Building a PC?

[Christopher2012]

I'm thinking about building a powerhouse PC. However, I know absolutely nothing about computers. I plan on buying most (if not all) the parts from NEWEGG.

Does anybody have any advice? I know that there are YouTube videos about building computers, but I was wondering if there's anything I should be aware of before I start.

It's going to be a long process. My spending limit is somewhere around $2,000 - $2,500.

Also, I want liquid cooling. Any advice?

 

[Christopher2012]

Nothing to add here, but my husband is a computer geek by profession, and back when he still used PCs he would always build his own for his gaming and stuff. It never seemed like a very laborious or drawn out process.

Well, it's not just the build that I'm worried about. It's also about the program installation process. Everything on the internet scares the shit out of me with our malware pandemic.

 

[njlauren]

You don't have to worry about Malware when doing a PC build, if you are going to use commercial applications and using commercial Windows (versus trying to get a pirated version). It is not a big deal building a pc, it is pretty much all pre done components, which are pretty standard.

That said, if you are planning to spend 2000-2500 on a pc, why build one. You won't save much money doing that, to be honest, and maybe your time would be better of spent buying a pre made gaming machine, including that it is liquid cooled. Gamer pc's use overclocked components (hence the need for liquid cooling) and that can be somewhat tricky......basically, I don't think it is worth it. You probably can get a gamer pc from a local computer store, or you can get them from New Egg and the like, or Tiger.com or even amazon. Thing is, for the couple of hundred bucks you might save, you will spend tweaking it, and then think about support...

Obviously, if you want to build a pc for the fun of it, that is a different story. I am not an expert on gaming pc's, but basically it requires a motherboard that can support a high speed processor like an intel quad core with a programmable clock speed, high speed memory (that can be over clocked), fast bus and graphics cards with a lot of memory (many gamer pc's use multiple graphics cards from what I can tell). If you want fast loading, I would get a 256 gig solid state drive as the prime loader for the system and game programs with a 2 tb hard drive to hold less performance loading programs.

 

[Christopher2012]

You don't have to worry about Malware when doing a PC build, if you are going to use commercial applications and using commercial Windows (versus trying to get a pirated version). It is not a big deal building a pc, it is pretty much all pre done components, which are pretty standard.

That said, if you are planning to spend 2000-2500 on a pc, why build one. You won't save much money doing that, to be honest, and maybe your time would be better of spent buying a pre made gaming machine, including that it is liquid cooled. Gamer pc's use overclocked components (hence the need for liquid cooling) and that can be somewhat tricky......basically, I don't think it is worth it. You probably can get a gamer pc from a local computer store, or you can get them from New Egg and the like, or Tiger.com or even amazon. Thing is, for the couple of hundred bucks you might save, you will spend tweaking it, and then think about support...

Obviously, if you want to build a pc for the fun of it, that is a different story. I am not an expert on gaming pc's, but basically it requires a motherboard that can support a high speed processor like an intel quad core with a programmable clock speed, high speed memory (that can be over clocked), fast bus and graphics cards with a lot of memory (many gamer pc's use multiple graphics cards from what I can tell). If you want fast loading, I would get a 256 gig solid state drive as the prime loader for the system and game programs with a 2 tb hard drive to hold less performance loading programs.

Well yeah, that was kind of the other thing... I want to do this as a learning experience and so that when people talk gaming to me, I'll have half-an-idea of what they're talking about.

I feel stupid when talking to somebody about gaming and I only know about consoles. For instance, I don't fully understand what people talk about when they say that an Xbox uses 100% of it's memory for one individual task while the PS3 uses combined memory for multiple tasks.

So apparently, the PS3 has HALF of the memory for use at one time.

Okay, I'm confusing myself now...

Nevermind. haha

If I were to build a PC then I'd have a better understanding about the specs.

 

[Christopher2012]

What REALLY sucks is that I spent over $2,000 on my MacBook Pro and I only use it to surf the web. And it's gaming capabilities are shit.

 

[njlauren]

Gamer consoles like the Xbox and PS3 are built to play games *duh*, and everything is optimized around fast graphics, which includes specialized hardware, high speed memory and a cpu (basically the core of the computer)whose basic functions are all revolving around what games require. The PS3 has a custom graphics engine that was developed by IBM that is a powerhouse...but those same machines for running regular applications would be not very good, because they are specialized, PC's were designed as general purpose machines.

