[prab]

Hi, I am familiar with computers, but have never build one ground up. Will all these hardware components work together? Is there anything I should change/replace to get more speed for the money. I do a little gaming, but mostly web browsing and IM. I also sometimes run virtual machines, so that why I chose 2 gigs of RAM. The duel hard drives are to setup raid 0 or 1. I can't decide which is more important, speed or data safety, but can figure that out when I get it. I wanted to keep the price as close to $1000 as I could.

This should make it easy to find something if you need a reference. https://secure.neweg...ishListTitle=1k

APEVIA X-CRUISER-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
ENERMAX Liberty ELT400AWT ATX12V 400W Power Supply
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive ( * 2)
SONY Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1615/B2s
LG 20X DVD±R Super Multi DVD Burner Black ATAPI / E-IDE Model GSA-H55NK
Hanns·G JW-199DPB Black 19" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor
EVGA 256-P2-N412-LX GeForce 7100GS 512MB(256MB bn Board) GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card
Hauppauge WINTV-PVR-150 PCI Interface Tuner Card (OPTIONAL)


I already have a copy of windows vista to put on it and I have lots of random mouses, so I don't need another.

Thanks for your advice.

PRab

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Could you give a link to each component, it'll make it easier for me to go through and know for sure I'm looking at the exact same components as you.

Don't raid 0, there are no advantages past synthetic benchmarking, data security is the better route.

First recommendation, I recommend getting no less then a quality 550W-600W PSU.

Unless you plan on overclocking you could get 667mhz ram and save a couple $$$ without a performance hit.

James

Edited by james_8970, 12 June 2007 - 12:31 PM.

[james_8970]

Could you give a link to each component, it'll make it easier for me to go through and know for sure I'm looking at the exact same components as you.

Don't raid 0, there are no advantages past synthetic benchmarking, data security is the better route.

First recommendation, I recommend getting no less then a quality 550W-600W PSU.

Unless you plan on overclocking you could get 667mhz ram and save a couple $$$ without a performance hit.

James

Edited by james_8970, 12 June 2007 - 12:31 PM.

[kidnova]

I know you said you only do a little gaming, but I would suggest upping the video card to something like this:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130270

or this:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125059

If you can afford it then I would definitely recommend the Gigabyte X1550 because 1) it's passively cooled which means no fan noise, and 2) it has higher clock speeds and a 128 bit memory interface as opposed to 64 for the 7300GS. This card will give you a smoother Vista Aero experience and also allow you to play a few games, even if you have to play them on low quality settings.

[prab]

Case - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811144151
Mother Board - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813130081
Video Card - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130070
TV Tuner - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16815116625
Power Supply - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817194002 (See below for alternative)
Processor - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115003
Memory - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231098
Hard Drive - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822144415
Monitor - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16824254001
DVD - ROM - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827101131
DVD - RW - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827136117

According to the motherboard spec sheet - Memory Standard ---- DDR2 800. Will it still work with 667 as recommended by you? Is 800 just the maximum speed?

XION Supernova XON-600F14R-201 ATX 600W Certified Power Supply - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817190012
Would this be a better Power Supply for this setup? How do you know how much power you need?

[james_8970]

That was the next thing I was going to mention, I highly recommend this motherboard with the P35 chipset as it'll give you a great upgradability route for future processors.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813128048

You'll be drawing around 380, but its cutting it to close. Also a better PSU will give you the flexibility of upgrading down the road.
Going to have to echo what kidnova said, your going to need a better video card. I personally think that the 7600GT is the best for the budget end and will keep you going for a while if you can spend a extra few dollars. Also as he said it will have a much smoother experience with the areo feature enabled.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130062

James

Edited by james_8970, 12 June 2007 - 03:48 PM.

[prab]

Thank you very much for all your help. It may still be a month or so until I actually buy/make it, but your advice has really helped.

[james_8970]

If thats the case then you might want to look at the new upcoming ATI cards(budget end to lower mid range cards), but ask me when they come out if they are good or not and I'll let yeah know.
James

Edited by james_8970, 12 June 2007 - 08:01 PM.