Plan on building a gaming PC eventually.

[Yerfdog]

I was looking up a tutorial on how to build a PC and it says that you need to put in an I/O shield plate. Does it come with the motherboard or chassis or something else?

It also says to apply thermal compound paste, do I need to do this? Or is this just if the processor doesn't come with a heatsink? Also, the processor says it comes with a fan, does this mean I don't need that fan that I put a link to?

 

[Slaymate]

The I/O shield comes with the motherboard.

A new cpu usually comes with a heatsink and thermal paste is usually pre-applied. If your not planning on overclocking then the stock heatsink will work just fine. It never hurts to have some thermal paste for servicing and maintaining your PC in the future, it's pretty cheap.

 

[Yerfdog]

I found another computer case/chassis. It's slightly cheaper. Tell me if it's good.

Also, with that, there's a bunch of fans with it, would I still need to buy another fan for it?

 

[Yerfdog]

Okay, I found a really powerful processor, but it's AMD, so the motherboard can't use it. I guess I'll just have to find a new motherboard. Anybody know of any that they suggest for AMD? Powerful processor

This is the only motherboard that I can find that fits my needs, is it any good?

 

[Trotter]

I would pass on that board. Take a look at this one:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-880GA-UD3H AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

If you can afford the extra cash, this one would be even better:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

For RAM I would go with this:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7Q-8GBRM

Get a decent cooler for the CPU, too:
Newegg.com - Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2

For Microsoft Office, check out their offer for students. $79.95 as long as you have a valid email address:

You must have a valid e-mail address at an educational institution ending with the domain suffix .EDU (i.e., leina@contoso.edu) OR have a valid email address at one of the educational institutions listed here.

AND

You must be a student at a U.S. educational institution and must be actively enrolled in at least 0.5 course credit and be able to provide proof of enrollment upon request.

Microsoft Office Professional Academic 2010

And don't forget your operating system:
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

 

[Yerfdog]

I would pass on that board. Take a look at this one:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-880GA-UD3H AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

If you can afford the extra cash, this one would be even better:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

For RAM I would go with this:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7Q-8GBRM

Get a decent cooler for the CPU, too:
Newegg.com - Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2

For Microsoft Office, check out their offer for students. $79.95 as long as you have a valid email address:

Microsoft Office Professional Academic 2010

And don't forget your operating system:
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

If I use Home Premium 32-bit, all that RAM is too much.
If I use 64-bit it will work.

The processor also comes with a heatsink and a fan. I'm fairly certain that the fan that comes with it will be powerful enough if I don't overclock it.

Also, the RAM sticks that you suggested are not compatible with the motherboard you suggested. The RAM sticks were 1600, and the motherboard was 1866,1333, and 1066.

I guess I'll go with this motherboard and these RAM sticks.

Is this the 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium?

 

[Muffin Man]

this one
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

and the ram and mobo that Trotter suggested are compatible, you just have to adjust the speed and timings in the bios.

if you're gonna get 8gigs though, just get 2 4gig kits.
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM
you'll save $30.

 

[Trotter]

I clicked the wrong one, mate. I meant to link to the 64-bit. There's no good reason to use 32-bit anymore.

 

[Yerfdog]

this one
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

and the ram and mobo that Trotter suggested are compatible, you just have to adjust the speed and timings in the bios.

if you're gonna get 8gigs though, just get 2 4gig kits.
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM
you'll save $30.

What about these?

Also, if I were to need more RAM eventually, would I be able to remove the RAM sticks and put in 4GB sticks? Or if I thought I would need more RAM later on, would I need to just get the 4GB sticks in the first place?

It's okay, Trotter, I won't hold it against you.

 

[Slaymate]

What about these?

Also, if I were to need more RAM eventually, would I be able to remove the RAM sticks and put in 4GB sticks? Or if I thought I would need more RAM later on, would I need to just get the 4GB sticks in the first place?

It's okay, Trotter, I won't hold it against you.

No, don't get that ram. If you only want 4GB then you should get the ram Muffin linked to. If you just want a good deal then get this memory, the latencies are slightly slower than Muffin's but a 4GB (2x2GB) kit is only $88.99 after the rebate. And they're faster than the memory you picked all the way around.
Newegg.com - OCZ Gold 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G16004GK

You can always buy another identical set later for 8GB. It's not the optimum choice but it will work and it's cheaper.