First time new build- component selection

[Jon_M]

Hi all,
I'm about to take the plunge for a first new build, reusing components from en older PC. I'm intending to use the machine for photo and video editting., and have selected components for best value, whilst retaining potential to uprate parts later as prices fall. Hence socket AM2, and integrated graphics.
Firstly, the parts I am intending to re-use are a decent 22" monitor (just a few weeks old), a DVD burner (which gets only light use), and an 60Gb Western IDE HDD (WD600). I also have an XP disc which I am expecting to be reusable.
Following advice from an earlier post (thanks to those who answered!), I have narrowed down the new build components as follows:
• Case: Coolermaster Elite 330 (Micro ATX) with 460W power supply http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135101
• M/B: MSI K9N6SGM-V GeForce 6100 Socket AM2 onboard VGA and 8-channel audio mATX http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126138
• CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2GHz) Socket AM2 Energy Efficient L2 1MB Cache OEM Processor http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136444
• RAM: Kingston 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Non-ecc CL5 Unbuffered 1.8V http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129954

I'd appreciate a steer on whether these components will all work together, and whether there are any further parts necessary (I read about SATA and IDE controllers, but am not clkear what these are for, or whether they are integrated)

Finally, am i correct in thinking that onboard graphics can be disabled if I ever decide on a separate graphics card?

Many thanks.

[aram]

Hi Jon

Everything you have there will work fine together. The integrated GFX are usually automatically disabled if you install a seprate card, and if it doesn't you can easily do it in the Bios manually.

All motherboards these days come with some SATA ports for SATA hard disks and DVD drives. You may want to consider getting a SATA HDD as the motherboard only has one IDE port, meaning you will have to connect both the DVD and HDD to it which is not recommended as IDE has trouble communicating with 2 devices over one port at the same time.

I would consider getting a motherboard with more ports, as yours only has 2 DIMM slots and 2 SATA which limits your upgrade options.

For 5 quid more you could get a Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 690V which has 4 of each respectively as well as RAID and a better GFX solution.

hope that helps

[Jon_M]

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[Jon_M]

Aram, Thanks very much for the help..
I was keen to reuse the HDD and DVD to save on cost, and looking at the spec of the mobo you suggest, it looks to me like it does not appear (as far as I can tell) to have IDE capability, therefore presumably my old HDD and DVD_ROM are not compatible? I was also keen on Firewire onboard which the MSI has...
Also, I did realise the RAM is limited to two slots = 2Gb, but thought that as I was sticking to XP, this should not be a problem..
Any thoughts appreciated.

[aram]

hey Jon

that board does have IDE, its just listed as an ATA port. IDE is also known as parallel ATA, or just ATA, so you should have no problems using your old drives

However that the board I suggested does not come with firewire, but the next model up does, its another 7 quid, but I would really consider it for the benefits it brings.
2gb is enough for XP, but its always nice to know that you have the space to upgrade if you need to, and the gigabyte board brings support for the newer Phenom processors should you want to upgrade.

I guess it all depends on how much you want to keep costs down, but if your able to stretch it another £40, I would get the gigabyte board and a seperate 80 or 160gb SATA HDD for your OS and keep the second 60gb for storage.