Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Help me build a computer (I'm so out of touch with new technology)

Old Yeller · 07-04-2010, 06:01 PM

My current computer is a P4 2.4 GHZ with 2 gigs of ram, a GeForce 4 card and a 300 gig SATA HD. It's at least 5 years old and its mostly used as an HTPC, but even with this it's reaching it's limitations as a larger 720p/1080p rip will bring the computer to its knees.

I'm looking to buy a new system but like I said, I'm (mostly) horribly out of touch with the new technology so I'm hoping you guys can help match my requirements to system components. Ideally I want to spend around $1500 but I can exceed that if need be - I'd rather future proof myself and spend a little bit more if need be.

The system will still be used as an HTPC and a work computer, the only "gaming" requirement I have is that it'll run Civilization 5 when it comes out - but I doubt that'll be a huge resource hog compared to some of the new games that are out.

What I'm looking for:

Case - Functionality over flash. I'm indifferent about the look of it, but would like something that's nicely organized inside (or is cable routing a gimmick?). Looking for a case with at least a couple of USB ports on the front or top - my current system has ports on the front, but they don't work properly and it drives my wife nuts when she wants to plug her IPOD in and has to crawl around back. Also if I had to pick between a big tower or small mini tower, I'd pick big tower every time.
CPU - I'm an Intel guy and would rather stick with that over AMD, I would assume I want a newer quad core CPU - like this http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...8%28ME%29.aspx but I'm not entirely sure.
Motherboard/Graphics Card- Oh god the amount of choices is overwhelming. Part of what I'm interested in doing that's very important to me is that I want to be able to have dual monitors, but at the same time run a cable to my TV and output movies on that. So essentially I would really like the ability to output to 3 devices (two monitors and a TV). Is this possible? I assume I can get the dual monitors on most graphics cards, and I would need HDMI out on the motherboard. If I got a graphics card with dual DVI's is the motherboard with HDMI smart enough to output to a TV while the graphics card outputs to the monitors? Also the graphics card doesn't need to be that high end, but must be able to play HD and be powerful enough to run Civilization 5 when it comes out.
Ram - how much is enough for a Windows 7 64 bit system? 6 gigs? 8? 12? DDR3? What brands are good? What speed am I looking for?
Hard Drives - I'm interested in doing an SSD drive for my OS/programs and a raid configuration for storage of media. I want a fast SSD that's reviewed well. I was thinking of the intel X25-M http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...0%28ME%29.aspx but if someone has a better brand/option I'm all ears. For the RAID storage I was just thinking of mirroring two Western Digital Caviar Greens or Blacks but again, if someone has another suggestion I'd like to hear it.
Miscellaneous - those are the main categories for building, but if someone has another peripheral that they really like or something else I should be looking at I'd appreciate the info.

Thanks guys, I appreciate any/all advice. If I've missed anything or need to go into more detail on something, just let me know.

07-04-2010, 06:01 PM	#1
Old Yeller First Line Centre Join Date: Mar 2004 Exp:	Help me build a computer (I'm so out of touch with new technology) My current computer is a P4 2.4 GHZ with 2 gigs of ram, a GeForce 4 card and a 300 gig SATA HD. It's at least 5 years old and its mostly used as an HTPC, but even with this it's reaching it's limitations as a larger 720p/1080p rip will bring the computer to its knees. I'm looking to buy a new system but like I said, I'm (mostly) horribly out of touch with the new technology so I'm hoping you guys can help match my requirements to system components. Ideally I want to spend around $1500 but I can exceed that if need be - I'd rather future proof myself and spend a little bit more if need be. The system will still be used as an HTPC and a work computer, the only "gaming" requirement I have is that it'll run Civilization 5 when it comes out - but I doubt that'll be a huge resource hog compared to some of the new games that are out. What I'm looking for: Case - Functionality over flash. I'm indifferent about the look of it, but would like something that's nicely organized inside (or is cable routing a gimmick?). Looking for a case with at least a couple of USB ports on the front or top - my current system has ports on the front, but they don't work properly and it drives my wife nuts when she wants to plug her IPOD in and has to crawl around back. Also if I had to pick between a big tower or small mini tower, I'd pick big tower every time. CPU - I'm an Intel guy and would rather stick with that over AMD, I would assume I want a newer quad core CPU - like this http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...8%28ME%29.aspx but I'm not entirely sure. Motherboard/Graphics Card- Oh god the amount of choices is overwhelming. Part of what I'm interested in doing that's very important to me is that I want to be able to have dual monitors, but at the same time run a cable to my TV and output movies on that. So essentially I would really like the ability to output to 3 devices (two monitors and a TV). Is this possible? I assume I can get the dual monitors on most graphics cards, and I would need HDMI out on the motherboard. If I got a graphics card with dual DVI's is the motherboard with HDMI smart enough to output to a TV while the graphics card outputs to the monitors? Also the graphics card doesn't need to be that high end, but must be able to play HD and be powerful enough to run Civilization 5 when it comes out. Ram - how much is enough for a Windows 7 64 bit system? 6 gigs? 8? 12? DDR3? What brands are good? What speed am I looking for? Hard Drives - I'm interested in doing an SSD drive for my OS/programs and a raid configuration for storage of media. I want a fast SSD that's reviewed well. I was thinking of the intel X25-M http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...0%28ME%29.aspx but if someone has a better brand/option I'm all ears. For the RAID storage I was just thinking of mirroring two Western Digital Caviar Greens or Blacks but again, if someone has another suggestion I'd like to hear it. Miscellaneous - those are the main categories for building, but if someone has another peripheral that they really like or something else I should be looking at I'd appreciate the info. Thanks guys, I appreciate any/all advice. If I've missed anything or need to go into more detail on something, just let me know.