First time builder

[DarinA21]

This is my first time building a gaming pc. I am currently looking at this setup. Please let me know of any upgrades or downgrades. I am trying to stay under about $1200 thanks you in advance for your help.

GIGABYTE GA-K8N Ultra-9 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard

A-TOP XBlade AT859A-BK Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply

NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3520A BK

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1200JB 120GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor

Rosewill Radeon X800XL 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card

Total: 1,136.96

 

[TWills]

NO!!! On the Corsair valueselect.

Get another type. Kingston valueram is good if you want to keep things cheap...

Also, for 1200 bucks you could get SLI...

 

[mechBgon]

If you get a Seagate hard drive, then you can be certain you'll get a fluid-bearing drive motor. Some WD's with ball-bearing motors develop bearing whine down the road. Also, the freebie power supplies that are included with cases sometimes aren't too great, it might be worth getting a reputable aftermarket one instead.

I have the NEC burner in my work rig and recently got the similar BenQ model for my home system. I like the BenQ better, it came with OEM Nero Express software and is quieter, so you might think about that alternative too.

 

[DarinA21]

 

[DarinA21]

Thanks a lot for the help guys I will look into those suggestions.

 

[Rike]

DarinA21, make sure you check out mechBgon's building guide (link in his sig). It's first rate! :thumbsup: It has saved many a n00b time and parts.

Also, don't forget to get an OS. XP Home will run you about $85-90.

 

[Cheezeit]

first of all, thats pretty nice.

here are some tips

WD hard dirves are not the best, it seems like seagate fails the least, and has a 5yr warentee, when the WD non raptors only have 1 yr.

Why go with the winchester? vecice has a better memory controller and only costs a few bucks more.

the cipset for the vid card is a good choice, but rosewill isn't so good.

don't go with that psu that came with the case!! get something reputable.

 

[KoolDrew]

Don't use that PSu that copmes with that case. I would actually suggest just getting an Antec Sonata w/ 380w PSU.

 

[DarinA21]

Thanks for the suggestions I switched to a seagate hard drive and an ati card instead of the rosewill. Also, I switched to the venice core. Thanks again.

 

[DarinA21]

 

[DarinA21]

What types of PSU's would you guys recommend?

 

[Cheezeit]

fortron blue storm 500, best psu for the money if you dont care *too* much about noise.

if you want quieter, get the seasonic s12 430.

check out silent pc review for more help.

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: DarinA21
What types of PSU's would you guys recommend?

The Antec Sonata comes with a nice 380w PSU

 

[Cheezeit]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

Originally posted by: DarinA21
What types of PSU's would you guys recommend?

The Antec Sonata comes with a nice 380w PSU

oh, yeah thats right. your rig could be powered with that truepower.

 

[knothead34]

380 would be cutting it close. go with the fortron blue storm 500watts. next generation video cards requiring more power .

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Originally posted by: TWills
NO!!! On the Corsair valueselect.

Get another type. Kingston valueram is good if you want to keep things cheap...

Also, for 1200 bucks you could get SLI...

Why not the Corsair? I've heard pretty good things about it, and it's pretty cheap.
Also, SLI is definintely a waste, since he has an ATI card, so a better choice would just be to use his X800XL and then wait for Crossfire. That way, his X800 won't go to waste.

450-500 watts is good for the PSU. Make sure to buy from a reputable manufacturer though.