First PC Build, Component Suggestions?

[bosco19]

Hello All,

Sort of a new member here, posted a long time ago. Been stalking the boards for awhile and finally taken the step of building myself a computer.

I have come up with a few ideas, first off I would like this machine for mid gaming, Flight Simulator 2004, Sims 2, Battlefield 2, some of the lastest games as well as a bit of online gaming, that sort of thing. I'm not looking to run them at top graphics, but good enough, If you know what I mean.

I have decided on a AMD build, below are a few of the components I have managed to put together with my very limited knowledge on the subject...

Case: Now, I'm stumped here, I know the old adage of you get, what you pay for, but I would like a good one, without breaking the bank. Any Suggestions?

Processer: AMD Athlon 64 (ADA3700DAA5BN) 3700 CPU Skt 939 San Diego *OEM* - £134.99 Here, I found a minefield, with all different ones, for some reason I picked this, Suggestions?

MotherBoard: Asus A8v Socket 939 Via Kt800pro Atx Sound Gigalan 1394 Usb 2.0 800mhz - £53.21 I came up with this, as It was a best seller at ebuyer.com and the reviews were good, Suggestions?

Graphic Card: Point Of View 7600GT 256mb DDR3 PCI-E - £129.95 Again, was listed as a best seller, anybody recommend any others for what I want the PC to do

Memory: Obviously Minimum of 1Gig, from what I have read, this seems to be the bare minimum for gaming machines. Which Value sticks or Brands?

Sound Card: Creative Labs Audigy 2 ZS Platinum 7.1 Surroundsound 24-bit Sound Card - £64.98

Hard Drive: Seagate ST3802110A Barracuda 80GB 7200RPM ATA/100 2MB Cache - OEM - £31.67

Optical Drive: LG GSA-H10ABAL 16xDVDRW/RAM Internal Black - OEM - £24.67

Monitor: Samsung 'Best Seller' SM913N 19" TFT 8ms 700:1 (1280x1024) Monitor - Silver - £179.99 This seems to have had good reviews and looks to do, what I want.

Speakers: Creative Labs Inspire T7900 7.1 Speaker System - £74.41 With the kind of games I want to play, I would like good sound. These speakers matched up with the above sound card, I was told was good.

Ok, Is OEM products ok to go with? as I do have a few listed above? Is there anything above I have gone over the top with, or I could cut back on or improve on? I am In England and found most of these items on ebuyer.com, as there prices were quite good. Please let me know, things I have missed.

As I'm a new builder, good advice will be greatly appreciated. All thanks to future replys.

Adam

[blue60007]

If you are getting an OEM CPU, you will need a heastink/fan. I would get a retail CPU to save costs (OEM doesn't save you money in that aspect unless you already have a HS/F).

ASUS is a good brand, but I'd rather you not one with a VIA chipset, while not abesolutely horrible, they are frowned upon in the enthusiast world. I'd suggest an ASUS A8N5X.

Never heard of the brand of video card; might be a UK brand. I usually recommend eVGA cards. I don't know if that one's any good or not.

If the budget allows, go for 2 gig. Otherwise 1 gig minimum. BF2 really needs 2 gigs to run perfectly smoothly.

That's not going to be a high performing hard drive. I would get an SATA drive, and a 8MB cache at least, or a 16MB (those are mostly on larger sizes though). A 2MB cache drive will be pretty pokey compared to an 8MB or 16MB.

The sound system looks good. You might even look at an X-Fi sound card, but it might blow your budget out of the water.

See my comments about OEM CPUs above. OEM hard drives are fine. You might look at OEM and Retail opticals. Sometimes you'll get a copy of Nero software with a Retail drive only, and some brands include them in both. You might be able to pick up a copy of Nero (or something similar) for a couple bucks more.

Don't forget an OS; Win XP Home OEM will probably do.

[freakitchen]

Re: The video card - I haven't heard of that brand either, have a feeling it might be a 'sub' brand from another manufacturer. Gotta link to it?

With the lack of availability of eVGA cards here in the UK. I ususally go for / recommend BFG or Gainward, and avoid XFX.

FK

[glc]

If you are on a tight budget, try the onboard sound before you buy a sound card.

PC3200 value ram is fine for a 939 build. No need to buy premium ram. I prefer Corsair, get a dual channel kit.