Building a pc..need some advice.

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Alrighty, I'm finally doing this. I just want to list my components and see if you all think it's ok for a first time gaming rig.

MOBO-http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=245004
Processor-AMD Athlon 64, not sure exactly which one yet though.
Memory-Corsair 512mb x2
HD-seagate barracuda 160gb
Case-Antec or Coolermaster
PSU-antec 400-500 watts
vga-something good and under $200-not sure yet
Os-MS XP home

So that's what I'm looking at for now, it could all change of course but I at least know forsure I want an AMD based system. I've heard nothing but good things about that mobo I listed, easy to overclock, easy to install and great overall stability. I'm not trying to build a monster, yet, but I'd like to be able to run something like Oblivion decently. Also, over time I will be upgrading this system piece by piece {more mem, bigger hd/s, etc} so take my initial setup with a grain of salt. So, what do you guys think, decent?

P.S. Do you guys use those anti-static wristbands when you build? These stories of shock damage to components are scaring me :-\
 
x2 said:
P.S. Do you guys use those anti-static wristbands when you build? These stories of shock damage to components are scaring me :-\
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I do. You don't really need to if you know what you're doing, but since this looks like your first time building I recommend wearing one. They're inexpensive anyways.
 
I've never worn one :)

Maybe think about 2 gig of ram.
Maybe think about XP pro.


Motherboard wise... I am an asus fan and won't use anything besides those... others are good as well.. but I would recommend an Asus.

For graphics... I am an ATI fan... which are a little more expensive... but I'd go with ATI... I always have. I have always had good luck with those.

†B†V† :hat
 
Yea, I have an Asus mobo in my pc right now which I've had no issues with in over 4 years. I guess the main reason I am looking at that Asrock mobo is for all the comments on how easy it is to get up and running plus it has exactly what I need. But then again if I ran into problems with an Asus I'm sure you could help me. I will eventually have 4gb of memory on this system, but unfortunately this seems to be the only area I can cut some cost. I would love to not have to pay $100+ for an OS but I guess there's no getting around that. Oh, and I was wondering why xp pro over xp home? I was looking at ATI video cards and they have a good selection of cards in the $150-200 range. Most video cards seem similar, is there anything specific to look for when buying one? Lastly is my newb question, what is RAID and how do you use it?
 
x2 said:
Yea, I have an Asus mobo in my pc right now which I've had no issues with in over 4 years. I guess the main reason I am looking at that Asrock mobo is for all the comments on how easy it is to get up and running plus it has exactly what I need. But then again if I ran into problems with an Asus I'm sure you could help me. I will eventually have 4gb of memory on this system, but unfortunately this seems to be the only area I can cut some cost. I would love to not have to pay $100+ for an OS but I guess there's no getting around that. Oh, and I was wondering why xp pro over xp home? I was looking at ATI video cards and they have a good selection of cards in the $150-200 range. Most video cards seem similar, is there anything specific to look for when buying one? Lastly is my newb question, what is RAID and how do you use it?
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Your mobo shouldn't be one of the places to cut costs (IMO). Since it runs all your components (basically). What is the Ram Cap that the Asrock Mother board has (meaning max ram)?

Raid... in different configurations "mirrors" drives... so that if one goes down, your data is still there ready to be used.

In a graphics card, it is important to look at resolutions, ram, what type of ram, and what it can pull (meaning states on the card versus other cards).

Sorry.. didn't have a lot of time to respond.. if I didn't cover everything let me know :)

†B†V† :hat
 
Thanks for responding BV. I think I'm going to take your advice and get a better mobo and processor. I'm looking at this mobo now, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569. It doesn't have SLI but that's ok. I think I'm also going to step up the hard drive to maybe a 300gb sata drive. I was looking around and I noticed they now make 750gb hard drives, imagine 4 of those!!! I guess my last question, for now at least, is what are some good pc games? I like shooters, rpg's and rts. Thanx again.
 
well there are always the classics like warcraft, starcraft, diablo....
you could try out oblivion
 
Oh yea, Morrowind GOTY and Oblivion will be my first 2 games. Do you know of any other open ended rpg's like that for pc?
 
