Building a PC for the First Time - Help

[Mak333]

Alright PC Geniuses, I am going to attempt to build a PC for the first time ever, and I think I need a little help.  I'm looking at my options here and I believe I only need 5 components.

Here is what I will be looking at:
New Power Supply
New Mother Board
New CPU
New Graphics Card
New Memory (RAM)

I will keep:
ATX Case
SB Live! Sound Card (very old I know, but it would still work right?)
Network Card (NIC - But might upgrade to wireless NIC)
CDRW Drive
DVD Drive
80GB Hard Drive
And peripherals...
I have no extra fans or heat sinks in my case at all.  All the fans are attached to some sort of component as of now.

I got this PC around 4 years ago and am running this setup:
Intel P4 2.8ghz
Radeon 9600XT (128mb Vid Card)
1GB of pc3200 RAM
80GB Hard Drive


I was wondering if the next list would be appropriate (and also compatible with each other) for a new system.  Also meaning would I see a difference as far as gaming goes and will I get a good bang for my buck.

My limit is around 1 grand and here is the list:

AMD Athlon 64 6500 AM2 Socket                                     - 223.99
ASUS CROSSHAIR Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590           - 239.00
NVidia GeForce 7950GT 512MB                                                   - 259.99
Patriot eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) RAM pc6400 - 173.99
Thermaltake W0106RU 700W Power Supply - 169.99


I hope these are all compatible with the motherboard and such.  I will mainly be using this PC to game.  Anything else done on it will be simple and easy tasks.  I am all about frame rates and refuse to lack them.  

So my last questions here:  Would this be a nice setup that would last 4-5 years down the road?  Would it be a great gaming system that could run games like... Armed Assault, BF2142, Aces High 2, Call of Duty 2 etc, all at high resolution and graphic settings?  I won't need to reinstall Windows at all if I use the same Hard Drive will I?

[wooley]

Hi Mac,

First up, welcome to the world of PC Building. Be warned - it gets addictive

Your specs look pretty reasonable, and the components should be compatible but I've a couple of observations:

1. Currently, Intel tend to have the edge over AMD on processor performance. I'd look at a Core 2 Duo rather than the Athlon 64 - I presume you meant 5600 rather than 6500. For your price, you could just about get a Core 2 Duo 6600 which is an excellent processor.

2. The motherboard you selected has built in ethernet, so you wont need the NIC.

3. Your hard disk is almost certainly using the older Parallel ATA standard. This will get you going, but you'll want to upgrade to newer Serial ATA drives - possibly running in RAID - sometime in the future.

4. The graphics card you've selected is a good card, but it's one generation behind the latest and greatest. Of everything you've selected, this is the one component that may not last 4 to 5 years. To be honest though, even the latest and greatest will be badly out of date in 5 years so I wouldn't worry about it.

5. Cooling may be a problem - your graphics card and processor will be kicking  out a fair bit of heat - especially during gaming. Without at least an exhaust fan on your case, its going to get pretty toasty in there and that can cause system instability and even failures. Check your case. It may well have holes for mounting 80, 92 or 120mm fans. If it does, get some. Your motherboard has headers for powering them.

6. Windows may very well not just start. Even if it does, if it came with your last PC, it will most likely be an OEM copy and only licensed to run on your original PC. If it does start, it may decide you need to activate again and might balk because of the new hardware. That said, I have heard of recent successful re-activations with only the hard-disks carried over from the old machine.  Whatever else you do, back up anything important on the disk before you start your new build.

Best of luck with it all - its really pretty straight forward. Let us kinow how you get on.

[Mak333]

Thank you very much for taking the time to review my endeavors wooly.

At the time (4 years ago) AMD was ahead of Intel in the gaming world.  I found similar systems to mine with an AMD comparable processor to an Intel and noticed that the AMD pumps more power than Intel.  As you said, Intel has a better bang for the buck now, so I'll just go with the Intel Motherboard instead.  Glad to hear it also has onboard Ethernet so I won't have to use up a PCI slot.  

As for the graphics card, would you recommend one working with Intel for me please?  Of course I want the most out of my system and certain components just click better with others right? =)

I might need to purchase a new case for ventilation purposes.  Is it possible to go lighter cash wise on the Motherboard and Power Supply to compensate for a better video card?

Again, thank you very much for your time and a quick reply.

[Krusty]

The 7950 is the best "reliable" NVidia card right now. The 8000 series is much stronger, sure, but it's also the first of its kind, and drivers continue to float in the flux of craptacularity.

Even with its raw power, and even if I had they money, I would not buy a Ge8800 any time within the next year. By the time they get things figured out, the 9000 series will probably be out, and they'll take all the lessons they learned on the 8000s and put them to good use.

So, the Ge7950 is a great card, IMO.

EDIT: Don't go too light on the PSU. A steady, solid, PSU, is more valuable than a fast-end vid card, if the vid-card isn't getting steady voltage it will shut down or throttle back, gimping your performance.

[Krusty]

Oh, and IMO if you want to save money look for a less expensive motherboard. There are many good ones in the $60-90 range, and a lot of damn fine ones in the $100-150 range. I can't imagine spending $230 on a motherboard!

But... that's just me.

[Mak333]

Thanks Krusty.

[republic]

Originally posted by Krusty
Oh, and IMO if you want to save money look for a less expensive motherboard. There are many good ones in the $60-90 range, and a lot of damn fine ones in the $100-150 range. I can't imagine spending $230 on a motherboard!

But... that's just me.

I agree, many times the less sophisticated boards can be more reliable than those with everything + the kitchen sink embedded.  

If your going previous gen, I'd probably just get a 7900gs until the next revision of the 8800 series is released.  Sure the 7950 is better but...it's near the 'little extra bang for the extra buck' price.  I'm all for getting the most out of my money.

Intel is a smart choice.  I'm an AMD man, but brand loyalty aside...Intel is indefinitely a better choice for the moment.

[Krusty]

Originally posted by republic
If your going previous gen, I'd probably just get a 7900gs until the next revision of the 8800 series is released.  Sure the 7950 is better but...it's near the 'little extra bang for the extra buck' price.

Very good point