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anyone know how to build a computer?

matamaticmatamatic 488 Posts
edited November 2007 in Strut Central
I have an old pentium 4 desktop that I was thinkin about upgrading:getting a new motherboard, new hard drives, firewire port etc. I've never put in a new motherboard before so I was wondering if I would have a hard time finding a motherboard to fit my cpu case.. Any tips?

  Comments

  • DescryDescry 229 Posts
    you shouldn't have a hard time at all trying to find an old p4 mobo. most of the time mobo's are sized to fit "medium sized" towers, so usually there isn't a problem with it fitting. assuming you have a standard sized tower...maybe say something from hp, compaq, dell, or antec--you should be good to go. check pricewatch, and get the socket # of your processor because they have to match (you should be able to find it by reading the chip or going into the pc's bios).
  • edulusedulus 421 Posts
    motherboard is easy part, make sure it is compatible with your processor, your video card, and your power supply.
  • matamaticmatamatic 488 Posts
    I was thinkin about getting one of those motherboards that already come with the processor. Like what you can get at frys...
  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    Tell me your current specs and I'll tell you if it's worth upgrading or buying new.

    It's actually really cheap to build, and buying a Mobo/processor combo is half the battle.

    Do you really need to keep the old case. You can probably find a really nice one for less than 50 bucks.

    I build/service/repair computers for a living. So you can hit me up on this.

    - spidey
  • matamaticmatamatic 488 Posts
    it's a gateway desktop
    pentium 4 2.00ghz
    1 gb ram
    40 gig hd


    What i want to do is upgrade for music production. Basically I want to be able to hook up my firewire soundcard to this (there's no firewire port on it now). I want bigger & faster hard drive so I can record audio. So I guess I could get a new case but I just wanted to save as much cash as possible....
  • rfbutterrfbutter 49 Posts
    I would include an external hard drive in your list of things to purchase. Running your music apps and and writing the finished product to the same drive can cause problems. Also, are you going to be using some sort of multi-tracking program like Pro Tools, Nuendo etc..? If your going to use Pro Tools do some research on the Digidesign website to see what motherboard/processor combos work with it. Good Luck.
  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    it's a gateway desktop
    pentium 4 2.00ghz
    1 gb ram
    40 gig hd


    What i want to do is upgrade for music production. Basically I want to be able to hook up my firewire soundcard to this (there's no firewire port on it now). I want bigger & faster hard drive so I can record audio. So I guess I could get a new case but I just wanted to save as much cash as possible....


    Cool. Your going to have to take it apart and salvage some of the parts. I would reccomend getting a new case ($50 or under), it'll be SO much roomier and easier to work on. Plus they usually come with a newer (quieter) power supply.

    I'd keep the processor, buy a new fan for it($20 or under). You're going to have to see exactly why type of CHIPSET it is for a Motherboard upgrade. After you find a compatible motherboard ($100 or under)you can see how to expand it.

    Most of the newer boards use DDR or DDR2 memory. If you're currently using SDram, you won't be able to use it. However you can find Hybrid motherboards that have SD and DDR. I'd reccomend upgrading to DDR2 ($70 or under per gig) though.

    Your harddrive you can keep, but it is very small. It's most likely IDE, but you should want to buy a SATA drive (500 gig around $100 now)and have a motherboard that can use it.

    You should use:

    http://www.pricewatch.com/

    and

    http://www.newegg.com/

    to help you figure out the cost of the parts you'll need. Regardless of if you're going to eventually buy the parts at Fryes or not.

    I'd reccomend an NVIDIA video card, and splurge here if you can. ($300 or way less)

    Look into a soundcard that can handle your needs for sound. If you're recording music on this you might want to get something fancy. I run a logitech 5.1 sound system so I need a 5.1 soundcard. ($200 or way less)

    if you need some help figuring out more stuff hit me up.

    - spidey
  • BrianBrian 7,618 Posts
    you should tell us what programs and plug-ins you intend to use before any hardware recommendations
  • G_BalliandoG_Balliando 3,916 Posts
    I would include an external hard drive in your list of things to purchase. Running your music apps and and writing the finished product to the same drive can cause problems.

    Wouldn't an external drive write slower and thus take longer to save to? I've been running my apps and saving my audio files on the same hard drive forever and have never had any kind of issue with it.

    I'm buggin' over the fact that a 500 gig hard drive is only $100 now. Is that real? I need to step up, I got less than half that with three hard drives.
  • matamaticmatamatic 488 Posts
    yeah I guess I left some information out....
    I have a presonus firepod firewire soundcard/midi interface.
    Also I was thinking of getting a new motherboard so I can get a newer, up-to-date processer.(like a duo core or something).
    I have ableton live 6, Cakewalk sonar 5, and plan to get pro tools m-powered soon...

    But yeah thanks for all of the help. I'm definitely gonna check those websites. I think I'm gonna start with buying a new case. Then each payday buy another part or parts that I need.
  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    If you do decide to buy any of the parts online Pricewatch will take you to a bunch of resellers. To make sure you can trust the reseller use this website.

    http://www.resellerratings.com/

    I've probably bought more stuff from newegg.com than most retailers and can fully vouch for them.

    - spidey
  • BrianBrian 7,618 Posts
    yeah I guess I left some information out....
    I have a presonus firepod firewire soundcard/midi interface.
    Also I was thinking of getting a new motherboard so I can get a newer, up-to-date processer.(like a duo core or something).
    I have ableton live 6, Cakewalk sonar 5, and plan to get pro tools m-powered soon...

    But yeah thanks for all of the help. I'm definitely gonna check those websites. I think I'm gonna start with buying a new case. Then each payday buy another part or parts that I need.
    if you are planning on using pro tools m-powered, i would strongly recommend reading through this thread http://duc.digidesign.com/showflat.php?C...5&o=7&fpart=all
    and building something along those lines
  • ZachDZachD 318 Posts
    I have an old pentium 4 desktop that I was thinkin about upgrading:getting a new motherboard, new hard drives, firewire port etc. I've never put in a new motherboard before so I was wondering if I would have a hard time finding a motherboard to fit my cpu case.. Any tips?


    If you have a healthy craigslist in your area you should start checking it frequently for computer parts. You can usually score things like a case and memory cheap. Sometimes CPU's and mobos as well
  • BeatsoupBeatsoup 511 Posts
    If you're planning on using your new comp for music production I recommend taking a look at this site.

    http://www.silentpcreview.com/

    Keeping your computer as quite as possible is something to think about, it took me over a week of through research into quiet parts but my computer can literally not be heard. The only sound it makes is the hardrive access, no fan noise whatsoever, quieter than a mac.

    If this is what your looking for I'll drop some knowledge on good parts...
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