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Want a new CPU and mainboard

t0rek

t0rek

Wilson's Friend
Any ATX case with a 350 or 400 Watts PSU will be fine. There a lot of case styles, so pick up one you like, it is a good idea to get one that has USB ports in front of it, or Firewire if you need them. A videocard... it should be ATI or nvidia based card, but the model depends upond your budgte and needs, because they range from, let's say $50 and $500
 
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bcrew1375

New member
Hmm, having trouble deciding which case to get. I really don't want to buy something and find out I can't use it. I guess I'll just have to take a deep breath and choose one :(
 
Doomulation

Doomulation

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It shouldn't be hard. As long as the case supports the standard that the motherboard uses (in this case, probably ATX), then it will do fine. You can also buy a PSU seperatly if you want to have a little control over that.
A good thing to note is also air circulation inside the case. A case with many fans is better than a case with few fans.

As for video cards... for nVidia, you would want something like Geforce 6600 GT or something like 7600. I think those are the current budget cards.
 
Flash

Flash

Technomage
bcrew1375 said:
Okay, right now I am set to get these three:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811166015(Would get black, but they're out of stock :()
Click to expand...
To tell you the truth, i don't like it. $90 for a case with mediocre PSU ? And it (PSU) sounds like jet fighter. :plain:

It's better to get this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811166005 (w/o PSU)

And this PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103932

Expensive, i know :) But it's the best PSU you can get.
 
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bcrew1375

New member
Does the brand of PSU affect anything aside from lifespan? I don't much like the idea of spending $200 on a case and PSU. I think $90 is bad enough. The case I have now only costed me $35 when I got it and it's still running strong with no power problems whatsoever. Would I actually even need a full case for the motherboard I linked?
 
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arnalion

arnalion

Nintendo Fan
You don't need a fulltower. If the case supports ATX and the motherboard is ATX would there be no problem. Fulltowers are extremely big.
 
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bcrew1375

New member
Okay, I've placed my order. Hopefully everything will fit together nicely :). Thanks for all the suggestions. BTW, is eVGA a good video card manufacturer?
 
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bcrew1375

New member
Got my parts yesterday. I put everything together, and turned it on. It powered on fine, all the fans were spinning, everything seems okay so far. I had planned on using the RAM from my desktop, which I thought used 2100. Unfortunately, I realized too late that I was thinking about my notebook, and my desktop actually had some much older RAM(but still 184 pins). So, I guess I'll have to go out and buy a stick or two tomorrow. Is K-Byte a good brand? I really wanted to use it tonight, but I'm just happy it didn't blow up in my face :). Let's see... I think this makes the 4th computer I've built, and I'm still a little shaky and over-cautious when putting them together :p.
 
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TerraPhantm

New member
How much are you willing to spend? I personally like TCCD based memory, because they tend to be able to get really high clocks for DDR 1. My sticks can go to about 330 before I start having ram related problems.
 
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bcrew1375

New member
Meh, I just bought a 1 gig stick of Kingston PC2700. Everything is up and running now. I had to reinstall Windows naturally, so I'm in the process of restoring everything. I have yet to push the system.
 
Doomulation

Doomulation

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PC2700? Why? AMD systems can support PC3200, which is much better than PC2700 and Intel systems can support DDR2. A high memory speed is a good thing.
 
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bcrew1375

New member
Good question. I was in a rush when I bought it, and didn't really think about it. I wonder if I can return it? :/
 
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bcrew1375

New member
I've encountered my first problem. It's a sound card issue. I would use the onboard audio, but it's a Realtek AC97, and I've heard nothing but bad things about them, and it wouldn't work when I did try it. So, I made sure to disable it in the BIOS and I planned on using my old ESS Canyon 3D 2. It served me well with my old desktop. It plays sound, but every once in a while, the sound will skip. When I try playing videos, the videos will freeze for a second, then play through at a really fast speed, then play normal for a few seconds. I've installed the same drivers I used before. All of Windows settings are the same as last time I used the card. The only thing I figure could really be affecting it is the change in motherboard. The motherboard is DFI NF4-DAGF. So, I looked for some motherboard problems. I found something I hadn't heard of before. I heard that some motherboards need to have the PCI clock locked, though this should only change anything if you do any overclocking, which I haven't. For a while I was thinking it might be a IRQ conflict, but I'm not so sure anymore. I checked my PCI speed with ClockGen and it tells me it is 33.49. Though that is a very small amount, I'm wondering if it could be the cause of the problem, and if so, how can I fix it? BTW, I'm 99% certain this is a sound card issue because if I uninstall the card in Device Manager, videos play fine.
 
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Doomulation

Doomulation

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There is nothing wrong with onboard sound. Realtek AC97 isn't a bad sound card either. Those who say that either live in the past or are just plain stupid. I, myself, have a Realtek AC97 and my sound is just fine!
 
Doomulation

Doomulation

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Basic troubleshooting: is it enabled in BIOS? Do you have correct drivers installed for the sound card on your motherboard? I hope other basic things such as volume is muted or turned down to minimum isn't there.
 
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