First time building new computer. Need opinions/help

[LucJoe]

Ok, this is my first time building a computer, and its for my brother for school so it has to be ready by around mid August. I'm not really sure if the parts I'm planning on getting are good or not, so I need some advice. Here's what I'm thinking about so far:

AMD Thunderbird 1.2GHz 266MHz Bus Socket A proce
EPOX EP-8K7A Motherboard. AMD-761 + VIA 686B AGP
256mb DDR 2100 --> crucial
Enlight Medium ATX Tower Case Model EN-72370X3
MSI StarForce 831, GeForce2 Pro, 64MB DDR RAM, 5
Creative Lab sound blaster Live Value PCI Sound
IBM 40GB 7200RPM 60GXP
TOSHIBA DVD ROM, 16X DVD, 48X CD ROM
Plextor 16x10x40 CDRW PlexWriter Internal EIDE C


I know that I might want to change that sound card, but does anyone have any suggestions for anything else. Any ideas for monitor/speakers? I'm kinda worried about this and hopefully I can get it put together right.

Thanks in advance.

-- Joe

 

[DARRIN]

Sounds good to me. Just make sure that Enlight case you are getting has the 300 watt power supply in it. It also sells with a 250 watt.

 

[Flat]

you could save some money by going with Lite-On CDRW & DVD, just as good, considerably cheaper. Also Maxtor HDD, probaly a bit more reliable, and cheaper. GF2 GTS is better value. Live Value is pretty good value . Personally I would go with Antec case of Enlight, but thats preference. Personally I would also go with intel but... I also prefer Asus mobo for Atlon

 

[knsaber]

get Cambridge Soundworks FPS2000 4.1 channel speakers for $99 retail, they are great.
go to buy.com and find 17" flat screens like NEC or Viewsonic for under $200 or bigger.

 

[NelsonMuntz]

Sounds like a decent system and it looks like you did your homework on it. Are you trying to spend less money? If so then some of Flat's comments are good. However, stick with the Athlon because it is more readily upgradeable (bad Pentium 4 ), and the mobo is good. ASUS won't be better, just more expensive. I did like the Antec case I got though w/300W PSU. Monitors and speakers totally depend on you personally. If watching DVDs on it is a major use (at college it might be) get at least a 19". If you doen't want to spend too much money then KDS is a good buy for monitors. Egghead has a decent one for like $230 shipped. Also, a 4.1 speaker solution is available for cheaper than $100. More like $50 for Altec Lansing @ Newegg. I bought a set and I think they sound great. The Epox mobo includes built in basic sound, so if you don't want the SB Live! Value you could use that, but it wouldn't make good use of the surrounds. Also, you could step from the Value to an OEM version of the Live! 5.1 for just $15 more @ newegg also. Just some ideas...

 

[inqztive]

new egg fan.. aren't you? *LOL*

 

[WhatWasIThinking]

I almost bought the Enlight 7237, but I heard bad things about the power supplies that they come with and that scared me into getting an Antec SX830 (great case, weighs a ton). I got the 8K7A and installed it no problem (I'm mostly done building my first system and so far so good). I think there are issues with the SB Live (I don't have one) and VIA, but don't know much more than that. You might want to look into that just to be sure.

I found that choosing the case was the biggest hassle. Like DARRIN said make sure you get a big enough power supply (I was so nervous about it I got a 350w, but 300 is probably fine, 250 is definitely not). I think newegg has the 7237 with a 340, but I could be wrong. Directron will let you pick the power supply. Usually you just get what it has.

 

[MrHelpful]

What's your budget?

 

[LucJoe]

Budget? I'm not sure about, but I was planning on spending about $1500 at the least, $2000 at the most. Seems like a lot, but that's going to include the monitor and the printer.

Most of those components were found on Newegg, from what I've heard they are a very good vendor, so I thought it would be best to get all of my parts from one place. One thing I'm not sure about is the sound card. Would the Live! Value really provide much better sound than the onboard sound? If not, then what would be better?

That case looked good to me, and I've heard good things about it. Also it does come with the 300W PS which I think would be enough for me (I looked inside my own computer, a "Classic" athlon 750 system from Gateway, and the PS is only 235W!).

I've heard nothing but good things about that motherboard on these forums, and have been told that it might actually be better than what Asus has, but I'm not really sure.

About the CDRW. The LiteOn will not be "just as good" as a Plextor. I know it would be considerably cheaper, but I think the plextor would be worth it.

Any ideas?

Thanks

-- Joe

 

[LucJoe]

bump?
Any suggestions?
Ideas?

btw, I was looking at monitors earlier, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the Samsung SyncMaster 950p. It should be a great 19" monitor, and imo for the price it can't be beat.

Thanks for any help.

-- Joe

 

[MrCodeDude]

Kind of looks like some of my updates. May I ask how much the MSI 64mb Pro is? Newegg is down, and people said that it was cheaper than the Leadtek one. I think Viking Computers has the AMD Thunderbird 1.2ghz 266mhz Bus Socket A for $140 or something. Anandtech.com's price guide has that as the cheapest 1.2ghz T-Bird CPU, so just thought I'd put in my $.02
-- mrcodedude

 

[LucJoe]

I think the Pro was ~$135, and the 1.2ghz is like $112 for OEM and ~$145 for retail I think. I'm planning on getting the retail because I'm not planning on overclocking and I don't want to mess with a HS/HSF.

-- Joe