Gateway since they damn near went bankrupt starting cutting quality before other things.

I miss the old Gateway. I still have an old 500S (IIRC) desktop from '02 that has never missed a beat. But as the saying goes, they sure don't make tham like they used to.

I wrote a beginner's PC building guide a while back. It doesn't cover the latest things such as i7, but is applicable to the matter at hand IMHO.

PC Building Guide

Part of the reason for building a computer and not buying a Dell, perhaps even the number one reason, is the fun and enjoyment one gets from building the PC. Other good reasons include knowing exactly what's in your PC, possibly saving money, and tailoring it exactly to your needs and desires.

For tech people like us that want to know more than just use the system for game playing or web surfing building is great, but most people do not care about that and want a reliable unit that will meet their needs. DELL does a great job there.

For the individual who said why not Gateway, it is probably the same reason as Dodgefan thinks dells are garbage, bad experiance. It sounds like Dodgefan had a cheap entery level unit and I have heard some horror stories about the early days of dell and cheap systems. Yet for the most part now aday the systems just rock from DELL and especially from the outlet store.

To each his own as I respect you all from those that love building to those that love anything but DELL. I value my time with friends and family and as such, will spend a bit more to buy a higher end DELL and know for 3 years if anything goes wrong it is covered and I can get everything done.

My personal unit I just upgraded to 8GB of ram and run 64 bit Vista and it totally rocks from game play to my work.

Over all gotta love the computer world. So many options and not enough time to explore them all.

Yes, welcome back toyoguy.

I've dealt with Dell's business machines as well as their home systems. It's just been my experience that far too many of them had problems...hardware and software related to want to ever bother with them.

See Dodgefan you see DELL as having problems and yet I deal with DELL, HP & IBM every day, IBM for the last year has had the most problems and then HP and DELL is last.

If you asked me two years ago I would have put HP at the top for problems, DELL in the middle and IBM at the bottom. Yet Lenovo seems to have really messed things up for IBM.

But over all I have had nothing but awesome experiance with DELL units. I will continue to stay with laptops and desktops from DELL.

See Dodgefan you see DELL as having problems and yet I deal with DELL, HP & IBM every day, IBM for the last year has had the most problems and then HP and DELL is last.

If you asked me two years ago I would have put HP at the top for problems, DELL in the middle and IBM at the bottom. Yet Lenovo seems to have really messed things up for IBM.

But over all I have had nothing but awesome experiance with DELL units. I will continue to stay with laptops and desktops from DELL.

Place I worked with over the summer had 6 brand new Optiplex desktops...had to send 2 of them back for hardware failure.

Most recent example.

we had a powersource failure in an optiplex

but at the same time we had a dell server last 5 years until the SCSI control $h!ted

The cheap Dell's can be a hassle. I've had to replace hard drives on 6 of them at work over the course of 2 years. It was because they sourced some cheap Maxtor drives that loved to corrupt and/or fail when power was interrupted. I doubt it's as much of a problem on the new ones now unless Dell has a giant stock of old Maxtor drives, and I'm sure the more expensive units use better drives.

That's incredibly well done! The cable routing bit is cool too, because when I did my first build, I just crammed all my shiznit into the box, and never got around to tidying it up.

Thanks! The cable routing was difficult with that PC, since it was a cheapo build for one of my work computers. The power connectors on the motherboard especially were poorly placed. When I purchase parts for myself I pay attention to those locations so I know I can do a clean build without wires hanging over everywhere.

*raises hand*

You may refer to me as awesome.

Well what are you looking to spend? Give me a number to work with.

I've got $500-$600 to work with, more if work picks up soon. I know that's a retardedly low number, but I already have all the monitors, keyboards, mice, speakers and steering wheels I need; I just need a case and all of the fun stuff that goes inside of it to make it work. (God I sound like a n00b. )

as per the monitor, what kinda resolution do you play on? 1***x7** , 12**x10** higher than that? widescreen? that would help determine what kind of Video card you need.

Alrighty Mr. Awesome Dodgefan, I'm looking to play Rigs of Rods and the system requirements are as follows:

Wow! That game title caught my attention!

Wow! That game title caught my attention!

Me too....

While Rigs of Rods is great, it simply can't beat Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing.

