My effort to get a perfect PC

fais7 · 08-08-2007, 07:14 AM

I'll get to the point directly.
I'm planning to get a pc assembled with hardware that I would require to meet my requirements. But the problem I instantly faced was to what hardwares does my requirements translate into. There are soo many things in the market that its quite disturbing trying to figure out what is good for what. So here I am for help..

My requirements...

Surfing the net while listening to music, downloading, multiple window[for surfing], cahtting, transfering data to my MP3 player etc...I should be able to do this all without my pc freezing.
Gaming is not of high importance. I would just like a VGA card that will deal with every high end game in the genre[if possible] of Racing, sports, simulators, sims etc... Not such a fan of games like GTA, warcraft.
But I want a VGA card with a TV out so that I can connect the TV to the CPU. A remote would be a added advantage.
Speed is important but more important is a stable HDD. A SATA HDD will be enough if it has less chances of crashing.

Now this is what I think I require.
atleast 1gb ram, 160gb HDD [one 160 or two 80], 256mb VGA card should be enough.

Things I'm completely lost with is the processor & motherboard. What would I need to be satisfied.

Now remember, I live in the Middle east where unfortunately my choice is quite limited to the international market. Plus Its pretty hot here, so I need hardware that dont heat up, or have better cooling system.

In the end, I'd like you to advice me for a power box cause my old pc's power box kept dying.

Cheers
Thanx

fais7 · 08-08-2007, 08:46 AM

I forgot to mention...I've got a budget of about $600-700

Brinson · 08-08-2007, 08:52 AM

The basic CPU/MB for a Brisbane X2 3600+ runs about $150, add in 250gb HD for $70, $50 for RAM, and about another $150 for case and psu, then $30 for a DVD burner and you're looking at a quite nice $450 ystem.

Spend the rest on a nice winTV card or graphics card.

If you're not gaming I wouldn't spend more than $100 on a video card. What kind of inputs does your TV have? Dvi?

b1gapl · 08-08-2007, 08:55 AM

Hey fais7,
Welcome to T.F.!!

Looks like this will be a mid-range budget PC. Heres a list of parts, that I would suggest:

CPU - This would depend on your budget. You don't need a powerful CPU, to do music, download, having multiple Windows opened. So either an AMD Athlon X2 3600+ or an Intel Dual-Core E2140, will do the job. Which ever is cheaper, go for it.

Motherboard - If you are going for the AMD Athlon X2 3600+, than I would suggest either the Biostar TForce 550 or the Biostar TF7025. They're great budget boards.

If you are going for the Intel Dual-Core E2140, then look for the Gigabyte P35-DS3L or the S3L version. Again, these are both great budget boards.

Memory - DDR2-800 RAM is not as expensive as it was before, so the brands to look for are G. Skill (NQ models, they're red in color) or Crucial Ballistix. If they're not cheap where you are, then OCZ, Corsair XMS2, or Patriot will do.

Power supply - This is the most important part of the system. And I would suggest reliable brands like FSP (Fortron), Corsair, SeaSonic, HIPER, XClio, etc...

Graphics - It seems you're not going to be playing demanding games, so a 7900GS can suffice. It's inexpensive, and can play most games on reasonable settings.

Hard drive - You want to look only at Seagate or Western Digital hard drives, as they are the most reliable brands. Seagate is more preferred because they have the least failure rate, which you want, and they have the best warranty. Look for Seagate 7200.10 models, as they are one of the faster 7200rpm drives out there.

I hope these ideas helped.

fais7 · 08-09-2007, 07:21 AM

Right now I'm at work so I'll get back to you about that connecton on my TV

I was looking at a seagate/maxtor HDD of capacity 160GB. More like two 80GB cause I have heard 2 HDD are better than one at the time of failure of one. WD...did not know they were a good brand. Will look for them also.

I'm looking for an Intel, not an AMD. Just a Old Intel user so would prefer sticking to it.

Those RAM companies I've never heard of... :|
Are Kingston good??

The power supply units, I know the old pc used to have 4 connectors...would I need more??

Vaanish · 08-09-2007, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fais7

Those RAM companies I've never heard of... :|
Are Kingston good??

The power supply units, I know the old pc used to have 4 connectors...would I need more??

Kingston are an excellent manufacturer of RAM. They are actually the world's largest distributer. But, all of the ones that b1 suggested are well known, high performance modules also.

All of the PSUs that b1 listed will power your system just fine. They will have all of the connectors that you will need to use, and probably more besides.