[swild]

Heya- I'm building my first system from scratch, and my parts list could use a once-over before I buy. The system isn't for gaming and doesn't need to be real high performing, but I'd also like to make it as fast as possible in the low 400's.

I went AMD, as thats whats in my current comp and I haven't had any problems. But, if you think Intel is better, I'd like to know why. Here we go-



Pioneer 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DVR-115DBK

$29.99


Rosewill R363-M-BK Micro ATX Black Ultra High Gloss Finished Computer Case with 400W ATX 2.2 12V Power Supply

$59.99


Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

$47.99


Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

$5.99


G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ

$44.99


ECS Geforce6100PM-M2 AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard



AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Brisbane 2.3GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADO4400DDBOX - Retail

Mobo and processor combo- $104.98
Total $301.92
2 yr warranties and ship- $415.73

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Hmmm... correct me if I'm wrong... but there's no graphics card listed on here! I guess, you could use the onboard 6100... was that what you were planning on doing or was that just an oversight?

[The Admiral]

Hmmm... correct me if I'm wrong... but there's no graphics card listed on here! I guess, you could use the onboard 6100... was that what you were planning on doing or was that just an oversight?

[swild]

Yep- Just trying to keep the cost down, the most this system will see is light photo tweaking. If its not enough I can always throw in a discrete card... but other than that, hows it look?

[Troy]

Hi there, and welcome to Geeks to Go!

I would make some slight changes:

For an extra dollar, I would get this DVD Burner - it uses the SATA interface, which is a lot easier to install and has smaller cables, better for in-case airflow.

Also, I have had problems with ECS motherboards before - avoid them if you can. For only a few dollars extra, this Abit should fit the bill. Abit is a much better manufacturer, in my opinion. It's cheap and has limited upgradeability - but it should be fine for this budget build.

Finally, I can not stress this point enough - do not use PSU's that come with a case. They are often the "cheapest of the cheap", and having a poor PSU could very well fail, possibly also taking out other components with it. That being said, this choice is an exception - it has an Antec Earthwatts PSU, which are a good budget choice. It also has a high efficiency rating.

Other than that, the system looks good!

Cheers

Troy

[swild]

Thanks a lot for your quick responses! The input was great and it should be a solid system. Hopefully I won't ned help once the parts arrive.