bigredmachine
Posts: 60 +0
My HP DV9500 notebook is on its last leg so I've decided to start buying some parts and hopefully have a pc all put together before this thing finally dies. I was hoping my notebook would last me until I graduate so I'm trying to make it as cheap as possible for the specs I'm looking for, but I also want quality parts. I'd rather pay more for a pc that will last me longer than go super budget and have to replace it in a year.
So far I have a case and a power supply. The case is a Thermaltake V3 and the PSU is a 500w OCZ ModXstream Pro. (I plan on buying the cheaper and "future proof" parts first and wait on the more expensive parts for when I have some more money)
Here is what I'm thinking so far..
-Motherboard: I need help with this!
-Processor: AMD Phenom X4 955 3.2 ghz
-HD: 500 gb minimum with sata 3gb..unless I get a good deal on something better.
-Graphics: dedicated graphics..1 gb memory..need suggestions
-Memory 2gb DDR3 (for now..upgrade later)
-DVD-RW drive..whatevers cheapest..they're pretty much all the same these days
-Wireless-N card..again whatever is cheapest at micro center
-Windows 7 Home Premium
So pretty much the two things that I need help deciding on are the mobo and graphics card. As far as the mobo goes..this seems to be the most confusing part of the whole system. I don't want onboard video because I want to be able to easily upgrade in the future and I want something a little more powerful. I want something that can support RAID so that I can add more HDD space later on. I'm not interested in overclocking or other mods so this isn't a deciding factor. Other than that there seems to be a zillion other features..I just don't know which boards are the best brands, models, etc. For graphics, I want something with for everyday use, and some occasional gaming but nothing crazy..full HD support at minimum. From my research it seems that 1 gig of ram is pretty standard these days.
So this is where I'm at right now...let me know if I'm making a stupid processor choice or whatever could be improved while staying in the "cheap" price range..but again I'm looking for quality components too. Can anyone help??
So far I have a case and a power supply. The case is a Thermaltake V3 and the PSU is a 500w OCZ ModXstream Pro. (I plan on buying the cheaper and "future proof" parts first and wait on the more expensive parts for when I have some more money)
Here is what I'm thinking so far..
-Motherboard: I need help with this!
-Processor: AMD Phenom X4 955 3.2 ghz
-HD: 500 gb minimum with sata 3gb..unless I get a good deal on something better.
-Graphics: dedicated graphics..1 gb memory..need suggestions
-Memory 2gb DDR3 (for now..upgrade later)
-DVD-RW drive..whatevers cheapest..they're pretty much all the same these days
-Wireless-N card..again whatever is cheapest at micro center
-Windows 7 Home Premium
So pretty much the two things that I need help deciding on are the mobo and graphics card. As far as the mobo goes..this seems to be the most confusing part of the whole system. I don't want onboard video because I want to be able to easily upgrade in the future and I want something a little more powerful. I want something that can support RAID so that I can add more HDD space later on. I'm not interested in overclocking or other mods so this isn't a deciding factor. Other than that there seems to be a zillion other features..I just don't know which boards are the best brands, models, etc. For graphics, I want something with for everyday use, and some occasional gaming but nothing crazy..full HD support at minimum. From my research it seems that 1 gig of ram is pretty standard these days.
So this is where I'm at right now...let me know if I'm making a stupid processor choice or whatever could be improved while staying in the "cheap" price range..but again I'm looking for quality components too. Can anyone help??