thinkin' of building my own box

[Agent 57]

Soooooooo, I'm thinking that it's finally time for me to get an internet connection for my house, for a few reasons:

1) It would be much more convenient having it at home than only being able to access the 'net from work, the library, or friends' houses.

2) I can finally do stuff on the net that I can't do here at work...like download TV shows, have a comprehensive music library, actually play a PC game or two - stuff like that.

3) The next generation of consoles is at hand. I've felt kinda left out not being part of the whole Xbox Live/PS2 online thing, and since online is going to become such a focus of the next gen, I'm thinking it would be a good thing to actually have the infrastructure in place.


The main reason that I haven't had 'net at my house thus far is that I haven't really needed it - I didn't game online, and my current computer, a 500 MHz G3 iBook I got for my college graduation in 2001, was never much of a beast to begin with (when I lived at home, when I did play Warcraft III I used my brother-in-law's PC because mine wouldn't run it). And now that I'm thinking of getting internet access again, well, that meant I needed a new computer.

So I've spent a good portion of the last couple days on Newegg, pricing components and getting a shitload of advice from a friend of mine who's built a couple of Linux boxes himself, and have put together a nifty little package which I think might turn out pretty good for the purposes I have in mind (webby stuff, music management, the occasional TV show download, and the occasional game).

The box I have ready for purchase at the moment has:

-Athlon XP 2800+ processor running at 2.083 GHz
-1 GB of RAM
-80 GB hard drive
-GeForce 6200 128 MB AGP card
-NEC CD/DVD-RW drive

in addition to:

-Cable modem
-Wireless router
-Wireless card

plus some other miscellaneous stuff (luckily, I already have a monitor)...and the whole thing, including shipping, comes in under $700. I'm planning on running a free distro of Linux on it - my friend uses Debian - and I'll get Wine handy just in case I need to run a Windows program.

Here's why I'm posting this here - does this sound okay? Is this a decent PC for the price, with enough hard disk space, a fast enough processor, etc., etc.? I've never built a computer before and I don't really pay attention to what's hot in the PC hardware world these days. (I'm not particularly worried about the actual assembly and setup - after all, I am a hardware engineer, and a smart enough guy that I should be able to figure this out.)

Thus, some opinions from you guys would be appreciated. Like I said, my cart is all ready to go - I just want to sleep on this and come back in the morning with a few opinions to help finalize the decision. Thanks guys.

[Shellie]

Soooooooo, I'm thinking that it's finally time for me to get an internet connection for my house, for a few reasons:


2) I can finally do stuff on the net that I can't do here at work...like download TV shows, have a comprehensive music library, actually play a PC game or two - stuff like that.

...dowload porn...


Actually, I would say a bigger hard drive. Everything else looks good. Except that since you're putting Linux on it, you're limiting yourself on the games you can run on it. I dont know how well WINE does with running the higher end games...

[Lox]

That sounds like an awesome machine, man. The price sounds pretty good too.

I'd agree with Seraphina about the HD. I download a lot of TV shows, comics, and sometimes rip DVDs and I have a 160GB and a 40GB in mine and I only had 10GB left on the larger drive when I reinstalled a few weeks back.

I'd also recommend getting a 7200RPM HD cuz they just run a little bit faster than a 5400RPM drive.

Other than that, sounds good. If you have any problems getting it put together, feel free to post questions.

[Nev]

Hardware-wise, I don't know what recommend really, though as Sera said, a bigger HD might be good.

Also, if you actually do have a copy of Windows around but you want your main OS to be Unix-based, consider getting a bigger drive, then making two partitions, one for Unix and one for Windows. My guess is that the Windows emulators are pretty slow, and modern boot systems will usually allow you to do a multiple-OS configuration, so you can use Linux most of the time but run Windows natively if you have to.

[Imakeholesinu]

I've recently been looking into revamping my rig soon and also building my girlfriend a girl friendly PC.

