Budget Desktop questions..

[KandJinIN]

So I am looking at building a budget desktop so that my wife can have a computer while I am at the office with the laptop. I am not looking for a power machine (yet) just something that will get the job done for the basics.. non-strenuous games, internet, some photo stuff. Just a regular workload for a pc.

That being said, I am currently confused about a few things. I used to work at a computer store so I know how to build a computer no problem, and can handle most simple issues, but that was 6 years ago.. and apparently the computer world has left me in the dust.

1st Question - AMD and Intel. From what I have read AMD has gone to the crapper since I was last into things. Should I avoid them at all costs? I know their processors don't stand toe to toe with Intel but are they still decent? What is with the cores? I don't even understand what I should look for in terms of processor, any advice?

2nd Question - I have an IDE Harddrive, and from what I have seen at Dell and HP and such, most mobo's seem to be going the SATA route. Can I still get a decent mobo that will have IDE support? Also are all SATA harddrives going to use the SATA 2 controllers on a mobo? (what is the difference between serial ATA/SATA and SATA?)

3rd Question - I have a copy of Windows XP home floating around the house somewhere. Will the current new hardware be able to support it, and will Windows XP have the same problem that Vista 32-bit has with the whole can't recognize more than 3 gigs of RAM?

4th Question - I know there are many posts on it (going to read after I post this, but i figured I am already posting it.. maybe I can get a quick answer to it as well) but can any monitor be calibrated or just a specific type? I have a crappy 15" Belkin LCD that is 6 years old (was top of the line when I bought it.. for all of two weeks.. bitter, still so bitter about that).. can that be calibrated?

5th Question (last one!) - How do I know how big of a power supply I need to buy? I can't remember any of the guidelines we went by years ago... is a 400 watt supply going to be good enough?

sorry for all the questions, like most, figured it would be quicker to ask someone who might know what they are talking about then flail around at the internet for hours till I find the answers on moron.com or something. Thanks guys

[Moppie]

I found myself in a similar position at the end of 07.
Had built my own years ago, needed to build a new one, but found that things had moved on a lot.

Essentially nothing has changed, you still need a mother board, a CPU, ram, a hard disk, a power supply and case to put it all in.
If your building a high end work station or gaming machine there are somethings you need to be aware of, like getting a power supply with the right connectors for the latest graphics cards.
But, for a general use low budget system it is not an issue.

There is nothing wrong with the current AMD chips, for average use there is no reason not to use one. But, the Intel chips in many cases are better, especially for higher end users where the differnces can be noticed.

Multiple cores means just that, each "CPU" is infact several on the same chipset. Basically means better ablity to multi task.

In your case a simple 2.4ghz or there abouts Intel or AMD dual core will be all you need.

Ram is ram, the only change you need to worry about is the clock speeds have increased. You just need to match it to the front side bus and the CPU just like you did 6 years ago.

An IDE harddrive can still be used, and most m/b's still support it. Just beaware that sometimes mixing very old drives with new motherboards doesn't always work. I have tried it several times, and had mixed results.
Given the cost of a new SATA drive it is just easier to buy one and not have to worry about it. You also don't have to worry about old, used hardware failing in an otherwise new system.
SATA and SATA II is backwards compatiable, a SATA drive will work on a SATA II controller, it will just run a little slower, like wise a SATA II drive will work on a SATA controller, and again, will be a bit slower.
Generally most new boards have a single IDE connector for legacy support, and 4-8 SATA connectors, for hard drives, disc drives etc.

Any 32bit operating system is limited by how much RAM it can access. 2GB of RAM will be plenty for what you descibe though, so it is not really an issue.


Power supplys have not changed much, some new connectors have been added for SATA drives, new grpahics cards, and some mother boards need a 6pin connector for the CPU.
Since a good powersupply is important in ANY system, if you spend a bit more and get a quality 5-600W model you should have all the connectors you need. If not then adaptors are easily available and cheap.
You only need to look at high end, high wattage power supplys if your building a high end work station or gaming rig, so don't worry about it.
Just stay away from the really cheap budget models, and get something mid range, from a quality manufactorer and you will be ok.


Can't help with the monitor calibration though I'm afraid, I'm still running a paid of lovely CRT's :)

[tim]

- Intel quad core.
- Most motherboards will support an IDE drive, but check. My Asus P5Q SE does, my system drive is IDE.
- You need 64 bit to recognose more than 3.5GB RAM. That's enough for most people.
- Any monitor can be calibrated.
- Don't go mad, buy a good brand you don't need massive wattage. www.tomshardware.com did a good roundup not so long ago.