The quote about the PS3 versus Xbox I suspect has to do with general purpose memory versus specialized fast graphics memory. On PC's there is always dedicated memory for graphics, but if something requires more then it uses the standard RAM memory (i.e when you read a computer has "2 gig of memory" or "4 gig of memory") as well, which among other things, is slower then the dedicated graphics memory. I suspect what they are talking about is Xbox has more dedicated graphics memory while PS3 uses the standard ram memory to handle graphics (Edited: I looked this up, the Xbox has double the graphics memory of the PS3, which means the PS3 likely shared its main memory for graphics use, which can slow down graphics rendering and if something needs a lot of graphics memory, could slow down the app as well....... The PS3's graphics engine is more complex then the one in the xbox, Sony banked on the graphics processor rendering faster than more dedicated graphics memory to make it faster). One of the problems the PS3 has is that game developers generally write the games to be ported and they don't take advantage of the PS3's sophisticated graphics engine, so a multi platform game may not be as fast as it could be on the PS3..on the other hand, dedicated games like MLB the Show written for the PS3 show some of the abilities.

On a gamer pc, you would probably use 1 or 2 high end graphics boards, that have these days at least 2 gig of dedicated graphics memory, which makes graphics rendering a lot faster (also generates a shitload of heat), they often liquid cool the graphics boards, too.

There are some really good tutorials on computers out on the net, that talk about the elements of a pc. It actually isn't that complex, in a standard pc the heart of the computer is the CPU......and a basic computer is a cpu, support chips to control network access, hard drives, graphics, USB ports, fast memory, and an expansion bus that lets graphics cards and such talk to the cpu. The support chips for things like USB access, and usually net access, are on the motherboard (the main circuit board), the memory sockets are there, and the cpu socket, so all the work is done by the motherboard provider. You find a box that can handle the cpu chip you want (prob an intel quad core I7), you find a motherboard that supports fast memory and load it up (8 or 16 gig), the fastest bus speed (something like 300 mhz last I checked).....and then you screw with the clock (which basically is what drives the components to actually work, each click of the clock, basically a dc square wave pulse, the cpu can process an instruction, access memory, etc), you make it go faster then the cpu is rated at (overdriving). When you buy an intel chip, let's say rated at 3.4 ghz, that is the speed Intel says the chip can run at without any special support needed and also will guarantee a certain longevity. What normally happens is suppliers get the Intel chips, and test them at higher speeds and see which ones don't fail, so they will advertise an Intel CPU that can be overdriven to 5 ghz or 6 ghz (fast clock speed=faster processing speed).

Building a gamer pc is really no different then building a general purpose one, the big difference is that a gamer pc has a high quality motherboard with a clock that can be overdriven, a chipset that can support high speed memory (and a lot of it, up toi 16 gig), high speed bus with turbo slots for the graphics card, and a gamer level graphics card that ATI and other companies make (usually will have 1 or 2 cards, with 2 gig memory on them).....the liquid cooling is basically like the cooling system on your car, besides the standard fans on the case and on the graphic card, they circulate a fluid to a heat exchanger that sits on the cpu, and then run it through a radiator on the case with a fan to cool it. They have gamer level components on new egg and tiger, so if you want to do it, you can, but you can learn about them without building it, since quite frankly most of the building is putting components together, setting dip switches, not exactly exciting or really tell you what you are doing

There are also some good books out there on building a pc or understanding it, too.

You can tell the consoles are long in the tooth, the PS3 has 256 meg of graphics memory, the Xbox 512 meg, when graphics cards have 2 gig or more.

 

[Weird Harold]

I'm thinking about building a powerhouse PC. However, I know absolutely nothing about computers. I plan on buying most (if not all) the parts from NEWEGG.

Does anybody have any advice? I know that there are YouTube videos about building computers, but I was wondering if there's anything I should be aware of before I start.

It's going to be a long process. My spending limit is somewhere around $2,000 - $2,500.

Also, I want liquid cooling. Any advice?

I can't help you with the specifics of a gaming machine, but you need to be very paranoid about static electricity. You won't even feel enough static discharge to completely fry a memory stick or integrated circuit; Maintain contact with a ground strap or grounded chassis at all times when working around computer components.

