First build, need education

[yourcurtainsareugly]

I read www.extremetech.com 's most recent article about building an $800 gaming PC (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1822641,00.asp). I thought that I would try to figure out how to use this basic template to build my first custom computer. Since the article is almost a year old, I assume that most of the listed parts have been replaced with cheaper, more powerful components.

The components listed in the article were:
CPU Athlon 64 3000+ $110
Motherboard eVGA nForce4 SLI (133-K8-NF41) $79
Memory Corsair ValueSelect DDR400 $78
Graphics eVGA GeForce 7600 GT CO $179
Sound card Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value $42
Hard drive Seagate 7200.7 160GB $69
Optical drive Pioneer DVR-111DBK $45
Case Antec Sonata II $91

All this was listed in the link above but excludes keyboard, mouse, and the operating system. This list is about $700. I found possible replacements for some of these parts on Newegg.com but I can't be totally sure they are compatible or the best choice, especially with hundreds of crazy acronyms and alphanumeric sequences flying about. They are:

Hard Drive:
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2000JB 200GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822144129)
$59.99
Optical Drive:
Pioneer Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 5X DVD-RAM 40X CD-R 32X CD-RW 40X CD-ROM 2M Cache ATAPI DVD Burner - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827129001)
$29.99
Sound Card:
Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16829102003)
$27.99
Video card:
EVGA 256-P2-N550 -T2 GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card- Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130073)
$119.99(cheaper)
Memory:
G.SKILL Value 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231036)
$64.99

All this would lower the price significantly, if it all works correctly. My goal here is to make a cheap gaming and general use PC. A difficult goal, but I want to learn from the experience. I gladly accept (and plead for) any suggestions and information. You may tell me exactly how stupid I am so I can learn something. Thank you for your help!

[moodyblues100]

There have been thread describing issues with EVGA motherboards. The ASUS P5B-E LGA is recommended on the forums, but that is a $151.00 card. Asus makes good, solid motherboards, with good tech support also. There is a lower priced model without firewire and if you use the onboard audio you can save a few bucks there. That would probably bring it closer in price.

[glc]

That looks like stale info. Socket 939 is on its way out the door. For 800 bucks you can do an entry level Intel Core 2 Duo build. Here's parts I would use for $700.

Sonata - good.
Asus P5B
E6300 CPU
2x512 Corsair Value Select DDR2-667 ram kit
7600GT
Seagate 7200.10 SATA
Lite-On retail burner
No sound card

If you can throw another $80 or so at it, get a 2x1gb ram kit.

If you prefer AMD, you can put together a similar Athlon X2 AM2 build.

[yourcurtainsareugly]

Thank you so much for this. I believe I'll go with all that. I might opt for the 2x1 GB ram if I have the money.
About the 7600gt, how should I choose one? And should the lite-on drive be IDE or SATA?
Again, thank you.
Also, is there any way to reduce the price with the HD? There is a wide selection, but what exactly is the benefit of .10?

[Gene1]

Seagate 7200.10 SATA. SATA = faster. New MoBo have fewer IDE connections. 7200.10 is more reliable than 7200.9. 250GB or 320GB is current price/volume sweet spot.

EVGA makes very good Video Cards. Your current choice is the best choice price/performance.

Buy a Retail DVD Burner as it will come with good software. Lite-On is very good. Lite-On SATA 20x is nice. There is very little difference in price betwen 16x, 18x, and 20x. If you want to cut cost get a non-Light Scribe Model.

Make sure you buy a retail CPU to get the heat sink / fan and longer warranty.

I would just use the onboard audio until I could afford the Creative XiFi Xtreme Gamer.

You will need some Artic 5 Thermal Grease for the CPU/Heatsink interface and Zip Ties to neaten up the cable routing.

If you buy the choices listed by GLC you will have a very quick PC. It will be a good medium-high end PC in any community except gaming or video editing. It will play most current Games pretty well. You may have to turn down some of the settings on some of the more demanding games.

[nwarren]

sounds like a solid build regardless of whether you go amd or intel. i would recommend the extra ram, and i have had good luck with xfx video cards for what it's worth. just got my 7600gt and it blazes with all my games.

[glc]

No, you do not need Arctic Silver. The retail heatsink comes with material already applied that's just as good.

[yourcurtainsareugly]

Thank you all so far everyone!
Today a new article was posted on extreme tech. I was just wondering what everyone thought of their recomendations. They have an OS, keyboard, and mouse added into their $800 design. I want to know why they made the choices they did as all of your contributions seem to be more economical as well as plain better. Maybe I'll ask them.

[yourcurtainsareugly]

By the way, that is from http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2100159,00.asp

[glc]

Not bad - but that SLI board is not as good as the plain P5B, you don't need that PC6400 ram, and the 7200.10 is a better drive.

[moodyblues100]

The major difference with what was suggested here is their choice of an ASUS SLI capable motherboard. As they stated they were trying to allow for future upgradeability. Other than that the basic system specs are comparable to what was laid out here.

[yourcurtainsareugly]

One question: since the motherboard is made for DDR2 800, does that mean I must get that or does it mean I can get anything below that?

Otherwise, everything is looking great!

[yourcurtainsareugly]

The computer seems to be acceptably within target price.
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=4080474&WishListTitle=Cheap+Gaming+Comp%2E
The price is a bit over (with the extra memory factored in). The list above includes two optical drives because I still need to find a good, cheap one that's still in stock.

This is a great forum and I will contribute here once I am a veteran.

[glc]

You can use DDR2-667 value ram if you don't plan on overclocking.

Here's a good retail SATA burner that's in stock:

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135146

OEM is a few bucks cheaper but does not come with any software. If you are going to install Vista, just get the OEM. You need the software with XP.

[Katreat]

Question on the SLI motherboard posted in the alternative build. I see it is using the 570 chipset. I have read a lot on this forum about staying away from the 650 boards and if you really want SLI for Intel to go with the 680i. So, how does the 570 fit in the equation? Is it an older chipset? Does it have problem with SLI? I am just asking to improve my education regarding SLI because I have never see this board posted on this forum before.

[glc]

The 500 series is just a rehash of nForce 4. Works good with AMD but leaves a lot to be desired with Intel. The only dual card I'd ever build for Intel would be Crossfire on a Intel 975X chipset - and even then it's the same marketing hype as SLI.

[yourcurtainsareugly]

Thanks for all the help. I ordered the parts and I'm going to procure an OS soon. I hope all goes well for my setup and for everyone else!