daddy's getting his own computer

[outbreak]

Den... were over budget! All ya have to do is get the video card down to a 9400GT on sale at Fry's for $50 or a ATI 4350, get the ram down a bit with 800 and who needs a $120 cooling system. This guy probably will not overclock(total of APPR. $150 savings). Bingo!!!! Right at $800 and still a stout system.

There is no mention of a cooling system the part that says PC Power & Cooling if you notice is beside the words PSU (Power Supply Unit).

[mRex]

I have been wanting a new system as well but not sure now is a good time.
With the E8700 coming out and Intel cutting prices pretty sure we will see a price
cut on the E8400 and 8500.  Doubt they drop the 8600 more than $20 or $30
dollors. Would most of you wait a week or two and see what is going to happen?

[Getback]

You won't break anything Captdan. Just take your time. Wasn't it Baldeagle that studied the components and the process of building a machine for 3 months prior to actually building one?

Most errors are the simple result of not getting the connections in completely. What took the longest for me was getting the fan on correctly. That was because I put the fan on after I put the mainboard in the case and it was a big heatsink and fan.

I never saw the budget amount. I looked through the thread a couple of times. Over lightly though.

What you can do to cut costs is skip the sound card until later and use Windows XP home. That will save you about $130. Yeah I know xp pro is better but I play with XP home. Seems to do well. Also a sound card is better but you can get by with on board sound for a while as long as you keep your system clean of any junk. The E8400 can handle it.

Here's a quick overview on how to build:

1. Assemble the mainboard. Insert your CPU, heatsink and fan. Insert your ram. Both the CPU and ram only go in one way. The CPU should literally drop in.

2. Put in your Power supply.

3. Some cases have modules that pop out for the hard drives and DVD Roms. If not put these in next. If so then you can put your mainboard in next.

4.Once the mainboard is in connect the Power supply cables to the fans, drives, and of course the mainboard.

5.Then put in your video card and sound card. Now this can be done intermittently with step 4 depending on convenience of cable but definitely hook up your mainbard first. Otherwise you may have trouble getting to the connections.

6. Put your operating system in the DVD drive and turn it on. Oh, make sure in the bios, (see instructions for that) that you have it boot from the CD/DVD drive first.

I may have left off a couple of minor steps but this is about it. Hopefully others will fill in the blanks.

Addendum: Don't be fooled by the 6 steps. It takes time to hook up all the cables and get the components in correctly. Just take a break every now and then. It will probably take you all day or longer.

[drdeathx]

There is no mention of a cooling system the part that says PC Power & Cooling if you notice is beside the words PSU (Power Supply Unit).

Nice catch outbreak. Just read the PC power and cooling. Sometimes I fall into the trap but lately have been better. My apologies Denholm on the Cooling! But you can definitely save $50 there. There are great deals on decent PSU's for around $60.


 

[Denholm]

That PSU is $70 after the rebate.....

[BaldEagl]

I have been wanting a new system as well but not sure now is a good time.
With the E8700 coming out and Intel cutting prices pretty sure we will see a price
cut on the E8400 and 8500.  Doubt they drop the 8600 more than $20 or $30
dollors. Would most of you wait a week or two and see what is going to happen?

I think it's Fulmer who said the Intel lowers prices in January and June (?).  They just dropped pricing on several CPU's (mostly quad cores) so if that's correct I wouldn't expect another drop for several months.

[mRex]

No word yet on a release date or expected price point, though don't be surprised to find another round of Core 2 Duo price cuts when the E8700 makes its debut.

Hoping it happens soon.

[drdeathx]

I think it's Fulmer who said the Intel lowers prices in January and June (?).  They just dropped pricing on several CPU's (mostly quad cores) so if that's correct I wouldn't expect another drop for several months.

