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Building a PC

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papadopolis1024

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 14, 2007
373
0
Yes is know a PC but just for fun... Anyway I was wondering if you very smart people here at macrumors could tell me really what I need for my project. I dont need a power house as it will prob just collect dust... But I would like something that could handle tasks well. It may become a folding @ home comp for me so low power would be a plus if it is always going to be running. So really what I need to know is what I need.

Thank you,
Papadopolis
 
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contoursvt

macrumors 6502a
Jul 22, 2005
832
0
So what will you be doing on it other than folding? Will it do any games or will you be using it for alternate operating systems other than windows? Does it have to be small or a regular sized PC will do?

papadopolis1024 said:
Yes is know a PC but just for fun... Anyway I was wondering if you very smart people here at macrumors could tell me really what I need for my project. I dont need a power house as it will prob just collect dust... But I would like something that could handle tasks well. It may become a folding @ home comp for me so low power would be a plus if it is always going to be running. So really what I need to know is what I need.

Thank you,
Papadopolis
Click to expand...
 
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papadopolis1024

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 14, 2007
373
0
I will prob do some light web browsing on it but that will be it. And I will most likely just put linux on it for the time being.
 
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contoursvt

macrumors 6502a
Jul 22, 2005
832
0
I'm 99% sure it will but honestly, I think spending the extra $30 to get a 1.6Ghz Core2 Duo (2140 is the model I think) is a better move. It doesnt use much more electricity and has more folding power.
 
Osarkon

Osarkon

macrumors 68020
Aug 30, 2006
2,161
4
Wales
papadopolis1024 said:
Hey I actually have almost everything figured out. But I was wondering if this processor supports this motherboard.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I don't think it does. The motherboard supports dual core processors, that Celeron you've linked is only single core. I might well be wrong, but I'd try and find a Celeron D or Pentium D (both of which are dual core) for that.
 
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papadopolis1024

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 14, 2007
373
0
Osarkon said:
I don't think it does. The motherboard supports dual core processors, that Celeron you've linked is only single core. I might well be wrong, but I'd try and find a Celeron D or Pentium D (both of which are dual core) for that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the save. But which would you recommend for folding?
 
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contoursvt

macrumors 6502a
Jul 22, 2005
832
0
Ya even the E2140 I suggested earlier (while being only 1.6Ghz like the celeron he chose) should be tons better for folding and general usage :)

Now if it was me and I was on a very tight budget but wanted a very solid setup that was still very fast and responsive, I'd do this:

Gigabyte GA-P35 board $90
http://www.ncixus.com/products/25369/GA-P35-DS3L/Gigabyte/

Intel E2160 Core2 1.8Ghz 1MB Cache $80
http://www.ncixus.com/products/24577/BX80557E2160/Intel/

Nvidia 7300GT 256MB $80
http://www.ncixus.com/products/18938/PVT73EUDJ3/XFX/

Seagate 80GB SATA2 $47
http://www.ncixus.com/products/23267/ST380815AS/Seagate/

2x 1GB Crucial DDR2 667 RAM $28 each piece
http://www.ncixus.com/products/18727/RM12864AA667/CRUCIAL TECHNOLOGY/

Antec NSK 4480 case with 380W PSU $75
http://www.ncixus.com/products/25840/NSK4480/ANTEC/

Pioneer burner $32
http://www.ncixus.com/products/22862/DVR-112DBK/Pioneer/


...so all in all the computer would be about $460 or so which may be beyond the budget but it would be able to handle most anything tossed at it and all the parts are very decent. The video card would handle some gaming and have no problems in Vista with Aero or Ubuntu and Beryl for example. Nice this is that down the road the board could handle the core2 quad as well.


Eidorian said:
Get an E4xx Series or Pentium Dual-Core at least.

Hell, even AMD.
Click to expand...
 
Eidorian

Eidorian

macrumors Penryn
Mar 23, 2005
29,190
386
Indianapolis
I'd get a cheaper motherboard with integrated graphics. No reason to spend money on a video card if you're just folding and trying out Linux.

Fry's Electronics has some good offers with 945G/G33 based motherboards and the E4500 for around $150. As much as I like NewEgg, I'd give a look at MWave's bundles as well.
 
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contoursvt

macrumors 6502a
Jul 22, 2005
832
0
True, but it is also more limiting for someone that might decide to play around or try new things beyond what they originally thought. Usually does happen if someone is venturing into some new territory. Beryl for example is fairly graphics intensive and may really put the hurt on onboard vid. Also onboard vid does use up some of teh sytem ram but not that much I guess.

