Computers

[michaelstanco]

Any experts out there that can help me build one or suggest the parts to build one?

[Bob Lombardi]

Hey Mike,
I have been building them in school like crazy. What are your needs?


-Bob

[michaelstanco]

I know what I want, not sure which parts work well with each other and what brands are best.

I want 3 hard drives, 1 for the processor and 2 dual hard drives for performance. I want at least 2 GB memory. I want an high end video card and sound card for gaming, I want a dvd rom and dvd/cd burner. I want the option to run 2 monitors.

I mostly want a system to record TV and be able to edit video.

[Bob Lombardi]

Hiya Mike,
I would like to know more about what you intend on using the puter for to basically qualify your needs. Let's say, for example, that you want to use it for gaming, you would want to get a good video card. If you are using it for music, you would want a good audio card. Get the idea? You stated you wanted 3 hard drives?? The only reason to do that would be for file protection through redundancy, known as RAID. RAID requires 2 hard drives. Every time you save something, it automatically saves it on both drives. If one goes bad, you would have the backup. That system is typically seen in businesses, not homes. A large SATA hard drive is relatively inexpensive. You can partition the hard drive to make it work faster for you. I have configured hard drives to have an operating system partition, a music partition, and a video partition. It works out rather well.
Whatever you do end up with, be sure your components match. Make sure you get a motherboard with the appropriate socket for the cpu. Make sure your memory will work with your motherboard too. Cooling is very important. I recommend a case exhaust fan and a cpu cooler unit. Power supplies are very important also. If you skimp out on the power (measured in Watts), then your system will suffer, run hot, and ultimately fail. If you are using separate (as opposed to integrated) audio and video cards, and if you plan on having 2 hard drives and 2 DVD or CD drives, you might want to bump it up to about 400 Watts. Hint: each device - even your RAM - takes up a certain amount of power. The power is usually in the specs. for that device. Add everything up and add about 40% or more to that to get a good power supply.

Here's a run down of what you may need

ATX motherboard w/AGP, IDE, USB, SATA ports
ATX case
CPU
CPU cooler
Case exhaust fan
Floppy drive (if desired)
SATA cable
SATA hard drive (Better and cheaper than EIDE)
Memory
Operating system (Windows XP or Vista)
CD or DVD drive(s) + cables
Video Card preferably AGP (Radeon is good)
Audio Card (Sound Blaster is good)

Good luck. I can provide you more support if necessary.