The AMD processor is a good start but you need to find a motherboard that will compliment it well. GIGABYTE GA-7N400PRO2 Socket A (Socket 462) NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 ATX AMD Motherboard is the board I would recommend using. I've heard though with nForce boards there has been a couple of compatability issues with nVidia cards (how this works, go figure?) but if you've got another board in mind and think it's better for a better price, go for it I guess.

A Gig of RAM, excellent, finally someone who is savvy enough to know that you can never have too much RAM. Do pay attention to the speed of the RAM, you need to have the correct clock speed of the RAM to get the most out of it. Just because you have a Gig of RAM doesn't necessarily mean it will preform that well. Clockspeeds and Frontside Bus Speeds are all factors in how a PC preforms. The motherboard I recommend has the standard set to PC 3200 or DDR 400. I use PC2700 or DDR 333 with my intel chip. Cruical, Corsair and Rosewill are all good ones. Crucial and Corsair are higher end chips while the Rosewill is the bargin bin but a good chip.

Hard Drive, I'd recommend Western Digital drives and something bigger. The reason why is because the 8MB cache that WD drives come with makes a huge difference in load time. If you go with the Gigabyte board you can also look for an SATA drive. If I could have made it work on my Abit motherboard I'd be using it now. You don't have to deal with the grey ribbon cables of death that clutter your case and make it hard to get to componets for upgrades or switch-outs. You want to look at something atleast in the range of a 120GB 7200RPM drive. IDE or SATA, that's your choice. There are adapters out there for $5 that can convert IDE to SATA.

GeForce 6200 128 MB AGP Card. It's the Vanilla low end card of the nVidia line. I know you aren't looking to be running a full-fledge gaming rig but still, on Newegg, there is a weekend sale on an XFX 6800 board. I've got a BFG Tech 6800 board and I love it. It plays all the games I've got. I know it's 2x the price of the card you are probably looking at but still, $162 to save you from having to upgrade your entire system to a 64 bit processor and then having to buy a new video card and RAM when you have to buy a PCI-Express board next year when a game comes out that you want to run, you may find that the 6200 doesn't have the horse power to make it through next year.

NEC CD/DVD-RW Drive. NEC makes a great drive. Personally I like their preformance and they are reasonably cheap. There is a LiteOn drive also that preformes very well for the price ~$38 on newegg. LiteOn does a supurb drive and is only topped by Plextor, which I will continue to buy for all of my media drives. I love using them, they are really easy and reliable and they've never failed on me. LiteOn is pretty much the same, I've never used LiteOn but people in my LAN community love the drives they have by them. Don't bother with the SATA versions though, those are too expensive.

Hopefully this helps. Also, if you are going to get a cable modem, be sure to ask them how to bridge the connection so you can use the router. SBC changed modems and I had to call their tech support to learn how to bridge their modem, which comes with it's own hardware firewall, so that my netgear wireless router would work.

Also, if you've got a laptop that will be using the wireless feature then I would stick with it, but I wouldn't go with a wireless router if you've only got one PC. Quite frankly it's a waste of money if you only have one rig, but if you are thinking of getting multiple PC's on the network then go for it.

Routers and Adapters.

I use a Netgear Wireless G router 4port switch and other than a couple connection drops and a slightly finicky interface, it does it's job. It's pretty self-explanitory to open and close ports on it. The wireless feature works pretty well and I've only had the actual connection drop between my USB adapter and the router twice in the month and a half I've been using it.

While I use Netgear, I LOVE Linksys. I have a Linksys Wireless G USB adapter. I pick up two networks from this thing in my apartment, mine and someone elses in the complex, and when I was housesitting over the summer, I had to use the network that was literally 3 houses away from me to log on to the internet and I was able to and play games with a ping of 40ms (which is pretty good on a wireless connection). At my mom's place I use a linksys 4 port switch as her firewall and I love it with the SBC DSL we have. Needless to say, I love linksys for small networks and Netgear works fine. STAY AWAY FROM BELKIN! My dad had a belkin router and it would forget the login and password settings for the DSL modem after 5 minutes of use.

