newbie first home build

[IDI8]

Hoping to start to build my first upgrade soon (on a budget), want to
use it for the latest games etc, currently have an XP1900, 215MB, ATI
Radeon 7000, 40GB HDD

I've priced up the following components so far:

Sapphire Radeon 128MB 9600XT DDR DVI-i TV-Out Retail Box
AMD Athlon XP2600 333mhz 512 L2 Cache Barton Retail Boxed
A7N8X Deluxe SKT A NForce2 Chipset Motherboard VER: 2.0
Crucial 512 DDR333 PC2700 DIMM

Not sure whether to spend more on the graphic card and memory. Can't
seem to find a descent case and PSU either.

Going to have to use current HDD, monitor, mouse and keyboard for abit

Any thoughts would be much appreciated

 

[jim evans]

Hoping to start to build my first upgrade soon (on a budget), want to
use it for the latest games etc, currently have an XP1900, 215MB, ATI
Radeon 7000, 40GB HDD

I've priced up the following components so far:

Sapphire Radeon 128MB 9600XT DDR DVI-i TV-Out Retail Box
AMD Athlon XP2600 333mhz 512 L2 Cache Barton Retail Boxed
A7N8X Deluxe SKT A NForce2 Chipset Motherboard VER: 2.0
Crucial 512 DDR333 PC2700 DIMM

Not sure whether to spend more on the graphic card and memory. Can't
seem to find a descent case and PSU either.

Going to have to use current HDD, monitor, mouse and keyboard for abit

Any thoughts would be much appreciated

I put together a similar system in December. Same MB with AMD 2500
processor. I'm not a gamer, so I went with a card that complemented
my applications. I don't know how much memory gamers need, but I have
two matching 512s to get the small extra speed from the dual-channel
memory.

I chose the Antec SX635BII case which comes with an good power supply.
It's a little pricey but it's a nice case. I really like the
spring-latching lift off door.

jim

 

[Dave C.]

Hoping to start to build my first upgrade soon (on a budget), want to
use it for the latest games etc, currently have an XP1900, 215MB, ATI
Radeon 7000, 40GB HDD

I've priced up the following components so far:

Sapphire Radeon 128MB 9600XT DDR DVI-i TV-Out Retail Box
AMD Athlon XP2600 333mhz 512 L2 Cache Barton Retail Boxed
A7N8X Deluxe SKT A NForce2 Chipset Motherboard VER: 2.0
Crucial 512 DDR333 PC2700 DIMM

Not sure whether to spend more on the graphic card and memory. Can't
seem to find a descent case and PSU either.

Going to have to use current HDD, monitor, mouse and keyboard for abit

Any thoughts would be much appreciated

I've seen too many reported problems with that particular motherboard, which
is odd as Asus is usually first-rate. I'd substitute an Abit NF7 or Biostar
M7NCD Pro instead. I believe all the features are identical. As the
chipset will run dual DDR, get (2 X 256MB) or (2 X 512MB) RAM boards.

For a nice case cheap, try a raidmax 208 or 208B (black) from newegg for
about twenty bucks. I built my wife's system with this one. It's pretty
nice, especially considering the price. If it comes with a power supply,
toss that. For a power supply, try a Fortron FSP350-60PN for about 40 bucks
from newegg. It is a good quality 350W, which should be more than enough
for what you will be building. -Dave