Very first build!

[xxcitizenerased]

Hey, how's everyone doing? Okay, so as you might be able to guess, I'm in the process of building my own computer! Very exciting to me, it's always something I've wanted to do. Now that I have my parents support it's even better cause I can can actually start on it!

My dad just basically told me a don't have a budget (Well, I suppose I do. Nothing too crazy. I suggested to his a video card and kind of hinted at getting the better one to "build it right". Probably in the $1500 range or so.). It's going to be primarily for gaming (I'm thinking AMD) with a touch of music storage and whatnot thrown in.

Here's a list of parts I'm thinking of using along with the total price at the very end. Of course, I would enjoy comments and constructive criticism or else I wouldn't be posting this at all. :P Here we go:

Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice FSB Socket 939 Processor
Video: eVGA 256-P2-N518 Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3
Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS (7.1 Channels)
Power Supply: ASPIRE Black ATX 520W
Memory: CORSAIR 1GB (2 512's) SDRAM DDR 400
HDD: Western Digital 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
DVD/CD: Lite-On ATAPI/E-IDE DVD Burner with LightScribe and 5x DVD-RAM Write
Floppy: Samsung 1.44 MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive
Shell: ASPIRE X-CRUISE ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Monitor: Sony SDM-S75AB 17" 12ms LCD Monitor
Speakers: Creative Inspire P7800 90 Watts 7.1 Speaker
Cooling: ASPIRE CF12SL-UBL 120mm Blue LED Light

TOTAL: $1,653 (includes S&H)

That about covers it. I just recently got a wireless mouse and keyboard, so neither of them are needed. I just basically want to know if everything is compatiable and whatnot. How does it look? Will it run smooth? Am I going to run into any problems? Should I go for the DualCore AMD processor, or am I good with the one I have? Also, let me know if you need to know anything else and I'd be glad to answer.

Thanks in advanced for any and all help that I get. I really appreciate it. And finally, take it easy on me, it's my first ever build.

[doctorgonzo]

I'd suggest a board from Asus instead of MSI. Asus is of a higher quality. Also, I would hold off on a sound card until you determine whether the onboard sound is good enough for you or not, unless you know that you want it.

Consider a 19" monitor instead, I think it is worth it.

[glc]

I would also recommend a different power supply - Aspires aren't good quality. You will need a 24 or 20+4 pin ATX 2.0 unit, a high quality 500+ watt unit will set you back at least $75 if you feel you need that much power. You can't go wrong with an Antec, Enermax, or Fortron/Sparkle (FSP).

Look at the Asus A8N5X or A8N-E motherboards. High quality and reasonable price.

[kevinf]

ya asus is good, but if you want to stay with msi, it should be good too i have one in my computer see sig. if you do want msi though go with the neo4 platinum

[messiah34]

I just built a gaming rig for 1300 bucks not including monitor and OS. I posted a thread so u might wanna take look at that. I would go with the antec sonata II for the case no matter what parts u get. It is cheap and doesn't slack. Maximum pc used it for there dream machine a year or so ago. The power supply that comes with it is about 70 bucks at circuit city and staples. The case isn't made cheap or anything. Has Sata connectors. Lots of drive bays and is upgradable. The cpu u chose won't get u very far before u will realize an upgrade is inevitable. I got my 4000 and a 7800gtx 256 mb as a combo deal and got 100 bucks off the video card. Cpu was 334 and video card was 460 bucks but that wen down to 360 after the 100 bucks off. I would go for a fast hard drive to put games and a slower one for apps and OS. WD 250 gig sata 34gig raptor or something. I got a 74 but thats a 140 bucks

[jfk]

I agree with the above comments. Get a better PSU (the Sonata II case is a GREAT value), go with the ASUS board, drop the sound card (for now) and up your processor. The "sweet spot" for AMD processors right now is the 3700+. It is a 2.2 Ghz vs. the 2.0 Ghz you currently have selected. It also has more L2 cache and would be a much better addition to a new build. It runs around $65 more than what you selected, but is well worth the extra money.

[xxcitizenerased]

Very cool. All the help is very much appreciated thus far. I'll look into everything that everyone has suggested and let you know how it went.



That doesn't mean stop commenting though, I'm not building this until I am very comfortable with the build and my parts, so if you still have more suggestions, keep them coming!

[MakeYourslf2012]

Looks like a great build. I'd go with the a board from Asus's A8N series though - they're pretty reliable.