yes, i know, terrible, terrible pun.

first of all, to the computer folk, i feel like I may be coming off as a douche from always soliciting information from you guys. i'm sorry i can't offer my expertise more often so i feel more "square" with all of you, but it is what it is, and you all know you are more than welcome to ask me anything at any time regarding my field(s).

anyways, I've talked briefly with Cross about this, but I think I'm decided on building a computer for myself from scratch. It's a challenge I want to take on. a little background:

all I NEED to run is ArcGIS, Office 2010, and other basic functions. what i really need to make sure it does is render LARGE amounts of data (both picture and line) and other things like that. i like to remote in to my desktop from my laptop to run, so I want it to be a beast. as far as videos or anything else, i just need it to browse the internet. no games, nothing fancy. i'm pretty sure i'll be able to get my company to give me copies of the software and windows 7.

cross sent me a link to do-it-yourself kit on tigerdirect (or newegg) and while i like that option, i just won't feel as accomplished using one.

okay guys, what i need help with is how to choose components (and a list of those i need)- good brands, things to look for, what specs are most important, what is a baseline standard for an average computer now, processors...etc.

i don't want to be spoonfed (like "use the Radeon X92374 for video card. it's the best for you."), i want to really know what I'm getting and choose it myself, then post what i am going to get and then debate with all of you about those specific choices. if you have specific information like "with your program requirements, the Radeon X92374 will work better than (insert other brand) because the other focuses on video processing more.

i know some of this might sound stupid, but i think i was clear enough with my point.

I won't give any specifics, but here's how you should go about picking components.

First pick the type and speed of processor. This will vastly narrow the field of motherboards to choose from.
Second determine how much RAM you want and if you want the ability to run multiple video cards or a RAID array. This will narrow the motherboard search even further.
Third, pick the video card you want, this may also narrow your motherboard search by type of slot and / or vendor specific SLI support (ie some motherboards are made for ATI or Nvidia native support)

At this point you should have maybe 10 motherboards to choose from, a CPU that fits the motherboard's socket and video card(s) that also fit.
Then pick the amount of RAM you want that the motherboard supports (faster the better)

With that done, you're 90% of the way there and you'd just need a case, a power supply (which may need to support specific video cards), hard drives and an optical drive.
All of those last things are fairly generic except power supply wattage ratings (bigger power supplies can support multiple video cards and lots of spinning hard drives).

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Hold my beer and watch this...

so to run dual monitors from it, or extended desktop (which i use now with my laptop) will i need 2 video cards?

With most video cards now, no, you will only need one video card. Just look at the outputs it offers. When you've got something like DVIx1, VGAx1, it means it will output one DVI stream and one VGA stream. Most now have 2xDVI, or throw in HDMI.

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oh okay, these are great tidbits that do me wonders.

what he said^^
Additionally, most modern video cards are also compatible with video splitters that can turn one output into two (2 distinct outputs, not a mirror image)

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Hold my beer and watch this...

Right, just make sure it's a DVI splitter, not VGA.

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It's really not hard Pat. The part I'd suggest you be most careful about is screwing the motherboard into to the tower(which sometimes comes with a power supply, and in your case would probably be the wisest bet).

My advice though would be to just get a laptop. Most people only build PC's now for gaming, because it sucks being stuck surfing in one spot.

If you do however decide to build and will need a monitor, watch dealdump. The often have 22 in for under $100.

If you are going to do any research, then chipset would be important in choosing your motherboard.

Oh ya, this can get costly(op system alone over $100), so take that into consideration when deciding between this and a new laptop. Computer companies do it on the cheap because they buy large quantities.

i don't want a laptop. a laptop that runs GIS effectively costs nearly 2000 dollars.

Not on Craigslist. You can buy a used computer, and still buy a warranty on it from the manufacturer. It's really the way to go.

daz, I'm not being a dick here...do you know what GIS is/does?

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It's some mapping thing, but I've never used it. I do know that he's not planning on building any super computer that is far more powerful than any man made laptop.

it's way more than mapping...that is a major use, yes, but it's about data storage and manipulation- both spatial and non spatial. i don't know much about computers, i won't pretend i do, but i do know that GIS is an extremely processor heavy application due to so many different data sets being collected and rendered visually (and non-spatially) in one program.

imagine combining google earth, excel spreadsheets, road maps, property boundaries, and topography maps all together in one program. then double or triple the output.

for example, it's currently on my work laptop, which is a dell latitude e6410 with an intel i7 (2.8 GHz) and 4GB of RAM. it's laggy, a little slow, and my computer gets hot. the senior GIS analyst just got approved for a GIS laptop and it was close to 2500 dollars.

Well, you probably won't find anything better than your i7 on Craigslist, so forget that idea.

I just built a new system for gaming, but it's a heavy hitter in general that would probably serve you well for GIS usage.

i7-2600K
Gigabyte Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2133 LGA 1155 Motherboard GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
16GB PC3-12800 RAM
120GB OCZ SATA3 SSD

I'm into it for about a grand, but this thing is a horse.