No hate wars here, I want a gaming PC. I still have macs in my house.

I need help this is what I have so far:

£41.11 Case that comes with a ATX 12V 450 watts power supply
£127.1 for a motherboard - A8R32-MVP Deluxe, SDRAM support, AMD Athlon processor support.
£42.83 for a Kingston ValueRAM - Memory - 256 MB (x2) = 1GB SDRAM
£152.36 - AMD Athlon 64 3700+ / 2.2 GHz processor
£39.81 for a Plextor PX-750A - Disk drive - DVD±RW (±R DL)
£56.99 for a Maxtor DiamondMax 10 - Hard drive - 250 GB - internal - 3.5"
£50.23 - XFX GeForce 7300GS Supporting 512MB DDR2 PCI-Express
£1.84 - Antec PRO 80mm

What else do I need because its going to be my first time building a PC.
Dont worry about monitors as I already one, aswell as keyboard, mouse and speakers.

Heres the links to the items above: in order.

CASE - http://www.xcase.co.uk/acatalog/X-Galaxy_.html
MOTHERBOARD - http://www.overclock.co.uk/product.php?productid=19214&cat=0&view=rel
512MB RAM - http://www.overclock.co.uk/product.php?productid=10530948&cat=695&view=rel - remember to double as I want 1GB RAM
PROCESSOR - http://www.overclock.co.uk/product.php?productid=11054540&cat=258&view=rel
DISK DRIVE - http://www.overclock.co.uk/product.php?productid=11147733&cat=261&view=rel
GRAPHICS CARD - http://www.overclock.co.uk/product.php?productid=19116&cat=571&view=rel
FAN - http://www.overclock.co.uk/product.php?productid=10874136&cat=406&view=rel

Last edited: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 at 12:55:02 PM

Im guessing you're going to need some sort of coolant system :S don't know much about the whole PC building side of things though

Hmm, I'll ask what Racer445 would recommend for cooling.

Looks nice, a couple suggestions:

1. I would get better RAM, at least PC3200 speed.
2. You might want to get a different CPU fan and heatsink, the stock one might not be that great.

Racer knows the most about building a PC, you should talk to him.

You need to check this first:
Ars System Guide: Gaming Box

Last edited: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 at 2:02:24 PM

Actually tht case has a built in fan, you might not need extra coolant :o

Exactly what I thought. If I do I can always add a small 60mm fan, if needed.

That Mobo does not support SDRAM, it needs DDR SDRAM, PC 3200.

Cheapest of that ram I could find was http://www.overclock.co.uk/product.php?productid=10830676&cat=446&view=rel

For cooling, DO NOT BUY water cooling! It is over priced, harder to install, and cools about the same as a few good fans. I see the case already comes with a fan on the side.

CPU fan : http://www.overclock.co.uk/product.php?productid=18365&cat=384&view=rel
Case fans : http://www.overclock.co.uk/product.php?productid=10874136&cat=406&view=rel If you think it is going to get really hot, buy two, it is worth it.
(optional) Slot exhaust fan : http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=39598&CatId=804 I have one in the slot directly under my video card. It pushes the hot air coming from the video card out the back of the case. Reduced my video card temp. By at least 10 degrees because there is no floating hot air around the video card.

BTW that is one hell of a system you have picked out. I am still fine with my overclocked Athlon XP 2600+ @2.2ghz, 1GB ram, Geforce 6600GT. :) Just wait until my latest case mod is done, then I will post full specs.

I sure do know how to treat myself and what to look for, now once its all purchased Ive gotta learn how to put it all together.

Thanks for the help everyone!

Last edited: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 at 10:38:03 PM

No problem. I am glad to help on these types of things.

There are a bunch of guides on the interweb on how to put it all together. Look one up and pick the latest, which should cover PCI-E x16 and SATA.

What OS do you plan on installing? You will need a 64-bit version for your CPU.

MS Losedows xP Pro 64-bit edition
Ubuntu Linux 5.10 64-bit ISO
There are obviously a lot more distros of Linux which support 64-bit.

Hmm, im not completely sure whether I will install linux, I think this will just be Windows XP for gaming and I'll use my mac to surf the web and everything else that If I did on a PC im likely to get a virus.

But if there are any Linux bistros that fully support windows games, mainly CS:S and HL2 I'd use that.

Only if you have insufficent virus/spyware protection.

Steam, HL2 and CS:S all are reported to work using Transgaming's Cedega, which is $5 a month, and has near full direct x support, so you can play many windows games in linux. You only need to subscribe for 1 month, then you can keep using that copy forever, but you will not get updates.

OR... You could dual boot.

Hmm, I think I'll stick with XP then and just have Norton at the ready at all times.

Yep. That'll work fine.

Looks like you got the bases covered.

I dont see anything that will give you USB and firewire. Id get both...also get a dvd dual layer burner

Dual boot lx and xp for flexibility and gaming.

B

O yes, Firewire 800 all the way and USB 2.0 on the front and back.

3x USB 2.0 and 2 Firewire - http://www.overclock.co.uk/product.php?productid=10844896&cat=551&view=spc

I already have an external USB hub so ive got more than enough USB ports.

Last edited: Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 11:29:24 PM

You will also need a hard drive... This should give you more than enough space.

He has a hard drive, there just isn't a link for it.

However, he should probably look into what you posted because 250 gig is overkill, IMO.

Last edited: Friday, May 19, 2006 at 2:41:14 PM

Yeah, and I've heard that the DiamondMax 10 series has some major problems.

250 gigs isnt overkill !

I have atleast 20Gigs of music and games nowadays are around 5 gigs each. Anyway the more space left over the more space for the cache which will also improve speed.

Heh... I have a nearly 2gb swap partition on my Linux drive. It certainly runs faster with that huge of a swap space.

Woah, thats pretty big. I'll use 3gigs just to show off :D

You forgot a hammer and nails... And remember to use lots of sticky back plastic. When using a hammer always get a parent to help you...

Didnt read through everybodys comments, but I would recommend getting a good heat sink and another fan to put ontop of it. Www.newegg.com is one of the best sites I've found for any kind of computer part.

skillz.

Where are you getting the money for all this? Correct me if im wrong but, are you not like only 12 years old...

Actually im 15, I have been saving for some time and am going to split this 50/50 with my dad. £350 each

I stand corrected...
but at that age, should you not be out spending all your money and time smoking cigarettes round the back of the bike sheds?

Water Cooling is Very Nice but @ a Price..
Has less noise, and cools more efficiently than fans,
-- also the're products on the market for water cooling video cards.
ram sticks. HD's,.. We..

Also then you can put a UV light In, and have a dye in the watercoolant, and have it glow.