Gothic II I believe, Gothic III is currently in production.

As for other stuff, as of this current time I highly doubt you'll fully use more than 2GB of RAM. I have only once in my life needed more than the 2GB I have, and that was only when I took 25 or so 5MP digital pictures and photostitched them in Photoshop to make a gargantuan panorama. 2GB may possibly be useful in the future, with Vista on the horizon and more advanced games, but now 2GB should be enough.

Graphics card, brand/vendor doesn't really matter. It's usually better to get the best card you can afford rather than SLI/Crossfire two lesser cards together. Somewhat contrary to what BV said earlier, the amount of VRAM doesn't really matter at all. Take this example: http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=89&card2=31. The X300 has twice the VRAM of the 9800, but the 9800 destroys the X300 in gaming; the 9800 is well over two times as fast as the X300. It's more important to look at the core of the card and how many pipelines it has. http://www.gpureview.com is a great site to check out different video cards and compare them to others.
 
Great link, thanks trkorecky. Yea, I think I will take your advice about 2gb, in reality this should be more than enough. I guess 4gb would be just showing off lol. I won't be getting SLI or Crossfire either, just one good pci-e card should suffice. Plus, if I were to run 2 cards I'd need a much more beefier psu than the one's I'm looking at. I checked newegg today and it seems like the Athlon 64 processors have dropped in price, so now I can get the 3500+ 2.2ghz model {probably can oc to 2.4ghz}. I'm quite pleased about that! I'd say right now the only thing still in debate is the PSU. There seems to be alot of price fluctuation within psu's, I mean there will be some that rate 430 watts that go for around $40 {thermaltake, coolermaster} but than I'll see a 380 watt model by a diff brand {seasonic} go for $65-70. Should I go with the more expensive with less watts or cheaper with more watts? I'd think the former, but I'd just like some clarification on this. Thankx :)
 
x2 said:
Great link, thanks trkorecky. Yea, I think I will take your advice about 2gb, in reality this should be more than enough. I guess 4gb would be just showing off lol. I won't be getting SLI or Crossfire either, just one good pci-e card should suffice. Plus, if I were to run 2 cards I'd need a much more beefier psu than the one's I'm looking at. I checked newegg today and it seems like the Athlon 64 processors have dropped in price, so now I can get the 3500+ 2.2ghz model {probably can oc to 2.4ghz}. I'm quite pleased about that! I'd say right now the only thing still in debate is the PSU. There seems to be alot of price fluctuation within psu's, I mean there will be some that rate 430 watts that go for around $40 {thermaltake, coolermaster} but than I'll see a 380 watt model by a diff brand {seasonic} go for $65-70. Should I go with the more expensive with less watts or cheaper with more watts? I'd think the former, but I'd just like some clarification on this. Thankx :)
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From what I remember it's best to go with a good brand name, even if it's a little expensive. Again, from what I remember, some of the cheaper models don't last and can possibly ruin your computer. So it's best to research the brands and their reputations. Im sure someone on this board has a link or something for that too.

As for SLI and Crossfire, I would recommend a MOBO that supports PCI-E X16. You can get a good graphics card and eventually when that particular graphics card drops in price, you can just buy the same one again (at a lower price) and run it in SLI or Crossfire mode and get similar specs to a single high end card.
 
Ok, I bought the parts. So here's what I got...

Motherboard-  http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=241192
CPU- http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80701-5
Case- http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=141760
PSU- http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=373048
HDD- http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101206-1
RAM-http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80097-8

And this is the video card I will be getting once I scrounge up a bit more money http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321362

So, how does it look, did I do ok? I know I need more memory, I'll be adding a 1gig stick pretty soon hopefully. I am also planning on getting a seperate 300-500gb Hard drive for storage. From my limited knowledge on vid cards I'd say that one looks good but if not let me know. Oh, and do you think I bought a good PSU? It was kinda cheap but it seems to have alot of good features.
 
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