My first attempt at building...

[HPR]

I've decided to try building a computer from ground up for the very first time and would like to keep this build as cheap as possible, learn as much as I can from it and have fun. If you guys have any suggestions or cautions I should be aware of, please let me know :) If I get this thing up and running, I plan on learning liquid cooling on this system too... This post is more of a blog :P

As far as experience goes, so far I've only done hardware plug & play installations, case swaps, etc...

Anyways here are the list of parts I have so far...

- CM stacker 830 case (bought from NCIX for $254 shipped to my door)
http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG1990.JPG
http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG1989.JPG
http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG1988.JPG

- ASUS M2N-Plus SLI motherboard (bought at local retailer for $73 on clearance)
http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG1987.JPG

- ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB (bought on another forum $125)
http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG1983.JPG
http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG1984.JPG

So far I believe I'm around the $450 total range. Yet, I'm still missing a processor and a HDD. I have a couple IDE HDDs that I could use since my mobo supports them. Should I splurge a little more for a SATA or should I just stay IDE? I'm also going to be using an old DVD/CD drive as well.

[tiro_uspsss]

i reckon buy a SATA HDD :)

like the case btw :)

[eternaljammer]

Nice case.

[Colossous]

Sata Hdd's will give you faster load times but if you want to svae the money and spend it on the best cpu you can afford you could allways replace the Hdd later ? :shrug:

[eToh]

:welcome:

[HPR]

Thanks for all the input. I saw a cheap SATA HDD at my local retailer today for $50 which I believe is pretty cheap. It's a Seagate 250GB Barracuda. I think it should do the job quite well since I have a hard time filling up 100GB.

Anyways, I don't plan on making this a budget build anymore (I sold my old turbo setup). What would you guys recommend for a CPU? It's a AM2 socket. Is it worth the splurge for a 6400+ or should I just keep it simple with something less?

Sorry for all the questions, just excited to actually get this project going.

[Ethelred]

Thanks for all the input. I saw a cheap SATA HDD at my local retailer today for $50 which I believe is pretty cheap. It's a Seagate 250GB Barracuda. I think it should do the job quite well since I have a hard time filling up 100GB.

Anyways, I don't plan on making this a budget build anymore (I sold my old turbo setup).

Sorry for all the questions, just excited to actually get this project going.

Oh you should be sorry... :cool:

That's the same HDD I have...works great (Well...never had a bad experience with a hard drive, so really...), get two raid them and you're good to go. I did the same thing with in regards to my build (doing the final upgrades now that the season is upon us).

[S1mon-]

Good luck with your build... I'm just wondering why the case is the most expensive part of your new computer...

[HPR]

Good luck with your build... I'm just wondering why the case is the most expensive part of your new computer...

rofl, I was just thinking the same thing. I originally bought the case for my old personal computer which happens to have a BTX motherboard. To make a long story short, the case did not come with the BTX conversion as I thought it would and I decided to try and build a computer from ground up instead. Since its my first build, I didn't want to screw up on high $$$ parts so I decided to try and make a budget build and if it works out well, build a better computer in the future. Some would say its a waste of money, but I'm mostly in it for the fun factor and experience.

[The0men]

You can't go wrong, the only silly thing you could do would to be go touching electronics without a strap or as I just do, touch the case before touching any of the components. This discharges any static buildup you may have. You may get away without doing it, but I do just because I'd hate a build not to work lol. O most people say don't wear rubber soled shoes. hope this helps.

[jmmtn4aj]

Sata Hdd's will give you faster load times but if you want to svae the money and spend it on the best cpu you can afford you could allways replace the Hdd later ? :shrug:

The three internal HDDs in my sig, 2 are SATA, one with 8mb cache the other with 16mb. The IDE one is 8mb cache. It also happens to be the fastest in HDTune o.O

[HPR]

Alright, its been awhile seen I posted up on my progress here (which hasn't been very much, thanks to the xmas season draining my funds). Anyways, I got some other stuff in the mail. Still waiting on my most of my water cooling parts, and I still haven't decided on what O/S to go with. Here's what I got so far.

Rocketfish power supply. It was cheap, and so far I haven't heard any horror stories about it. Plus I use these to build bench testers for 12volt car fi components, works great so far. If funds allow I would like to pick up a PSU that you plug in the rails you do need to clean up the wire clutter.
http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG1991.JPG

Seagate Barracuda 250GB. I think I might pick up another one in the future. I picked it up for less than $50!
http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG1992.JPG

Corsair CM2X1024 - 5400C4. Thanks to a good buddy, I got these for free :)
http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG1995.JPG

Installed.
http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG2001.JPG

Water pump top.
http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG1996.JPG

Processor. $190 shipped to my door :)
http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG1999.JPG

Overkill I know. I think I've decided to call this build, all show no go :P
http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG1981.JPG

http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG2002.JPG

And finally, the case as it stands. All that's left is waiting for the water cooling components, choose and O/S, put the remaining pieces together and hope she runs. So far this has been pretty fun. If everything works out ok, I will probably do a better build in the future. Wish me luck.

http://www3.telus.net/augustde/BUILD/CIMG2003.JPG

[adamsleath]

nice pics. :slobber:

..drooling over hardware when it isnt even mine.:wasntme: