PCTech Forums

Well I decided not to go with the Dell after all and I am going to just build a PC from scratch. I figure the performance will be way better for my money for a decent gaming machine. I am going to make some purchases tonight, but I need your guys' input on things, such as compatability and performance. Here's what I have planned out:

Case: Rosewill TU-155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811147001

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3500+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103633

Motherboard: MSI K9N Neo-F ATX AMD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813130050

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148105

Video Card: XFX Geforcee 7600GS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150146

RAM: G.SKILL 1GB (2x512 MB) 184-Pin DDR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231030

Disc Drive: NEC 16x DVD+R Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827152058

Of course I'll need a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and an OS. But overall, how does this look for my first build? Should I change anything or do I need to know anything else before I start buying parts?

Looks ok except for the RAM. I don't know where you are at, but in S California, they are selling 2 GB of PC5300 DDR2 667MHZ (2 stick combo) for $85 with a $15 rebate.

For gaming, go for two gig of memory.

Go to to check your prices, that site will give you a ball park price of what you should expect to pay for each item.

I would recommed if you are building it yourself, buy the RAM, motherboard and CPU from one dealer, it saves a lot of grief if you have a problem.

Another thing to consider, check for package deals --CPU Motherboard combo's--I usually buy a combo for under $150 and upgrade without feeling guilty when I feel the urge.

What do you think about this?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813135017

My only question here is that is doesn't specify the processer speed, all it says is 800 mhz front side bus.

Would it be possible to find a motherboard/cpu combo equal to the processer and motherboard I have listed above, but cheaper?

I'm in Chicago, and I've never seen two gigs of ram for 100 bucks, that's an awesome deal. Are you finding that at an actual shop or are you finding that online?

The memory price was $119 after rebate--little mistake there. Its Frys Electronics. You can check them out on line at www.outpost.com. I don't like doing business by mail, its a bummer! They don't offer the newpaper deals online.

The package deals of processor with motherboard solves the problem of what will go with what. Most reputable companies will package a combo that works out of the box. You usually save about $100. Otherwise you could end up with a motherboard that needs to be flashed in order to see the processor you purchased--which is a catch 22.

Not to do any advertising, but they have a package deal MB and 3800 AMD Athlon boxed, for $179. That package has onboard video so you would disable it and install the PCI card.

The other thing I didn't mention, buy the items from a place with 10 miles of your house. That way if there is a mistake, you can return the item.

The case I bought a couple of weeks back had the wrong auxilery power adapter on it--most have both.

Look at the item and make sure its what you want--and make sure the processor is BOXED. Boxed cpu has a 3 year warranty--otherwise its 90 days.

Another thing I forgot to add, The store I mentioned has a lot of refurbished stuff that can be a real headache to a novice builder. I build about 6 new units a month at my job, and that store is not used as a source for purchasing. Just buying the Sunday paper and look at the ads, can save you $300 on a new build. It might take a month, but its well worth it.

There is a lot of quality out there, you just have to shop around and be somewhat flexable.

Well, money is not really a huge issue, I'm not going to be able to buy everything at once anyway, I'm giong to be buying new parts every 2 weeks until I have everything I need. I'm thinking about just going with that motherboard and processer that I posted originally, and then searching around for a good deal on RAM. That MB that I posted holds a max of 4 GB of RAM. Flashing the MB can't be too hard, right?

Flashing a MB isn't hard, there is a problem on a new build if the MB has to be flashed to see the processor. You would have to have a cpu that the MB could see and operate on and then flash the board. After that you could put in the new processor. Its not something that happens a lot but I do run across it now and then. Gamers want the latest and greatest, and sometimes the motherboard has been out for 6 months and the CPU has just hit the market.

It gets real wild if the MB manufacture post the wrong BIOS flash, (which happend not too long ago). Nothing like a dead motherboard!

Ok as of right now I am buying the case, the hard drive, and the dvd ROM. I am going to wait and do a little more research on these others. One question I have on the hard drive: People are saying that the Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA drive that I picked is a bit hard to use with Windows XP due to lack of out-of-box support. What does that mean, and am I going to run into a problem with that hard drive? I have a floppy drive that I can temporarily put into the system if need be.

I have no idea what they are refering to. Seagates OK. I just prefere Western Digital.

The only problem I have noticed with the new sata motherboards, a lot of them only come with one IDE hook up. That can be a real bummer if you have 2 cdrom drives and want to hook up and IDE slave. It ain't going to happen!

I got my new case today, and I have a question.

Is my 400 watt power supply going to be enough?

Perfect, thanks!