 

[Christopher2012]

Gamer consoles like the Xbox and PS3 are built to play games *duh*, and everything is optimized around fast graphics, which includes specialized hardware, high speed memory and a cpu (basically the core of the computer)whose basic functions are all revolving around what games require. The PS3 has a custom graphics engine that was developed by IBM that is a powerhouse...but those same machines for running regular applications would be not very good, because they are specialized, PC's were designed as general purpose machines.

The quote about the PS3 versus Xbox I suspect has to do with general purpose memory versus specialized fast graphics memory. On PC's there is always dedicated memory for graphics, but if something requires more then it uses the standard RAM memory (i.e when you read a computer has "2 gig of memory" or "4 gig of memory") as well, which among other things, is slower then the dedicated graphics memory. I suspect what they are talking about is Xbox has more dedicated graphics memory while PS3 uses the standard ram memory to handle graphics (Edited: I looked this up, the Xbox has double the graphics memory of the PS3, which means the PS3 likely shared its main memory for graphics use, which can slow down graphics rendering and if something needs a lot of graphics memory, could slow down the app as well....... The PS3's graphics engine is more complex then the one in the xbox, Sony banked on the graphics processor rendering faster than more dedicated graphics memory to make it faster). One of the problems the PS3 has is that game developers generally write the games to be ported and they don't take advantage of the PS3's sophisticated graphics engine, so a multi platform game may not be as fast as it could be on the PS3..on the other hand, dedicated games like MLB the Show written for the PS3 show some of the abilities.

On a gamer pc, you would probably use 1 or 2 high end graphics boards, that have these days at least 2 gig of dedicated graphics memory, which makes graphics rendering a lot faster (also generates a shitload of heat), they often liquid cool the graphics boards, too.

There are some really good tutorials on computers out on the net, that talk about the elements of a pc. It actually isn't that complex, in a standard pc the heart of the computer is the CPU......and a basic computer is a cpu, support chips to control network access, hard drives, graphics, USB ports, fast memory, and an expansion bus that lets graphics cards and such talk to the cpu. The support chips for things like USB access, and usually net access, are on the motherboard (the main circuit board), the memory sockets are there, and the cpu socket, so all the work is done by the motherboard provider. You find a box that can handle the cpu chip you want (prob an intel quad core I7), you find a motherboard that supports fast memory and load it up (8 or 16 gig), the fastest bus speed (something like 300 mhz last I checked).....and then you screw with the clock (which basically is what drives the components to actually work, each click of the clock, basically a dc square wave pulse, the cpu can process an instruction, access memory, etc), you make it go faster then the cpu is rated at (overdriving). When you buy an intel chip, let's say rated at 3.4 ghz, that is the speed Intel says the chip can run at without any special support needed and also will guarantee a certain longevity. What normally happens is suppliers get the Intel chips, and test them at higher speeds and see which ones don't fail, so they will advertise an Intel CPU that can be overdriven to 5 ghz or 6 ghz (fast clock speed=faster processing speed).

Building a gamer pc is really no different then building a general purpose one, the big difference is that a gamer pc has a high quality motherboard with a clock that can be overdriven, a chipset that can support high speed memory (and a lot of it, up toi 16 gig), high speed bus with turbo slots for the graphics card, and a gamer level graphics card that ATI and other companies make (usually will have 1 or 2 cards, with 2 gig memory on them).....the liquid cooling is basically like the cooling system on your car, besides the standard fans on the case and on the graphic card, they circulate a fluid to a heat exchanger that sits on the cpu, and then run it through a radiator on the case with a fan to cool it. They have gamer level components on new egg and tiger, so if you want to do it, you can, but you can learn about them without building it, since quite frankly most of the building is putting components together, setting dip switches, not exactly exciting or really tell you what you are doing

There are also some good books out there on building a pc or understanding it, too.

You can tell the consoles are long in the tooth, the PS3 has 256 meg of graphics memory, the Xbox 512 meg, when graphics cards have 2 gig or more.

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head with the Xbox 360 vs. the PS3 thing. Thanks for the in-depth explanation. I have a lot to learn, it seems... I want to buy top-of-the-line hardware and create an absolute beast.

Also, what do you think of this as a cooling system?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtufuXLvOok

I can't help you with the specifics of a gaming machine, but you need to be very paranoid about static electricity. You won't even feel enough static discharge to completely fry a memory stick or integrated circuit; Maintain contact with a ground strap or grounded chassis at all times when working around computer components.

What's a ground strap? Is it difficult to not fry a memory stick?

