Another_Build

[cynomolgus]

My main question is the MB . My friend says I dont need to spend much on that but a lot of forums seem to think that is 1 of the most important things .
This is a new build . It will be used for Photoshop , surfing the web , and light Video games . When I say light meaning about an Hr a day Doom , Americas Army that new F.E.A.R looks good, but I am not a total gamer .nor do i know how to overclock or anything , yet !

I am recycycling a Samsung SyncMaster 730b lcd 17" . Brand new !
Pioneer DVR-710 internal dvd/cd writer

Case unsure of brand but it has room for 4 fans in front , 2 on side by Plexiglass . Has room for 4 CD units and 4 HDrives and 2 floppys . Seems sufficient .

Cannon Canoscan fs4000us scanner .
Basic keyboard and mouse .
Connection will be DSL by ATT . Using the 2wire wireless router for connection but I will be main computer .
Speakers are logitech old but still working so wont wory about that know .And not buying a Audio card at this time.
my shopping list so far
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 2000MHz HT 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail 297.00

eVGA 256-P2-N553-AX Geforce 7600GT CO 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail 169.00

Antec TruePower 2.0 TP2-550 EPS12V ATX12V 550W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, TUV, CB, FCC CLASS B, CUL - Retail 99.00.

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM 119.00

Thermaltake CL-P0200 Silent 938 K8 - AMD K8 solution w/ Heatpipe Cooling Tech - Retail for extra cpu cooling

Link Depot Black DVI-D male to DVI-D male dual link Cable Model DVI-6-DD - OEM.

ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 78.00

What I dont like about the mb is that it has no firewire. Ive never used firewire but I hear I will want it . I pick ASUS MB because this is 3rd build and never had problems allways right out of box plug and play but would be up for suggestions.On any of these parts for that matter.
I did not include Ram yet but i will be getting 2 , 1 gig sticks from crucial. All parts on here from new egg and total with MEM is around 1030. Which is a little high but it ok at 1000.Also my friend says im crazy to buy a cpu like that since I am just starting photo editing .
I hope I crossed all my ts and dotted my i's and didnt forget to include anything . I tried to paste to link to newegg website but didnt seem to work .
Take Care

[Alaron]

Your list looks fine to me. Make sure the ram is PC3200. You don't need the extra CPU cooler, the Retail chip will come with a heatsink/fan that is more then adequate, especially if you aren't overclocking. If you don't have a need for firewire now, don't worry about the motherboard. You can always add a firewire card later. Don't listen to your friend, The X2 3800+ is an excellent CPU.

[Staren]

Motherboard and Power Supply are the two parts that you don't want to play around with. The quality of those two parts can affect the quality of the entire build.

As far as going with a dual core 3800+, it sure can't hurt. Expecally if you plan to do photo work. Newer games are coming out that take advantage of the extra power of dual cores all the time anyway.

I'd stick with stock cooling as well. It will work just fine, and third party heaksinks void your waorenty if something does happen.