So I'm building my first homemade computer...

[imported_Uber]

A few things:
1) deleted. resolved. forgotten.
2) I want my RAM in a single channel so I can upgrade more later.
3) The RAM from my P4 is DDR2
4) With the CPU, its a matter of want more than need between the e6300 and the e6400
5) I already have GRAW.
6) For mice, KB and Headphones, I have some plain stuff that will work until I can get the Logitech G5 Gaming Mouse, and maybe a new Keyboard
7)I am worried that Vista may be buggy, so I'd kinda rather stick with XP for now.
8) deleted. resolved. forgotten.

 

[VooDooAddict]

Originally posted by: Uber
2) I want my RAM in a single channel so I can upgrade more later.
3) The RAM from my P4 is DDR2

If you already have some DDR2 you might as well use what you already have. For some reason I thought you only had DDR.

4) With the CPU, its a matter of want more than need between the e6300 and the e6400

Good way to save a few $$ then.

7)I am worried that Vista may be buggy, so I'd kinda rather stick with XP for now.

Vista RC2 has been very nice thus far. I haven't had any issues with it other then my printer driver in either 64-bit or 32-bit builds. Gaming Performance and Video card drivers are a little better in XP 32-bit, but it can be easily offset by using the savings for faster hardware.

Figured it would be a good way to save a few $$. But I can certainly understand hesitation.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Uber
2) I want my RAM in a single channel so I can upgrade more later.
3) The RAM from my P4 is DDR2

Many motherboards have 4 slots, so you can install 2 sticks (in dual channel) and then add 2 more later if you want to upgrade. And if you really want, you could probably get away with using your existing DDR2 RAM until you upgrade to a higher speed and more memory DDR2

 

[imported_Uber]

Right, but I am now considering several things.

1) Keeping my old computer running at its current power for small LAN parties and such
2) Selling my old computer to a friedn of mine, who is a poor college student with a computer running under 1 GHz in a computer beyond reasonable upgrade.
3) Eventually getting up to 4 Gigs of RAM in this new computer.

Also, from here on out, I will refer to my computers as such:

My Laptop = my lappy, my laptop, etc.
My Current Desktop = P4, Andi (dont ask)
My future SFF (that we are discussig here) = Mini, C2D

hopefully, this will not confuse anyone, because the way I was referring to them before was bound to.

Also, my P4 machine is, in fact, only about 2 years old. So most of the hardware, while slightly outdated, is still compatible with modern stuff.

 

[imported_Uber]

Well, here we go.
Final Version, ready to order.
My grandfather will give me $600 for my P4, and my grandmother will help me out a bit, so my budget has grown.

All prices are shipped

Case: Ultra Microfly Black - $49.99 after rebate from ZipZoomFly
HDD:Western Digital Caviar 250GB 7200RPM - $73.50 from ZipZoomFly
RAM: Wintec AMPX 1GB DDR2 SDRAM w/ Heat Spreader - $104.98 from Newegg
Optical: Lite-On DVD+RW drive - #34.99 from ZipZoomFly
MoBo: ASUS P5 B-VM Socket T Intel G965 mATX - $132.12 from Newegg
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13 GHz - $219.50 from ZipZoomFly
PSU: Coolmax SLI CXI-600B ATX 600W - $88.01 after rebate from Newegg
Mouse: Logitech G5 laser gaming mouse - $45.99 from Newegg
Monitor: Acer AL1916WAbd 19" widescreen - $196.97 from Newegg

for the OS, I was going to try Vista as suggested by VooDoo, but the pages to register wont load properly. A big gray box blocks the left side of the page. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Uber
Well, here we go.
Final Version, ready to order.
My grandfather will give me $600 for my P4, and my grandmother will help me out a bit, so my budget has grown.

All prices are shipped

Case: Ultra Microfly Black - $49.99 after rebate from ZipZoomFly
HDD:Western Digital Caviar 250GB 7200RPM - $73.50 from ZipZoomFly
RAM: Wintec AMPX 1GB DDR2 SDRAM w/ Heat Spreader - $104.98 from Newegg
Optical: Lite-On DVD+RW drive - #34.99 from ZipZoomFly
MoBo: ASUS P5 B-VM Socket T Intel G965 mATX - $132.12 from Newegg
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13 GHz - $219.50 from ZipZoomFly
PSU: Coolmax SLI CXI-600B ATX 600W - $88.01 after rebate from Newegg
Mouse: Logitech G5 laser gaming mouse - $45.99 from Newegg
Monitor: Acer AL1916WAbd 19" widescreen - $196.97 from Newegg

for the OS, I was going to try Vista as suggested by VooDoo, but the pages to register wont load properly. A big gray box blocks the left side of the page. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

Go with 2 sticks of RAM instead of just one. You'll get better performance with it in Dual-channel mode and you'll still have 2 slots open for upgrading later if you want.

 

[VooDooAddict]

Originally posted by: Brainonska511

Originally posted by: Uber
Well, here we go.
Final Version, ready to order.
My grandfather will give me $600 for my P4, and my grandmother will help me out a bit, so my budget has grown.