Since you are looking to build this PC from scratch as well, you need a good case with a good power supply. A power supply, you'd be looking at something from Antec in my opinion. Reason being because they are the best and they are the quietest. You pick up some no-name brand power supply and it's like 5 lbs lighter for a reason. Your a hardware engineer you know what I'm talking about. Case, pick one you like with the right stuff you want. Do you want front audio jacks to plug in headphones? What about the possibility of a future USB Joystick or gamepad? A front jack maybe ideal for an easy iPod connection or thumb drive.

Some other questions, do you use an flash or smart media for digital cameras? They have ports for that as well that is about the size of a floppy drive port that have all of the drives for just about everytype of flash media.

Again, hope all of this helps.

[SineSwiper]

Get a Linksys router and reload it with the modified Linux firmware. While enabling the feature is against FCC regulations, you can turn up the juice with that firmware and get up to 2-3 miles of distance, possibly more if you have a directional cone.

And yes, Belkin is total shit. Terrible tech support and shitty hardware. Only stick with the big three: Linksys, Netgear, D-Link. I'd recommend Linksys because it comes with a Linux core, which some people have modified for a lot of nice features.

[Lox]

Get a Linksys router and reload it with the modified Linux firmware. While enabling the feature is against FCC regulations, you can turn up the juice with that firmware and get up to 2-3 miles of distance, possibly more if you have a directional cone.

And yes, Belkin is total shit. Terrible tech support and shitty hardware. Only stick with the big three: Linksys, Netgear, D-Link. I'd recommend Linksys because it comes with a Linux core, which some people have modified for a lot of nice features.

Yeah, I have a Belkin wireless card in my PC and it's horrible but my D-Link router is nice.

[Torgo]

If you're going the AMD route, why not try the Athlon64? The Athlon64 2800 costs $15 less than the XP 2800. It runs at a slightly slower speed (1.8GHz), but I doubt it's all that noticable. You'll also have the option for a cheap upgrade later on, since it's the slowest of the Athlon64 line. I got one about a year ago with the intent to upgrade to a 3200 with 1MB L2 cache, but I'm still satisfied with this one.

Oh, and that NEC is a great choice. So much quality at very little cost. I'm tempted to buy another one just because it kicks so much ass. Relatively quiet too.

[kali o.]

I'll be quick:

- Updated to a 6200 myself when BF2 came out (PS - Barret, your BF stats suck ya medwhore . It was a quick purchase - the only half decent price/card the store had in stock at the time, and I wanted to play that night. I regret the purchase somewhat and if you can afford a bit more, go for a better card....PCI-E preferably.

- I'll agree on the NVIDIA board if they carry it. I didn't notice any compatibility issues with the the office box I built (I believe it was a 6800 Ultra PCI-E or something). *Edit: No, it was GT.*

- Double the ram if the price is OK.

- Bigger hard drive if you can. I'm at 180gig total and I am running low (but that's me, I download alot of TV eps and stuff). Or buy dual drives drives and keep one of them as a pirated XP.

[Agent 57]

Hey everyone, thanks a lot for your replies. I guess I should have been a bit more specific on exactly what was what in this machine, so I copied my cart here for further inspection - and I'll reply to some of the suggestions you guys have made.


NEC Beige IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3520A BG - OEM
$38.99
Not complaining here. Price is right for the NEC Drive.

Ever Case E4252-91 Beige Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$33.50
Cheap case, good reviews, no crappy power supply to pull out.

SAMSUNG White 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM
$7.99
Still gotta have a floppy drive, unfortunately.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST380011A 80GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM
$58.00
I could upgrade to a 160GB drive with an 8MB cache for $80. I would kind of like to get into the whole downloading anime thing...and it *is* only $22 extra. Something to think about.

MOTOROLA SB5100 64 QAM: 5.069 Msym/s; 256 QAM: 5.361 Msym/s Surfboard DOCSIS 2.0 Cable Modem - Retail
$54.99
Pretty sure this modem will do fine.

