First Time computer build

[neosteve]

These are companies you can trust to buy ram from. There are other but i recommend these.

crucial
kingston
corsair
ocz
geil
kingmax
pqi
mushikin

ThatÂ’s my list of ram companies you can trust and will give you great products and performance.

Ok for the memory.
The higher the PC (number) the faster it is so say you have PC3200 and PC4200 the PC4200 is faster.
Also the PC and DDR correspond
Like this
PC3200 = DDR400
PC3500 = DDR433
PC4000 = DDR500
PC4200 = DDR533
And so on.

Hugo82
DDR2-533 (PC2-4200)
DDR2-400 (PC2-3200)

ThatÂ’s DDR2 not normal DDR. Also if he gets a AMD system they donÂ’t support DDR2 only DDR.

As for your graphics card problem i would suggest a 9600XT. It will fit nicely into your budget and will be able to handle HL2 on normal settings.

Steve

 

[StrifeX]

cool thanks for the help. If any one has any other bits of advice i will take anything!

 

[gaara]

You're going to be very hard pressed to build a decent gaming computer from scratch on a $500 budget, I'll run through some price tags for you though to give you an idea. These are probably the minimum prices you can get away with for playing games like half life 2, and they pretty much go up.

CPU - $200
Motherboard - $100
Memory - $70
Video Card - $150
Hard Drive - $50

That's $just under $500 for all the parts that you probably absolutely need, although that doesn't include PSU, case, optical drives etc.

 

[millerhighlife_]

Give me a few minutes and i'll try and get a decent one built for around $500.

 

[4W4K3]

You can get

DDR2-533 (PC2-4200)
DDR2-400 (PC2-3200)

memory which is better than PC3200

Maybe on an higher powered gaming computer DDR2 is better, but with a budget of $500 i don't think he will have a mobo that takes anything faster than regular DDR.

I would still prefer regular DDR over DDR2 on a highend machine though...just my prefrence.

You're going to be very hard pressed to build a decent gaming computer from scratch on a $500 budget, I'll run through some price tags for you though to give you an idea. These are probably the minimum prices you can get away with for playing games like half life 2, and they pretty much go up.

Why $200 on a CPU? Why $100 for mobo? An overclocked XP-M and NF2 board together can be had for under $200 easily. And they will run HL2, Doom3 just fine. That gives him alot extra for a vid card or better RAM.

 

[millerhighlife_]

CPU, Mobo, Video Card, RAM, HDD, DVD/CD-RW, and a case. Not sure about their Oc'ing potential but it's a ok rig for the money.

AMD Sempron 2500+ 1.750GHz, Socket A Processor - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-104-211&depa=1 $74

CHAINTECH "SKT600" KT600 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-152-040&depa=1 $40

OCZ Premier Value Series, Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 512MB (256MBx2) DDR PC-2700 - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-995&depa=1 $93.23

Rosewill ATI RADEON 9600XT Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "RW96XT-128D" -RETAIL - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-164-008&depa=1 $134.99

Western Digital 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD400BB, OEM Drive only - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-140-118&depa=1 $51.19

Samsung Black 52X32X52X16 DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive, Model TS-H492A/WBGH, OEM - http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=27-151-051&DEPA=1 $39.99

RAIDMAX Mustang Black ATX Mid-Tower Case with 420W Power Supply, Model "ATX-889WBP" -RETAIL - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-156-164&depa=1 $65.98

Grand Total $499.38 That close enough to your $500 budget ?

 

[Raekwon]

Abit NF7-S2 - $59
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-185&depa=0

AMD Athlon 3200+ $209
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-390&depa=0

Corsair Value ram 512mb PC3200 - $69.05
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-026&depa=0

Sapphire 9600XT 256Mb - $153.50
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-450&depa=0


i think thats very good for a a budget of $500, and it come in at $490.55 so its a little under your max, but a very nice computer.

 

[gaara]

AMD Sempron 2500+ 1.750GHz, Socket A Processor - Retail -

If he wants to play the lastest games I don't think a Sempron will give him very good results, Raekwon's got a pretty nice build going on though.

 

[ak_smallz]

why spend 200 on a 3200, when he could spend 90 on a XP mobile 2600? Those things overclock to 2.4 gigs no problem. If he wants to spend around 200, he could get a 2600-m and the Thermaltake Bigwater and overclock it to really high speeds.

 

[Megadeth2]

Best value (for gaming): A64 3700+ on 754 or A64 3000+/3200+ on 939. If you don't upgrade very often and are not afraid to oc, then the 3700+ would be great! If you do upgrade often and still are not afraid to oc, then any Winchester 939 preferrably the 3000+ or 3200+ will be great.