PC Building Beginner: Needs Suggestions

I want to learn how to build pc's ive looked at alot of guides and believe that i can do it so

i need suggestions on what to put into my computer

i was looking at those barebone computers where you install the hardrive and all that stuff


or i could just start from scratch can someone suggest some parts for me a PC Building Beginner

**Notes i dont want to spend alot because if i screw up i dont want to have wasted alot of money on parts i know you can burn some stuff out if you install it wrong right?

im not going to build right away because im short on cash but i would like to start now by getting the basic parts id need to start building. this project will probably span 3-4months as i get parts and such

and i have an old computer i dont know whats in it really it was given to me and its broken it starts and then just completely shuts off after like 5 minutes and sometimes doesnt start at all someone said the psu is probably burned out or the motherboard

its amd duron

i took it apart it has a samsung hard drive i think its either 80gb or 120 and it has a an apacer 128MB UNB PC133 cL3


the cooling fan inside is this one




it has a floppy drive i dont want to use it though i would need a new cd/dvd drive because the drive wont read dvds
it has an ethernet/lan port and some usb ports
i dont know if i can use those though they look old.



so what do you think?

 

what do you plan on using this computer for? gaming, surfing the net, photo editing? also what is your budget? you can get a dual core and 2gb of ram for under $400 and you could get a gaming machine for under $1000. the parts you have will not be compatible with a new computer.

 

Save your money. PC parts drop in price. It's best to buy them at once.

 

I would like to use it to surf the web( id like it to be able to connect to a wifi ap). I do alot of music recording so it should be able to handle something like fl studios or adobe audition(if it could be protools compatable that would be amazing. the only games i play are warcraft/starcraft2 when it comes out also i do alot of dvd/cd burning. moneys not a big deal because this project is going to be spand out over a few months. I would also like to try and build a notebook pc if you could help with that

 

That's what I'm saying. You buy parts now and some more few months down the road, the first ones are worth a LOT less. It's better to buy them ALL at once few months down the road.

Also, you cant build notebooks.

 

sorry to double post but im on my psp right now and it wont let me post anymore. Id actually prefer to build a laptop computer because it would have more use to me. id rather buy parts over a period of time. im not really concerned about price its more for a learning experience. also id like it to be able to boot from a usb hardrive. i use ubuntu on my usb hardrive. So What do you think is good? id like a 15-19 inch screen and a good cooling system i dont want to skimp there

 

You cant build a laptop easily. You want a laptop, you go buy one.

 

ok then ill just build a desktop. so suggestions?

 

I'm kinda sleepy right now. Dont worry, I'll get around to it by tomorrow lol.

 

Parts for a desktop. Money is no problem, right?

CPU: Q9450
Motherboard: Asus Rampage Formula
Video cards: 2x ATI HD 4870
Ram: 4gb PC2-8500 Corsair Dominators(2x2GB)
PSU: Corsair 750Tx
Case: Antec 1200, Coolermaster RC690, Antec 900, or NZXT Tempest. Take your pick.
Harddrives: Get one VelociRaptor, and put two 500GB Samsung Spinpoints in RAID0
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme(Get a pre-lapped one)

 

using raid 0 for data drives is not a good idea. i would get a single 750gb or 1tb.

 

Why not. It would come in handy for the large files you might store in the Data drives, and the fast access times for the OS will come in handy with the Raptor.

 

raid 0 would be fine for the os drive but not for important data. either use a single drive or a redundant array like 1 or 5. you could use three 500gb drive in raid 5 for a total of 1tb redundant.

 

What are the chances of a HDD failing? The velociraptor is plenty big to keep important files on. I don't really consider movies important though.

Oh well, just my opinion on things.

 

the more hard drives you have the bigger your chance of failure becomes. i don't like to loose any data. my movie collection is about 100gb right now and when i add all the star wars in 1080p it will be about 150gb. i would consider my movies important data along with all my music and games.

 

so just have a 1tb hard rive that you back up so often or burn the stuff on to discs or if your rich put it on some ssd though have nothing mechanical so it's chance of breaking is lower

 

yes just get a single big drive and make sure you have important data baked up every once in a while. i have an external hard drive that i use for backups and it works nicely.

 

If you have a 1TB HDD, or two 500GB HDDs in Raid0, the two drives will perform better and still have the same reliability. Just be sure to have hard backups of all your important data.

 

ya keep some hardback ups and put them some where safe i think a vault or safety deposit box or you could just pay to back up the stuff on the web there are some people who offer this but you have to pay for it but you can access the back ups from anywhere and i think they like pay you if they loss your data but after a year or so it's cheaper to just have some hard back ups and a back hard drive

 

Better performance? Arguable.
Same reliability? Definitely not. If one drive goes, you lose the data from both. That's lower reliability.
Avoid RAID0, it's not proper RAID anyway.