Building a PC for the first time - some advice?

[NinjaBachelorParty]

Hi,

Im currently looking to build myself a PC for the first time, nothing too high-end, but enough to do what i want to do. Now, ive done some research, and selected parts that i think look pretty good and are within my price range. Basically i would like some advice on the parts i have selected, with compatibility issues etc, or maybe if im totally getting it wrong. If anyone has any alternative suggestions for the parts ive selected, that are within the price range, that would be helpful too. So far ive decided on:

Processor

Board

Power Supply

Case

Optical Drive

Hard Drive

Memory (Possibly 2 of these)

Cooling Fan

This Card...

...Or this card

So thats it (i think). Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions! And apologies in advance for my complete lack of knowledge.

[gary_hendricks]

Hi

Might be better if you let us know the actual components instead of having to click (just a suggestion).

Anyway, your components look good - except for the video card - you may want to reconsider.

[NinjaBachelorParty]

Thanks for the reply. Do you have any suggestions for a card that would be better suited?

Heres an actual list of the components:

-Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz (Prescott) Socket 478 FSB800 1MB Cache Retail Boxed CPU

-Asus P4V800D-X SKT 478 PT880 Ultra ATX - Sound Lan USB 2.0 800MHz FSB SATA 133

-Hiper 580W Type-R Modular PSU - Blue

-I-Cute 0314TL-BB ATX Gaming Case in Black with USB/Audio/1394 Side window and 350w PSU(no power cord)

-LG GSA-4167BRL 16X Dual Layer Dual Format DVD ± RW Writer - Black Retail Pack - £30

-Maxtor 6L200M0 Diamond Max 10 200GB 7200RPM SATA/150 8MB Cache

-CRUCIAL 1GB DDR PC3200 400MHz 184-PIN UNBUFF 128MX64 Memory Modules

-Arctic Cooling Freezer 4

-Leadtek WinFast PX6800-TDH256 GeForce 6800 256MB PCI-E SLI
or
-Gainward BLISS GeForce 7800GT "Goes Like Hell" 512MB GDDR3 VIVO -TV-Out/Dual DVI PCI-E

[Alaron]

I would suggest switching to Socket 775 for both the CPU and motherboard. It is the current standard for Intel chips and will allow you to upgrade more easily in the future.

Check out the 600 series Pentium 4s paired with a newer motherboard like this Asus P5LD2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131538

That also means a switch to DDR2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220051

If you are a gamer, I'd go with the 7800.

[jayb1234]

You can save some cash if you can find a case without a power supply.

A harddrive with a 16Mb cache would be an improvement and not much more costly.

Does that burner come with burning software? I don't know if it is the same in the UK, but liteon burners in the US ship with the burning software included.

[messiah34]

It would be good too if you told us what you were going to be using it for. Seems like you want to do some gaming considering the Video card and Gaming case. The case has a cool style, but might be cheaply put together. ON the psu solution you can find some good brands that include good powersupplys like antec. I just built a comp with the antec sonata 2. It doesn't look like the one your getting, but its a good case. You shoudl look at as some other online stores and check prices ect. Extremetech.com is a good site that helps the DIY poeple get there hands wet if your not sure whats going on. It also has a recommendation for a budget gaming rig if thats what ur looking for. Aslo if your looking for a gaming rig i would consider AMD as your processor and in which case you would need to change the motherboard.