I've decided to give up on consoles and handhelds for a while, since they don't offer the same "umph" as they used to. So I'm building myself a decent gaming PC. I have a budget of about $1000-ish, so I don't need NASA-spec parts here. I need some suggestions. I have already bought an Abit Gaming Performance Motherboard and I plan to get a 2.0 GHZ Amd Athlon XP for my CPU.
Why am I building a system for myself? Cause I'm sick of the computers in my apartment complex's computer lounge and I could use some good PC gaming.
How hard is it to put it all together? My roommate is a real wizard at computer building and he's handling all the parts and shipping stuff.
Building a PC....any tips??
Building a PC....any tips??
Shmups: It's all about blowing stuff up!
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bigbadboaz
- Posts: 1135
- Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2005 4:08 am
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
Not hard at all... I was in the same position as you are now about two years ago. As it turned out, the project went flawlessly and was one of the most satisfying hobby experiences I have yet had. The problem was, I was left with the urge to build more machines!
For a first build, I highly recommend the Build Your Own PC guide at PC Mechanic - www.pcmech.com. It's very thorough and I found it touched on every step I might have missed or overlooked due to inexperience. Following it step-by-step, I had my machine running on the first try.
If you're going to be picking any components yourself, I also recommend the system guides at Sharky Extreme. They are a good way to get a quick idea of what's currently available in a few different price ranges.
Have fun! There's nothing quite as satisfying as gaming on a rig that's truly your own. Ironically, for me I get the best use out of it from emulation... full circle right back to the consoles.
For a first build, I highly recommend the Build Your Own PC guide at PC Mechanic - www.pcmech.com. It's very thorough and I found it touched on every step I might have missed or overlooked due to inexperience. Following it step-by-step, I had my machine running on the first try.
If you're going to be picking any components yourself, I also recommend the system guides at Sharky Extreme. They are a good way to get a quick idea of what's currently available in a few different price ranges.
Have fun! There's nothing quite as satisfying as gaming on a rig that's truly your own. Ironically, for me I get the best use out of it from emulation... full circle right back to the consoles.
For ordering parts, I highly recommend Newegg. They have good prices, with a lot of the relatively smaller stuff (Mobos, processors, video cards) you usually get free shipping, and they usually ship fast. If your friend hasn't ordered stuff yet, pass the site on.
As for putting together, it's pretty easy once you know where everything goes.
For the most part everything just clicks into place and it works just fine. The only thing that can be a little iresome is attaching the heatsink to your processor, (or even worse, removing the heatsink to upgrade).
And, as said before, enjoy. Bigbadboaz said it best: There's nothing as satisfying as using a box you built yourself. Plus, you don't have to worry about all the pre-installed crap that you get by ordering computers from companies (which, I assume, is what the computer lounge has), so you'd probably see performance increases from that alone.
~EI
EDIT: Fixed non-working URL tag.
As for putting together, it's pretty easy once you know where everything goes.
For the most part everything just clicks into place and it works just fine. The only thing that can be a little iresome is attaching the heatsink to your processor, (or even worse, removing the heatsink to upgrade).And, as said before, enjoy. Bigbadboaz said it best: There's nothing as satisfying as using a box you built yourself. Plus, you don't have to worry about all the pre-installed crap that you get by ordering computers from companies (which, I assume, is what the computer lounge has), so you'd probably see performance increases from that alone.
~EI
EDIT: Fixed non-working URL tag.
I've been building PCs for years, I won't ever buy an OEM desktop system ever again (I do have a Dell notebook though.) I'll second the Newegg recommendation, they have a rock-solid reputation among the PC enthusiast community. If you need advice on anything specific let me know. I don't build nearly as many PCs as I used to (I put together my current system about six months ago) but I should be able to provide advice if needed.
As for putting it together, these days they've standardized a lot of stuff, and you can easily put a system together with little more than a single screwdriver.
As for putting it together, these days they've standardized a lot of stuff, and you can easily put a system together with little more than a single screwdriver.
Heh...always found it ironic that someone would have this powerful computer and they are playing NES games on it.bigbadboaz wrote:Have fun! There's nothing quite as satisfying as gaming on a rig that's truly your own. Ironically, for me I get the best use out of it from emulation... full circle right back to the consoles.
My system will be decent for the up-to-date stuff, but I'll probably be just running MAME on it most of the time. I have a CD-R devoted to just arcade shmup roms. Not as good as the actual PCB's (which I could have bought with the money spent on the system, but I can do more things with the PC), but hey, it's the next best thing for the games that don't have a home port.
Shmups: It's all about blowing stuff up!
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PC Engine Fan X!
- Posts: 8439
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:32 pm
Yo Fat Cobra,FatCobra wrote:Heh...always found it ironic that someone would have this powerful computer and they are playing NES games on it.bigbadboaz wrote:Have fun! There's nothing quite as satisfying as gaming on a rig that's truly your own. Ironically, for me I get the best use out of it from emulation... full circle right back to the consoles.
My system will be decent for the up-to-date stuff, but I'll probably be just running MAME on it most of the time. I have a CD-R devoted to just arcade shmup roms. Not as good as the actual PCB's (which I could have bought with the money spent on the system, but I can do more things with the PC), but hey, it's the next best thing for the games that don't have a home port.
You could try picking up an Arcade VGA card + J-PAC Jamma interface adapter + 14" Amiga RGB monitor for use with MAME for real arcade monitor-wise graphics. An empty arcade cabinet with your new PC gaming tower + the above MAME + Arcade VGA card + J-PAC and you're in arcade retro heaven or current generation shmup ROM heaven.
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
Sounds a little too hardcore for me...plus I'm this PC for more things than just MAME emulation.....I have a C&C collection that I'm dying to play.PC Engine Fan X! wrote:Yo Fat Cobra,FatCobra wrote:Heh...always found it ironic that someone would have this powerful computer and they are playing NES games on it.bigbadboaz wrote:Have fun! There's nothing quite as satisfying as gaming on a rig that's truly your own. Ironically, for me I get the best use out of it from emulation... full circle right back to the consoles.
My system will be decent for the up-to-date stuff, but I'll probably be just running MAME on it most of the time. I have a CD-R devoted to just arcade shmup roms. Not as good as the actual PCB's (which I could have bought with the money spent on the system, but I can do more things with the PC), but hey, it's the next best thing for the games that don't have a home port.
You could try picking up an Arcade VGA card + J-PAC Jamma interface adapter + 14" Amiga RGB monitor for use with MAME for real arcade monitor-wise graphics. An empty arcade cabinet with your new PC gaming tower + the above MAME + Arcade VGA card + J-PAC and you're in arcade retro heaven or current generation shmup ROM heaven.
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
What games would be a good "benchmark" for a PC? Doom III seems pretty obvious......
Shmups: It's all about blowing stuff up!