I've never built a PC before. In fact, the most serious building I've done is adding RAM/switching out optical drives. I planned on making extensive use of google for information on how to load BIOS/drivers and using a USB drive to transfer whatever I find from my old PC to the built one. The most graphics-intensive game I'd be using this for would be Oblivion, and my budget is ~$500. My current system is an emachines pile of garbage that I upgraded with bigger RAM and a new PSU. Case: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811208009 XION Solaris XON-403 (80mm Rear fan, 80mm Side fan) $40, free shipping Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813138102 BIOSTAR TA770 (can take a Phenom chip and has a PCI express 2.0 slot for future upgrade to an 8800GT or better vid card) $82, $7 shipping Graphics: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814127304 MSI GeForce 8500GT, 512 MB, 128-Bit $70, free shipping Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817103941 Antec 550W, Modular (Should be plenty of power for this machine, right?) $100, Free shipping Processor: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103774 AMD Athlon 4000+ Brisbane Dual-Core 2.1 GHz $60, Free shipping RAM: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820134583 Kingston HyperX 2x 1GB DDR2 800 $55, free shipping Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148262 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10, SATA 3.0, 250GB (I've only used 40GB of my old HD, so 250 seems like an incredible amount for what I'll use) $70, free shipping Extra Case fan: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835150070 120mm to put in those extra hard drive bays in the front of the case, will blow toward the back of the case, I guess? $5, $5 shipping OS: Just XP Home DVD Drive: One of the writers I have sitting aound the house. Maybe the LG GSA-H42L. Maybe the old Plextor PX-716A. I don't intend to use the new machine for writing. The old one still works fine for that. Total price: $494 + whatever I can get a copy of XP on ebay for. The one thing that's bothering me is that 8-pin CPU power plug on the motherboard. None of my old computers had an 8-pin, and I can't seem to find a power supply on Newegg with that, either. I'm hoping the modular PSU I picked out has something for it. So...These pieces will fit together and work, right? Like I said, I'm a n00b at this, but I think I was able to figure it all out with common sense, and I have to learn how to build a system sometime, because premade machines don't have everything I want. I figure jumping in head-first will be the best way to learn.
Please ignore my concern about the 8-pin CPU power plug. I'm an idiot and 2 minutes of google taught me all about it.
Xion case:Sure, why not. It won't exactly be the best built case you've ever seen, but it'll suffice. Biostar motherboard: no, especially not for tha cost. Insead of going with a slow AM2 chip, get these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116036 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059 You will not be disappointed. PSU: fine, but a little pricey. These are better built units, and will still provide ample power for your system: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003 RAM: Fine, but you can do better: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034 HDD: Fine Case fan: If it fits in the case, do it. Can't go wrong with extra cooling, just be advised that adds noise.
