A Modest Proposal

[beonopsontgut]

Greetings. This is my first time building a pc completely, and I'd like some advice on the parts. I've already ordered a motherboard and two IDE hard drives, and my planned list is here:

ASPIRE X-Plorer ATXB8KLW-BL Black/Blue Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $55.00
CHAINTECH SA6600G Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $145.00
Hauppauge WINTV-GO-PLUS PCI Interface WinTV-Go-Plus - Retail $48.99
FSP Group (Fortron Source) ATX400-PA ATX12V 400W Power Supply - OEM $36.99
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3200BPBOX - Retail $152.00
gigaram 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model GR1DD8T-K1GB/400/2.5 - Retail $75.00
Acer AL1912s Silver/Black 19" 12ms LCD Monitor - Retail $239.95
BenQ Black E-IDE/ATAPI DVD-ROM Drive Model 1650V - Retail $16.99
LITE-ON Beige IDE DVD Burner Model SOHW-1693S Beige OEM - OEM $38.99

And the HDs/Mobo I already have on the way:
(x2) Western Digital Caviar WD2000BB 200GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM $172.00
GIGABYTE GA-K8NSC-939 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $63.00

My limited ability to understand some terms has made me very unsure about compatability. I understand all RAM I order should be paired to achieve double speeds. Is this true? If anyone spots any other issues, I'd love to hear about them. Thanks.

 

[SPARTAN VI]

I thought everything looked good until the two caviars and the motherboard. Why nforce4? and why IDE?

I would've gone with two 200GB SATA harddrives, and a Chaintech VNF4 Ultra.

 

[DaveSimmons]

For recording analog video, a Hauppage PVR-150 with hardware MPEG2 encoding will probably work better.

The card you have listed should be fine for watching live TV and for recording if you don't mind a few dropped frames and audio sync problems now and then.

 

[beonopsontgut]

Well... The motherboard is nforce3- is that what you meant?
I've seen some articles about SATA/IDE, and the SATA is 150 compared to 133, right? I figured I'd buy the cheaper ones now and get a SATA or two later.
I believe I've seen something about that Hauppage PVR-150 card. Could I find one of those for a similar price?

 

[Finns14]

You can find better monitors for the price. Unless this is the model with the built in speakers if that is so then its an ok price.

 

[Lasthitlarry]

I really don't like Aspire cases, they are crap.

I would get a 1GB stick and get another later if you want to upgrade, then again you already have AGP mobo and vid card, so futureproof is out.

PATA or SATA doesn't really matter unless you go past 7200rpm

 

[beonopsontgut]

I've never seen a 19" LCD for under 230 or so. Ergo...
I read some decent reviews about this case. What's wrong with it?
If I got a 1GB stick, I wouldn't get dual channel memory, according to my mobo. But I have 4 slots, so I can still upgrade.

 

[Lasthitlarry]

Well, yes you could go by newegg reviews, but most of those are false.

Ask anyone else, Aspire is crap.

As for the RAM, sure you could get 2x512 now, but if you want to upgrade later on you will take a performance hit greater than if you had simply gotten a gig stick now and a gig stick later.

For AMD systems using just a gig stick isn't that bad.

If you can afford the space, get a CRT.

 

[beonopsontgut]

I'm considering a CRT... I'm in a dorm, and my desk is small enough. A CRT would dominate it. I might just delay getting another monitor. Although I don't know how much LCD prices will be going down in the coming months.

Nice music, btw.

 

[jr9k]

Why AGP? AGP is dead.

If you are buying a new system you should get a PCI-E mobo and graphics card.

 

[Lasthitlarry]

Originally posted by: jr9k
Why AGP? AGP is dead.

If you are buying a new system you should get a PCI-E mobo and graphics card.

She already got the mobo, lil too late now.

 

[beonopsontgut]

Unfortunately I already have the motherboard, so... I've never actually upgraded my video card before, actually. Hopefully I won't want to with this one.

 

[jr9k]

Oh, I read it was "on the way". I thought she could change the order.