OmniscientOnus
Blue Mage
Hey guys. It's been a long time since I've posted here.
Anyways, I've done a few PC builds in the past (3-4) and therefore I have some general knowledge (enough to pick out compatible parts, put them together, and make a machine run). Unfortunately my knowledge is two things: outdated and lacking.
Like I said, I can go online, pick out parts that will function together, purchase it all, install everything properly the first time, turn it on, install all necessary software, update drivers, blah-blah-blah. Where I have trouble at is in feeling confident about picking the right hardware. Sure, I can make sure it's all compatible, but I can never quite make the final verdict on whether or not I chose the right parts for my needs.
For instance: My brother has just asked me to put together a desktop computer for him. He's been quite unorganized for the last few years from a combination of poor decisions and bad luck. He'd been laid off, moved a few times (and even lived in his van for a very brief period) and had a hard time coping with the stress. As a result, he got back into some old habits of mild drug use and general slacking-offerry.
The point is, he's trying to get back on his feet now and needs some help. He has a steady place to live (at the moment at least), he's been staying quite busy finding odds and ends work to keep some cash flowing, and he's even enrolled himself into college again (online).
Now he feels like he needs to create a space for himself where he can be centered. A sort of "hub" that is solid, clean, organized, etc. All of the things he needs to focus on in his life personified in office furniture really. Unfortunately his "hub" at the moment is his van.
Essentially what he is looking for is to get a feeling like he belongs somewhere (like he has a home instead of just a roof and bed for the night). Having a desktop would give him a single location to do his homework, do his paperwork, pay his bills, etc will help him feel centered around a stable hub instead of a mobile one.
I got way off topic there but it appears that I just really needed to talk about my brother (or at least write about him) since bringing these kinds of things up with him FEELS socially unacceptable and bring it up with others makes it FEEL like I'm talking about him behind his back. Thanks for bearing with me. I'll get back on topic now.
So, he asked me to build this desktop computer for him. Of course I told him it won't be a problem (and it won't) but as I start looking into equipment I start to realize that things have changed at least slightly since I last built a PC almost 4 years ago and also some that things I thought I still knew are actually only things that I used to know.
His only requirements for me (and it took me over 3 hours of explaining to him what a lot of terms meant, sometimes again and again to even come up with these) were that he wanted to be able to go online and possibly play Modern Warfare 2 online with his friends. OH, and he apparently is very impatient and cannot handle lag. After checking out his laptop to see what he is used to I also noticed that he is only using about 23 gigs of his 250 gig hard drive.
With only those requirements in hand, I am left looking for parts on my own. I started looking at CPU's and motherboards last night only to find a lot of (seemingly) new jargon that frankly confuses me.
If you already have a good idea for a build (I prefer AMD processors... no reason really, I just do) you can stop reading here and just post it. Otherwise...
An example of my frustration is here:
AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - OEM
AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 2.8GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor
Things I understand (1st Processor):
AMD
2.9GHz
Socket AM3
Dual-Core
Desktop Processor
OEM
Things I don't understand (1st):
Athlon II X2
245
Regor
2 x 1MB L2 Cache
65W
Things I understand (2nd Processor)
AMD
2.8GHz
Socket AM3
Quad-Core
Processor
Things I don't understand (2nd)
Athlon II X4
630
Propus
4 x 512KB L2 Cache
95w
I don't want to post every piece on here and get a explanation of all the terminology, what I was hoping for was a breakdown of which terms are going to apply to me in this build, and how to compare them.
For Example, what (besides generation/version naming) is Athlon II X2 and how does it compare to Athlon II X4? How comparable is the difference in a 2.8GHz and 2.9GHz processor (no over-clocking or general BIOS tom-foolery).
What is the difference between Regor and Propus besides being company names?
How does a 2 x 1MB L2 Cache compare to a 4 x 512KB L2 Cache (mathematically equivalent but technically different; that much I can discern)?
65w and 95w. How does/Does this alter my decisions when choosing the correct watt and amp power supply? How much, if any, does it affect the overall temperature of the processing at higher loads (with a stock heat sink... let's assume it's effective enough)?
Obviously this problem goes deeper than just processors. I run into the same nuances in every piece of hardware I look at.
An example of my thought process is this:
"I know that I don't need a huge HDD for this build because he's currently only living off of 250 gigs, and he's only using 23 gigs. He already has iTunes and all of the music he's likely to rake up for awhile as he's just over 30 now and has more pressing concerns than downloading music. It's not likely that he'll start downloading movies, or get heavy into gaming.
On the other hand, you can snag a 1TB hard drive fairly cheap (especially in comparison) nowadays. But then again I know he doesn't need all of that storage so I could always pick him up a 300 gig one that's faster.
