New Build

[Sinith]

I am thinking of building my own computer. I was hoping someone could tell me if this looked all right.

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Toledo 2000MHz HT 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor

eVGA 256-P2-N584-AR Geforce 7900GT KO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

Crucial Technology 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2000JS 200GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

NZXT LEXA-NP Black/ Silver Aluminum Construction Plastic Front Panel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

NEC Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner

COOLER MASTER RS-550-ACLY-SLI ATX12V/ EPS12V 550W Power Supply 115/230 V UL / cUL / TUV / NEMKO / BSMI

I am going to resuse my montior and speakers, and was planning on just using the intergrated sound. I am planning on getting a second video for SLI later on. I would also appreciate if anyone has a suggestions for a dial-up modem. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Freefall]

I'm just getting back into this, but I'd suggest getting a HDD with a 16MB cache. Like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136010

[jayb1234]

That DFI board is good, but pretty complicated to set up, it is more of an experts board.

One of the ASUS boards would be a much better choice for a first build.

Check whether that NEC burner comes with burning software, if not, Liteon includes PowerDVD and Nero in both retail and OEM packages.

You might want to go a little bigger on the power supply, 550 might be a little tight for two 7900 series cards.

Download the motherboard manual and check whether you will need a floppy drive during the setup, if not, thhey are still handy to have for diagnostics etc..

Don't forget to get an OS, XP home with Service Pack 2 OEM will be fine unless you need some specific feature of XP Pro or want the Media Center Edition.

Do you want a modem card or an external modem?

[suitcase]

I use the US Robotics external modem. I think it's model 5686, $80 from Newegg. I lost one like it to lightning and tried to go cheap. Ended up RMAing one and just eating another (Creative) before biting the bullet and getting another USR. Go with the quality.

[Mr.Ferrari]

I would also suggest you stay away from the crucial ddr. Their ddr2 is fine but the ddr has a very spread case of sudden death syndrome.

If you truely want that dfi for some unknown reason, I really suggest you check their site to make sure whatever memory you do choose will be ok with it. DFI's are notorious for being picky with memory. Corsair would be a very safe one.

[Sinith]

All right, I will check out some other boards.

I will check the Corsair memory too.

With the modem it does not matter to me as long as it works good.

Thanks for the suggestions and advice. I will keep looking, and if there is anything else you guys think I need to know I would be happy to hear it. I really would not want to mess this up, because my family doesn't think I can do this.

[Mr.Ferrari]

A few possible suggestions:
Not saying dfi's are bad quality mobo's, they actually make some real quality stuff. For a first timer though, Asus would be a safer choice. They are a more mainstream manufacturer and their boards are very friendly and forgiving. DFI isnt bad but it is a bit more complicated and they are sold with the assumption that the people buying them have build a few computers.

Other then that, coolermaster psu's are exactly low quality, although im not a fan of their real power series, there is better for the price, or actually for less. Some alternitives would be Antec Truepower-II 550W, Tagan U22 series, FSP blue storm's etc.

[Sinith]

All right, here are the new things I am thinking.

CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory

Antec TruePower 2.0 TRUECONTROL II-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard

Thanks for all of the help and suggestions. If there is anything else you think I might want to change, I would be happy to hear it, since this is my first build.

[Mr.Ferrari]

I know it might seem tempting but I suggest you really dont mess with the truecontrol's..well control's. What makes truecontrol different from the normal truepower is it allows for pot adjustments of the 12 5 and 3v rails. The only way to truely know if the rail is in spec is with a digital multi meter. Anyways. I suggest you leave the rails as they are..

Otherwise powersupply everything else seems good.

[Sinith]

All right, thanks for the information and all of the help.

[glc]

If you plan on using that USR external modem (and I recommend that you do) make sure the motherboard you choose has a legacy serial port.