1st Build: Looking for Comments

[Maynard123]

I've put together a first draft plan for my first home-built PC. I intend to use it for both gaming and other general uses. I had hoped to get it in around $1,000, but when adding a monitor, OS, etc, it crept past $1,200.

Since this is my first build, I would be interested in any comments about incompatible components, missing pieces, or other suggestions you might have. The draft configuration plan is as follows:

Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $54.99

MoBo: ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard $89.99

Graphics: eVGA 128-P2-N368-TX Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card $135.00

PSU: COOLER MASTER Real Power RS-450-ACLY ATX12V 450W Power Supply $78.00

CPU: Update AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 1GHz FSB Socket 939 $233.00

RAM: CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory $82.00

Floppy: Update SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive $9.99

Hard Disk: Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 $103.00

Keyboard: Logitech Ultra X 967353-0403 2-Tone PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard $19.99

Monitor: Acer AL1714CB-8 Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor $212.99

Mouse: Logitech MX310 930928-0403 2 tone 6 Buttons 1x Wheel USB + PS/2 Optical Mouse $19.99

DVD Burner: NEC Black IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner Model ND-3550A $38.99

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value SB0400 7.1 Channels PCI Interface $45.50

Speakers: Logitech X-230 32 Watts RMS 2.1 Speaker $31.89

OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2 $93.95

Total $1,250

Thanks for any advice on incompatibilities, missing stuff, or other advice.

Maynard

[Maynard123]

Oh...by the way, this machine will be connected via hard wired ethernet to my home network...do I need a network card? Thanks.

[blue60007]

I'm not positive about the quality of Cooler Master power supplies...maybe someones can provide some insight there.

The motherboard will have onboard LAN, so no need for a network card.

[jayb1234]

I would reccommend this Antec PSU. It's in the same price range and a lot of the members are using it on new builds.

Most modern motherboards have pretty good builtin 8 channel sound, so you could drop the sound card for now and get it later if you aren't satisfied with the onboard.

[XIII]

Your motherboard should already come with an Ethernet card already built-in. If not(although it be weird), buy a NIC card. I think they're only like $10 these days at your local Wal-Mart.

[glc]

Coolermaster PSU's are decent quality and that one is a proper ATX 2.0 dual rail 24 pin unit. You have chosen your components well. If you need to cut costs, ditch the sound card, next thing to go would be the PSU, a 450w XClio would save you some dough. If you gotta shave more, look at the processor - you can save with a 3200+ Venice.

[blue60007]

Also, you might want to get a Dual Channel Kit (2 512MB modules) instead of a single 1 gig module. While Dual Channel doesn't make as big of a difference (compared to Intel systems) with AMD, I think you would still notice the difference.

[glc]

I missed that - DEFINITELY get a dual channel kit.