Building a New PC
Last week the power apparently went off in my home while I was out because my clocks were all flashing the wrong time. No biggie. That kind of thing happens all the time, and the only consequence is that you have to reset all your clocks.
The next day I realized my PC wouldn't boot. After a whole lot of fiddling and faddling, I decided my motherboard must have gotten fried from a power surge even though it was under the watchful eye of a surge protector.
Since it's a few years old now, I went ahead and decided to upgrade to a new box, so I did a bit of research and bought all the equipment that was cheap, but should also keep me running at good speeds for years to come. This is the story of that computer. I'll probably tell it in a piecemeal fashion, starting with a simple list of all the pieces of my puzzle.
I'm keeping my old hard drives, optical drives, and floppy drive (just carrying it along because it's there), but everything else will be new equipment. I considered keeping the same case, but it was a Dell and custom built for just the hardware that was already in it.
So here's a rundown of all the new stuff:
Oh, and of course, to help prevent any future stupid power surges, I picked up a second UPS from Costco and I'll use that to power everything that I hold sacred.
As far as the actual build goes, though, I should receive my last component in the mail tomorrow, then I'll start putting this crap thing together and hope everything works swell. If I'm not too lazy I'll take photos or video and share them in a later blog post.
[update]
I was in the middle of gutting the old box and putting together the parts I've received thus far when I realized I can't use my old video card because my mobo doesn't have any AGP slots. Whoops! So I headed on over to Best Buy and got a great deal on this (got it for $99, but at New Egg it's $145):
The next day I realized my PC wouldn't boot. After a whole lot of fiddling and faddling, I decided my motherboard must have gotten fried from a power surge even though it was under the watchful eye of a surge protector.
Since it's a few years old now, I went ahead and decided to upgrade to a new box, so I did a bit of research and bought all the equipment that was cheap, but should also keep me running at good speeds for years to come. This is the story of that computer. I'll probably tell it in a piecemeal fashion, starting with a simple list of all the pieces of my puzzle.
I'm keeping my old hard drives, optical drives, and floppy drive (just carrying it along because it's there), but everything else will be new equipment. I considered keeping the same case, but it was a Dell and custom built for just the hardware that was already in it.
So here's a rundown of all the new stuff:
CPU - Intel BX80580Q9400 Core 2 Quad Q9400 Central Processing Unit
After comparing specs and prices, I decided to snatch up the Intel Q9400. It is a quad core for super fast execution, 45nm form factor for energy savings and heat reduction, and can be overclocked from its stock 2.66ghz speed up to at least 3.6ghz with air cooling.CPU Heat Sink - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
Since I plan on doing some moderate overclocking, I figured I'd need a better heat sink than the one that comes with the CPU. After a lot of reading, I settled on the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler, which comes with a small price tag and excellent cooling.Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
This wasn't as easy a choice for me because there are so many options to choose from. The most important things I was considering were price, stability, and ability to overclock. I settled on a rather excellent board called the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P. They've been making better and better boards in the past few years and this beauty really takes the cake when compared to anything else in its price range. I also found several great videos at YouTube illustrating its features and a detailed step-by-step on how to overclock with it, so that's nice.Power Supply - OCZ OCZ600SXS StealthXStream 600W Power Supply with Four +12V rails, ATX, and 120mm Fan
I could've stuck with my old PSU, but I figured since it was probably a power surge that killed my motherboard, I couldn't trust the power supply any more. There are a lot of very cheap options, but after reading about a lot of people having PSU death after a short time, I decided to spend just a little bit more for a unit that will be very reliable and beefy enough to support any hardware I might decide to throw at it some day. Plus, it has a big 120mm fan that's supposed to be very quiet.RAM - OCZ OCZ2N10662GK 2GB 240-Pin DIMM PC2-8500 DDR2 1066 SDRAM
