Building A New PC from Scratch

[bpdulin]

I'm building a new PC. All I have right now is a case. My question is what would be the first thing I should buy? MOBO I assume right?

So what type? ATX? Not sure which would be better.

I'm hoping to stay under $800. And use Vista.

Also I just found out XP doesn't support over 3.5 GB of RAM. So I assume I should stay under 4.

Any suggestions on setups?

Here is what I primarily have open:
Word / Musicplayer / email +-10 tabs / cd burning software / dvd burning software / MP3 player software.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

[alaricljs]

If that's all you're doing with it buy a $500 Dell and be done with it.

 

[f4phantom2500]

pretty much any dual core athlon 64 or core 2 duo shouldn't have a problem with that. also opt for 2 gigs of whatever ddr2 ram you want, it'll all be fast enough so you shouldn't have to spring for ddr2 800 or faster unless you want to. if you are comfortable with overclocking, any core 2 duo cpu would be great, as would any of the lower end brisbane based athlon 64 x2's.

EDIT: a setup like that^ would probably run all of that stuff at the same time without much slowdown.

 

[Puffnstuff]

IMHO you should just buy the dell as they have free tech support and it sounds like you're gonna need that.

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
IMHO you should just buy the dell as they have free tech support and it sounds like you're gonna need that.

hah, yeah, honestly it depends on whether or not you're comfortable being your own IT guy. you can't call dell for support and replacement parts, if something goes wrong it's on you. of course, you can ask us here at anandtech for help, but we won't come over and replace your defective hardware.

 

[sdsdv10]

Originally posted by: f4phantom2500

hah, yeah, honestly it depends on whether or not you're comfortable being your own IT guy. you can't call dell for support and replacement parts, if something goes wrong it's on you. of course, you can ask us here at anandtech for help, but we won't come over and replace your defective hardware.

And building his/her own would change this how?!?!?!?

 

[sdsdv10]

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
IMHO you should just buy the dell as they have free tech support and it sounds like you're gonna need that.

Actually I would recommend a refurbished OptiPlex 745. Below is an example of a nice unit for much less than new. C2D, 2GB RAM, DVD Burner all for $660 including the 3 year business class warranty (2 years better than the home Dimension desktop warranty). The last two computers my family has bought were refurbed Dell's. For basic home computing you can't beat the price. The CPU and copy of Vista alone would run you ~$375 alone on Newegg. You get the entire rest of the computer, have it built and a 3 year warranty for less than $300 more. Sorry, I like to build my own rigs too but under prices $600-700 it is hard to compete with the OEMs.

OptiPlex 745
(System Identifier: E6VJTMVH)

OptiPlex 745 Small Mini-Tower: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6400 (2.13GHz, 2M, 1066MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate

System Price : $659.00

 

[bpdulin]

I actually work in the IT field. I have installed hardware and software. I have many apps open sometimes, as well as burning DVD's which right now slows down my PC almost 75%.

I am not new to hands on installs. Just new to complete builds.

Looking for advice.

Already have the box and look forward to building one from scratch. I've bought many CIB (Complete in box) systems.

 

[lyssword]

You should prolly post in general hardware, they usually help out a bit. Also, we can't narrow it down at all without price range.

 

[frostedflakes]

Heck if you don't plan to game 1GB of RAM would probably be adequate, although if it's within your budget I would definitely grab 2GB. The prices have dropped significantly over the last few months and if you plan to upgrade to Vista it will be able to put the extra RAM to better use than WinXP could.