Monday, January 21st, 2008

How to Choose Components for a New Computer

I started out this year by building a new computer, which I had been researching and pondering over for quite some time. This post lists some of the key steps in building and overclocking a new computer.

1. Choosing AMD or INTEL

The main components of your system will either be Intel or AMD. Thus, your first choice should be which way you wanna go. At this point in the game, if you’re overclocking, you’ll want an Intel core duo no question. If you aren’t overclocking, then the decision becomes a bit more difficult. If you’re too much a n00b to overclock, then either decision will work fine for you anyways.

2. Choosing Your Motherboard

Perhaps the hardest decision to make in the overclocked system is the motherboard. The main criteria you’ll want to look at is it’s overclocking options. Some systems will let you adjust almost any component of your system. Some won’t. Do your research on this one. I went with a Gygabyte board because I saw the name all over various overclocking forums, which tells me a couple things - it’s probably a solid board, and it certainly has overclocking options. Another good brand to consider is ASUS, which was my second choice.

After making sure that your board has good overclocking options, you’ll want to consider the additional features it holds. Do you need RAID support? SLI? In general, if you haven’t heard of either of these options, you don’t need to worry too much. SLI is convenient if you wanna run dual video cards, but with the new 8800GTX, I don’t see why anyone would need to run dual video cards anyways…

3. Choose a Processor.

Again, the best place to do this is in various overclocking forums. The key to a processor is it’s overclocking potential. The largest player in most overclocking scenarios is the thermal capacity of the CPU. The CPU’s multiplier will only play a factor if your motherboard’s FSB will be surpassed by your desired overclock.

ie. if you have a multiplier of 7, the max overclock is 7*your motherboard’s max FSB.

Likewise, your memory will need to run at the same FSB as the CPU, unless your motherboard allows for a memory multiplier (if you picked a good motherboard in part 1, then there’s no problems here - most CPU’s should work with most memory).

So check reviews, etc. Look at the percentage overclock people are getting. Figure out what you want to spend, and find a processor that has the best overclock for the right price. And make sure more than one person reports a good overclock. Some people claim pretty high overclocks, but not everyone has their equipment/expertise.

4. Memory

Memory can be a tough choice at times. A lot of different brands are held in high regard by a lot of different people. My opinion? There’s not too much difference between them. Buy whatever has the best statistics for the best price (but check into it if it’s a brand that you don’t recognize). You’ll want to buy memory based on whatever you suspect will match your FSB the best. If you are guessing at a FSB of about 300, you’d probably be fine with 667MHz. As it turns out, 800MHz is the cheapest right now. So I’d go with that (unless you feel like spending huge cash on the next step up).

5. Case and Power Supply

Don’t get me wrong - you should usually avoid cases that come packaged with a power supply. If you were just building an ordinary computer, most times a mid-class power supply will suit your needs. But overclocking means more volts. Research power supplies. Check how heavy they are, and make sure a couple people have confirmed the actual wattage it provides.

Cases are 50% asthetic and 50% practicality. No one wants some ugly grey and white box with hundreds of dollars of hand-picked components inside. Get one with a window. Also, make sure there’s lots of fans and good airflow. My Antec nine hundred gives me such good airflow that I hardly have to worry about any temperatures for my components. Lastly, make sure there’s room inside for anything you want now or in the future. An 8800 GTX doesn’t fit in just any case.

6. All the rest

Video cards are pretty much get-what-you-pay. You want uber performance, expect to spend lots. If you don’t care, then get whatever seems to be the best deal.

Hard Drives aren’t a particularly intense choice. Make sure it’s SATA if you have it, and Western Digital is probably a safe bet. Also make sure your optical drives are SATA as well (if you’re buying a new one).

Start with a budget, and make a spreadsheet showing all the parts you want and a rough estimate of their cost. It’ll show you where you can spend more and where to skimp a bit.

In general, you can’t do enough research. Tomshardware is a great starting point, along with the extreme overclocking forums (or any overclocking user base for that matter).

Monday, January 14th, 2008

My rig.

See this page if you’re curious about my computer specs