Building A New Computer
May 4th, 2007 by Ed Lau |After using my old system for almost three years, I decided to buy myself a new computer this week. It’s been quite a long time since I’ve actually had to purchase a computer since my old job at hardCOREware pretty much kept me up to date with parts. Back then, I was a poor high school student that couldn’t afford a real computer but since I’m…a little less poor now, I can actually go buy stuff from an actual store.
 |
I’ve been using AMD processors for far too long. My previous system was an Athlon-64 and like most AMDs, it ran a bit too hot for my liking so I decided to go with an Intel Core 2 Duo instead this time. The motherboard there is supposed to be pretty good but in truth, I chose it because it comes with a funky little secondary screen that I can use to control what MP3s are playing and do RSS feeds. Seriously, I’m almost three years removed from any sort of computer business so everything I knew is pretty much completely obsolete. I’ve had to relearn just about everything, with the help of my buddy Carl, in the last few days That heatsink is almost the size of my head! Well, maybe not but it’s at least the size of one of those hard drives. I grabbed 2GB of RAM, a couple 500GB hard drives and a wackload of fans. I’ve also decided to go with Vista this time, despite the fact that I’m still not completely sold on Microsoft’s latest.
There are a couple things that don’t need replacing. My Lian-Li PC-6070 case still looks spectacular and works well and I’ve got a huge 24″ Benq FP241W HD monitor to go with my Dell 20.1″ 2005FPW so I’m pretty much set in terms of displays. I’ve also got a few cool toys from the old days that I’ll show you in a bit. Hopefully I can get this thing built quick because working off a laptop for too long is pretty annoying, even though my Dell M1210 is a pretty damn good one.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my full feed RSS
Entries (RSS)
New computer! Ha ha, actually two of my roomates just built new computers in the past month. Are you going to be running Vista or XP? 32 or 64 bit? That is the stuff that gets me all geeked up. (sorry i’m a dork)
I love new toys! What ever you choose (on the OS) make sure you post some benchmarks!!
That is one big ass heat sink fan. I’ve been using my 700m here in Korea…my large hands have gotten accustomed to the smaller than average keyboard. However, long term use is definitely not recommended!!
It’s crazy how quickly technology changes. Not all that long ago this would have been considered a super computer lol. Enjoy it and be sure to post pics when it’s done.
Are those S Flex fans really as quiet as I’ve read they are?
I wish I could afford to do the same. My poor laptop has seen better days, but for the abuse it has been through I could not have gotten a better one. It’s a Compaq… something… tought little notbook
No new video card?
Can’t wait to see the end result. I hope to be doing the same pretty soon. I would be interested to hear how noisy it is. I am thinking of trying to build as quiet as possible. Maybe water cooling? Good luck for a quick build. May the gods of silicon chips smile on your endeavors.
My computer is about 5 years old, still pretty efficient but I may be due for an upgrade myself.
I just upgraded both of my machines after six years…
I love Core2Duos!
Nice hardware there … I too was in the hardware business just 2 years ago … and with PCI express and DDR-2 and Core 2 Duo’s … even I was lost when I built my last rig 2 weeks ago … but I still read up on stuff so i’m not that far behind the 8 ball!
Darin
That’s going to be a pretty neat setup Ed. I mean 2 x 500GB HD’s?? You shouldn’t be running out of memory for a while!
So much pr0n!
That’s what I thought too, but it’s amazing how quickly you fill that up!
Nice system you have there. I too was an AMD fan for years but like you, my latest build was around a Core2Duo - just cant beat their price vs performance, especially when overclocked like crazy
[...] built myself a new computer early last month but heck, most of the parts I have lying around are still good enough to make a [...]
[...] that I’ve built myself a new computer and purchased a new bike, I turn my focus to upgrading certain things about my car. In about two [...]
[...] Vista’s absurd requirements to run smoothly. All of mine do it fairly well but even though I built my last box in May, it’s still significantly more powerful than anything I see sold at most retail stores. I [...]
[...] It’s a great value since you get five games for the price of one and it’s available on PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation [...]