Have any of you ever actually built a computer from scratch? If you have is it really hard for a person who doesn't know an awful lot about computers to build one? I really want to start saving up money to build my very own computer because I've heard you can save a lot of money and you can customize your computer very easily. I've been using the same Dell Dimension 3000 for seven years now! It's ancient in the electronic world but it still runs great.

Any advice for me would be wonderful.

 

I want to make a super fast computer for gaming, mainly just the Sims 3 :) and other old simulation games I love to play.

 

I have music software I would put on the computer as well but Sonar 8 works very well on this computer so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

Here's things I don't really know. How much is a great amount of RAM, what's a good motherboard, what's a large amount of memory for a hard drive etc.

 

I would spend just under $1,000 total, more around $800. I don't have any side money on me currently so this will most certainly take sometime to save up but it doesn't hurt to start getting some advice.

 

Thanks in advance!

You might need a bit more than $800 for a super fast gaming machine

what cobalt said.

 

if your current computer works fine why to get a new one? :thinking:

 

we used the old computer for more than 10 years when accordingly to technicians was not possible to have internet with that few RAM, but we did. -back when internet was 'fast' with a 58Kb modem :wacko: -

Also, it's very hard for someone who doesn't know a lot about computers to build their own custom one

 

I know XP's maximum RAM is 2GB tho and that should make most things run smoothly

I don't have any tips, but my dad makes computers from scratch. He's a software engineer though, so he knows computers.

 

I have no clue how he does it :uhoh:

 

But, like everyone else is saying, it'll be difficult if you don't have experience and expensive

You might need a bit more than $800 for a super fast gaming machine

 

Well not super fast, just fast enough to run the Sims 3.

 

PC Desktop

 

XP (Service Pack 2)

Processor: Pentium IV 2.0 GHz / Athlon XP 2000+

Memory: 1 GB

Graphics: GeForce FX 5900 / Radeon 9500

Graphics: Ram 128 MB

Vista (Service Pack 1)

Processor: Pentium IV 2.4 GHz / Athlon XP 2400+

Memory: 1.5 GB

Graphics: GeForce FX 5900 / Radeon 9500

Graphics Ram: 128 MB

---------------------------------------------------

I have -

service pack 3

Pentium ® 4 CPU 2.80 GHz

2.79 GHz, 1.00 GB of RAM

 

Maybe I just need a better Graphics Card? I know for a fact my computer would not run the Sims 3 because Sims 2 was slow back when that came out.

 

As you can tell I don't know an awful lot about computers.

Well not super fast, just fast enough to run the Sims 3.

 

PC Desktop

 

XP (Service Pack 2)

Processor: Pentium IV 2.0 GHz / Athlon XP 2000+

Memory: 1 GB

Graphics: GeForce FX 5900 / Radeon 9500

Graphics: Ram 128 MB

Vista (Service Pack 1)

Processor: Pentium IV 2.4 GHz / Athlon XP 2400+

Memory: 1.5 GB

Graphics: GeForce FX 5900 / Radeon 9500

Graphics Ram: 128 MB

---------------------------------------------------

I have -

service pack 3

Pentium ® 4 CPU 2.80 GHz

2.79 GHz, 1.00 GB of RAM

 

Maybe I just need a better Graphics Card? I know for a fact my computer would not run the Sims 3 because Sims 2 was slow back when that came out.

 

As you can tell I don't know an awful lot about computers.

 

if the problem is just with sims game... might be it doesn't like your antivirus software.

it gave me problems on my laptop, i thought it was due to the Operative System, or that the CD had some problems or something, i bought the cd game again and the problem was the same, so i tried it on my old laptop uninstalling the antivirus i use first, and it worked perfectly then.

I use AVG Free. I could try doing that if I get the game, I just really want to play it; looks amazing!

hahah sims...man I would recommend talking to a friend who knows a bit about computers, because it would all be easier to explain in person.

I use AVG Free. I could try doing that if I get the game, I just really want to play it; looks amazing!

your choice, but i did what i did knowing i won't use internet on that laptop for games anymore, i don't want to get unwanted crap just for being able to play a game on the machine.

 

hahah sims...man I would recommend talking to a friend who knows a bit about computers, because it would all be easier to explain in person.

he is right.

You could order a computer from a custom builder whom builds computers to order ;)

Well not super fast, just fast enough to run the Sims 3.

 

PC Desktop

 

XP (Service Pack 2)

Processor: Pentium IV 2.0 GHz / Athlon XP 2000+

Memory: 1 GB

Graphics: GeForce FX 5900 / Radeon 9500

Graphics: Ram 128 MB

Vista (Service Pack 1)

Processor: Pentium IV 2.4 GHz / Athlon XP 2400+

Memory: 1.5 GB

Graphics: GeForce FX 5900 / Radeon 9500

Graphics Ram: 128 MB

---------------------------------------------------

I have -

service pack 3

Pentium ® 4 CPU 2.80 GHz

2.79 GHz, 1.00 GB of RAM

 

Maybe I just need a better Graphics Card? I know for a fact my computer would not run the Sims 3 because Sims 2 was slow back when that came out.

 

As you can tell I don't know an awful lot about computers.

 

Here is a helpful link that will tell you if you can run stuff, mainly games

 

Can You Run It?

 

IIRC that should tell you what you need.

 

I have a similar setup but with 2GB RAM and a Radeon 9600 with 256MB RAM... Sims 2 + all expansions runs fine except for some slowness in lots with many sims and graphics artifacts (probably because of heat damage to card) if that helps?

generally, the more RAM you have, the faster a software can run...that's the cheapest/easiest to future upgrade depending on your motherboard.

 

& you should consider if you tend to multitask a lot on your computer as that can slow down something like Sims too. a dual core CPU would be better if you are deciding on whether to spend on CPU or RAM (1GB is the minimum standard these days) or Graphics Card.

 

your budget seems fine if you're not after a top of the line system...BUT i don't know which part of the world you're in & how much computer parts cost for you. built mine for about US$1,000 (rough conversion) & i can play Call of Duty 4, Portal, Team Fortress 2 fine (as long as i'm not trying to go for max settings) considering the PC's innards are >3yrs old on average.

 

the other thing i should mention is that these days, it isn't necessarily cheaper to build your own PC. frankly, i could've gotten a PC with similar specs for cheaper. but i still wanted to build my own PC just for the fun of it.

 

[geek mode: OFF :uhoh: ]

Sims has a memory leak so it tends to need more memory over extended play for it to keep running so smoothly too

 

Do not run anything else while playing it!

32 Bit computers have a RAM limit of 4 GB.

 

You can install more RAM, but it won't be able to use it, for super-fast computers you need 64 bit