The price drop traditionally over many years is in direct response to AMD's releases although Intel says they are not. They us fooling you if we buy into this rhetoric. A week or so after the Phenom II release, Intel dropped the prices pretty much because the Phenom 940 matched up with the Q9400. Most lower end Intel processors dropped almost 40% while the Entry level i7 920 is priced at around $300(Rumor has it will drop to about $240). I believe the E8400 Wolfdale is priced at $165(Smokin deal!).

[Getback]

There is no mention of a cooling system the part that says PC Power & Cooling if you notice is beside the words PSU (Power Supply Unit).

Heat sink and fan come with the chip. It's not great but it works.

[Max]

captdan:

be sure to budget for WinXP Pro....$139

I built my 1st rig a year ago. It's really pretty simple. Configuring the components will take you 2 hrs +/- Installing OS and initial set-up will be another hr.

If you do decide to build, as others have said, consider the Antec 900. It's roomy, great air flow and the flex-bay system makes it a breeze when it comes to mounting hard drives, DVD-CD burners, etc.

Post any questions here...plenty of folks ready to help you.

[drdeathx]

captdan:

be sure to budget for WinXP Pro....$139

I built my 1st rig a year ago. It's really pretty simple. Configuring the components will take you 2 hrs +/- Installing OS and initial set-up will be another hr.

If you do decide to build, as others have said, consider the Antec 900. It's roomy, great air flow and the flex-bay system makes it a breeze when it comes to mounting hard drives, DVD-CD burners, etc.

Post any questions here...plenty of folks ready to help you.

Would not recommend Antec 900. My GTX280 barely fits but I have a lot of accessories in the front. (CD/DVD/Liquid cooled and 2 Hardrives)/ I would think someone makes a little deeper case?

[TilDeath]

Would not recommend Antec 900. My GTX280 barely fits but I have a lot of accessories in the front. (CD/DVD/Liquid cooled and 2 Hardrives)/ I would think someone makes a little deeper case?

Airflow Airflow Airflow... even if your using liquid your still not liquid cooling your MB (although Koollance does make a MB liquid cooler), HD (in most cases) Memory (again in most cases).  You have to have airflow for a systems life span esp if your overclocking.

[TilDeath]

I have been wanting a new system as well but not sure now is a good time.
With the E8700 coming out and Intel cutting prices pretty sure we will see a price
cut on the E8400 and 8500.  Doubt they drop the 8600 more than $20 or $30
dollors. Would most of you wait a week or two and see what is going to happen?

Price drops now will be monies to the stores (rebates but not for the consumer)  The next big price drop will be when the i5's are released sometime in the 3rd quarter of the year.

[drdeathx]

Airflow Airflow Airflow... even if your using liquid your still not liquid cooling your MB (although Koollance does make a MB liquid cooler), HD (in most cases) Memory (again in most cases).  You have to have airflow for a systems life span esp if your overclocking.

Tildeath that wasn't the point. I bought the 900 for airflow, but if you read my response my accessories inside is a tight fit. The radiator best fits in center and gets max airflow to cool it. It is a real tight fit with my GTX280(which I put in 1st 16X slot for airflow) and I think the 9800GTX measures the same size. This was not any kind of response to not get the Antec 900 besause of air flow(have no idea where you got that). I again would not recommend the 900 if you intend to put a lot of hardware in the front of the case. The video card can be a tight fit. If you purchase a deeper case with proper fans you will probably get better airflow than the Antec 900. If there was anything I would have done differently when I built my computer, It would be a different case.

[drdeathx]

Price drops now will be monies to the stores (rebates but not for the consumer)  The next big price drop will be when the i5's are released sometime in the 3rd quarter of the year.

Wait till AMD releases socket AM3+. Intel will lower prices some more, expecially if sales remain stagnant.. They are due to release within the next few months unless they pushed any of the dates back. The first are due Feburary and there are more releases though June. You will also most likely see the mobos that support i7 come down if the Socket AM3+ benchmark well.

Mrex, the E8400 Wofdale is $165. That is an incredible price for that processor.