 

[Christopher2012]

One other thing that I want to do. I want to be able to record gaming sessions. So, for instance, I want to be able to upload videos that I've created onto Youtube. I'm not yet sure what I'm planning, but I have seen some commentaries for certain games, and I'd like to do that for fun.

 

[Christopher2012]

Wow NEWEGG has AWESOME tutorials on Youtube about building PCs.

 

[bigbritish]

Don't do it, why the hell would you spend that kind of money? This isn't the 1990's, are you out of your mind? Donate the money to charity. Save a few lives. Are you kidding? You don't even know how to build a computer.

There are shops in parts of the US where you can select your hardware and have them assemble it for you so the liability is on them. Purchase a warranty and you've got a much cheaper PC for what's inside.

Water cooled? I suggest you donate.

 

[silverwhisper]

chris: you've picked an expensive & higher-risk alternative to acquiring a top-shelf computer. you don't need to spend $2k much less $5k to build a machine.

the biggest question is what do you plan to use it to do? a gaming rig has very different requirements than an everything computer. your next question is what OS (operating system) and components do you want. me personally i would suggest going win 7 rather than win 8 if you have any familiarity with windows. a brand-new OS is never the right direction to go, IMHO.

your chief components will be your display and graphics cards if you're looking to game, which given your mention of xbox & PS3 seems the case.

i would suggest, rather than building from scratch, that you talk with a real-life friend who's knowledgeable about what you really need from the computer who can explain why certain choices are better for what you want than others. this will help avoid your getting snowed by marketing bullshit.

ed

 

[Christopher2012]

chris: you've picked an expensive & higher-risk alternative to acquiring a top-shelf computer. you don't need to spend $2k much less $5k to build a machine.

the biggest question is what do you plan to use it to do? a gaming rig has very different requirements than an everything computer. your next question is what OS (operating system) and components do you want. me personally i would suggest going win 7 rather than win 8 if you have any familiarity with windows. a brand-new OS is never the right direction to go, IMHO.

your chief components will be your display and graphics cards if you're looking to game, which given your mention of xbox & PS3 seems the case.

i would suggest, rather than building from scratch, that you talk with a real-life friend who's knowledgeable about what you really need from the computer who can explain why certain choices are better for what you want than others. this will help avoid your getting snowed by marketing bullshit.

ed

Yeah, I'm going for gaming 100% on this one.

Now that I've done more research, I can tell that picking the right parts is going to be MUCH harder than I originally anticipated. My entire perspective is "The higher the price of the part, the better it is." So any sale or clearance price might make me think a product is shitty.

My friend isn't SUPER knowledgable. He has built his own machine, and he does know general stuff well, but he doesn't seem to know the go-to items for my perfect price range. He spent $1,000 and apparently has a great setup. But he had a serious budget. I don't.... well, not really... and I want the best.

So picking the parts is the hardest part. I've seen CPUs and video cards for over $1,000 a piece. What the hell is up with that????

 

[Primalex]

I'm thinking about building a powerhouse PC. However, I know absolutely nothing about computers. I plan on buying most (if not all) the parts from NEWEGG.

Does anybody have any advice?

Yes.

Don't.

 

[DrHappy]

If you are building a powerhouse PC, you run a risk of making a really loud beast. However, it can be extremely quiet if you choose the right components. I highly recommend taking a look at http://www.silentpcreview.com. The wrong power supply can be a nightmare for those of us who like silence.

 

[Weird Harold]

What's a ground strap? Is it difficult to not fry a memory stick?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antistatic_wrist_strap

 

[box13]

Don't confuse the EPS and ATX 4-pin connectors for the motherboard. That's my best advice. The EPS connector will fit into the ATX socket, and make the "magic smoke" come out of the motherboard. Very sad.

I guess you know what games you want to play, so find a video card that supports that. Then look at it's power supply needs and pick one big enough for that.

Add the processor power as well. There might be a good rule for a fudge factor too.

Go with as much RAM as you can. It's cheap and a pain to upgrade later.

Displays will add 1/2 or 1/3 of the cost probably, if you go with multiple monitors anyways.

As someone who's removed a few nasty trojans from their wife's stupid Win7 laptop, I'd suggest you install something like VirualBox and then download a ISO of Ubuntu, and then run that, and surf the web from Linux instead of your Windows box (running inside a virtual machine). There are too many compromised ad sites to pretend you won't burn the thing down at some point trying to remove something malicious that is new.

