Building to Upgrade

[ChappyEight]

I was hoping those of you with more knowledge than myself could give me a hand. I am looking to build a computer (my first one) and I am unsure of how to do this cost effectively. I have a good amount of software knowledge but lack in the more technical things, such as BIOS, etc. As far as being in the "guts" of a machine, I've installed some firewire expansion cards, flashed a bios by removing the mobo battery, and installed some memory.

The goal for this new machine would be to start as inexpensive as possible to get a baseline setup, then upgrade as money allows. I'd really like to stay below $1000 if possible.

My biggest question is regarding what hardware I should purchase to get me where I need to go. Eventually, I'd like to have a powerful machine, running two videocards (SLI), quad core processor. etc. In other words, I'd like to upgrade to some top notch equipment eventually. I do realize that if I take more than a year or so to build this system, hardware will begin to become obsolete. I am not a hardcore gamer or anything but enjoy the occasional pc-killing game. So, the video cards and other hardware that I am looking for will surely come down in price by the time I'd be looking to buy them. I am setting a timeline from the completion of my initial build of 18 months to upgrade.

Now all that crap is out of the way, here is what I'm thinking. I'd really like to base my system on the ASUS Striker Extreme motherboard as I think it will give me the most functionality over the time I'm trying to upgrade my system.

Is this line of thinking correct? That being, I should choose a motherboard first and build around it?

So, if I go with that motherboard, what hardware can I select that is relatively inexpensive? Mine and my wife's primary functions will be word processing, internet browsing, Adobe Photoshop, architectural drafting, and 3-dimensional building modeling (SketchUp, maybe 3DViz).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I downloaded Panama Red's checklist so I think I've got the components covered below but as you'll notice, I don't have actual hardware items next to a lot of them yet. I can't get to New Egg at work so I'll try and post some links to this stuff when I get home tonight:

- Case (mid or full tower?)
- PSU (650W okay to start?)
- MOBO (ASUS Striker Extreme)
- CPU (Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 maybe?)
- Memory (2GBx2 for now, 4GB upgrade later for total of 8GB)
- HDD (Western Digital 500GB 3.5" internal?)
- CD/DVD drive (combo drive for DVD writing/reading?)
- Floppy drive (do I even need one of these anymore?)
- Video Card (not sure, everything I want is $400 or more)
- Sound Card (not sure)
- Monitor
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- Speakers
- OS (Windows, which I found out is freaking expensive)

My biggest issues are knowing which less expensive items (i.e. gpu, cpu, etc.) are still quality equipment albeit less kick-ass than their high-dollar counterparts. Also, how do I know whether or not these items are all compatible with my mobo, or with each other? I'm assuming I can go to the mfgr.'s website, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

Sorry this is longwinded, just trying to get into this PC building thing on a shoestring budget. I'm sure most of you can understand.

Thanks in advance,
Chappy

[Cricket]

What you have planned is not the best way to go about getting a high end machine. Your way will end up costing you more than if you just keep saving and then build your computer when you can afford everything you want at one time. If you can wait until you have about $2,000 you'll be ready to build your dream machine in one crack rather than build a mediocre one and then upgrade till it's the powerhouse you want.

But that's just my thoughts on the matter.

Cricket