First Build - Good?

[Charlie7940]

I am gonna try building a custom pc for the first time, and was wondering if I could get some feedback on what I'm thinking. Keep in mind that I don't intend for this to be an extreme gaming pc, mainly for everyday use and a little less advanced games. Here's what I was able to gather up so far:

• Aspire X-Gear Black ATX Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB Ports and 350-Watt Power Supply = $60
• AOpen DUW1608/12X / 12x4x12x DVD+RW / 8x4x12x DVD-RW / 2.4x DVD+R DL / 48x32x48x CD-RW / Dual-Layer / Nero Software / White Box DVD Burner = $50
• PowerColor Radeon 9250 / 128MB DDR / AGP 8X / VGA / DVI / TV Out / Video Card = $60
• Maxtor / 120GB / 5400 / 2MB / ATA-133 / EIDE Hard Drive = $50 w/ rebate
• Chaintech 7NJL6 Socket A Motherboard and AMD Athlon XP 2900+ Processor = $140 w/ rebate
• Ultra 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory CL3 = $50 w/ rebate
• Ultra / Socket A/370 / AMD Athlon XP up to 3000+ / Ball Bearing/Aluminum Fins / Copper Core / CPU Cooling Fan = $15

I gathered up all these parts from Tigerdirect.com, I would not have to pay for shipping, they have an outlet store 5 minutes away from my house.

 

[ripken2004]

get a better heatsink, u have a 2900 cpu and a 3000 max heatsink, just to be safe get a better one, get a zalman

 

[Charlie7940]

How about something like this:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=990808&CatId=493

It supports up to AMD XP 3400. I could not find the zalman.

 

[Yeti]

I would get a 7200 rpm 8 MB cache hard drive. I know you're not doing heavy gaming, but I always find the extra speed convenient in everyday use. They're not much more expensive either.

 

[Charlie7940]

Thanks Yeti,

Your right, I found a 7200 rpm 8MB cache 200 gig harddrive on sale for $90 with a rebate. I'll add that to my list.

Any other advice? You guys have already helped me a lot, I appreciate it

 

[Bigshow1030]

not bad

before you decide on anything be sure to take a look at the things people have for sale on here and so fourth........might save you some money and get you a better system

 

[Charlie7940]

will do. My main concern is the motherboard & cpu combo. I don't know much about it, is that a good buy for the money?

 

[mgoldb2]

will do. My main concern is the motherboard & cpu combo. I don't know much about it, is that a good buy for the money?

I would consider something like this http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1240600&CatId=1181

The fact that this uses a socket 754 motherboard meaning it uses HT instead of fsb. This alone should make it run better then a scoket A cpu. I understand it $10 more but I think it worth it. The fact it socket 754 will also give you more options for upgrades in the future.

 

[mgoldb2]

Acturally you can do better buying cpu and motherboard seperate if you dont mind ordering the motherboard from newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-152-039&depa=1 $58+$3 shiiping = $61

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1220410&CatId=1590 $83

total: $144 which is six dollar cheaper then buying motherboard and cpu togeather and you get what I think is a better motherboard. This is if you go with socket 754 which I definally think you should since it will only cost you $4 more only.

 

[Charlie7940]

Thanks mgoldb2.

I'm not sure I want an AMD sempron processor. I heard they were like the celeron processors for intel. However, I'm not saying the one i originally chose is good. I will continue looking around to see what I can find. Thanks for pointing out the info though, I will consider it while I am searching

 

[Charlie7940]

LoL don't mind my last post. I guess what I really need to ask myself is what kind of CPU I want. I have had good luck with AMD in the past, and wouldn't mind to continue with it.

 

[mgoldb2]

If you want to spend anouther $40(this might be above your budget) you could get a athlon 64 2800+ socket 754.

I recently my self put togeather a $400 computer using a athlon 64 2800+ for my parents.

 

[Charlie7940]

Thats kind of pushing it, but who knows I may decide to use it. I would prefer something of a lesser expense still, however I understand that would probably be my best buy.

 

[Charlie7940]

I recently my self put togeather a $400 computer using a athlon 64 2800+ for my parents.

What kinds of parts did you put in to get it that cheap with an athlon 64 2800???

 

[mgoldb2]

http://www.computerforum.com/showthread.php?t=8909

A couple notes. My parents do not play games so I stayed with intergrated graphics. You might be able to find a cheaper motherboard without intergrated graphics then buy a graphic card your self or you can stick with the moutherboard I chose it does have a agp slot and just add a video card. The video card you chose is like a $50 video card so it will only move the price up to like 420 maybe after shipping on everything $450. oh and since you wanted a cd burner that maight move the price up a bit because all my parents needed was a cdwr-dvd combo drive.

 

[Charlie7940]

well yeah...I expect to spend a little more money than $400. I plan on having better parts than what you have on that one (generally speaking). Well I'm not going to rush things and decide before I really know what's out there. Like I said i'll keep looking.

Thanks mgoldb2

 

[mgoldb2]

well yeah...I expect to spend a little more money than $400. I plan on having better parts than what you have on that one (generally speaking). Well I'm not going to rush things and decide before I really know what's out there. Like I said i'll keep looking.

Thanks mgoldb2

Yeah just look around. The computer I built was picked to be good at general tasks because that all my parents did. It had a decent cpu, enough ram to run xp smoothly and a decent motherboard. WHich pretty much all that matter when running office, internet, email, really basic photo editing. Which is pretty much all my parent do.

 

[robina_80]

yeah its good you might aswell get SATA drives as there newer technology and also PCI-e again newer technology aswell but for those you need a motherboard that will acept SATA and pci-e

 

[Charlie7940]

Aren't pci-e cards gonna cost me a lot more? I don't believe I need that kind kind of video card for the things I'm going to be doing.

 

[Bobo]

I'm not sure I want an AMD sempron processor.

You don't

I heard they were like the celeron processors for intel.

They are exactly like that, only better(budget proc)

However, I'm not saying the one i originally chose is good. I will continue looking around to see what I can find.

What is your budget and intent? I might be able to find you a better one for the money (I doubt it)

Aren't pci-e cards gonna cost me a lot more? I don't believe I need that kind kind of video card for the things I'm going to be doing.

Yes they are, and no you don't need them. You won't notice the difference between SATA and PATA or PCIex and AGP