New Build advise

[irish37130]

Greetings, I am planning on starting my first build and am looking for some advise on getting it done for as little as possible but with the least amount of heartache as well. Here is what I was planning on keeping from my old system:

HDD- Maxtor 30GB & Samsung 123GB
PRI Optical- AOpen 12X DVDROM
SEC Optical- Creative CD RW
Sound Card-Sound blaster live 24 bit
Video Card- Radeon 9600
FDD-3.5
OS-Windows XP Home

Essentially, I am looking for a new case, PSU, Mobo, CPU, Ram, and a cooling unit. I am looking to build a minimum of P4 3.0 Ghz with min of 1 Gig of RAM. 1 thing i have been looking into is picking up a barebones system with the case, mobo, cpu, psu, and cooling, just for the convenience of having it preconfigured and to cut down on shipping costs.
also, what issues am i going to find when i attach old hard drives to new motherboards? I want to keep my HDDs as I no longer have the XP disk and hate the thought of paying for a program i already have. anyway, any help or advise would be appreciated.

[mevensen]

Just so you know, you may end up getting a new OS, anyways. With wholesale hardware changes, you will probably need to reactivate windows with the key. If you've lost the CDs (and the key), you may be out of luck.

Also, with all those changes, you may find Windows looking for drivers that are on those disks. Not to mention the value of a clean install on a new system.

As far as compatibility, you need to give more than the brand for drives, etc. But most modern mobos will be able to connect with IDE and SATA interfaces, so you should be OK.

Your 9600 will limit your mobo choices, somewhat, as that will require an AGP interface. I'm not sure how much I'd recommend getting a new mobo with AGP at this time, since it is on its way out. You can pick up mobos with both AGP and PCI-E interfaces to help you bridge the transition, though.

I haven't really looked, but I'm not sure you can get a pre-built system that lacks FDD, optical drive, and HDD, unless you're working with a local builder.

Lastly, do you have a use in mind (games, video editing, business, etc.)? And what is your budget?

[irish37130]

biggest use is gaming. for the near future, a budget of $400. i was hoping to hold off on buying a new OS until Micro$oft releases next OS but will bite the bullet if i have to.

[blue60007]

You should really consider upgrading the video too if you want to game. Otherwise, the upgrade might be pointless.

What do you plan on doing with this computer?

Also, watch the speed of those hard drives...if they are 5400rpm or 7200rpm 2MB cache drive, you'll be bottlenecking yourself there.