Now if the OP wanted to save more money, he could get an nvidia 7200gs for like $35 instead of a 7300GT for $80, but it would really cut out all possible gaming but will still be better than onboard vid. Also the majority of boards only have onboard video via VGA and not DVI - if thats a consideration at all.



Eidorian said:
I'd get a cheaper motherboard with integrated graphics. No reason to spend money on a video card if you're just folding and trying out Linux.

Fry's Electronics has some good offers with 945G/G33 based motherboards and the E4500 for around $150. As much as I like NewEgg, I'd give a look at MWave's bundles as well.
Click to expand...
 
Eidorian

Eidorian

macrumors Penryn
Mar 23, 2005
29,190
386
Indianapolis
The GMA950 and X3100 can handle that just fine short of gaming. It's not like there isn't a x16 PCI-Express slot there. :rolleyes:

You can find DVI on a motherboard as well if you look.
 
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contoursvt

macrumors 6502a
Jul 22, 2005
832
0
I guess... Dont know. I've built quite a few systems with onboard video and they always felt a little more sluggish for some reason even though I was not doing anything intensive.

I recall one case especially where I built two nearly identical systems but one based on an intel 945p and one on a 945g (both asus boards). At the time they both had 1GB RAM and a dual core 2.8Ghz cpu (Pentium D) but when I was using them, the one with onboard video felt more dopey. I ran Sandra for memory bandwidth and it was about 10% lower. They had the same brand and size ram and in the bios both set to auto and seeingly detected the same but for some reason one was slower.

Now maybe that case being so extreme was isolated or maybe the board was defective...who knows. Just felt slower and I decided no more integrated video boards for me. I will spend the extra $30 or $40 and get a board that has no integrated video and just add a dedicated video card. Wonder if memory bandwidth to the CPU is affected a little since the onboard video must read/write to the same RAM. Wonder if it goes through the same memory controller. That might explain a bit of the slowdowns... maybe.

...

Eidorian said:
The GMA950 and X3100 can handle that just fine short of gaming. It's not like there isn't a x16 PCI-Express slot there. :rolleyes:

You can find DVI on a motherboard as well if you look.
Click to expand...
 
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papadopolis1024

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 14, 2007
373
0
My current budget for the case, motherboard and processor is around 200$ and I have around 100 for the HDD and the optical drive and then I will prob go with a half a gig or a gig or RAM. So that is my budget (IT IS THESE BILLS!).
 
ReanimationLP

ReanimationLP

macrumors 68030
Jan 8, 2005
2,782
33
On the moon.
contoursvt said:
Seagate 80GB SATA2 $47
http://www.ncixus.com/products/23267/ST380815AS/Seagate/

2x 1GB Crucial DDR2 667 RAM $28 each piece
http://www.ncixus.com/products/18727/RM12864AA667/CRUCIAL TECHNOLOGY/

Antec NSK 4480 case with 380W PSU $75
http://www.ncixus.com/products/25840/NSK4480/ANTEC/

Pioneer burner $32
http://www.ncixus.com/products/22862/DVR-112DBK/Pioneer/
Click to expand...

Great burner, beautiful and wellbuilt case, I have both. RAM is decent, but 80GB HD? For 13 bucks more on average, you can get a 250GB. Which is 3 times the size.

Oh, and podopolis, at your sig, thats not Kayne West, thats Daft Punk. Kayne just paid Daft Punk to dub over their excellent song, Harder Better Faster Stronger.
 
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papadopolis1024

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 14, 2007
373
0
ReanimationLP said:
Oh, and podopolis, at your sig, thats not Kayne West, thats Daft Punk. Kayne just paid Daft Punk to dub over their excellent song, Harder Better Faster Stronger.
Click to expand...

I did not know that thanks!
I like kanyes version better.

Anyway back on topic.

1. Motherboard
2. Processor
3. HDD Western Digital 160 GB SATA 3 GB/s
4. Optical Drive Samsung DVD-RW
5. RAM 256 MBs x 2
6. Case and PSU

This is what I went with I also got Windows XP SP2 no linux for me, for now. I will be upgrading the RAM to 2 GBs before the year is up, and also getting a Video card very soon. Next year or so I will upgrade to Core 2 Duo (When was the last price drop on these April? When do you think they will get the next price drop?)
 
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