But... I wonder what kind of difference he'll really see between a 300 gig 10000RPM 32MB Cache vs a 1TB 7200RPM 16MB Cache...? I wonder how much Modern Warfare would tax a HDD. Is that even a logical question. Oh man... I don't really know that much here when I think about it.
Focus! Ok, you can do this. It's pretty simple. Think about it. When you picked up that... what was it? 300gig (350?... no... 300) 10000RPM (...I don't think I ever even looked at Cache size before... no, I must have. This is me after all. I look at everything and then worry about it even though I'm not positive what it means. In the end you always end up spending more than you hoped and feeling like you didn't really improve like you had hoped). What did I say about focusing? FOCUS! Ok.
Ok... the point is that when you bought that you didn't really notice an improvement. You wanted to. You wanted to feel like you made the right choice. You even "thought" you saw improvement when you first fired her up again. Thankfully you're man enough to admit that you obviously didn't know what you were doing and you spent money that you didn't need to. That's ok. But where does that leave me now?
Let's think... I didn't notice a difference, so he certainly won't, right? Although I did notice that even Portal was running kinda sloppy when I picked it up again a few weeks ago. Then again my computer doesn't seem to run as well as it did when I first bought it. Then again, even after I wiped everything and did a fresh install out of boredom (note to self: don't do that ever again. I don't remember how many times I did that, but it was fun back then, it's just tedious now)... what was I talking about.
Oh yeah, when I reinstalled out of boredom it still didn't feel AS new and fresh and fast as when I first built it. I know it's old and all now (man... now I want to rebuild mine... I wish I had the money... stupid wedding...) but it was $2,000 when I built it and everyone I asked to look over it for I (and man did I ask a lot of people) said it was going to be a hardcore gaming machine. Surely it can't be that outdated can it."
Shit... well, I think you can see where this ends up going and why I cannot seem to finish this simple task. I didn't mean to write that much but I ended up writing what I was actually thinking (edited of course).
I've written a ton now (as usual) and so I will stop. Can anyone help me (with the computer, not the clearly insane ramblings)? I'll take either direction or a down and dirty recommended parts list. Specs are preferred as I have lots of brand preferences for no particular reason (like AMD over Intel).
Sorry for the rant. I think I need to post on the boards more. Clearly I miss it.
Anyways, I've done a few PC builds in the past (3-4) and therefore I have some general knowledge (enough to pick out compatible parts, put them together, and make a machine run). Unfortunately my knowledge is two things: outdated and lacking.
Like I said, I can go online, pick out parts that will function together, purchase it all, install everything properly the first time, turn it on, install all necessary software, update drivers, blah-blah-blah. Where I have trouble at is in feeling confident about picking the right hardware. Sure, I can make sure it's all compatible, but I can never quite make the final verdict on whether or not I chose the right parts for my needs.
For instance: My brother has just asked me to put together a desktop computer for him. He's been quite unorganized for the last few years from a combination of poor decisions and bad luck. He'd been laid off, moved a few times (and even lived in his van for a very brief period) and had a hard time coping with the stress. As a result, he got back into some old habits of mild drug use and general slacking-offerry.
The point is, he's trying to get back on his feet now and needs some help. He has a steady place to live (at the moment at least), he's been staying quite busy finding odds and ends work to keep some cash flowing, and he's even enrolled himself into college again (online).
Now he feels like he needs to create a space for himself where he can be centered. A sort of "hub" that is solid, clean, organized, etc. All of the things he needs to focus on in his life personified in office furniture really. Unfortunately his "hub" at the moment is his van.
Essentially what he is looking for is to get a feeling like he belongs somewhere (like he has a home instead of just a roof and bed for the night). Having a desktop would give him a single location to do his homework, do his paperwork, pay his bills, etc will help him feel centered around a stable hub instead of a mobile one.
I got way off topic there but it appears that I just really needed to talk about my brother (or at least write about him) since bringing these kinds of things up with him FEELS socially unacceptable and bring it up with others makes it FEEL like I'm talking about him behind his back. Thanks for bearing with me. I'll get back on topic now.
So, he asked me to build this desktop computer for him. Of course I told him it won't be a problem (and it won't) but as I start looking into equipment I start to realize that things have changed at least slightly since I last built a PC almost 4 years ago and also some that things I thought I still knew are actually only things that I used to know.
His only requirements for me (and it took me over 3 hours of explaining to him what a lot of terms meant, sometimes again and again to even come up with these) were that he wanted to be able to go online and possibly play Modern Warfare 2 online with his friends. OH, and he apparently is very impatient and cannot handle lag. After checking out his laptop to see what he is used to I also noticed that he is only using about 23 gigs of his 250 gig hard drive.
