Building my first ever PC - hardware recommendations?

[Matt Phelps]

I've decided to take the plunge. I'm looking to build my first ever PC and could do with some words from the wise on this board. The following is the system I am thinking about building but I could do with your advise as to:

How difficult will it be to bolt all this together for a rookie?
What sort of fan I should get and do I need to get it seperately or will the XP come with it (probably not, right?)
Any EXTRA cooling or heatsinks I should install?
Is the PSU going to be adequate?
Is there anything I have forgotten, and any tips that you can pass on?

Shuttle AK31 V3.1 ATX Socket A Motherboard AT100 with onboard sound (which I can disable according to the manual)
AMD Athlon XP processor 1800+ 1.53Ghz
Juno P6 Full Tower - Twin PSU Capable (1x300W PSU)
IBM 60GXP 61.5GB UDMA100 (HD-002-IB)
2x 256MB 184Pin DIMM PC2100DDRRAM
Sound Blaster LIVE! card
Geforce 3 (maybe?)

Thanks for your time

[Confused]

Putting all together not that hard. Retail CPU's come with heatsink and fan, OEM's do not. Not sure about brand of case you are looking at. Most recommend a 300W supply. AMD site has list of approved power supplys. You might want to consider a Enlight case with 300W supply or an Antec. I would add a case fan in lower front blowing in and another fan near top back blowing out. There is a excellent article here at the site on building a PC. Read it and come back with the questions.
Chas

[Matt Phelps]

Okay - I'll go back through the PC building tutorial and see if I have any questions.

For info, this is the Juno case: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/juno_p4.jpg

'Superb specification full tower case with 6 x 5.25" and 2 x 3.5" bays concealed behind its flush fitting door. The Juno P6 is twin PSU cabable with removeable 2nd PSU blanking plate and has a convenient swing-out motherboard tray. Cooling potential is superb with no less than 5 x 80mm case fan apertures - 2 front (1 x 80mm fan supplied) and 3 rear.

[Confused]

Do you have a link for this case? Since I'm in the market, I would like to explore further.
Chas

[LawyerRon]

Nice looking case. Make sure you get the Shuttle AK31A VIA KT266A (I think that's what you meant anyway) as it's got the better 266A chipset. Shuttle makes a decent "mid level" board IMO so it should work fine for you. If you want to go with a "top shelf" board, go Epox or with the Soyo Dragon.

[Matt Phelps]

The only link I have is this one - not a lot more information there than I already posted, sorry.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_ATX_Cases_35.html

[kensane]

Bolting everything together takes a maximum of 20 minutes. I think that is going to be the least of your worries once you do jump in.

[Cricket]

Hi Matt Phelps,

My main system uses an older Shuttle Spacewalker motherboard (HOT-641, BX chipset with a PII 400MHz) and the actual construction quality of this motherboard is really very good. I've never had a motherboard related problem with it in the 3 years I've had it. If the quality of the current motherboards is the same, I think you'll be really happy with it.

Make sure the power supply that comes with that case is AMD approved for the CPU speed rating you plan to use.

:) Cricket

[kensane]

Have you ever heard of a Built in case open detection feature on a mother board?
I must tell you I did turn the cpu on while the case was on, and I believe the IDE cables were hooked up also, and both the DVD and CD-RW drives worked! If this feature does something to mobo preventing it to allow power to any of the drives while the case is open this could explain why the drives would power down as soon as the IDE cable completely toched the DVD drive. Have you ever heard of this?

<KG>

[RayH]

You are going to have to pop for your own XP!

[morriswindgate]

For a case, take a look at the ones at the site below. I am really impressed by the ones that they sell. They are heavy weight with all rolled edges and well finished. They have the brass screw in motherboard supports and enough screws to do two computers. The power supplies are P4/AMD approved with long heavy wire gauge leads (7 - 12 volt plugs). The cases include an extra case fan and if you want you can get one with front USB (2), Sound card Plugs, Volume Control, Game Port,and PS2 Mouse port. And all this in a 7 bay case for $45 + $17 Shipping. Also Great looks

http://electroseller.com/Merchant2/...e=electroseller