I put together a few this past summer but I went for lots of RAM with a low-buck I3 because I'm poor, and I really don't need the noise or the cooling requirement to do what I do (programming on Linux), and I only use Virtualbox with Win7 once in a while for documents, when I absolutely have to (I hate Windows).

That and a Radeon video card that would drive 3 or 4 monitors at once (I have 3, wishing for a 4th).

Good luck. Ordering stuff over the internet is a pain, because of the time required for shipping and returns if something doesn't fit (I had bad RAM that I had to return, and then a Gigabyte video card that died). Newegg is pretty good source though.

 

[njlauren]

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head with the Xbox 360 vs. the PS3 thing. Thanks for the in-depth explanation. I have a lot to learn, it seems... I want to buy top-of-the-line hardware and create an absolute beast.

Also, what do you think of this as a cooling system?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtufuXLvOok



What's a ground strap? Is it difficult to not fry a memory stick?

That is more a gimic (the cooling system) then a real cooling system, among other things, the specs on the system he built is a run of the mill pc, not a high powered gaming machine. While what he did sort of works, it is kind of awkward and I think the pro liquid cooling system that uses a radiator probably would work right.

A ground strap is nothing more then a conductive strap you attach from your wrist to something like the case of the pc or something else that is grounded. What it does is stop static buildup(in winter, ever touch a light switch and get a shock from walking across a carpet? That is static buildup), when working with things like memory chips or cpu's and the like, a static zap like that could fry the chip. The ground strap is a couple of dollar item, can get it at Radio Shack or any electronics place.


For those questioning spending that kind of money on a pc, a gaming pc like Chris wants to build is a apecialized box, it isn't your run of the mill 500 buck pc, it has a lot of fast memory, usually has one or two high end graphics cards,and runs the memory, the cpu and the system bus at as much as double the rate of a standard pc, all to be able to play high intensity games. That 2000 (or more) pc has serious horsepower, it is the equivalent of some of the machines they use for CGI in the movies.

If you are hyped on doing it, Chris, the videos from Newegg are a great intro. Like I said, putting together the components is not really a big deal, and the you simply have to get the OS installed from a boot CD rom and you will be all set. I actually would recommend windows 8, I have it on my home pc and it is a lot better then windows7, it boots faster and is more stable. About the only thing weird about Windows 8 is the table mode, but you can run it in desktop mode that is almost directly the same as Windows 7, other than it doesn't have the start button thing.

 

[njlauren]

Yeah, I'm going for gaming 100% on this one.

Now that I've done more research, I can tell that picking the right parts is going to be MUCH harder than I originally anticipated. My entire perspective is "The higher the price of the part, the better it is." So any sale or clearance price might make me think a product is shitty.

My friend isn't SUPER knowledgable. He has built his own machine, and he does know general stuff well, but he doesn't seem to know the go-to items for my perfect price range. He spent $1,000 and apparently has a great setup. But he had a serious budget. I don't.... well, not really... and I want the best.

So picking the parts is the hardest part. I've seen CPUs and video cards for over $1,000 a piece. What the hell is up with that????

Without looking at the specs I cannot tell you for sure, but I would hazard a guess the cpu's are Intel quad core I7's that can run at 2x the standard clock speed (an I7 is 3.4 ghz clock speed with burst to 3.9, the overdriven ones can run as fast as 7ghz from what I have seen), the reason the CPU can be 1000 dollars is because out of X I7 3.4 ghz chips you buy, a relatively small percent can handle that kind of speed, hence they are relatively rare and will cost more, since the company has to buy a lot of chips to find the fast ones. The graphics card is probably not an off the shelf ati or nvididia board, it is probably almost customer made, with a lot of memory (I have seen them with 4 gig of graphics memory).....some serious high end gaming machines cost 4 grand or more and that is partially why.

It isn't that difficult to build a machine, but building a high speed gaming machine is somewhat tricky, it can take some tweaking with the clock speed and such to get it to work, which is fine if you feel like taking the time to do that. On the other hand, if you run into problems it can be a pain getting support.....another option would be to see if someone offers a so called bare bones gaming system, and you could upgrade that by getting more memory for it, buying one or two high end graphics cars, and turning it into a champ, rather then building it all yourself.

