Help choosing parts for my first PC.

[DrWolfgangVonBubbles]

I'm very new to PC building and this will be my first time. Now, I understand what all the parts do and such, but I have no idea what brands are the best or what have you.

I want a nice, gaming PC that will be able to run Oblivion well. I don't need maxed graphics but it would be nice. I mainly want this for being able to play all the new games I want to for the next few years without having to upgrade. I realize somewhere down the line I may have to skimp on the graphics. I just don't want it to be chugging when trying to play the newer games next year.

Sound is not important to me. I want my games to sound nice and every once in awhile I'll be listening to music on it as well. Not obsessed with crystal clear sound. It would be nice to be able to have the option to be able to upgrade to a 5.1 system in the future but I don't really want to pay any extra for it now.

I said sound wasn't that important to me. This also applies to how loud the computer is itself. As long as my computer doesn't start flying away helicopter like anything will work. I really don't want things melting.

I do like my multitasking. Bad habit, I suppose. I don't like closing anything.

I do not have a moniter or windows or anything. What is the new media center thing I keep hearing about? Is it any better than XP home?

I have no idea what I should get when it comes to AMD/Intel Single/Duel core processers. Is there any real difference besides compatibility?

One semi-important factor. I will be using dial up. Trust me, I have no choice. 56k for me.

I am on a budget and I can't really offord anything right now, around $1,000 would be nice. If it costs more it'll just take me longer to save up. (I'm getting a little anxious without a PC around.) I am most likely going to buy all the parts at newegg, hope I get things that work together and pray I don't explode anything trying to put it together.

Any suggestions for parts or recomended reading would be nice. Actually ANY help would be loved. I am getting confused.

This will hopefully be a good learning experience for me. I have always wanted to learn about building PCs but never had the money. Now since my old PC has basically melted I am forced to dish out the cash. I thought about buying a custom PC at ibuypower.com but I wanted to build one. Plus, I shop for PCs like a girl. "Oh, but these cool LED lights are only $20 more! And look at these TV tuners!"

Sorry for the length. This purchase is going to be VERY important to me.

[glc]

First off - check out this thread and Pam's comment.

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=160259

That said, review your expectations. You should be able to do a dual core processor SINGLE video card build for $1000. You will have to drop about $300 on the video card alone. If you multitask, a dual core is the way to go.

[DrWolfgangVonBubbles]

Why would I really need two video cards? Seems like a bit of overkill, to me.

Also, I have heard there are price drops coming soon. It will probably take me that long just to get the funds together. Would that help me much?

$100 for Windows + $100 for monitor + $300 for video card... Eep. Definatly going to have to rob a bank or something. This is starting to look more expensive than buying one all put together.

About processors, which err... size should I get? I mean, how many ghz...? I'm so lost.

[blue60007]

A single card would be OK - if you wanted to go with dual cards (and do it the right way - ie, a single $300 card is better than two $150), you'd need to spend big $$$ (like $500 or more more).

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2800

If you are wanting to go with AMD, a 3800+ X2 would be nice, or a 3700+ for a bit less. I think if you wait for that price drop, the 3800+ X2 would be a nice deal. On the other hand, if you wanted to go with Intel, an Intel 930 would be a good choice (or you might want to wait till Conroe if you are going to wait a bit anyways). Not to confuse you more, but don't look at Ghz - an AMD at 2.4GHz would be the heck out an Intel at 3GHz.

I think an eVGA 7900GT would be a good place to start looking in the video card area.

[flanzig1]

Dual video cards in a SLI configuration is considered mostly for the hard core gamer. A good single video card will handle most things very well.
You probably don't need high end CPU, a middle range CPU in any of the present formats will do you fine.

[DrWolfgangVonBubbles]

I do consider myself a hardcore gamer. But not one that's overly bent on graphics. I am willing to tone down graphics. I do like good performance. So, basically I am a hardcore gamer that is broke and wants to spend less money on computers and more money on games themselves.

Telling me not to look at Ghz actually explained alot. Less confused now. So, basically the only way to compare the two is by testing them both? By the time I have the funds the processors should be cheaper. YAY!!!

I'm going to read up on motherboards and compatabile parts because that confuses me to no end.

[Kareeser]

Flanzig has got it. There is far more "stuff" to process graphically, than mathematically. So The processor blue suggested would go great. Spend more money on the graphica card, as they is where the bottleneck usually is.

[ammo]

If this is for gaming then you'll want to spend more than $100 on a monitor. The video card won't be that great without a good monitor. I suggest the samsung 17" LCD at newegg for $185.

[ammo]

I suggest this that will last for a pretty long time. AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 2000MHz HT 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor ($100), ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard ($75), 2 sticks of WINTEC AMPO 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory ($76.50), SAPPHIRE 100600SR Radeon X800PRO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card ($150), LITE-ON Black or White 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 1.5M Cache IDE CD Burner ($25), Western Digital Caviar SE WD1200JBRTL 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive ($64), SAMSUNG 740N-Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 600:1 0.264mm Pixel Pitch ($190), Diamond XtremeSound XS71DDL 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card ($58). GRAND TOTAL= $738.50 plus whatever case and input devices you might want which will be probably an extra $150. Also an OEM version of XP Home is $100. Almost forgot Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply 115/230 V TUV, UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC ($70) GRAND GRAND TOTAL= $1058.50

[spartan015]

just wondering ammo but how stable are those RAM? and that ECS board... cuz thats like one those boards that get packaged with CPU's at frys... other then that nice system. you have room to spare for maybe a higher graphic card

[ammo]

He says he only has $1000 to spend and that board itself is suppose to be a pretty good board. Other ECS boards aren't so good. I think that is a good card for his budget. I've only heard good things about that memory too. I changed the board up there to one that will probably handle the components a little better.

[DrWolfgangVonBubbles]

I did say I was willing to pay a bit more. I just don't want my baby to fall apart on me. :P

Anyway, my last computer, may God have mercy on his soul, went through a power surge. Are there any peices besides the case that I will be able to reuse? I'm guessing not because it looks like a label or something on the processor actually melted. The monitor, mouse and keyboard don't work either. Life sucks.

[ammo]

If a power surge happened and your cpu melted then there will be nothing but the case you can reuse and maybe any cd-rom you had.