Foxconn 748K7AA Socket A (Socket 462) SiS 748 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
$37.00
Here's the biggie right here (the whole comp starts with the mobo, after all). With the processor that was recommended to me, this was the best reviewed board for the cheapest price. The one thing that does kind of worry me is that since it's Socket A and has no PCI-E slots, my upgrade possibilities are rather limited - but then again, this is a budget box and I'm not really going to be looking to go crazy with this thing (after all, since I'll most likely have all three next-gen consoles, what do I need a high-end PC for?).

I guess my question here is: is a faster processor, more than 3 GB of RAM, and PCI-E really going to be that important to a light user like me?

NETGEAR WG311T PCI Wireless Adapter - Retail
$51.99
Getting back to the wireless thing, the reason I'm going that direction in the first place, even though I'll only have one PC, is for the console hookups once I get them. The 360 already has a wireless adapter listed in its accessory list, and I doubt the PS3 and Rev will be any different. It will also be really nice to stick my cable modem and wireless router in my upstairs closet, and then not have to worry about running cables all over the damn house!

Leadtek A6200TDH-128MB Geforce 6200 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail
$69.00
As I said, I'm likely not going to game with this machine, so I'm not really sure what the use is going to be of spending $150+ on the video card.

SPARKLE ATX-400PA ATX12V 400Watts Power Supply,24pin & 4pin, SATA - OEM
$43.99
The Sparkle brand was recommended by my friend, and is cheaper than an Antec supply.

ARCTIC COOLING Copper Silent 2L 80mm CPU Cooler for Socket A - Retail
$19.99
Processor I chose doesn't come with a heatsink.

LITE-ON SK-1688U/B Black USB Wired Standard Keyboard - Retail
$6.29
Don't have a PC keyboard (have a USB optical mouse).

D-Link DI-524 IEEE 802.11b/g,802.3/3u Wireless Router - Retail
$41.00
D-Link also comes friend-recommended. (And there's a $20 mail-in rebate, too.)

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model
$84.50
Corsair 2 X 1 GB DDR 400 RAM costs $216. I'm pretty sure that the machine I use here at *work*, to run machine-intense engineering applications, has 2 GB of RAM. I doubt I'll need that much surfing the web at home.

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton 266MHz FSB Socket A Processor Model AXDA2800DKV4C - OEM
$88.00
The only difference between this one and the next Athlon Socket A processor up is that the other one has a 333MHz FSB and includes the heatsink and fan - for an extra $48. Not worth it.

Subtotal: $635.23, plus shipping's about $50.


So, after going through this whole thing, I'm feeling pretty good about this machine...although, I believe I am going to take your advice in the hard drive department and go with a 160GB/7200RPM/8MB cache model (will probably end up going with the Western Digital, it's $5 cheaper than the comparable Seagate).

Thanks again for all your help!

[Imakeholesinu]

WD FOR THE WIN!!!!!

[Zeus]

There's a great LG DVD-ROM (Super Multi I think) that's only $70 cdn right now OEM, so it's going to be about the same price. I've had it for a year and it's awesome. On top of that, it does dual-layer (only 2.4x). LG is a great brand, I strongly recommend it

Also, upgrade the HD to 160GB, especially for that little. I download tons of TV shows and some anime and from a guy who's working with only 52GB, it's worth it. You can never have enough HD space. That way you won't have to burn off stuff (or delete) as quickly.


I've had an AMD for 5+ years now and no issue at all. I luvs my processor, luvs my processor (cartoon from Bowling for Columbine :-).

[Shellie]

Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST380011A 80GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM
$58.00
I could upgrade to a 160GB drive with an 8MB cache for $80. I would kind of like to get into the whole downloading anime thing...and it *is* only $22 extra. Something to think about.

Get a Western Digital 7200 with 8mb cache. They arent that much more than Seagate, but they are a much better brand.

MOTOROLA SB5100 64 QAM: 5.069 Msym/s; 256 QAM: 5.361 Msym/s Surfboard DOCSIS 2.0 Cable Modem - Retail
$54.99
Pretty sure this modem will do fine.

