1st system build - looking for advice & suggestions

[SoCoDave]

Thanks to good advice from members here and on other PC forums, I've decided to not put any more $$ or effort into trying to upgrade my six year old Gateway machine and instead build a new system with the help of my two boys. This will be our 1st build so we welcome any good guidance & advice.

We hope to build something that will be up to playing the more demanding games currently out, be upgradeable for better performance DTR, run fairly cool, and be composed of quality, reliable components.. Other uses for the system will be some photo editing, music & photo storage, burning CD's & DVD's, general Internet use, etc. Might look into trying Overclocking in the future once we learn more.

I've set the budget at $1300 maximum - have already bought an Antec TX640B case and a Gateway FPD1975W 19" widescreen LCD monitor so there's $285 to start. I thought I'd take the 400 watt Antec PSU out, sell it on e-Bay and replace it with the Enermax PSU in the list below as an upgrade towards future expansion unless you all think the Antec would work ok.

We've chosen some of the component items on the following list based on reviews from owner/users and from sites that review computer parts & accessories and also from suggestions in threads we've been reading on forums by other ppl building systems. I realize that not all reviews may be entirely accurate as the user may have helped cause the problems that resulted in the bad marks they gave or others may be biased towards the brand or product and may have rated the product higher than it deserved.

This list is just a rough starting point - we're open to any knowledgeable advice and suggestions to steer us right if we're not headed that way. I'm sure we've forgotten some things so please let me know if you see something missing and I'll add to the list.

Remember, I'm already $285 into my budget with the Antec case & Lcd monitor. As it stands now, I'm at $1126, not figuring in rebates, shipping, or CA sales tax of 7.75%.

OS - Windows XP Home Upgrade with SP2 - Retail - $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16837116194

Processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Windsor 2.0GHz Socket AM2 - Retail - $129
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819103733

Motherboard - DFI INFINITY NF ULTRAII-M2 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX - Retail - $89
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813136015

Chipset Cooler - Thermaltake CL-C0034 Copper Fan & Heatsink - Retail - $24
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16835116018

Video Card - BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 - Retail - $144 OR XFX PVT73GUGD3 GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 - Retail - $143
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814143049 (has $65 Rebate but currently out of stock)
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814150182

RAM - CORSAIR XMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model CM2X1024-6400 - Retail - $138
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820231088

PSU - ENERMAX EG495AX-VE FMA ATX12V Ver 2.2 485W - Retail - $85
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817194015

HDD - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s - OEM - $80
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822148144

CD/DVD Burner - Pioneer 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Read Black ATAPI Model DVR-111D - OEM - $33
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827129001

Floppy Drive - NEC Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal - OEM - $6
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16821152005

Speakers - ALTEC LANSING VS2321 2.1 - Retail - $37
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16836113005

[newbuilder14]

Do you have a preference between AMD and Intel? Currently, the Intel Core 2 Duo processors are the best dual cores on the market.

If you are willing to go with Intel here is what I would recommend:

Core 2 Duo E6300
Asus P5B
2x512mb Corsair ValueSelect DDR2-667
Seagate 7200.10 250gb
Lite-On Retail DVD Burner
XP Home Edition SP2
Logitech 2.1
eVGA 7900GS
Antec, Enermax, FSP, Seasonic, or any other high quality power supply.

[flanzig1]

For an OS, get the XP Home OEM version. About $20 cheaper.
Also,would hold off on the chipset cooler. If a problem appears later, then go for it.

[Cricket]

Instead of getting the WinXP Upgrade, get the OEM version for $10 less.

And DFI motherboards can be kind of finicky and tricky to set up...you may want to consider a ABIT or ASUS motherboard instead.

Cricket

[SoCoDave]

The Corsair DDR2 667 memory that was suggested for use with the Asus P5B mobo is not on the Asus recommended list. I looked on Newegg & saw some Corsair XMS DDR2 800 2x512 that Asus said was ok but I'm not totally sure it's the right stuff.

As to using a cooler on the DFI mobo, quite a few users said the chip set ran hot and said temps dropped dramatically after installing the Thermaltake CL-C0034 so that's why I included it.

What's the difference between OEM and Retail versions of Win XP (besides no packaging or instructions) as to support from Microsoft, warranty, etc? I read that when bought OEM, support from MS is much more limited than if bought Retail? Is the Vista upgrade offer the same with both versions?

[Alaron]

We recommend the Corsair DDR2-667 memory for the Asus P5B all the time. And our members are using them together without problems. NB14 there has it. So have no fear using it.

You hit the nail on the head for OEM and Retail differences (Packaging/Manual). There is no support difference, the OS is still the same.

[SoCoDave]

Would there be any reason to pay $16 more for the Corsair XMS DDR2 800 memory over the Corsair ValueSelect DDR2 667?

[flanzig1]

If you were into OCing, then the XMS ram may be needed. The Value Select can take a small amount of OC.