Stupid Newbie Alert

  • Thread starter Thread starter I.C. Koets
  • Start date Start date
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I.C. Koets

It has been a good 10 years running my 100MHz Pentium, but it has come to
the end of its useful life. I need to get myself a new computer. I am a
tinkerer, however, so I'd like to build it myself. My knowledge is from the
time that PCI slots were coming into fashion as the new hot thing, so I am a
bit behind the times. I don't know anything about hardware anymore.

Do you people have links or hints to places where I can get a rudimentary
grasp of contemporary hardware? Places that explain why I'd want an AGP Pro
slot versus normal AGP, what a Xeon does that is better than a same speed
standard CPU, why I'd never ever want AMD/Intel and would be very happy with
the other choice, and so forth.

I'd be much obliged.
 
It has been a good 10 years running my 100MHz Pentium, but it has come to
the end of its useful life. I need to get myself a new computer. I am a
tinkerer, however, so I'd like to build it myself. My knowledge is from the
time that PCI slots were coming into fashion as the new hot thing, so I am a
bit behind the times. I don't know anything about hardware anymore.

Do you people have links or hints to places where I can get a rudimentary
grasp of contemporary hardware? Places that explain why I'd want an AGP Pro
slot versus normal AGP, what a Xeon does that is better than a same speed
standard CPU, why I'd never ever want AMD/Intel and would be very happy with
the other choice, and so forth.

I'd be much obliged.
Click to expand...

Ars Technica's System Guide
(http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/system-guide-200411.ars)is a good
place to start to get an idea of what your final system might be like.
Categorised into three sections - the Budget Box, the Hot Rod and the
God Box. They've also got articles on all sorts of architectures that
you might be interested in as an enthusiast, as well as a forum where
people discuss the ins and outs of... well... everything, really.

If you want reviews of particular pieces and classes of kit, then you
might want to stroll over to Tom's Hardware (http://www.tomshardware.com/).

Not exactly what you were after without some digging, but a reasonable
start to getting a grasp on current technology. Probably the things to
be reading up on as "new stuff" are DDR, the Athlon 64 and PCI Express.
Otherwise things are pretty much the same, only faster.

HTH.

CK
 
It has been a good 10 years running my 100MHz Pentium, but it has come to
the end of its useful life. I need to get myself a new computer. I am a
tinkerer, however, so I'd like to build it myself. My knowledge is from the
time that PCI slots were coming into fashion as the new hot thing, so I am a
bit behind the times. I don't know anything about hardware anymore.

Do you people have links or hints to places where I can get a rudimentary
grasp of contemporary hardware? Places that explain why I'd want an AGP Pro
slot versus normal AGP, what a Xeon does that is better than a same speed
standard CPU, why I'd never ever want AMD/Intel and would be very happy with
the other choice, and so forth.

I'd be much obliged.
Click to expand...

Good post by CK.

A couple of more ideas...

Watch QVC and HSN...when they have a computer segment.

Get the latest edition of a good computer magazine...and pay attention
to the ads.

Go to www.pricewatch.com ...and just browse.

BTW...you might be able to upgrade what you've got to a 300 or so!
lol

gOOD LUCK.


Have a nice one...

Trent©

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!
 
It has been a good 10 years running my 100MHz Pentium, but it has come to
the end of its useful life. I need to get myself a new computer. I am a
tinkerer, however, so I'd like to build it myself. My knowledge is from the
time that PCI slots were coming into fashion as the new hot thing, so I am a
bit behind the times. I don't know anything about hardware anymore.

Do you people have links or hints to places where I can get a rudimentary
grasp of contemporary hardware? Places that explain why I'd want an AGP Pro
slot versus normal AGP, what a Xeon does that is better than a same speed
standard CPU, why I'd never ever want AMD/Intel and would be very happy with
the other choice, and so forth.

I'd be much obliged.
Click to expand...


Most of the generalized hardware tutorials won't be current,
up-to-date. Generally speaking, you wouldn't want AGP Pro
OR regular AGP due to PCI Express being the new replacement
with future new video card support. Of AGP vs. AGP Pro, Pro
offers higher wattage support, up to 100W IIRC. Even so,
the typical cards which need that much power are geared to
be used in common PCs, ie - they have an external power
connector to get power straight from the power supply rather
than through the motherboard.

As for CPUs, consider the most demanding use(s) of the
system and see benchmarks of that application, including
consideration of the application version... in general an
Athlon is much faster at older apps than a P4.

There isn't generally a "why you'd never want"... rather why
you WOULD want. Generally speaking it's better to take the
opposite approach, not trying to learn everything all at
once but rather to consider what needs you might have that
are less common if not atypical, then focus on what's needed
to meet those less common needs.

You might also start frequenting websites like
http://www.anandtech.com
and research specific motherboards at places like
http://forums.pcper.com/

Google is great when you need a quick primer on (whatever).
 
Trent© said:
Good post by CK.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Forgot about Anandtech though. Good catch by kony. [H]ardOCP can
be useful too (http://www.hardocp.com/).

Good call on offline sources of information, although I would suggest
reading a range of reviews on a product before shelling out your
hard-earned.

CK
 
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