Some Help with some parts, etc.

[UnawarePenguin]

Dear everybody,

I have recently decided to build a computer myself and found myself in need of very basic help. I’m not completely computer literate in the sense that I have never actually built a computer before. My first question involves the parts that I wanted to use in the computer. The computer I would be building would be basically used for games (F.E.A.R, Halo, Guild Wars, etc.) and for everyday use. I want a High performance computer, however I found myself on quite a limited budget. I figure I can spend roughly $1000-1500 on this computer. Here is a basic configuration I hoped someone could look over:

Case:
Cheap: Raidmax Ninja Atx Mid-Tower w/ 450-watt psu
Link: Here
Expensive: Asus Vento 3600 Atx Mid-Tower Gaming Case
Link: Here
Motherboard:
Athlon: Asus A8V via socket 939 Atx Motherboard
Link: Here
Intel: Intel D865PERL Socket 478 Atx Motherboard(MotherBoard and Processor Are A Bundle)
Link: Here
Processor:
Athlon: Amd Athlon 64 3700+
Link: Here
Intel: Intel Pentium 4 @ 3.4 and 800mhz Fsb(MotherBoard and Processor Are A Bundle)
Link:Here
Hard Drive:
Cheap: Western Digital 200gb Harddrive
Link: Here
Monitor:
Cheap: AOC D1770-BLK 17" Crt
Link: Here
Expensive: Scanport JS 15" LCD
Link: Here
Ram:
Expensive: Geil Dual Channel 2048mb Pc3200 DDR 400mhz Memory (2 X 1024)
Link: Here
Graphics Card:
Cheap: XFX GeForce 6600 Gt - 128mb DDR3 - AGP 8x Videocard
Link: Here
Speakers:
Cheap: Realworld Sicuro Rx-350xl
Link: Here
Floppy Drive:
Cheap: Famous Brand 1.44mb Floppy Disk Drive
Link: Here
Cd/Dvd:
Cheap: NEC ND354OA Dvd+-rw/ Cd+-rw/ Dual layer
Link: Here

So Basically, you can see that some things are different, Some are more expensive, some are cheaper...Bascially I need your help figuring out what I have, What I need and If everything is compatible. I personally think that everything is good. I realize If I get the more expensive Case, I'll need to buy a psu for that.

How large of a psu do you think I would need?

Is the LCD really worth the $179 price tag?

Is Pentium or Athlon Actually Better?

Should I stick with Nvdia or is Ati better?

Does the motherboard(either one, please specify) have an integrated sound card, does it have a modem capable of dial-up?

Do I need to buy a seperate sound card, modem?

Do you think I will need any cooling products? Heatsinks? Fans?

Will the pentium processor be ok with a fan built in?

Does the video card suck?

Is the computer able to support dual-Channel memory? Is the dual memory actually that good? Should I Down-grade to non-dual and 1gig of ram?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated...However remember I try to put this together on a very limited budget. The First time I ran the prices through a calcualtor the Cheap stuff(CTR, Cheaper Case, etc.) came to about just over $1000, which was a pretty good price.

Thank You Very Much,
-Adam

P.S. This isn't a final draft, just a quick put together.

[yeoamuca]

if you are going amd you should go with a mobo like
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130491
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131569
and then that is a pretty decent video card but you would have to get the pci express version

intel or amd its your choice both run well both are fast
i like to use amd cause i think its a little cheaper

the build in my signature minus the raptor cost under 1000 if you are looking for a point of reference
but i had a monitor and keyboard and mouse and operating system

[MakeYourslf2012]

To answer some questions:

How large of a psu do you think I would need?

I would suggest about a 500W PSU but most importantly is the brand you get. check the good/bad PSU brands in the PSU sticky in the general hardware forum.

Is Pentium or Athlon Actually Better?

It's really a personal prefrence. AMD and Intel can cause heated debates but really theres a negligable performance difference.

Should I stick with Nvdia or is Ati better?

again, its a personal prefrence.

Does the motherboard(either one, please specify) have an integrated sound card, does it have a modem capable of dial-up?

both have integrated sound. it comes pretty standard these days.

Do you think I will need any cooling products? Heatsinks? Fans?

you may need thermal compound, i cant remeber if the retail CPU and HSF come with it. a Heatsink comes with your CPU only if you order it retail. ordering an OEM CPU does not include a HSF. You case may come with some fan or it may not - if not, you can pick them up @ almost any tech store for about $5-$10

Will the pentium processor be ok with a fan built in?

are you talking about the heatsinf and fan? if so, then yes, this will be fine.

Does the video card suck?

That video card is perfect for your budget. It could probably handle most games today on medium-high settings.

sorry i couldn't answer every question or revise the list, i'm running short on time.

[UnawarePenguin]

Well...I thank all who responded so far. Those answers answered quite a few questions. However, they have also made me wonder about a few more things.

Would you say the one of the processors(Pentium @ 3.4 or Athlon 3700+) are faster than the other? I realize mostly it is personal opinion, but if one is faster, I'll pick that. If they are virtually the same speed, etc. I think I will go with the athlon.

Same thing with the whole graphics card thing...I just really don't have a personal preference on the graphics cards. I think I would like to go with something from Nvidia, quite frankly just because I've heard more about them. I am content with getting the graphics card that I put down, however If anybody know's of a much better one for a realatively low price increase, please let me know!

About the psu: So..the 450-watt psu that comes in the case won't be good?

So am I gonna have to buy a modem? I see on some of the motherboards have this Rj-something or another lan thing..but I don't think that'll work

What I meant to say about the processors being fine was: With just the 2 fans that come already in the case, will I be good, or do I need more cooling products?

Ram? Dual or not to Dual, that is thy question...

Thanks again,
-Adam

[MakeYourslf2012]

Would you say the one of the processors(Pentium @ 3.4 or Athlon 3700+) are faster than the other? I realize mostly it is personal opinion, but if one is faster, I'll pick that. If they are virtually the same speed, etc. I think I will go with the athlon.

In this case, the Althon would theoretically perform better (what alot of people dont realize is that the #### after the AMD processor is comparative to Intel. so that AMD would run like a 3.700Ghz Pentium4.)

About the psu: So..the 450-watt psu that comes in the case won't be good?

probably not. Any PSU from Antec, Xclio, Enermax, Silverstone, PC Power&Cooling ect... would be your best bet.

[yeoamuca]

the 3700 would definently be faster than that pentium
the psu in that case would probably not be a good idea to keep
you can find some decent ones (ive seen a lot of xclios recommended) for around 50 on newegg
if you want a modem you will have to buy one
you should be fine with two case fans
and i would go with dual channel
its faster to run 2 512 in dual channel than 1 1gig stick

and i have the 6600gt graphics card its a good little card
for the price its hard to beat the performance

[BigRed CC Dually]

You will only need the modem if you are on dial-up. Otherwise the built in LAN will do to connect to cable or DSL modem via a cat 5 cable.

[CrazyPenguinDude]

I agree with others, but you should definately go with AMD for gamming, i have it and i can run bf2 on nearly the highest settings. Yes you should get a different Psu and other than that it sounds good. My freind Lance is making a computer like that... sounds pretty good to me.