[enwar3]

alright so im building a new system, its my first one so id appreciate any comments and feedback... and i know ill prolly get flamed for an intel processor but if u got a better or comparable athlon plz tell me... like i said im newb so go ahead and tear it apart

Processor: Pentium 4 630 Prescott EM64T (possibly an athlon?)
Mobo: Intel 915GUX 915G
Ram: CORSAIR ValueSelect 1gb DDR2 533 (go XMS maybe but it costs more)
HD: Seagate Barracuda 250gb SATA150 (should i split it into 2 drives in RAID?)
Sound: Creative Soundblaster Audigy2 ZS
Video: Leadtek Geforce 6600GT (i dunno if 128mb is enough, maybe a 6800?)
Drives: HP Lightscribe DVDRW and Sony DVDROM
OS: Undecided (XP Pro or x64 u tell me...)
Speakers: Altec Lansing VS3151
Keyboard: MS Wireless Optical Desktop 3.0 (i heard it lags so does anyone know of a better keyboard?)

So theres what im looking at so far, most of its from newegg... what really stumped me was picking a keyboard out cuz i dont want one i cant game on... so plz gimme some advice?

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hi enwar, wlecome to geeks to go!
dont worry, many of us here use intel. its the amd folks that are super vocal about it. they will be happy to tell you why amd is better, etc. look at whatever they have to say and decide for yourself.

ok, your system looks pretty good, though I havent really researched the 64 bit intel chips yet, so I cant say for sure.
I have seen several posts about compatibility problems with windows 64, as not many have written drivers or programs to utilize it yet. that will change with time, of course!

I wouldnt recommend going raid with your drives unless you need serious speed (striped, raid 0), or data backup (mirrored, raid 1). gamers like the stripe for speed, folks doing any heavy audio/video work like the speed. otherwise, its risky, since if 1 drive crashes, all data is lost.
personally I use 1 drive for the OS and applications, and store all my data and stuff on the other drive.

dont forget a floppy drive to install the sata drivers. wont need it always, just for the install, so if you can borrow one from a friend, great.

you said you dont want to do much gaming, so the 6600GT card should be plenty! thats the card I suggest to folks looking for a budget gaming card in the upper middle range. if you want to dump more money into a card now you can, it will hold up longer performance wise, or save it for something farther down the road.

if your worried about lag or interference issues with a wireless KB/mouse setup, go wired, its cheap and foolproof.

hope that helps!

[audioboy]

hi enwar, wlecome to geeks to go!
dont worry, many of us here use intel. its the amd folks that are super vocal about it. they will be happy to tell you why amd is better, etc. look at whatever they have to say and decide for yourself.

ok, your system looks pretty good, though I havent really researched the 64 bit intel chips yet, so I cant say for sure.
I have seen several posts about compatibility problems with windows 64, as not many have written drivers or programs to utilize it yet. that will change with time, of course!

I wouldnt recommend going raid with your drives unless you need serious speed (striped, raid 0), or data backup (mirrored, raid 1). gamers like the stripe for speed, folks doing any heavy audio/video work like the speed. otherwise, its risky, since if 1 drive crashes, all data is lost.
personally I use 1 drive for the OS and applications, and store all my data and stuff on the other drive.

dont forget a floppy drive to install the sata drivers. wont need it always, just for the install, so if you can borrow one from a friend, great.

you said you dont want to do much gaming, so the 6600GT card should be plenty! thats the card I suggest to folks looking for a budget gaming card in the upper middle range. if you want to dump more money into a card now you can, it will hold up longer performance wise, or save it for something farther down the road.

if your worried about lag or interference issues with a wireless KB/mouse setup, go wired, its cheap and foolproof.

hope that helps!