First Time Builder

[sjsharks]

Been perusing this board for a while now and I'm finally ready to take the plunge. I'm upgrading from a computer that's 6 years old so there's almost nothing salvageable.

I picked out the case mostly because it has front USB and firewire ports - I was wondering about how to hook them up with the motherboard I'm choosing? Also, I know there are some problems with powering devices from front USB ports - is there any way to ensure that I will get powered front USB ports that work just like the back ports?

Anyways, any insights as to compatibility problems/assembling mistakes for a newbie, money saving tips, etc. with the following setup is highly appreciated.

Case:
Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000SWA Silver Aluminum Modern Dream Tower Chassis Computer Case - Retail

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

Motherboard:
ASUS P5K LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Memory:
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Monitor:
Acer X192Wbd Black 19" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 - Retail

GPU:
MSI NX8600GT-T2D256EZ GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Hard Drive:
Seagate Barracuda ES ST3320620NS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Power Supply:
Thermaltake TR2 RX W0146RU ATX12V Ver2.2 450W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CUL, TUV, FCC and CE certification - Retail

Operating System:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2B 1 Pack - OEM

Drive:
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - Retail

[Alaron]

Welcome aboard.

Your list is very solid. I have a couple suggestions. First, switch to this burner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106072 It has burning software included.

Second, that Thermaltake PSU is a little light on the 12V rails. This Fortron is beefier and a few bucks cheaper: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104954

Your motherboard will have pins to connect the USB ports on your case. The manual will show where.

[sjsharks]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll change the power supply and the drive.

[flanzig1]

The problem with the front USB ports was that if you hot unplug USB devices, it could kill the chip driving the front ports. If you use the "Safely Remove Devices" button in the Task bar, should be OK.
If you have a lot of USB devices that are powered from the USB port, a better option is to use a Powered USB hub.