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Originally Posted by biznatch
OK, first things first. A case. I have no space issues, so I think an ATX mid tower should do fine, right? Basically I need it to fit stuff and let air through with no problems, correct?
How about this?
My friend might give me his old case. |
That case should do fine.
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Originally Posted by biznatch
I want to use my computer for games, so is the LGA 775 a good socket to go with?
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Yes
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Originally Posted by biznatch
Maybe some processors are better, harder to cool, more likely to fail, etc???
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Nope
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Originally Posted by biznatch
I think this is the part I'm most intimidated with. Dual core? Quad core?
Or is AMD better? What's a good deal?
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Dual core is best for gaming in my opinion unless you plan on overclocking (which is not a good idea for someone building their first PC). Quadcores typically have lower clock speeds but 4 cores, and many games only use 2 cores or even 1, so dual cores with their higher clock speeds are better bang for your buck. AMD and Intel both have great CPUs for the price. It depends on how much you want to spend. AMD can't compete with the high-end Intel CPUs but at the low to medium range they do fine. If you want upgradeability I would go with LGA 775.
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Originally Posted by biznatch
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Good choice!
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Originally Posted by biznatch
Will the motherboard allow me to get another later and run them in SLI?
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Depends on your motherboard. If you want to do SLI (I wouldn't) then you need to make sure the board has 2 PCI-E x16 videocard slots.
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Originally Posted by biznatch
What are some of the things I need to know about SLI, compatibilty issues, can I only use it with the same type of card?
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Some games don't use it, but it won't fail, it will just use 1 card. With NVIDIA cards you will need the same model. ATI has a feature that lets you use different models but I don't know the specifics about it.
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Originally Posted by biznatch
Do I need a special type of motherboard for it? Is an ATX mid big enough for two of these??
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Mid ATX will be fine.
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Originally Posted by biznatch
Power supply? I need to power a video card, with the possibility of needing to power two in SLI later on. Do I need 650W? more? Does the brand matter at all?
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You will need between 350w and 600w depending on the brand and model. The brand DOES matter more than any other component in the entire system. I recommend PC Power and Cooling, Enermax, Thermaltake, Antec, SeaSonic USA, Corsair, Sparkle brands. You need to make sure it has two PCI-E connectors for videocards if you want to do SLI. 350-400w should be fine with those brands if you get 1 GPU. 2 GPUs I would do 500-600w.
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Originally Posted by biznatch
Ram, I figure, is the easiest. I'll probably start out with 4 gigs, because it's dirt cheap now. Hard drive is also probably something I can figure out on my own.
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Yes, just buy DDR2 memory, at least 2 GB, preferably bundled together to prevent memory problems.
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Originally Posted by biznatch
Am I forgetting anything important? Any advice?
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Things will go wrong during the build and installation so have a secondary PC available to look at the Internet with. And be ready to send back bad parts because it happens all the time.
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Originally Posted by biznatch
Before I forget, I'm looking to spend about $500-600, is this feasible, if I decide I only need one GPU for now?
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Yes, very feasible.