Dr. Frankenstein, I Presume...

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by tripwire45, Aug 15, 2003.

  1. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Ok, I've pretty much decided to build my own system (I say "pretty much" because I haven't run it past the wife yet). Problem is, I've never done anything like it before. I'm not so much worried about actually putting it together as going shopping for the components. I'd have to buy everything from scratch, including the box it all has to go in.

    I have a general idea of what I want...Pentium 4 processor, SATA hard drive, at least one to two Gigs of RAM...the ability to upgrade. I'll probably use XP Pro as the host OS and run VMWare Workstation 4.0 on it to create a virtual network. I'd like to support about six virtual machines including workstations and servers for my lab work.

    I'd prefer not to randomly search the web via google trying to cobble together bits and pieces so...where do I begin???
     
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  2. Nelix
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    Nelix Gigabyte Poster

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    OK, first chose your case, any ATX case will hold an ATX M/B, however take into account the number of drive bays you require and the size of power supply, also think about little things on the cases like USB and firewire ports on the front panel, Next, if the SATA (dont know much about these) are IDE drives then they will fit any M/B too.

    After that if you are going for a true pentium, decide what speed processor you want then look for a mother board that supports your choice of pentium and that has onboard what you want (such as LAN, graphics maybe, SCSI, IrDA, Hell why not bluetooth or i have seen cases with built in support for wireless (dont know how this works)). At the same time make sure that the Ram speed is supported by the M/B.

    Most Cases are totally upgradable to pretty much anything you want but think ahead a little, if you only require 2x5.25" bays and 1x3.5" bays I would choose a case that has maybe got a couple more bays on it........Just incase.

    HTH a little :D
     
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  3. SimonV
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    SimonV Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    Trip, whats the time scale on this project? I was thinking if you were at all interested and you had the time you could bring it to the forum and get our opinions on each part that your gona buy.

    Lets say starting with the Case, we post our advice and comments on what we have found to be good rules when buying a case then with all our input you can make an informed decission. Then move onto the next item say the Motherboard.

    We could then leave the threads for others to look over if they are to ever go the same route and build thier own PC.

    Now these are just thought and I'm full of em today, but we could make a new forum called "Building you own PC" or similar, maybe "Trips PC build" to start, then once its complete use the previous name.

    Comments eveyone on this please. :D

    SimonV
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2015
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  4. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Actually, I thought it would make sense to start with the motherboard. Then you'd know what sort of case to buy. I've been to http://www.motherboards.org and been looking up motherboards that support SATA drives but it's hard for me to sort through the mess....ur....collection of information.

    I decided to start with something simple to begin my list and looked up Serial ATA drives. Found this one. It's a 200 Gig drive, but they make e'm up to 250. Here's the link: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/WD2000JD.asp#ben

    I think a forum on "How to build..." is a good idea. I wouldn't dedicate an entire forum on something like: "Trip's how to build...". My adventure could be a thread in the forum but I imagine as time goes on, others will want to share their own experiences and questions.

    In the meantime, I hear flex is in a bit of a struggle repairing his laptop so this topic will be shelved until the emergency is passed.
     
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  5. flex22

    flex22 Gigabyte Poster

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    Dereks kindly trying to sort something for me trip so I'll let you know when it's sorted.

    I think building a PC can go in hardware forum.

    Your attitude and thinking are spot on SimonV, exactly how I think.

    I mean they say two heads are better than one.My attitude is the more heads the better.

    You could say this can get confusing with so may ideas floating around but your more likely to come up with something different from the norm.

    This is the attitude of this whole site.I use everyone as much as I can, suck up knowledge like a sponge.I don't mean use in a bad way, I mean just take in all you can, that the attitude to have.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 2, 2015
  6. SimonV
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    SimonV Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    So Trip, Hardware Forum it is, If you fancy the idea of getting input on each part your looking at buying then take the lead my friend and start us off. If you give us a breakdown of your needs for each part and an overall goal for the PC spec I'm sure you'll get some great tips from the others on choosing the right parts.

    SimonV :onthePC
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2015
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  7. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Are you saying I $uck or that I'm a $uck up? :D Hey, it's a joke. Boy, you've gotta be careful. Without vocal tones, facial expressions, and body language, the emoticons and our text comments are all we've got to go on when we try to make humorous or ironic comments.

    Now, back to actually building the beast...
     
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  8. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Well, it's not ment to be. After much deliberation, I decided that I just don't have the time for another project. Just shopping for the components for the computer let alone finding the time and a quiet place to put it together would consume more resources than I have. I still have it as one of my goals, but life will have to change somewhat before I can realize it. Thanks for the support, gang.
     
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  9. Nelix
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    Nelix Gigabyte Poster

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    It's a shame to hear that the build will not be going ahead (at the moment) but i am sure that when you do decide to build your own and have the time/resources to do so we will still be hear to give you a helping hand :alc

    I know this emoticon has nothing to do with what i said, i just saw it and thought it was funny he he
     
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  10. SimonV
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    SimonV Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    Thats a shame trip. Maybe soon you'll get the time and I'm sure when you've done a build you'll wish you had the time earlier.
     
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  11. brent

    brent Nibble Poster

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    ohhhhhh shame trip. I was all geared up to watch this thread. I'm "thinking" of doing a self build when I can raise enough £ for the parts. I was gonna use some of the parts from my current PC to save a few £ but then thought "No, I can have 2 computers". Nevermind.
     
  12. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Yeah, I know. I'm consumed with guilt. :oops: I just couldn't find any way to do it right now. Of course it's not just finding the time but the dough. Since I decided to take the easy way out and buy a system, that consumes the budget for "new lab computer" for the foreseeable future. As it is, I'll still have to buy more RAM, VMWare Workstation 4.0 and anyother OS software I may want to try. I have a copy of Windows 2000 Pro and an eval copy of Server 2000 to get me started. With that, I should be able to construct a "network-in-a-box" to do labs that are beyond my current little system.

    Of course you know that means one of my underpowered IBM Pentium 166 PCs is destined to become a Linux firewall at some point.

    Again, sorry about the "letdown", everyone. It was stressful enough just buying my lab system plus a new system for the fam and reconcilling the budget with my better (and more frugal) half. The boys will be disappointed that I didn't buy a "to-the-wall" gaming system, but they'll get over it. After all, they'll get the Micron handmedown that the family uses now for their very own.

    New projects await. I'll keep you posted.
     
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