My old beast had only 1GB of slow, old memory, and it could have been damaged by the power surge, so I got two sets of a pair of sticks for a total of 4GB running at 1066 mhz. The mobo actually supports faster speeds, but RAM at those speeds cost too much more than I was willing to spend.Computer Case - Rosewill R220-P-BK Black 0.5mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
I didn't care anything about the case except that it needed to have sufficient space for any added hard/optical drives I might need in the future. I got lucky with a simple $25 case that also included a 120mm fan with room enough for 4 optical drives and 5 hard drives. It is even solid black, so that's a nice bonus.Case Fan - APEVIA CF12SL-4C 120mm Multi-Color LED Case Fan
I'm not too worried about temperatures inside the case, but I figured I'd be slightly more safe than very sorry later and snatched up an additional 120mm fan to stick inside the case. The one that came in the case will be used for exhaust in the back (the heat sink fan will be blowing straight out of it) and I'll use this other one in the front of the case to suck in fresh, cold air. It has flashing colored lights or whatever, but I don't care about that; I just wanted something inexpensive that pushes a lot of air without too much noise.IDE to SATA Adapters - Rosewill RC-204 IDE to SATA Mini Vertical Bridge (for IDE device)
Luckily, I realized an imminent problem with my upgrade: My old hard and optical drives are all IDE and the new mobo only has one IDE channel supporting 2 of my 4 devices. Everything else is now SATA. I found some IDE to SATA adapters that will hopefully work. You plug them into the back of your device then plug the SATA cable into them. I've read lots of reports of people having problems burning with DVD-RW drives and some large capacity hard drives becoming inaccessible. I have one of each, so I figure I'll stick my DVD-RW and large capacity HDD on the IDE channel and use the SATA adapters for the other two. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.Oh, and of course, to help prevent any future stupid power surges, I picked up a second UPS from Costco and I'll use that to power everything that I hold sacred.
As far as the actual build goes, though, I should receive my last component in the mail tomorrow, then I'll start putting this crap thing together and hope everything works swell. If I'm not too lazy I'll take photos or video and share them in a later blog post.
[update]
I was in the middle of gutting the old box and putting together the parts I've received thus far when I realized I can't use my old video card because my mobo doesn't have any AGP slots. Whoops! So I headed on over to Best Buy and got a great deal on this (got it for $99, but at New Egg it's $145):
Video Card - PNY VCG981024GXEB GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
This bad boy is SLI ready (as is my PSU, RAM, and mobo in case I ever decide to take advantage of it) with 1GB of GDDR3 and a 600 mhz core clock, so it should definitely be able to take anything I throw at it.
21 Comments
kronosposeidonYou should post this on GeekBumper.
arvanaThis looks very very similar to the machine I built about a year ago, and I've been extremely happy with it. The only thing I wish I installed was a hardware RAID, since the soft RAID that came on my motherboard doesn't play very well with Linux. One of my three hard drives died about 3 months in -- luckily I had it doing nightly backups so it wasn't a big deal, but that is exactly what a RAID array would help with, not to mention a nice speed increase.
DeanoEven though I stopped building PCs a while ago this sort of thing fascinates me. But I hate the bit when you fire it up and nothing happens....
rottenseedthat's a lot of power for cruising porn sites.
rougyI am so totally turned on right now.
I was going to "spend a few bucks" and upgrade an Acer I bought cheap from Newegg last year. It lead me to upgrade my old Gigabyte box, which lead me to buy a new case for the old P4 Dell intestines I saved for my Linux play toy.
$1500 later....
And if you want to really geek out, buy one or two of those cathode blue lights and stick it in or on your case somewhere.
Oh, I'm drooling!
blutruthI would say two things:
First, make sure the UPS you purchase has a connected equipment replacement warranty. This could save you some money if something like that happens again.
Second, check to see if the surge protector you were using had one. This could save you some money now.
And I guess a third thing...congrats on the new system! I'm jealous.
EdeotFew questions -
Which video card did you choose?
