First Time Builder - Many Questions

[Tzen]

A few days into February I am going to be given $1,800 to build a computer. As I said, this will be my first time building one so I have a lot of questions. Let me start off by saying that the computer will be used for gaming, listening to MP3s, and the usual tasks of browsing the web, typing papers, and stuff along those lines.

I am also having a hard time right now trying to decide on several things. The number one question is... Should I wait for DDR? If not... Should I over clock? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Which of these parts should I buy OEM and which should I buy retail? Which OS should I use? I've heard that Via chipsets cause IDE issues in Win2K. Is it worth getting a DVD player for anything other than movies, because I don't want one if that's all it's good for?

Assuming I don't wait for DDR, these are the things I will need.

Monitor: What do you think of the Samsung SyncMaster 955 DF? I am open to other suggestions. Size is important but quality is even more so. Preferably flat.
$350?

Speakers:
$100?

Case: Any suggestions for a good ATX case with a 300W power supply?
$75?

Motherboard: Any suggestions for a good KT133A board? It's okay to list boards that are good for over clocking and those that aren't. What do you think about the MSI K7-T Pro2-A, can the integrated audio be disabled?
$150?

CPU: Definitely an AMD Athlon or Duron. Will I be able to get a new Athlon "C" with the 133 (266) MHz processor bus clock at that time, and how much will it cost? They start at 1Ghz, correct?
$200?

FHS: Whether or not I over clock, how important is it to have a good FSU? Which one do you suggest?
$35?

RAM: What kind of CAS2 RAM would you suggest? 128MB or 256MB? PC133 or PC150? Crucial? Mushkin? Etc.
$175?

Graphics Card: What do you think of the ATI Radeon 32MB DDR? What about a GeForce2 GTS? What brand do you like, I've heard good things about VisionTek.
$150?

Sound Card: SoundBlaster Live! Value.
$50?

Hard Drive: IBM 30GB ATA/100 75GXP 7200RPM.
$175?

CDRW: PlexWriter 12/10/32A.
$250?

Floppy Drive: Blah.
$20

OS: Windows 98 SE.
$100?

Is there anything I forgot? Do the prices look about right, I tried to overestimate them. Feel free to make any other suggestions. If you know where I might find several of these parts at one place for a decent price, that would be really helpful. I'll probably use www.pricewatch.com and www.resellerratings.com when I start to buy the stuff.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Tzen

 

[Tzen]

Whoops! My bad, I meant to post this in the General forum. I've been up all night... Sorry.

Tzen

 

[kw3i]

hey man, looks like you got a good start, yes you can disable the onboard audio on the MSI kt7 pro. if you can go with the geforce 2 gts card, youll pay a little more than 150, but not much more, and its definatly worth the extra 20 or 30 bux (currently 161 for one but shipping adds...bleh) 75 bux sounds a bit low imo for a "good" case, but if your lucky you may be able to find one in the hot deals forum for around that much. HDD looks good, mobo/memory looks good. i know nothing about that monitor. dont fuk with 98se man, youll be in headache heaven, just use 2k pro, if you are planning on running games or software that are not compatable with 2k for some reason then dont use them : ). FHS i cant comment on, speakers i think 100 bux will get you a descent set, but if you can spend another 150 get the kliplisch (sp). oc if you want, that is your call, if this is your first system i would get a chip that can be oc easily then get it running stable, then later down the road fuk with ocing. ok im tired of typing, good luck mang

 

[Jeff H]

Tzen, just a couple of suggestions. I'm w/ you, re Athlon/Duron. The MSI board is a good choice.

Re speakers, consider the Boston Acoustics BA790. A steal @ $99, for a 2.1 setup w/ punch. You can get them at Best Buy, or directly from BA.

You've chosen a couple of good video card chipsets, w/ the Radeon or the nVidia GeForce 2. If you go GeForce2, consider the Hercules cards, they seem to get more out of their cards.

Re case, look at the Enlight 7237, and if you can get it w/o a p.s., get the Enermax 330w or 450w units.

I can't speak to the 955DF, but I've had a couple of Samsung monitors, and their quality just seems to get better w/ each new model. I'm currently using a 900IFT and wouldn't part w/ it.