Learning to upgrade computer by myself...help!

Most stuff are color coded now. If its not...just stick it in and see if it fits.

I just recently put togeather my own little system and had little experience doing the hardware aspects so i spent about a month researching and then proceeded to buy and buy, then piece it all togeather. now i'm running my P4 2.4C@ 3.0Ghz (not that big of a proclimation since its very typical, but is a big step for me) and all my hardware is doing what i want. Two sites that helped a lot with guides and articles are tweak3d.net and tomshardware.com. Aside from that i bought all my stuff through pricewatch and pricegrabber. the stores i found most speedy, reliable, and least expensive were newegg (usually free shipping), googlegear, and ewiz (fairly new but sent me some free stuff for buying 3 components from them). i am very satisfied with my stuff, after shuffling through motherboard manuals and all that good stuff ive got it doing what i want. Good Luck to you.
if your interested in what i got, here ye go- P4 2.4C proc., Abit IC7 mobo, Antec SLK2600AMB case, maxtor 120gb HDD, 19" Hitachi .22 dp monitor, samsung 52x24x52-x16 cdr/w/dvd, 2x256MB buffalo PC3200 RAM, Antec True430 PowerSupply, Altec Lansing 5.1 speakers, 2 80mm fans, etc... for under $1300 (i love my Xtrac PRO HS mousepad that was $13) G'day.

Originally posted by HeyNow@Sep 28 2003, 02:28 AM
Most stuff are color coded now. If its not...just stick it in and see if it fits.

Then watch the fireworks because you were colourblind!

Here's a few tips i'd find helpfull if I was building my first...

1. Put the little screws in the case that the motherboard screws on TOP of (kinda like little screw stilts)
2. Use a good thermal paste type stuff for putting in between your processor and heat sink and apply it properly!!!. (Arctic Silver 3 is a good choice)
3. Make sure the heatsink is properly seated on top of your processor otherwise you could fry it pretty quick!
4. Make sure you have your case fans the right way round, sucking in from the front blowing out at the back. (easy to put one or two around the wrong way.)
5. cant think of any others, hope some of this helps anyways. :thumbup:

Originally posted by HeyNow@Sep 28 2003, 02:28 AM
Most stuff are color coded now. If its not...just stick it in and see if it fits.

The red wire goes into the - Red plug.
The blue wire goes into the - Blue plug

*rhymes*

Ok I have got a question that I need an answer to.

How come a radeon 9600pro 128MB card is close to $200 and a "microstar" 128MB video card is $70? Whats with the price difference? Is it just because Radeon is a name brand that its more expensive?

Also, is the memory the most important part of the video card?

Originally posted by GrenadesNHam@Sep 28 2003, 01:32 AM
I just recently put togeather my own little system and had little experience doing the hardware aspects so i spent about a month researching and then proceeded to buy and buy, then piece it all togeather. now i'm running my P4 2.4C@ 3.0Ghz (not that big of a proclimation since its very typical, but is a big step for me) and all my hardware is doing what i want. Two sites that helped a lot with guides and articles are tweak3d.net and tomshardware.com. Aside from that i bought all my stuff through pricewatch and pricegrabber. the stores i found most speedy, reliable, and least expensive were newegg (usually free shipping), googlegear, and ewiz (fairly new but sent me some free stuff for buying 3 components from them). i am very satisfied with my stuff, after shuffling through motherboard manuals and all that good stuff ive got it doing what i want. Good Luck to you.
if your interested in what i got, here ye go- P4 2.4C proc., Abit IC7 mobo, Antec SLK2600AMB case, maxtor 120gb HDD, 19" Hitachi .22 dp monitor, samsung 52x24x52-x16 cdr/w/dvd, 2x256MB buffalo PC3200 RAM, Antec True430 PowerSupply, Altec Lansing 5.1 speakers, 2 80mm fans, etc... for under $1300 (i love my Xtrac PRO HS mousepad that was $13) G'day.

You might need a video card. Whithout one you can't get very far.

Originally posted by rockinfunzone@Oct 10 2003, 01:09 AM
Ok I have got a question that I need an answer to.

How come a radeon 9600pro 128MB card is close to $200 and a "microstar" 128MB video card is $70? Whats with the price difference? Is it just because Radeon is a name brand that its more expensive?

Also, is the memory the most important part of the video card?

Stop posting that same crap all over the place . Do your own research for god's sake! Damn newbs...