Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - The Build Your Own Desktop Starter Thread

kutulu · 04-16-2009, 11:56 AM

Will, that's a pretty good guide, especially since you are a Mac guy. The decision path you show is pretty good. I've built three computers so far. I did my most recent one in Feb.

Processor&Motherboard
Like you said, the most important thing is that you decide what you want to do with your rig. You want to buy a processor that matches up with what you want to do. However, you still need to look toward the future. Right now, you can get great deals on the dual cores and even the quad cores. However, part of the reason for this is because their associated socket (775) has been superseded by the LGA 1366. Yes there is quite a price difference but it is worth it.

If you want to do serious video editing/encoding, you really should go with the Core i7. CPU and motherboard will run $540. It isn't that much more than a quad core with a nice motherboard. It's performance on encoding video is far superior to the Core 2 Quads.

Another thing to look on the motherboard the inputs. How many SATA drives can you run? What does the back panel have on it? How many PCI-e slots does it have? If you wanted to, could you do 2 or 3 way SLI?

Memory
DDR3. DDR3 prices have dropped like a rock. In Feb, I paid $160 for 6GB of DDR3 and now similar kits are about $90.

Video Card
Again, look at what you have and what you might want to do. Dual displays? What resolutions do you use? You can get awesome cards for less than $200 (4870 OR GTX 260).

Heat Sink
Another very important thing is the heat sink. I went with the stock cooler on my rig and it isn't good enough. When I start the second pass in my encoding jobs the temperature shoots way up. As a result, I needed to run it on a lower performance setting during this. Soon enough I'll get a good cooler and I'll be able to even overclock it.

Case
I wouldn't do MicroATX. Today's video cards are behemoths and you want plenty of room for all the drives you might have in it. I have a mid tower and I wish I had bought a full tower. My case is almost full and cramped. I ended up doing a shitty cable job because I was running out of space. I have three platter HDDs, one SSD, one vid card, a BD-ROM, DVD Burner, and multi card reader. I can squeeze at least one more HDD in there but it would be nice if it didn't have to be so cramped.

Power Supply
Don't cheap out. Also, look towards what you might do in the future. A new computer using a powerful vid card should have at least 500 watts.

Cables
A good motherboard should come with all the internal cables you need. If you need more, cannibalize your old system for the rest.

04-16-2009, 11:56 AM	#19 (permalink)
kutulu Junkie	Will, that's a pretty good guide, especially since you are a Mac guy. The decision path you show is pretty good. I've built three computers so far. I did my most recent one in Feb. Processor&Motherboard Like you said, the most important thing is that you decide what you want to do with your rig. You want to buy a processor that matches up with what you want to do. However, you still need to look toward the future. Right now, you can get great deals on the dual cores and even the quad cores. However, part of the reason for this is because their associated socket (775) has been superseded by the LGA 1366. Yes there is quite a price difference but it is worth it. If you want to do serious video editing/encoding, you really should go with the Core i7. CPU and motherboard will run $540. It isn't that much more than a quad core with a nice motherboard. It's performance on encoding video is far superior to the Core 2 Quads. Another thing to look on the motherboard the inputs. How many SATA drives can you run? What does the back panel have on it? How many PCI-e slots does it have? If you wanted to, could you do 2 or 3 way SLI? Memory DDR3. DDR3 prices have dropped like a rock. In Feb, I paid $160 for 6GB of DDR3 and now similar kits are about $90. Video Card Again, look at what you have and what you might want to do. Dual displays? What resolutions do you use? You can get awesome cards for less than $200 (4870 OR GTX 260). Heat Sink Another very important thing is the heat sink. I went with the stock cooler on my rig and it isn't good enough. When I start the second pass in my encoding jobs the temperature shoots way up. As a result, I needed to run it on a lower performance setting during this. Soon enough I'll get a good cooler and I'll be able to even overclock it. Case I wouldn't do MicroATX. Today's video cards are behemoths and you want plenty of room for all the drives you might have in it. I have a mid tower and I wish I had bought a full tower. My case is almost full and cramped. I ended up doing a shitty cable job because I was running out of space. I have three platter HDDs, one SSD, one vid card, a BD-ROM, DVD Burner, and multi card reader. I can squeeze at least one more HDD in there but it would be nice if it didn't have to be so cramped. Power Supply Don't cheap out. Also, look towards what you might do in the future. A new computer using a powerful vid card should have at least 500 watts. Cables A good motherboard should come with all the internal cables you need. If you need more, cannibalize your old system for the rest. Last edited by kutulu; 04-16-2009 at 12:02 PM..