Plus, 5-600 bucks should net you a better computer than the one you listed WMJ, if you build it yourself.

Anyone have any video card recommendations for me? I haven't built a pc in years and don't follow which graphics card the cool kids are using these days.

I game but no first person shooters. Civ IV overwhelms my old desktop's GeForce 6,000 something.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-phenom-i...e-review-am3/26

Do some math with me:

* 790FX/GX motherboard 125 USD

* Phenom II X3 720 BE 145 USD

* 2x2GB DDR2 800 MHz 50 USD

* Radeon HD 4850 150 USD

* Power supply 550 Watt 55 USD

* Chassis 50 USD

* 500 GB HDD 55 USD

Grand total: 630,- USD

i'd prolly just get 1066 ddr2, and maybe just a 4830... prolly shave about $20 off or so of that total.

Anyone have any video card recommendations for me? I haven't built a pc in years and don't follow which graphics card the cool kids are using these days.

I game but no first person shooters. Civ IV overwhelms my old desktop's GeForce 6,000 something.

either a 9500 or 9600 Nvidia, or a 4670/4650 radeon.... unless you don't have PCI Express...?

either a 9500 or 9600 Nvidia, or a 4670/4650 radeon.... unless you don't have PCI Express...?

AGP. I'd like to avoid buying a whole new rig.

AGP. I'd like to avoid buying a whole new rig.

The NVIDIA 7600 GT was the best bang for the buck AGP in the market about two years ago. That is what I upgraded my AGP rig with. I think it has 256MB GDDR2 and a clock speed of 500 odd MHZ for about $130 and change. ATI X1900XT was a good one too.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-phenom-i...e-review-am3/26

i'd prolly just get 1066 ddr2, and maybe just a 4830... prolly shave about $20 off or so of that total.

That's amazing! 3.5 GHz OC'd on a 145 dollar processor is too cool.

AGP. I'd like to avoid buying a whole new rig.

If you mainly play games like Civilization IV, then an ATI 3850 should be sufficient for a while.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....mp;Order=PRICED

The Sapphire card is probably the best pick because it's a single slot, and because it seems to have better driver support than the HIS models.

The two games I want to play are Civ IV: Colonization and Star Trek: Legacy.

The two games I want to play are Civ IV: Colonization and Star Trek: Legacy.

Then the 3850's in that 'newegg' link should be sufficient for a while. Plus, if your expectations are reasonable, then even some upcoming games will run on lower resolutions, with some of the eye candy turned down.

Then the 3850's in that 'newegg' link should be sufficient for a while. Plus, if your expectations are reasonable, then even some upcoming games will run on lower resolutions, with some of the eye candy turned down.

oh they run fine now...... as long as I turn the graphics down to Atari 2600 levels.

oh they run fine now...... as long as I turn the graphics down to Atari 2600 levels.

One thing to maybe look at is the wattage of your computer's power supply. I don't think the 3850's or similar cards are especially power hungry, but it'd be worth it to check just in case.

Edit: Looks liek AMD recommends a 450W supply, and of course, it'll need a six pin 'PCI-e' connector.

Edited February 9, 200916 yr by Captainbooyah

The two games I want to play are Civ IV: Colonization and Star Trek: Legacy.

i used to play civ 4... I have an X800pro... i wanted to play on the biggest worlds.. it required more than the 128 mb vram my 9600AIW had. sadly that 3850 will be serious overkill, but ok..?

Olds... unless you're playing at high res's..over 12xx X 10xx, These 3650's should be fine.

Ok question... has anyone here made a computer with a cardboard box, and not have it catch on fire?

Well it has been done apparently: http://flickr.com/photos/access/2245448399/

Well that's somewhat encouraging. I just wonder how big of a cardboard box I'd need for an overclocked Phenom 940, and two Radeon 4850's.

Cardboard PC = FTW!

It can look intimidating, but I can safely say that it's much, much easier to assemble a computer, and get it running than rebuilding a carb, or even fooling around in my truck's engine bay.

