anyone know how to build a computer?
matamatic
488 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?
Comments
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
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
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.
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.
http://www.resellerratings.com/
I've probably bought more stuff from newegg.com than most retailers and can fully vouch for them.
- spidey
and building something along those lines
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
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...