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[freeformschooler]

Why do most of the posters have ATI? Is there a preference for ATI? I never got much into graphics cards but a lot of the non-intel-graphics laptops I've seen do run a single Radeon.

Anyway, over the next 16 weeks I'm going to be assembling a functional computer for a class I'm taking. Right now it's got:

Some 1Ghz processor I think
256MB RAM
An older ATI graphics card
Really nice cooling for it's age (don't remember the brand)
No hard drive

I will keep you guys updated. This will be the first computer I assembled myself.

[lordnincompoop]

Why do most of the posters have ATI? Is there a preference for ATI? I never got much into graphics cards but a lot of the non-intel-graphics laptops I've seen do run a single Radeon.

I've usually gone with ATI for the better price-performance ratio, but as of now there isn't a significant disparity between the two. I'm certain that others will disagree, and they'll most likely bring up good points, but that's my general understanding of it.

No hard drive

You need a hard drive.


EDIT:

My laptop is amazingly fast and awesome:

1GHz solo core processor,
2GB RAM,
Integrated graphics,
320GB HDD,

...Yeah it's total bollocks. Cant run sh*t.

Try installing a minimal Linux setup, like Puppy or Arch/Debian barebones if you're up for it. It's faster by far than Windows XP, and the OS change managed to preserve my aging laptop (with roughly the same specs, but 0.3GB of RAM instead) for perhaps another two years.

[freeformschooler]

Well, gigantic "duh". It's not a functional computer yet.

[Nadaka]

Why do most of the posters have ATI? Is there a preference for ATI? I never got much into graphics cards but a lot of the non-intel-graphics laptops I've seen do run a single Radeon.

I've usually gone with ATI for the better price-performance ratio, but as of now there isn't a significant disparity between the two. I'm certain that others will disagree, and they'll most likely bring up good points, but that's my general understanding of it.

No hard drive

You need a hard drive.

You can boot linux off an optical drive, possibly a usb stick and possibly off the network.

[Heliman]

Anyway, over the next 16 weeks I'm going to be assembling a functional computer for a class I'm taking.

Sixteen weeks? It only took me 2-3 days to build my first one once I had all the parts.

IMO search for a manual online, build your comp in the first week, then do nothing the rest of the semester lol.

[_DivideByZero_]

I built mine about a year ago. Runs pretty well with most games and programs, and I recently got a new graphics card as well.

-Phenom II x4 955, ~3.2 Ghz Quad Core
-2x 2GB DDR3 2000 + 1x 2GB DDR3 1600... Since my MB only works up to 1333 unless overclocked it caps at 6GB of 1333.
-Diamond Radeon 5870 2GB ~Runs basically everything, though not absolutely the best.
-500GB HD... I don't store that much stuff.

[lordnincompoop]

You can boot linux off an optical drive, possibly a usb stick and possibly off the network.

Practically speaking, you're going to need a hard drive to install a resident OS. Having a computer bootable solely from a USB/live CD will not make for a particularly pleasant experience.

[Cthulhu]

3.1ghz dual-core processor (Phenom 555 black)
2.6gb Graphics Card (Nvidia GTX260)
Terabyte Hard drive
Windows 7
4gb RAM
Some budget motherboard, just good enough to take all the hardware and not bottleneck

First computer I've built myself.  Runs 90% of games at max or near max, the rest at medium-high.

[nenjin]

Win 7
Corei5 750 @ 2.67ghz
4gigs of RAM
Nvidia 8800GTS

My video card is woefully dated but it's still held up to medium specs on most new games coming out. I've always been one to slum low-end technology until I need to upgrade, so I'm fine. I figure I'll buy another $100 card at the end of the year or the start of the next for BF3. This is like....I dunno, the 4th or 5th system i've built in 15 years.

[freeformschooler]

Anyway, over the next 16 weeks I'm going to be assembling a functional computer for a class I'm taking.

Sixteen weeks? It only took me 2-3 days to build my first one once I had all the parts.

IMO search for a manual online, build your comp in the first week, then do nothing the rest of the semester lol.

Nonono see, I'm in a class where we're each assigned one computer and we're not supposed to do everything in the first day - we're only supposed to do what we're doing each lesson.

Plus, we don't have enough hard drives for me to have a spare hard drive for mine to use. These are recycled school computers.

[Jay]

MSI P55-GD65 LGA1156 USB 2.0 mobo
i7-860 x4 OC/4.005GHz
GTX 550Ti x2 SLI [Though they do, price/performance-wise, beat out an equally priced higher tier card,  I would not recommend this approach...  SLI compatibility is still a crapshoot]
4x 2GB Corsair XMS3 (CMX8GX3M4A1333C9)
64 GB Crucial C300 SDD (Windows; C:\) [HIGHLY recommend SSD OS drives for those who aren't sold on them yet]
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ, 7200 RPM (Applications, D:\)
750 GB Seagate Barracuda ST3750640AS, 7200 RPM (Mass Storage/Backup, G:\)
250 GB Western Digital WD2500JD-22HBB0, ? RPM (Media, F:\) [This is 'stolen' from the last OEM computer I ever bought, some 10 years ago -- still alive and working fine, but there's little documentation available :V]

[GlyphGryph]

Mint 7 (Gloria)
Intel Pentium 4 2.66GHz
500MB RAM
40GB Hard Drive

It could use a RAM upgrade, but aside from that it works. Plays all the games I want it too and does most of the things I want it to.

[ChairmanPoo]

1,5 MHz dual core, 1Gb of ram. Intel graphics card, don't recall the exact stats, but well, intel integrated graphic cards are sucky in general

[Durin Stronginthearm]

Intel Core i5 650 3.20GHz
ASUS P7H55-M mobo
Apache EP-CD901 cooler
4GB DDR3 1600
1TB internal Hard Drive + 500GB Western Digital Elements external HD + 2TB WD ext HD
1024Mb Nvidia GTX460

and an Edirol UA25-EX USB audio interface

Probably getting on a bit now, but it still handles recent games pretty well. It's supposed to be more for making music, mind...

[Tibbz2]

Woah, you guys have some pretty amazing rigs O_O

When i build mine, im not too sure what the budget will be, but im guessing around £700 for the rig, then £200 for the monitor and OS...

I hope to make a decent rig out of this, as im switching from console (my ps3) over to PC gaming for games like BF3 and Skyrim, which i hope to run at high settings...

I will probably use a quad-core Bulldozer, and rather a GTX460 OC (GTX 560ti if i have enough) or on the AMD side a HD6870/HD6950...

I just hope i will get the money :/

I have £100 atm, then i will get £160 more by december from my mum, then i have my B-day next month, and Xmas...