Before you buy a cable modem check with your cable company....I know we give you a cable modem for free with service. No sense in buying a cable modem if you dont have to.

Foxconn 748K7AA Socket A (Socket 462) SiS 748 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
$37.00
Here's the biggie right here (the whole comp starts with the mobo, after all). With the processor that was recommended to me, this was the best reviewed board for the cheapest price. The one thing that does kind of worry me is that since it's Socket A and has no PCI-E slots, my upgrade possibilities are rather limited - but then again, this is a budget box and I'm not really going to be looking to go crazy with this thing (after all, since I'll most likely have all three next-gen consoles, what do I need a high-end PC for?).

I guess my question here is: is a faster processor, more than 3 GB of RAM, and PCI-E really going to be that important to a light user like me?

I havent priced the PCI-E mobo's vs the reg PCI's but I think it's been out long enough that the price cant be that much more. The more RAM the better, but I dont htink you need 3GB of ram Im running on 1G right now and have no problems running WOW which runs smooth, and I can "alt-tab" back and forth with no problems. Besides if youre gonna run Linux, youre not gonna need as much RAM since its not as much of a memory hog as Windows is. I still think you shoud run Windows or at least dual boot though...[/quote]

NETGEAR WG311T PCI Wireless Adapter - Retail
$51.99
Getting back to the wireless thing, the reason I'm going that direction in the first place, even though I'll only have one PC, is for the console hookups once I get them. The 360 already has a wireless adapter listed in its accessory list, and I doubt the PS3 and Rev will be any different. It will also be really nice to stick my cable modem and wireless router in my upstairs closet, and then not have to worry about running cables all over the damn house!

I wouldnt do Wireless on your main PC, ESPECIALLY if you're going to have the router on another floor. I would be worried that the connection wouldnt be rock solid and as fast because of the interferrence between floors. That would be bad for online gaming.

Leadtek A6200TDH-128MB Geforce 6200 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail
$69.00
As I said, I'm likely not going to game with this machine, so I'm not really sure what the use is going to be of spending $150+ on the video card.

Shop around, I bought my 256MB for about 110 I think. Theyre much cheaper now.

So, after going through this whole thing, I'm feeling pretty good about this machine...although, I believe I am going to take your advice in the hard drive department and go with a 160GB/7200RPM/8MB cache model (will probably end up going with the Western Digital, it's $5 cheaper than the comparable Seagate).

Didnt catch that..yes the bigger the HD the better. WIth your cable modem connection youre going to get youll be filling it up quick enough. We have a few 100+GB HDs between out 2 PC's and network file server.

I love building PCs...so if you need any help, ask!

The hardest part, I think, is connecting the mobo to the case. The wiring diagrams and the case diagrams never match up for me, so I end up guessing on a lot of stuff, like front usb ports, audio ports on the case, etc. Everything else is simple.[/quote]

[Shellie]

BTW, where are you buying all this? I hope Newegg....

[SineSwiper]

I'd still say go for the Linksys 802.1-G router. It's always good to have customability, and it's a good router besides. I wouldn't go for the wireless connection to your PC. Instead, get a wired connection and put the router close to the computer. The router manual recommends that you do stuff like firmware upgrades and configuration on a WIRED connection.

Dual-boot with Linux and Windows. WINE is great (even runs DVD Shrink to some degree), but it only runs on a limited number of games. You can still make Linux your main OS, and switch to Windows only when you have to, but I'd still recommend it if this is your sole machine, and you're playing games. (I can't get Gunbound to work on WINE, unforunately.) Although, if you're not going to game on this, Linux + WINE will work just fine. Most of the apps for Windows have free and really good alternatives for X, and anything else can be done with WINE.

I agree with Shellie on the WD hard drive. Seagate isn't bad, but it's not all that great either. If you run across a Maxstor, please be sure to boil the HD in acid, okay? This prevents you from putting data on such a fucking unrelible device.