Take a look at the specs on the gaming pc's new egg, tiger and Amazon have, and you will get an idea of what you would be looking at. You won't save all that much buying the components and building it, but it might be a fun project.There are probably books and a lot of info on the net about building a gamer pc, the gamer types love to go on about that shit, believe me

 

[Elaya]

If no one has yet posted it, tomshardware is your friend.

So is ifixit.

 

[Mrtouf]

My advice would be to not go for a powerhouse PC on your first try. Performance components tend to go the way of the brightly-burning candle, there's not much you can do about the laws of thermodynamics.

Stick to a mid-range build that can handle what you're going to want to play. It will be easier to assemble, it will probably generate less heat and use less power, and won't wear out so quickly.

Building your own PC can still be a good way to avoid a bad deal. That slimline bargain has an integrated graphics chipset that shares the computer's memory and won't play much of today's games without stuttering. It can be easily outperformed by a computer built in a standard case which has a video card.

Depending on the genre of game you tend to go for, even a quad-core processor can be a waste of money because many games simply aren't written in a way that takes advantage of them. Sometimes it's just impossible to get things to go faster because dividing the load would affect the outcome in an undesired way.

There are the limitations of the rest of the hardware to consider, especially hard disks. Don't get me wrong,your typical hard disk is great for storing vast quantities of stuff, but for great performance you want to consider an SSD (solid state drive). It will make loading screens virtually a thing of the past, and make you blink in astonishment when your computer boots up in moments rather than seconds. I exaggerate, but you get the point - it's much faster. And naturally the price tag per gigabyte is a bit steeper.

 

[NightL]

It never seemed like a very laborious or drawn out process.

that is why we call them geeks hehe

 

[just for fun]

I work in a field where I need a powerful pc and have built several. You should be able to build a monster pc for around 1.5 k. that would rival the 4k HP workstations. Go with quality components and I would reconsider cooling with water and go with air. The new processors don't have as much heat as the days of old, my latest pc is over clocked to 4.8 mhz (3.6 stock)on slow fan speed and stable and quiet as hell. Check out the Asus boards they have some excellent built in over clocking features

Check out the Noctua coolers. They're huge but keep the computer nice and cool. Get some good paste too it does make a difference

 

[Christopher2012]

I work in a field where I need a powerful pc and have built several. You should be able to build a monster pc for around 1.5 k. that would rival the 4k HP workstations. Go with quality components and I would reconsider cooling with water and go with air. The new processors don't have as much heat as the days of old, my latest pc is over clocked to 4.8 mhz (3.6 stock)on slow fan speed and stable and quiet as hell. Check out the Asus boards they have some excellent built in over clocking features

Check out the Noctua coolers. They're huge but keep the computer nice and cool. Get some good paste too it does make a difference

What CPU would you choose?

I was considering this one...

Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73930K

It's like $560 but has great reviews.

I'm definitely getting an SSD and a large HDD. So, I'm already looking at 1.5K all of that. That's not including the video card, case, cooling, disk drive, etc.

 

[klippert]

I'm thinking about building a powerhouse PC. However, I know absolutely nothing about computers. I plan on buying most (if not all) the parts from NEWEGG.

Does anybody have any advice? I know that there are YouTube videos about building computers, but I was wondering if there's anything I should be aware of before I start.

It's going to be a long process. My spending limit is somewhere around $2,000 - $2,500.

Also, I want liquid cooling. Any advice?

my simple suggestion.. find a company like Xi computers... they have super computers pre-built, and you can up grade. I'm not suggestion buying one, that is if your set on building.... What I'm getting at... you'll see all the products they use...

New Egg is where I bought all, but some parts... Using business connections I bought my graphics cards from EVGA...at there cost...


Do NOT go low ball on processor and buy an operating system don't go rip one from the web. As for 2nd and 3rd party software, well that is up to you.

I have built all but one computer work-station, and that one I took off that hands of a guy I work do work for...I'm not a bugger eater, I don't live on the computer and I'm not lost, living in the ether-world, and, I can carry a conversation that isn't via text.

building a PC is easy.... but you can make some very simple mistakes. OS is a bugger if you grip one off the web... and it comes in incomplete. The little secret computer builders don't want you to know... "you can build your own"

Good luck...once you've built one...You'll never buy another.. you'll be able to build a $3K system built, for (hopefully well under your budget)...

I built a home server, and my systems for CAD work....Autodesk software is a hog. From an hP rep....Picked up a HP1050c plotter for nothing...sold that recently.. sorry I digress.

Best of luck