[PuppetSin]

Greetings everyone I'm quite new here so hey to all and I hope you guys can help!

I've decided to build a new computer after 4 years of using my current computer (I sadly have the full specs remembered since it was my very first computer I was excited lol)
My Current Computer of 4 years
Asus K8V Se Deluxe Socket 754
AMD Athlon 3400+
2gb Ram (Kingston HyperX PC3200 512x2, Patriot 1gb PC3200)
nVidia Geforce 7800 GS AGP 8x 128mb
80gb IDE Maxtor, 200gb IDE Maxtor, 320gb IDE Maxtor
A Raidmax Mid-Tower Case
450 Watt Coolermaster PSU

When I stated that a computer build I want to do is extremely flexible, it means that I'll be buying a piece of the computer every 3-4 weeks and so far I have started at ground zero with just a Full Tower Case.

The case I currently have already is a CoolerMaster HAF 932 Full Tower

Please not that I am completely out of the loop of today's top hardware and now see so many choices and selections that it would be easier for me to ask you guys for opinions which would help me research into helping me make the best computer for my needs.

The current item's I will not be needing is:
-Speakers (Using Home Theater System)
-Monitor (Using a 46" TV + 17" Flat Panel)
-Keyboard + Mouse
-Computer Case (Above)

Now I don't have deep pockets to drop around $300+ on any single component but as of the moment my preferences would be an AMD (Advised from a friend that AMD has a better performance value for their price compared to Intel) Either a single or dual video card setup (Would a single powerful video card work fine?) And maybe something around 4gb of Ram, 80gb HDD just for the OS and around 4 Additional HDD's for downloads and etc with about 1TB each, and non Water Cooling. A modular PSU would be nice.

I don't want to bother with using my old harddrives on the newer computer since I am planning to sell the whole thing to a family member.

As for performance wise, I would like it to play games like Modern Warfare 2 smoothly or even be ready for StarCraft 2 craziness. Thanks I hope you guys can suggest the most ideal components to get!

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Probably the easist way to get up to speed is to read up on other gaming computers.

http://gaming-pc-rev...tenreviews.com/

Or you could take a gaming computer company and build one to your price, then find the components and build it yourself.

http://www.vigorgami..._stealthae.html

remember that the price controls the speed you want. Main things i try for in a gaming computer is: fastest processor i can afford( i like Intel quad cores or Extreme dual cores), as much memory as you can get, and the fastest video card you and get. The rest is just common components unless you like overclocking for more speed.

SRX660

[SRX660]

Probably the easist way to get up to speed is to read up on other gaming computers.

http://gaming-pc-rev...tenreviews.com/

Or you could take a gaming computer company and build one to your price, then find the components and build it yourself.

http://www.vigorgami..._stealthae.html

remember that the price controls the speed you want. Main things i try for in a gaming computer is: fastest processor i can afford( i like Intel quad cores or Extreme dual cores), as much memory as you can get, and the fastest video card you and get. The rest is just common components unless you like overclocking for more speed.

SRX660

[PuppetSin]

Thanks! That has completely slipped my mind to look up today's gaming computers haha that's a great idea.

I heard from word of mouth that AMD is of better value than compared to Intel, is this true?

I'm planning to get a 160gb HDD mainly just for the OS and 4 other 1TB+ Hdd's as the extra storage for downloads. I've been seeing 80gb and 160gb cost pretty much the same thing and even some for 10$ more I could grab a 320gb which I would probably do
-Seagate 320 GB SATA

Also I've been hearing Western Digital is a better company I should go to for Harddrives but I've heard the same for Seagate as well as the bad's for both so I am unsure of which one to really go for

[SRX660]

I find the AMD and Intel computer about on even keel with each other unless you are paying the big dollars for the extreme machines that hat top of the line everything. The average gaming computer built with a AMD processor usually costs $100-$200 less than a intel computer. As for performance the intel is just slightly faster than the AMD. In gaming it's really the speed of the person working the computer rather than the computer itself that tells the tale.

I usually use the smallest HD i can for the operating system. Usually this is a 320g or slightly bigger drive. I then procede to partitioning the drive with a 100 gig "C" partition and the rest as a "D" data partition. Most of the time i will also install a second HD for data and movies, music, etc. I do it this way simply because if i need to reinstall the OS i do not have to worry about losing any data. Most of the time i put data that i have backed up on the "D" drive( movies and such that i still like watching), that way even if the drive dies my important data is still there on the "E" second HD. I usually install a single DVD_RW drive in my computers for burning music and data backups. Of course i build myself a new computer every year so i really don't plan on keeping it long anyway.

Personally, i am partial to WD drives simply because i have had only 1 failure in a couple of hundred drives. It may be that Seagate are good drives now, but years ago i had quite a few fail and that was costly to me since i was building and selling computers at the time. Even WD had a bad rep for drives at one time but they had improved them enough when i started installing them that i had no problems with them.
Nowadays i think they both are good drives. There will always be a few failures in any drives made and i've replaced every drive made at some time( including WD's). I usually get around a dozen drive replacements every year.

SRX660

[PuppetSin]

Thanks for alot of very helpful information!

I will probably purchase a AMD Phenom II x4, I was thinking about picking up the AMD Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition but I see that the 975 is going to come out really soon so I will probably go for that.

Hmm since Seagate and Western Digital are good now, I will probably buy whichever 320gb I can find from either of them for the cheapest.

I see there are now Lightscribe DVD Drive burners for about 40$ or less I might pick one of those up plus a Blu Ray Drive since the prices on them have dropped substantially but is it still good to buy a Blu Ray drive right now? Or will another price drop occur?

I've also ran into a bit of luck since a friend of mines has a roommate who used to build computers for people but doesn't anymore recently so he has a bunch of extra new motherboards that are still in the market so I would probably check those out to see if there's any that would fit my AMD criteria and vice-versa.

[PuppetSin]

Ok I went ahead and purchased a AMD Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition CPU; The roommate of my friend only carried Intel motherboards So my next purchase will probably be a ASUS Crosshair III Formula 790X Motherboard. Which leaves me open to either look for a ATI or a nVidia Video Card... Hmm