future computer

[matsumo itsu offline]

Hey im plannin on buying parts to make my own computer, what would be some High quality Top of the line products i could put into it? i need ideas on what to buy since i am not that Computer savey.and where i would be able to get the actual tower at. like to hold the pieces or what ever.

[Gadget offline]

Well if you plan to build it completely from scratch, The absolutely first thing you need to buy is the case. A standard case cost around 20$ while a extreme one will cost around 70$. The reason you want the case first is because that will determine what parts you be able to buy.

Next you need to get a motherboard. You need to make sure the motherboard will be able to mount in the case. This HAS TO BE the first actual piece of hardware you buy. Because this will determine what hardware will be compatible with your tower. Motherboards range from $30 to $200.

Now the Processor, There are many different speeds to choice from so you need to decided how fast you need it. Because the more powerful you get the more expensive it will be.

Now the hard drive (Also Known as secondary storage). Now the final Size choice is totally up to you, but I suggest no less then 100GB.

Now Video, Unless you have a built on Video Card (called on-board), You will need to get a video card. There are a lot of different prices and types. A basic one will range from $50 to $100, while a extreme one will go from $200 to $800. So you will need to decide on how far you will be willing to go, and spend.

Now RAM (also known as primary storage). I suggest getting around 2GB worth tat will be plenty. Or you can go extreme and get 4GB. Now there is one thing you will need to know about RAM when you go buy it. You might see 2 packs in the store. Lets say one says 1GB for $80 and the other says 2 1GB sticks for $40. DON’T GET THE CHEAP ONE. Ok here is how it works. There is a company that makes the chips that go on ram sticks. They Test every chip. Some pass all the test and some pass most and some pass very few. Now the company sells these chips to manufactures for different prices depending on how well it did on the tests. The manufactures put the chips on the RAM sticks and sell them. Now they sell them as different grades, the Higher the grade the Better it did on the test and the more expensive it will be. So go ahead and break fro the expensive RAM.

Now other stuff. Ok you will need to get a Simple Network card (100 Mbps is fine) between $20 and $50 for the Network card (unless it’s on-board which in that case you wont need one). You will need a CD-ROM; you can get what ever kind you like. You should have to worry too much about that. You shouldn’t need a floppy drive.

Cooling, you have to decide if you will need a Basic Fan Cooling system or an Expensive Liquid cooling system.

You can also get some cool bells and whistles like transparent parts or Lighted parts.

Now an OS, Totally your choice. Linux, Mac, or windows, just depends on what you prefer
And that’s about it in a nutshell on what you need to build a computer form scratch. If you have Any questions at all just ask me.

[TheLQ offline]

Some additions to what Gadget said:

-For an os, if you desperatly want xp, you will need to get vista buissness which ocmes with xp downgrade disks (note that buisness isn't cheap). If you want Vista, note that it requires alot of ram and (maybe) proccessing power. El cheapo computer probably won't run vista well. Think about power for vista. If you want other OS's, figure out if your current programs support said other OS. (My opinion, unless you're a computer person, Windows is for you. Supports more programs, GUI thats probably branded in your head, etc. Mac and linux only have good background management stuff.).

-Processors is a tricky thing. I'm an intel fan, so the thing i'd recommend is a intel core duo or the new processor their coming out with. Look around for a processor that has enough GHz but fits in your budget. Only get Dual-Core if you do alot of processor-consuming things (IE drafting, a lot of games, video producer, etc)

-Video cards are not really nessesary. They only work well when you play alot of games and study the screen for lag, do alot of video processing, or have a monitor with DVI (don't know if thiers a on-board DVI motherboard), a motherboard with on-board video works well. If you don't have on-board video, a cheap (not crappy) video card will work fine.

-If i was you, i'd get the cheapest case i could find. As much as alienware cases look awesome, i'm not going to be looking at it enough to justify the price. But don't go too cheap because quality might become an issue.

-Monitors are somewhat complicated. I'd recommend a 22 inch flat-panel LCD screen. Is big enough for most things. For a more refined search, go here: http://www.pcworld.com/products/periphe ... itors.html

-For cooling, just get a fan. Liquid cooling first scares me by having liquid over expensive electronics. Its also not necessary unless you have a very nice computer. With fans though, be sure you get a somewhat middle priced one. This is because this el cheapo dell computer i'm on now has a fan that sounds like a prop plane with a loose blade almost all the time. It's worse when its under 100% load. So don't go for the lowest price, but don't necessarily go for the most expensive either.

-Another thing with ram is be sure your getting the right kind. Their are several different versions with different holes to fit in slots. Buy the wrong one, and it'll be useless.

[Tangent128 offline]

Or, you could combo case and cooling and submerge the cpu in a mineral oil aquarium. Probably not advisable for non-experts, though...

[matsumo itsu offline]

eh im wanting it to be more costume built and not some knock off from another computer.

[TheAppleFreak]

Well, once it comes out, you could install Gadget's Lyoko OS as the primary operating system...
That would be unique. Also, no computer is the same, and how you build it is totally up to you.
And just altering a minute detail that Gadget added, there is only ONE way to install Mac OS X onto a computer that does not have 100% Apple hardware:
Hackintosh.

Hackintosh can be found in Torrents on the internet, and the torrent sizes range from 2 to 4 GB (depending on compression). Hac OS X is, as its name implies, hacked, and for legality issues, I don't recommend using this stuff. But it is a thing to keep in mind.
Also, most computers don't come with Solaris OS, which is a unique OS. (I've never tried it, but I'm downloading the ISO from their webstie. It's totally free.)

[matsumo itsu offline]

Well im probably going to have it a Windows XP for gaming,im plannin on gettin clear sides,red or green inside lighting.4gb RAM a terabyte hard drive.

[TheAppleFreak]

Sounds respectable...
Just remember to get a monitor

[TheLQ offline]

terrabyte hard drive?!?! Why? I can fit all my stuff on a tiny 120 GB HD (and i'm encoding a whole bunch of video's now..., still got 40 GB left)

[TheAppleFreak]

Didn't you know?
Every two months, with the release of patches and updates, the size of an average file will increase by some amount (varies from year to year), which requires more HD space.
Anyways, you never know what one can do with 1TB of HD space. Just remember that when formatting comes into play, it will probably weigh in around 930 GB.

[matsumo itsu offline]

Ah. Well i thought i posted what i was going to do but didn't
well here are what im going to put in
terabyte hard drive
30"'lcd flat screen computer,
top of the line web cam
top of the line mic
fan cooling
transparent siding
green lighting
black case
GeForce video card, the latest one out when i go to buy it
Windows XP for gaming
a top of the line mother board.
Well thats it pretty much. I will update this as often as i need to.

[TheLQ offline]

One thing i'd consider with such a big HD is redundancy. What happens when the HD crashes or gets stolen? Your screwed, unless you have the money for a recovery person (this is where multiple HD's makes sense, especially when you have a HD enclosure: If one HD crashes or gets stolen, you still have a portion of your data, vs no data at all).

If you can, consider RAID 1+0. Its expensive, but gets the job done. If you have unlimited money, consider RAID 5.