Parker wrote:
wow, thanks for all the responses thus far.
newbie, i read some of the stuff and while i dont understand what everything does, i do understand that your basically connecting a whole bunch of components to a mobo.
i make knives for a living, so i know how to work with my hands and im a very quick learner.
the things im having trouble with is if i get type A processor then what type of other components does that limit me to? i just dont understand how i am supposed to choose between so many different types of the same component.
like ram for example. ddr2, ddr3, all the mhz shit. i dont know what any of that means and i dont know how it will effect my pc.
anway, my budget for this PC is $1000 american.
i already have keyboard/mouse/monitor so ill just need the tower.
im sorry if i seem retarted, this just isnt my thing yet. thanks again for the help so far guys.
What you don't understand is it doesn't stop at "connecting a bunch of components to a mobo." But alright, it sounds like you want to learn. Great! Let's give you a leg up:
Upgrading and Repairing PCs (17th Edition)These books are great. You're sure to find some oddball version of this one on most any tech's shelf, and they're popular for tech college courses. It's surprises me that I haven't been banned for "advertising" yet.
And whatever you decide to go with, be sure someone somewhere has tested your desired configuration before you commit to a purchase, otherwise you'll have to sit through a nightmare of RMA. Just remember: do your bloody friggin' research.
spud924 wrote:
basically you have two choices Intel or AMD.
as for the ram you will probably go for some ddr2 because ddr will become outdated and the new motherboards coming out mostly only support ddr2.
It's more complex than that. The names "Intel and AMD" alone cover a gigantic spectrum of products, some of which are more outdated than a grandmother's quilt. I can't count how many times I've seen people tell newcomers to the custom-building industry to go with Intel, then seen the newbies come back with "alright, I found a Pentium 3" or some other such "for sale." Then there's the video cards. "dud go nvidia" sometimes, yes, even in 2006, results in an "alright, now what about this 5200?" And while I agree that DDR is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, what with the failure of top-notch DDR to significantly drop in price, there are many kinds and brands of DDR2 to choose from, some of which are slow and unreliable and some of which are blazingly fast. Then there's the motherboard itself. You'll be looking at what chipset it has, what (sometimes) revision it's in, and what all memory has been proven to run stable with it. For a headache-free experience,
every component should be analyzed online for potential issues and solutions. Then the fun begins...installation of the OS. If all goes well, great! Now you just have to get all of your drivers and network settings installed and configured without difficulty. And, if you haven't done your research, sit there with a disgusted look on your face while some random component fails while you try to figure out which one it is.
Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2006-12-30 22:43:08)