First Low Budget PC build

[Furashu]

well i am on a $400 budget and this is my very first time im going to attempt to build my own PC!
i just recently got into PC hardware so i dont know much about "good" companies and what was last years news and what will soon be obsolete!

so i would aprecciate all of you computer vets to assist me on the first step of building a computer!

heres what i have chosen
CPU:
MD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 2000MHz HT 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103535


Mobo

MSI RX480 Neo2-F Socket 939 ATI Radeon XPRESS 200P ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130524

Graphic Card

MSI RX1300Pro-TD256E Radeon X1300PRO 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130524

CASE

http://www.gearxs.com/gearxs/product...=88&products_i...

1GB Ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145505

160GB harddrive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152020

i was considering not getting ram from start(waiting a month or so) and upgrading my CPU from the 64 3200 to a
64x2 3800+ and changing my graphic card to something else

oh yeah i read on newegg the ram was limited

i dont know if any deals or not are occuring so if u know and its better then what im getting please tell me!

[freakitchen]

Welcome to the forums

I'd switch your motherboard to a higher quality manufacturer and chipset, such as the ASUS A8N-E

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131530

The link to your case just gives me a 'product not found'. I'd recommend this one - good case and comes with a quality power supply, which is very important:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129150

I'd also switch to a Seagate hard drive for quality reasons:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148149

The X2 3800+ processor is great value at the moment, but your computer won't run without RAM, so don't not get any!!

There's nothing wrong with the video card you chose - but it's not a gaming card. If you want the system to game, you should spend more, otherwise it's fine.

FK

[glc]

Wait till you can afford to do it right and get everything then - 400 bucks will not get you much of a computer, and it definitely won't be a decent gamer. If you buy parts now, they will just be obsolete when you can afford to finish it up.

[minsonngo]

$800 and up should be a good budget to work with.

[Computer Hobbyist]

I have to agree with glc and minsonngo, shop, and shop hard, but expect to pay at least $800 for a budget gamer. For $450 you end up with an internet cruiser. Not that much fun. No upside.

You might have noticed that there are entry level computers for sale all over the place at the $400-450 price point. Heck I saw an Acer on line at NewEgg the other day for $350. If you can't wait to do it right, look at one of them, but again don't expect a gamer.

You might skimp on some things, but there are some items that you should always pay for.

1. The weakest link in any computer is the power supply. Buy a good one. Don't screw around. I don't buy cases with their own power supplies anymore. They tend to go bad after awhile.

2. Buy a quality motherboard. I bought one of those bargain boards once. Darn thing broke after a few days. Took the processor and memory with it. I really saved money, didn't I? You will not find anybody around here telling you to save money by buying a cheap motherboard. Don't depend on brands. Check with the gang here and elsewhere for recommendations concerning the exact motherboard you are interested in. Manufacturers vary.

Example, I normally trust Intel. I almost always buy Asus or Intel. Intel boards typically are not gamers. Instead they are known as solid, reliable office ready machines. The other day I identified an Intel board that I thought would meet my needs. glc promptly pointed me to another board. It seems that particular board was not up to Intel's normal standards.

3. Pay particular attention to the chipset. Read all you can about them. Know what you want your computer to do and what the chipset is capable of. Of course, it could be said that researching the chipset is a subset of researching motherboards.

4. Read the PC Mech material on video cards carefully. You will find that the recommendation for most of us is to not buy bleeding edge. Take a step or two back and save a bundle. You probably won't notice.

5. Don't be fooled by eye candy. You want your rig to work day in and day out. Spend your money wisely.

6. Pay attention to heat. Right now my daughter has a old Barton 2500 on her system. She plays SIMS. Sometimes she and her friends play all night long. I had no idea that game could be so heat intensive. I realized that she might play games so I built her system with extra case fans. The thing still puts out heat like an oven. Without the extra ventalation the system would have melted down long ago. As part of that, plan ventilation wisely. Remember heat rises. The key is not to just blow air, but to get air flowing through and out of the system. Get air across those components that are going to heat up the most. If my daughter has that kind of heat problem playing sims, gosh I wonder what a really processor intensive game would do. (In fairness the old Athlons were hotter than a 2 dollar pistol. They are much better now.)

7. Do your ears a favor and plan quiet from the git go. That is something you seldom hear, but if you have to turn off your computer to talk to your buddy, you aren't doing it right. Remember my daughter's machine. Well after I built it, I replaced the original case fans with quieter models.

Read this site carefully. Some of the guys around here build all the time. Pay attention to their recommendations. People who have made multiple thousand posts almost always know what they are talking about.

[glc]

Excellent advice, CH - but I'm closing this thread as the original poster has started a new thread.