All prices are shipped

Case: Ultra Microfly Black - $49.99 after rebate from ZipZoomFly
HDD:Western Digital Caviar 250GB 7200RPM - $73.50 from ZipZoomFly
RAM: Wintec AMPX 1GB DDR2 SDRAM w/ Heat Spreader - $104.98 from Newegg
Optical: Lite-On DVD+RW drive - #34.99 from ZipZoomFly
MoBo: ASUS P5 B-VM Socket T Intel G965 mATX - $132.12 from Newegg
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13 GHz - $219.50 from ZipZoomFly
PSU: Coolmax SLI CXI-600B ATX 600W - $88.01 after rebate from Newegg
Mouse: Logitech G5 laser gaming mouse - $45.99 from Newegg
Monitor: Acer AL1916WAbd 19" widescreen - $196.97 from Newegg

for the OS, I was going to try Vista as suggested by VooDoo, but the pages to register wont load properly. A big gray box blocks the left side of the page. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

Go with 2 sticks of RAM instead of just one. You'll get better performance with it in Dual-channel mode and you'll still have 2 slots open for upgrading later if you want.

Agreed you are going with a nice G965 board make use of the dual channel ... especially since you are aparently using onboards video.

You probalby need to hit the pages with IE ... not firefox. Mircosoft and all.

Still not going with a video card? I thought gaming was the target.

X1300 XT 256M $67 after rebate + Shipping ... this card is equivilant to a X1600 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102048

 

[imported_Uber]

I got the Vista thing figured out and ordered. The IE conspiracy occured to me yesterday.
And I'm not worried about Onboard limiting me too much. As soon as I can afford a GOOD video card,I'll get one, but I'll bet onboard will run EQ2 and such.
Is going dual channel really that huge a difference? You seem to push me towards it all the time. I'll go look at prices.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Uber
I got the Vista thing figured out and ordered. The IE conspiracy occured to me yesterday.
And I'm not worried about Onboard limiting me too much. As soon as I can afford a GOOD video card,I'll get one, but I'll bet onboard will run EQ2 and such.
Is going dual channel really that huge a difference? You seem to push me towards it all the time. I'll go look at prices.

It's usually about a 10-15% performance increase by going with dual-channel.

 

[imported_OrSin]

Dual channel is not that big a deal for you right now.
But make sure you get your second stick when you get a decent video card.
You second stick should be the exact same as your first so save the ordering information.
And it's bull crap that you need to order them together. I have order ram kits and the memory was dated 12 weeks apart and I have had no problems with them even OC.

Dual channel will increase your cpu speed by 5-10% but your cpu will never be the bottom neck. Even with a good video card your CPU might not even slow you down.

Vista is nice and I have used it on old Geforce 2 setups with onboard video and it works fine.

 

[imported_Uber]

Well, I ordered the whole thing last night.

ZipZoomFly was acting up on me, so I ended up buying everything from Newegg.
Total cost: a not bad, but not too good $995.61

for

QPACK
600W PSU
C2D E6400
1GB RAM
Logitech Optical Gaming Mouse
ASUS mobo w/ onboard video and sound
19" widescreen LCD monitor
Lite-On DVD burner
250GB HDD

I feel like I'm forgetting something...

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Uber
Well, I ordered the whole thing last night.

ZipZoomFly was acting up on me, so I ended up buying everything from Newegg.
Total cost: a not bad, but not too good $995.61

for

QPACK
600W PSU
C2D E6400
1GB RAM
Logitech Optical Gaming Mouse
ASUS mobo w/ onboard video and sound
19" widescreen LCD monitor
Lite-On DVD burner
250GB HDD

I feel like I'm forgetting something...

Do you have the appropriate cables for hooking up the optical and hdd to the mobo?

If you're using a QPack, I recommend using a 2 connector (1 for mobo, 1 for optical drive) round IDE cable at about 12" long. SATA cable would be good at about 18" so that you have some extra cable length to do some cable management.

 

[imported_Uber]

the cables dont come with the drive and/or mobo?
oh ****

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Uber
the cables dont come with the drive and/or mobo?
oh ****

Sometimes. I think the Asus motherboard might have a SATA cable and an IDE cable (check the pictures of it on Newegg.com). You'll be fine. Just so you know for future reference, OEM drives don't come with any cables.

 

[imported_Uber]

Well, if the stuff I ordered doesnt have the cables I need, I guess I'll just go to a computer store and ask them to help me find what I need.

 

[VooDooAddict]

You should be ok with the stock cables that come with the motherboard.

Nice setup. Though I hope you can toss a true video card in that thing soon. You'll notice a world of differance with a nice video card. (Though for some the 6100/6150 onboard video is a big step up.)

 

[imported_Uber]

Yeah, it shouldn't be too long before I can stick a good GeForce and and another stick of RAM in there. Until then, I think it'll run everything I need it to.
My current computer has an ATI Radeon X300, which isn't that much better than what I expect out of a newer onboard.