Hello Gang!

[Gramps44]

Wow am I glad to have found this forum! I may need a lot of help being a first time PC builder.
I promised my daughter I'd buy her a new computer last Christmas, but that I'd wait for Vista to be released in Jan. so she would have the latest greatest so to speak. She currently is on early Win98 (no USB). It was a simple plan. Then Vista was released to less than stellar reviews regarding compatibility with older programs and hardware. OK, I thought, I'll buy a Win XP computer with the free upgrade option and see how it goes. Then I find that there are no DirectX 10 cards in those machines because they are not available yet. So I hold off some more. Then I find out there is a time limit on the Vista upgrades. So on a whim (generally not a good idea without research) I happen to see our CompUSA closing with 20% off stock. Well to make this long story shorter, I convinced myself I could put together a PC and bought the following:
Gigabyte GA-965P-S3, Seagate 300GB SATA 300, MadDog Litescribe 18X IDE burn everything, and Antec Sonata 3 case with Antec 450w True Power PS =$370. OK deal $$-wise I guess. I plan to get an Intel Core 2 Duo 6300 and 2GB ram and a DirectX 10 Video card as soon as the less expensive ones come out. I'll also put on Win XP and then wait until Vista SP1 comes out, knowing that this build will handle Vista (if I can handle the building part!). A simple plan gone complicated Anyway, for now, any opinion on ram, video card, or 22" monitor for this setup is welcome. I guess the ram has to be 1.8v for this board, and I'm not sure how to update BIOS without floppy installed (planned on USB stick only). Lots of questions before I start this project. I'm sure you all will be hearing from me! Thanks for listening.

[kram 2.0]

The main question you want to ask yourself here is what the system will be used for. Will your daughter be a hard-core gamer (justifying the large graphics card investment) or will it be used for general every-day tasks? While Vista does require a bit in terms of graphics and sys resources, I recommend you buy what you need to run the OS you want right now. If you decide to load Vista, which is not a terrible idea if it's a new build, try to build and invest your system around it.

In addition, what is your overall budget?

kram

[Gramps44]

Hello Kram...Thanks for responding.

No. No gaming or O'clocking. Just figured that DirectX10 will be the norm in 12 months and don't want to invest in another video card. This Gigabyte board does not have on board video as I understand. She is currently re-doing a room in her house for the "computer", so I'm not in a big hurry. My grandkids are 6 an 4 so still too young to be gaming! The PC will be used for Internet, Word And school projects, Photos.

[Furius92]

The only problem with getting a DirectX 10 card right now is that the cheapest one is $300 or more. There are no mid-range or mainstream DX10 cards, only high end enthusiast cards right now. And this is not likely to change with the release of ATI's DX 10 cards in the next week or two. You could pick up an $100 video card for this build, and get a DX 10 card around christmas or something for probably about $100 or $150 if you really want to. I just can't justify recommending that somebody spend $300 on a video card for a computer that won't be used for gaming. Just get something that will be able to run Aero nicely; an nVidia 7600 GS should be just fine for that. Asus has a "silent" or fanless 7600 GS for $100 on Newegg.

Edit: Heres that video card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121008

DirectX 10 won't be used for anything except high-end games for the next year probably. Unless you plan on using a specific program that you want DX10 for then a DX9 video card will serve you just as well as a DX10 card will, and for 1/3 the price.

[Gramps44]

Furius92...

Thanks for the info. I was under the assumption that ATI was releasing their directX 10 cards in all price ranges, shortly. If this is not the case I'll probably go with your suggestion. Thanks.

[glc]

No gaming or overclocking?

A 7600GS is all you need, don't sweat the DX10 thing. Corsair Value Select DDR2-667 dual channel ram kits are fine. For the money, I like the BenQ 22" widescreen monitor, there are other brands and there really isn't much difference between them.

You don't have to install a floppy if you don't want to, but as long as you have a floppy drive and a cable stashed in a drawer somewhere you can use it when you have to. There shouldn't be a need to update the bios anyway unless you need to fix specific issues.

[Gramps44]

Thanks for the advice/info. Hopefully I'll begin building by the end of April. I'll probably have questions then. Thanks a bunch to all of you. Will keep you posted.

[glc]

There is going to be a Core 2 Duo price reduction on April 22.

[Gramps44]

Originally Posted by glc There is going to be a Core 2 Duo price reduction on April 22.

That may definitely influence my processor buying. Thanks for the info. Care to venture a guess on % price reduction?

[Cricket]

Expect between 5% and 10% price reductions across the board.

Cricket

[glc]

It's going to be more than just 10%.

http://www.behardware.com/news/8579/...e-2-22-04.html

The E6300 and E6400 are being replaced with models with double cache AND the price is being reduced. The E6600 is being reduced a TON.

[bd1886]

Those price drops are going to effect the market in a big way for awhile. Monitors are some of the best values out there in hardware right now and the quality is getting more and more consistent as compared to a year ago. Lots of good choices out there!