For about 488 bucks, including basic UPS shipping to Minnesota, you can build yourself a beast in a box that will meet your needs. I doubt CompUSA will be able to match this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128381

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103649

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814127394

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231122

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817341010

Take the CD drive, and the Hard Drive from your computer, throw them into this, and you should be good to go. You'll want to back up your important files and then reformat the Hard Drive with a copy of either Windows XP, or Vista, whichever one you own.

Chances are, Dodgefan could probably come up with an even more killer combo because he knows more about AMD than I do.

That's an important thing I forgot to ask. Do you already own a copy of Windows XP or Vista? Cuz that's $100 off the price right there.

Also, is your CD drive any good? What about the HD? What size is it? Are both of these IDE or SATA?

That's an important thing I forgot to ask. Do you already own a copy of Windows XP or Vista? Cuz that's $100 off the price right there.

I didn't include it in the price because I figured WMJ had a copy of either hanging around. If it were included. I figured he could also use his current case, which also keeps the price low.

I didn't include it in the price because I figured WMJ had a copy of either hanging around. If it were included. I figured he could also use his current case, which also keeps the price low.

If his case fits the new stuff. Is it ATX? I didn't even notice if he said or not.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820145165

CORSAIR Dominator 2GB better timings pair for $5 more after MIR. lol

one can find a decent case (good airflow) for ~$40-50, but yes that adds another 15 for shipping. just an option

Well you've got a copy of XP so I can knock $100 off the build price right there. The other stuff is crap so I'll include new ones when I spec out your replacement.

Well you've got a copy of XP so I can knock $100 off the build price right there. The other stuff is crap so I'll include new ones when I spec out your replacement.

I'm curious to see what you'll have cooked up, because I want a budget fragbox, and need to see what else is oot there.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813138111

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827136152

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811119068

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822148262

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814133205

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817341002

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231121

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103773

Total: 574.28 (plus shipping)

Now, if you were willing to spend a bit more, I would suggest throwing out the crappy monitor (unless you have a good one) and a nice one and a set of decent speakers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16824009151

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16836121014

Total for them is $142.98 (plus shipping)

I have bought all of these items with the exception of the video card (the one I bought was discontinued but same type) and can testify that they build a kickass rig on a budget.

Last time I checked Intel's Quads had better motherboard support...however I'd have to investigate now that's it's been several months.

Last time I checked Intel's Quads had better motherboard support...however I'd have to investigate now that's it's been several months.

This P45 Gigabyte board will be perfect for a budget build. Every review of it I've seen praises it's price, and it's amazing performance.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...BYTE-_-13128345

a little input for a 4830 vs a 8800gt for a video card...

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=277073

did a little, but powerful and new, set up here.

just remember that phenom sounds like it overclocks to 3.5ghz very easily... some have gotten to 3.7-3.8 on air.

Edited February 15, 200916 yr by loki

That's a nice setup as well, although a bit more expensive.

You could also mix and match our two setups.

well anyway i upgrade my computer again i7 920 and an Asus p6t deluxe 2x SAS Hitachi 15k rpm 150 gb drives in raid 0 and 6gigs of ocz ddr3 @1800 mhz. and of course water cooled.... My goal is 4.5 ghz for it with hyper threading on. Due to a glitch in Microcenters warranty policy i was able to get the mobo and cpu for a nice price of $18 dollars.

well anyway i upgrade my computer again i7 920 and an Asus p6t deluxe 2x SAS Hitachi 15k rpm 150 gb drives in raid 0 and 6gigs of ocz ddr3 @1800 mhz. and of course water cooled.... My goal is 4.5 ghz for it with hyper threading on. Due to a glitch in Microcenters warranty policy i was able to get the mobo and cpu for a nice price of $18 dollars.

But can it play Doom?

But can it play Doom?

sigh....

But can it play Doom?

sigh....

best followup question ever. lol

$18... OMG!!!!!

any updates CK3?

early performance specs of the RV740 (AMD's radeon 4750) is showing huge promise to compete between the 4830 and the 4850, while costing only ~$100est.

Edited February 26, 200916 yr by loki

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=c...21&Itemid=1

recent "hack" found it's not really a hack though.

turn the phenom II x3's into x4's just by changing one thing in the bios... YES!!!

Computer building has kind of taken an "on hold" status right now. A pool pump and some other home items I think are going to take priority right now unfortunately.

I still like to look around and see what is out there for sure.