my budget is around $800-$900. does anyone know of a good website that custom builds computers?

also:
1. AMD athlon or pentium?
2. good mid-range video card?
3. i don't really know the difference in motherboards. any I should stay away from?
4. what type of memory should I get?

Not to be an ass, but the point of a custom build PC is that you build it yourself. :P

Anyhow, I can't really tell you what to buy, especially because prices for stuff is vastly different UK / US, so I can only give guidelines.

Honestly as long as the components you buy are compatible, pretty much anything goes. You probably don't want to pay top dollar to squeeze every last bit of power you possibly can out of it, so don't worry too much about what brands and models you get.

1) Athlon > Pentium (Go with a 939 Athlon 64)
2) Anything GeForce / Radeon in your price range. Generally more expensive = better.
3) Anything that will take the CPU (939) and graphics card you want (AGP or more likely PCI-Express now) and the RAM (DDR) works. I don't really know which chipsets are good/bad lately.
4) DDR is pretty much the standard. Just make sure it can match the speed of your CPU (PC3200 generally).

The best thing to do is get several possible items for each category you could buy in a list, and mix and match them until you find a decent combination that hits your price target. Just make sure you don't bottle-neck your computer and keep performance even across the board. There's no point paying for the very absolute best processor, then skimping out on the Graphics Card and Memory, because that'll just slow it down and waste your money.

lol I agree. I have decent computer knowledge, but I don't have the time to learn how to build a computer from scratch. I'd rather pick the components and have a company build it for me. thanks for the advice though, I was leaning towards athlon.

Damn i can put a computer together in 30 minutes. but it does take a bit of learning and trial and error. I agree with what Ket said

Yeah do your best to get a PCI-Express video slot and not AGP.

ket pretty much covers it.

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probly a noob question.

but if i were to build a computer. can i just plug everything together and just insert the Os disk and it should work properly? or do you need to configure stuff?

Well you need to make sure all your parts are compatible. Most notably the CPU and motherboard. Then you need to make sure all the accessories are properly installed, CD-ROM, Floppy, RAM, Case Fans, Hard Drive, etc. Then yeah, as long as the system boots up you can just insert the OS CD and install it and everything should be good. As long as you get a POST after you build it (POST meaning a beep when you turn it on. The beep is the system acknowledging that everything is installed properly enough for the system to boot up) then you're A-OK to install windows or whatever and your games or anything else.

You may need to configure the CPU speed in the BIOS. Meaning you may need to set the FSB (Front Side Bus) And the multiplier through the motherboard. You can easily see what the CPU's FSB is capable of on the CPU package and set it accordingly on the motherboard. Also depending on the speed of the processor you set the multiplier. So it it's a 333FSB and your processor is supposed to be a 4000+. Then 333 x 12 = 3996. close enough to 4000+. Then you set the multiplier for 12. This really isn't very hard at all and may even be configured automatically through the motherboard.

I learnt how to assemble a computer on my own lol.


Way way way back in the day I bought all the parts (Celeron 300A Over Clocking Fun!) and figured out how to do it on my own. Took a lot of trial and error. Luckly I worked at a computer store and when I got stuck I just brought it in.

Computers are really logical so figuring out how to setup hardware and stuff is pretty bloody easy.

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For the most part yes. On your motherboard there is usually a manual which will lead you step by step if ur doin the install. All the boards i've put together so far had the jumpers in the right spots. I will warn everyone about abit though. Sure they make decent mid range boards but they sent me 2 bad fatality boards in a row. Stick with Asus and you will be fine. Asus bios is user friendly and has some nice temp. features and bios monitors. Other then that ket was right on, pci and almost every chip is min. pc3200.

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Dont forget there are DDR2 now for RAM's and also 939 are good to go for CPU that I am using right now on my desktop.

As for video card I would go for PCI-E cuzz AGP is starting to gear down now as new Motherboard are coming out. But keep it in mind that when you build your own custom you will have to pay more for like OS, and other programs. Unless you have your own OS that you can install that works.

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thanks for the tips, I'm still unsure exactly what I'm gonna do. Building a new computer from scratch sounds like a fun challenge, but I'm not sure if I quite trust myself. Plus I don't really have any friends that are into this kinda thing, so I have no one to call if things get tricky. I do need a new gaming computer though...we'll see.

mary's dad and gerald's brother both build custom computers omg public message not private message wtf you are in the next room why dont i just go tell you irl OMG

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lolol its ok I PM tal when hes upstars knowing he wont get the pm for an hour or two

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COBRA KAI DOJO NEVER DIES
RIP Shiloh

I didn't read any of the other posts because I'm lazy but I'll give my rule of thumb bs speach for this type of thing.


AMD > Intel (Always!)
ATi > Nvidia (For GPU at least)
Abit and Asus are my favorite mobo mfg.
Corsair XMS is sexy and decent as far as price goes.

Now the things you didn't mention.

1) NEVER skimp on PSU. Spend the extra money for something good, you'll be glad you did.
2) The 90nM core AMD 64s (Winchester, Venice, etc..) are AWESOME overclockers. If you don't OC I'd still suggest them because smaller core = less heat.
3) Most important one here: You get what you pay for. There's a reason some things are cheap. :P
4) Cheap memory sometimes doesnt work with certain mobos. Abit is especially bad about this. The cheap or "Value Ram" will sometimes cause them to not POST.
5) Aluminum cases are best imo. Aluminum is best at dissapating heat as far as I've seen, check out a Lian Li case - they are classy.

yeah working at a computer store for 3 years this is seriously the golden rule.

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COBRA KAI DOJO NEVER DIES
RIP Shiloh