-Cu Pure Copper CPU Cooler for AMD XP Socket 754/939/940 and Intel Socket 478 50

407

arctic silver ceramique10

417

psu fortron 34

461

dvd/cd-rw26

487

windows91


579

emu 0404100

679

wireless keyboard and mouse40

709

total:

692 w/ radion vid card

a smoking deal!!!!



Cpu150(100)

 

[uzziah]

ok, that was way uglier than i thought it would be

i can hardly understand it, and i'm missing some info. let's see if i can fill in some blanks.

lite-on cd/rw drive

zalman cpu fan (if someone can save me money here i'd appreciate it; i'm sure this is a great fan, but $50 for a cpu fan is a lot for me)

vid card: basic fanless radeon (i don't remember exact model: just mr radar's suggestion from "building a pc". i just need video out to connect to my tv

if you can't understand it, don't fret. if you have specific reccomendations for components, regardless of what i put down, i'd like to hear them. the whole shabang (without monitor) will be under $700 shipped from newegg.com. like i said, all i want is a simple, quiet pc. my audio card will most likely be an emu 0404

 

[uzziah]

i even may have a few things wrong, since i've gone back and forth between atholon 64/athlon xp mobile/and duron cpu's. i may have some incorrect components. yes?

 

[Hajime]

Do you live in the US? If so, you can get a PC from Best Buy for $550 or so with a warranty.

[size=xx-small]Edit:[/size] The reason I mention that is you're likely to get a better computer for that price, plus you'll have the warranty and you'll have $100-200 to add a soundcard and graphics card.

 

[Hajime]

Here's an example of a Best Buy computer around $550. (It's actually $559 with the mail in rebate). If you go to the actual store you probably find a better one and you can negotiate.

 

[Regus]

won't guarantee it with a 1.6 GHz but my 1.2 GHz Duron runs silent with the box fan at 5V... you might considder giving it a try before you shell out the $50...

Provided of course you don't mind messing with the fan wires...

(mine has been running for hours on end with near 100% load with no problem)

 

[GokieKS]

Don't use Arctic Ceramique. It hardens, and you may have problems removing it if you ever choose to do so - I've managed to pull out my CPU (a P4 with the IHS) while removing my heatsink.

Use Arctic Silver instead - the cost difference should be minimal, there won't be much of a noticable performance difference, and it's much easier to work with.

~KS

 

[Guust-Fi]

Don't buy a HP, it's not what you want. My first pc was a dell dimension 8300. I am still using it at the moment but I already upgraded my videocard my dvd drive and my soundcard. I will NEVER ever buy a pre-configured pc again. It's much better to look around for the best parts and assemble the whole thing yourself. I'm not trying to say that hp sucks, they are just decent, cheap "workstation" pc's.

Check here for more info on parts
http://www.techimo.com/forum/index.html

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hajime Do you live in the US? If so, you can get a PC from Best Buy for $550 or so with a warranty. [size=xx-small]Edit:[/size] The reason I mention that is you're likely to get a better computer for that price, plus you'll have the warranty and you'll have $100-200 to add a soundcard and graphics card.

many many reasons not to do that. i'd have to replace all kinds of things to get it to be quiet. not to mention, the parts i'm using are all high quality, reliable parts.

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conraed Don't buy a HP, it's not what you want. My first pc was a dell dimension 8300. I am still using it at the moment but I already upgraded my videocard my dvd drive and my soundcard. I will NEVER ever buy a pre-configured pc again. It's much better to look around for the best parts and assemble the whole thing yourself. I'm not trying to say that hp sucks, they are just decent, cheap "workstation" pc's. Check here for more info on parts http://www.techimo.com/forum/index.html

i totally agree. i'm not sure where you got the "hp" from, but i never considered it. i'm buying all parts from newegg.com and putting it together myself. i want it to be VERY quiet, and that means, quiet hard drive, power supply, cpu fan. any pre-config pc has performance (and price) in mind, not quietness. you have to build yourself for an audiophile quiet pc. not to mention i'm getting all high quality parts; highly reccommended and reliable. much better than all this proprietary and cost-cutting stuff that gets put-in and forgotten in pre-config pc's

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regus won't guarantee it with a 1.6 GHz but my 1.2 GHz Duron runs silent with the box fan at 5V... you might considder giving it a try before you shell out the $50... Provided of course you don't mind messing with the fan wires... (mine has been running for hours on end with near 100% load with no problem)

i will replace the stock fan, because it should be garbage (in fact, i won't by the cpu with fan). i think i'll get a fan reccomended by someone else though: it's a "spreeze". at less than $10, i hope it will do well. very good reviews. it won't be as quiet as zalman, but hopefully quiet enough.

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GokieKS Don't use Arctic Ceramique. It hardens, and you may have problems removing it if you ever choose to do so - I've managed to pull out my CPU (a P4 with the IHS) while removing my heatsink. Use Arctic Silver instead - the cost difference should be minimal, there won't be much of a noticable performance difference, and it's much easier to work with. ~KS

actually, i don't even know what this stuff is. maybe you could explain to me? i'm mainly following reccommendations i've got on headfi

 

[Regus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uzziah i will replace the stock fan, because it should be garbage (in fact, i won't by the cpu with fan). i think i'll get a fan reccomended by someone else though: it's a "spreeze". at less than $10, i hope it will do well. very good reviews. it won't be as quiet as zalman, but hopefully quiet enough.

It IS garbage, but atleast for my 1.2GHz it does the job perfectly... silent and cool enough and it is cheap what more could you ask for?

 

[MikoLayer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hajime Do you live in the US? If so, you can get a PC from Best Buy for $550 or so with a warranty. [size=xx-small]Edit:[/size] The reason I mention that is you're likely to get a better computer for that price, plus you'll have the warranty and you'll have $100-200 to add a soundcard and graphics card.

i wouldnt buy a computer from bestbuy unless there was some ungodly pricing error. fry's electronics, on the other hand, has some outrageous deals even thos its another B&M store.

 

[GokieKS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uzziah actually, i don't even know what this stuff is. maybe you could explain to me? i'm mainly following reccommendations i've got on headfi

Arctic Silver and Arctic Silver Ceramique are thermal pastes, a thin layer of which you apply between the heatsink and the processor to faciliate better heat transfer. Both are made by the same company (Arctic Silver). I've used both, and I would definitely recommend Arctic Silver over Arctic Ceramique.

Arctic Silver: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...100-007&depa=0

~KS