What's the final cost of the build? (I'm too lazy to punch it all into Newegg.)
Why didn't you spring a little extra for a Core i7? Sure it would cost more on the CPU and motherboard, but at least you'd be future proof on RAM and processor upgrades.
lucky760Thanks everybody.
I really wasn't expecting such nice replies. I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy. Wanna feel?
A bit more than I was aiming for, but there were a few unexpected costs (like the $100 video card and the pair of IDE to SATA adapters). Yeah, the i7 would definitely have been a nice purchase, but I already put the stretch to my dollar to afford the Q9400, so an extra $60 was pretty much out of the question. 
Finally got my first USB thumb drive instead, just so I can be sure I'm able to easily flash my BIOS.
>> ^Deano:
Even though I stopped building PCs a while ago this sort of thing fascinates me. But I hate the bit when you fire it up and nothing happens....
Tell me about it. I'm so excited, but also very worried about finally try booting up tomorrow. I have most components put together and all my cables are nice and tied together. I'll definitely have to take pictures when I have it complete.
>> ^rougy:
I am so totally turned on right now.
Oh, I'm drooling!
Hehe. Thanks! Yeah, those blue lights are pretty, but I'm more of a practical techie than an aesthetic one for my own builds. That lighted case fan is already too much as far as I'm concerned.
>> ^blutruth:
I would say two things:
First, make sure the UPS you purchase has a connected equipment replacement warranty...
Thanks a lot. Them's be some very useful tips.
>> ^Edeot:
Which video card did you choose?
What's the final cost of the build? (I'm too lazy to punch it all into Newegg.)
Why didn't you spring a little extra for a Core i7? Sure it would cost more on the CPU and motherboard, but at least you'd be future proof on RAM and processor upgrades.
Re: Video card: See update above.
Re: Total price: I think it was roughly $600.
Oh, and I scrapped the floppy because I didn't want the cable running through the middle of the beautiful open space and obstructing airflow.
blankfistSo... basically you decided not to buy the eMachine I see. Your loss.
EDD$600? Where I'm from this set would cost approx. twice as much
Which is one of the reasons I've constantly been postponing the building of a new PC for almost 2 years now.
Ornthoron"...running at 1066 mhz"
Approximately 1 flop per second sounds mighty slow for my taste...
lucky760Really, EDD? Where are you from? And is that in your currency or USD? You could always have someone stateside buy the stuff and ship it to you, but I guess there are customs costs as well too...
It's definitely a tiny bit faster than the 64 mhz my old RAM was running at.
Haha. You must have a bad need for speed, Ornthoron.
dagComment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)
I have just one thing to say.
Get a Mac.
Thank you very much.
lucky760Booooo! Hsssss!
PsychologicBTW, I have that heatsink and it is awesome. It cools very well and is nearly silent. I run my computer without the side panel and I still have trouble hearing it.
schmawyMy computer proudly boasts how Y2K compliant it is on the bootscreen. I guess I should upgrade. Still better than Swampgirl's though. Her's is cast iron apparently.
MarineGunrockI have two words for you regarding the case:
Antec Skeleton.
quantumushroomWhat are all those parts? Isn't the case filled with MAGIC?
NetRunnerI'd invest in at least one new hard drive. You can get ridiculously large SATA drives for less than $100.
I'd also repeat the recommendation I've seen from the hardware sites recently, and go for an ATI Radeon 4770HD graphics card. It should be ~$100, and can match or exceed most other cards up to the $200 range.
rougyYou know what you should do, Lucky?
You should buy a life insurance policy, then start dating strippers.
Then you could get a real BIG computer IF you play your cards right.
swampgirlLucky, come build me one.
Thats it.. I'm putting an ad in the paper today. "Rent-free room and board plus dinners in exchange for tech support.. Must be able to assemble and install and optimize various sound and audio equipment."
I want my own brainy fella that's too good for the geek squad. Preferably a WOW player... that way he's nice and quiet.
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