Motorola is fine @ DOCSIS 2.0, but yeah, your ISP may give you a modem for free anyway. Just make sure it isn't something like an old 3Com or COM21 (they don't make modems anymore as of 4-5 year ago). Anything DOCSIS 2.0 will work just fine; RCA, Motorola, Arris, etc.

[Zeus]

I've bought nothing but Maxtors in the last 6 years and only had to return one once 'cause it had a prob off the bat. What's wrong with them? Mine have been rocks

[Kitch]

have you looked on e-bay (no, seriously... stop sniggering at the back)

I got my current system off an e-bay trader as a barebones and slapped a few bits on it.

I have an AMD3000XP on an Asrock K7 mobo, 1gb RAM, Nvidia 5700 256mb GFX, 1x 80gb Western Digital HD, 1x 60 gb Western Digital HD. (I prefer two HD's to keep o/s and personal stuff seperate)

This cost me around £250 off ebay so thats around $500 tops.

Newegg are good, but I think they overcharge for components. I wouldnt build a system ground up unless I wanted something very specific, Id just pick up a barebones with the spec I wanted at a ridiculously cheap price and add stuff to it.

Consider it as an option.

[SineSwiper]

I've bought nothing but Maxtors in the last 6 years and only had to return one once 'cause it had a prob off the bat. What's wrong with them? Mine have been rocks

They usually fail afer 6 months. A year tops. That's been the story with any Maxstors I've had. They are cheap ass HDs with cheap parts.

[Shellie]

What's wrong with them? Mine have been rocks

Every one Ive ever owned turned into a rock

[Zeus]

I've bought nothing but Maxtors in the last 6 years and only had to return one once 'cause it had a prob off the bat. What's wrong with them? Mine have been rocks

They usually fail afer 6 months. A year tops. That's been the story with any Maxstors I've had. They are cheap ass HDs with cheap parts.

I've had the same one for 5 years and it's been great. All my friends have been using them for years too and we've never really had many issues and the few times we have, we called them up, gave them the error code, and they sent us a new one. Now much more I can ask for. Maybe you've just had bad luck with them?

[Torgo]

Maxtors are a mixed bag from my experience. I'm using a 60 gig that I got back in 2001 for media storage and it still works fine(though I'll probably get a new one thanks to this thread). However, a 40 gig that I purchased from my friend (which he got in around 2003, I think) crapped out 3 months after I got it.

[Zeus]

Maxtors are a mixed bag from my experience. I'm using a 60 gig that I got back in 2001 for media storage and it still works fine(though I'll probably get a new one thanks to this thread). However, a 40 gig that I purchased from my friend (which he got in around 2003, I think) crapped out 3 months after I got it.

I've been using the same 40GB since 2000. Up here, Maxtors have a great rep

[Lox]

Get a Linksys router and reload it with the modified Linux firmware. While enabling the feature is against FCC regulations, you can turn up the juice with that firmware and get up to 2-3 miles of distance, possibly more if you have a directional cone.

I'm curious about this. Can you point in the general direction?

[SineSwiper]

I'm curious about this. Can you point in the general direction? :)

Here's a good starting place. Most of these are able to boost signal and add security/stability to the wireless connection, as well as stuff like traceroute/ping and Samba shares.

[Shellie]

If you havent already built your box..wait a lil while, AMD prices are going down on the 24th

http://www.juicemedia.com.au/AMD/051019 ... _oct05.htm

[Nev]

Maxtors are a mixed bag from my experience. I'm using a 60 gig that I got back in 2001 for media storage and it still works fine(though I'll probably get a new one thanks to this thread). However, a 40 gig that I purchased from my friend (which he got in around 2003, I think) crapped out 3 months after I got it.

I've been using the same 40GB since 2000. Up here, Maxtors have a great rep

Dear Lord, man. How do you not run out of space?

I think there are socks nowadays that have more than 40GB of storage space.

[SineSwiper]

Dear Lord, man. How do you not run out of space?

Well, not wasting all of that space on DVD & movies would be a good start. That's really the only reason why people buy bigger HDs nowadays.