Help with 1st time Build Specs

[maryL]

I've been pricing and researching computers, looking to buy myself a new one and somehow ran across this site. I've become completely enthralled over the last three days by all the knowledge and support you guys are serving up (free!) and now I'm thinking, wow, why not build my own! I want a computer that is going to be powerful enough for multitasking, (I'm a Visual Studio.net developer), and also fast at encoding video and audio. I am also a gamer so I want the best processor, video and sound card that I can get without going over 2500.

This is what I've come up, let me know what you think. Any and all advise will be very much appreciated.
Case
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos...uct_id=0232153
mobo
http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/prod...d=fg&pid=13585
Processor
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos...uct_id=0234119
Hard Drive
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos...uct_id=0213693
Memory
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos...uct_id=0208624
DVD R/W
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos...uct_id=0229083
Video Card
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos...uct_id=0230229
Sound Card
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos...uct_id=0219170
Floppy/Card Reader
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos...uct_id=0212972

Am I missing anything? Will I need addition cables, fans, etc? Do I need I/O boards/controllers?

Please advice.

[glc]

Questionable power supply in that case. Samsung hard drives haven't established a good reliability record yet. Centon is not a top tier memory vendor.

Compare those Microcenter and Allstarshop prices with other vendors such as Newegg, ZipZoomFly, Mwave, and Directron.

[jayb1234]

You left an operating system off the list. The OEM version of Windows XP with SP2 will be fine unless you need some specific feature of XP Pro.

One quick pointer: Dont hook up the card readers connection to the motherboard untill you have the OS installed or it will hijack the C drive designation. Just hook the floppy drive part of it up.

[maryL]

Thank for the advise. Do you have any recommendations for Cases. I'd like an aluminum case with lots of bays usb 2.0 and at least 1 firewire port, good fan system and power supply and pretty. If not specific, what are your recommendations for manufacturers for memory and hard drives. Again, thanks for taking the time to help me.

[doctorgonzo]

Cases are personal preference. Newegg has a pretty good search feature that will show you what cases match your criteria. I'd get a case without a PSU and buy a good-quality PSU separately so you know you are getting something good.

I like Seagate drives personally. Maxtor and Western Digital aren't bad either.

Corsair, Kingston, Crucial are all good brands of memory.

[Panama Red]

Here's a couple of Antec aluminum cases but they don't come with power supplies. Best to pick a psu that matches your system anyway. I have the P160 for one of my machines. All Antec's carry a 3 year warranty too.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...C-pr1c3grabb3r

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129154

[jayb1234]

That Antec P180 that Panama Red linked is pretty nice and it is on Intel's Thermally Advantaged Chassis list.

Antec would be a good Power Supply choice too.

This one is pretty popular and is SLI certified in case you want to add a second video card at some point in the future.

Edit: That might be the wrong PSU, the online manual for that board lists it as having

ATX power connectors (24-pin EATXPWR, 2 X 4 EATX12V, 4-pin EZ_PLUG)

The TP2-550 EPS12V might be the right one, but I am not certain about that.

[glc]

I'm a bit leery of Kingston these days - we've had some failures recently. Corsair seems to be the best quality for the buck.