With only those requirements in hand, I am left looking for parts on my own. I started looking at CPU's and motherboards last night only to find a lot of (seemingly) new jargon that frankly confuses me.
If you already have a good idea for a build (I prefer AMD processors... no reason really, I just do) you can stop reading here and just post it. Otherwise...
An example of my frustration is here:
AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - OEM
AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 2.8GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor
Things I understand (1st Processor):
AMD
2.9GHz
Socket AM3
Dual-Core
Desktop Processor
OEM
Things I don't understand (1st):
Athlon II X2
245
Regor
2 x 1MB L2 Cache
65W
Things I understand (2nd Processor)
AMD
2.8GHz
Socket AM3
Quad-Core
Processor
Things I don't understand (2nd)
Athlon II X4
630
Propus
4 x 512KB L2 Cache
95w
I don't want to post every piece on here and get a explanation of all the terminology, what I was hoping for was a breakdown of which terms are going to apply to me in this build, and how to compare them.
For Example, what (besides generation/version naming) is Athlon II X2 and how does it compare to Athlon II X4? How comparable is the difference in a 2.8GHz and 2.9GHz processor (no over-clocking or general BIOS tom-foolery).
What is the difference between Regor and Propus besides being company names?
How does a 2 x 1MB L2 Cache compare to a 4 x 512KB L2 Cache (mathematically equivalent but technically different; that much I can discern)?
65w and 95w. How does/Does this alter my decisions when choosing the correct watt and amp power supply? How much, if any, does it affect the overall temperature of the processing at higher loads (with a stock heat sink... let's assume it's effective enough)?
Obviously this problem goes deeper than just processors. I run into the same nuances in every piece of hardware I look at.
An example of my thought process is this:
"I know that I don't need a huge HDD for this build because he's currently only living off of 250 gigs, and he's only using 23 gigs. He already has iTunes and all of the music he's likely to rake up for awhile as he's just over 30 now and has more pressing concerns than downloading music. It's not likely that he'll start downloading movies, or get heavy into gaming.
On the other hand, you can snag a 1TB hard drive fairly cheap (especially in comparison) nowadays. But then again I know he doesn't need all of that storage so I could always pick him up a 300 gig one that's faster.
But... I wonder what kind of difference he'll really see between a 300 gig 10000RPM 32MB Cache vs a 1TB 7200RPM 16MB Cache...? I wonder how much Modern Warfare would tax a HDD. Is that even a logical question. Oh man... I don't really know that much here when I think about it.
Focus! Ok, you can do this. It's pretty simple. Think about it. When you picked up that... what was it? 300gig (350?... no... 300) 10000RPM (...I don't think I ever even looked at Cache size before... no, I must have. This is me after all. I look at everything and then worry about it even though I'm not positive what it means. In the end you always end up spending more than you hoped and feeling like you didn't really improve like you had hoped). What did I say about focusing? FOCUS! Ok.
Ok... the point is that when you bought that you didn't really notice an improvement. You wanted to. You wanted to feel like you made the right choice. You even "thought" you saw improvement when you first fired her up again. Thankfully you're man enough to admit that you obviously didn't know what you were doing and you spent money that you didn't need to. That's ok. But where does that leave me now?
Let's think... I didn't notice a difference, so he certainly won't, right? Although I did notice that even Portal was running kinda sloppy when I picked it up again a few weeks ago. Then again my computer doesn't seem to run as well as it did when I first bought it. Then again, even after I wiped everything and did a fresh install out of boredom (note to self: don't do that ever again. I don't remember how many times I did that, but it was fun back then, it's just tedious now)... what was I talking about.
Oh yeah, when I reinstalled out of boredom it still didn't feel AS new and fresh and fast as when I first built it. I know it's old and all now (man... now I want to rebuild mine... I wish I had the money... stupid wedding...) but it was $2,000 when I built it and everyone I asked to look over it for I (and man did I ask a lot of people) said it was going to be a hardcore gaming machine. Surely it can't be that outdated can it."
Shit... well, I think you can see where this ends up going and why I cannot seem to finish this simple task. I didn't mean to write that much but I ended up writing what I was actually thinking (edited of course).
I've written a ton now (as usual) and so I will stop. Can anyone help me (with the computer, not the clearly insane ramblings)? I'll take either direction or a down and dirty recommended parts list. Specs are preferred as I have lots of brand preferences for no particular reason (like AMD over Intel).
Sorry for the rant. I think I need to post on the boards more. Clearly I miss it.