Building my 1st Comp!

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Thelorax121

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So this is the first comp i will ever have built, and im feelin a bit nervous about it. What advice/tips would you guys give to a first timer? What componentes are the most important and what is the hardest part about building a new comp? I plan on having a AMD processor (also, should i get a 64 or XP, and whats the difference?) and I have no idea what specs i chould look for in the motherboard. Im trying to make a good gaming/media comp, so please let me know what i need. Most importanly, i would be forever grateful if you could list setups that would be about $700 0r below that would be good gaming/media comps. thnaks for helping me break my computer cherry!
 
One thing to remember is, dun overtighten screws, and buy a anti-static wrist strap to keep you from shorting your machine out, and dont work on a carpet floor.... I learned from those mistakes......
 
just relax... i built my first comp on friday, and it was much easier than i thought it would be.

for udner $700, your only choice is pretty much an athlon xp. get a 2400 or 2500 mobile cpu and a nf7-s mobo. for the video card a 9600xt is probably going to be the best you can get, but look around for a refurbished 9800, or even 6600gt. for the ram, i'd get one 512 stick and then upgrade later when you get more money
 
amd athlon 64 3000+ = $160
asus av8 deluxe = $134
80 GB HD (any brand) = $ 70-90
6600gt = $ 200
512mb x 2 ( corsair, ocz, kingston) = $ 150
total = $720
 
Well, what do you already have, if anything. Others not mentioned below would be:

PSU
DVD Drive/Burner
Case
Monitor Keyboard/Mouse

If you need all those things price will be a bit of an issue on a $700 budget.
 
I built my first pc about a year ago now... and about a month ago I built my present beast.. still upgrading.. just remember if you dont like something in your pc you can always upgrade it after a while.. I started out with a pentium celeron processor 2.0ghz oc to a 2.7, with a cheap motherboard and 1gb of value ram with the same videocard I have now... it worked and played games like a pro... now... its a lot faster :) of course I only played counter-strike back then...
For cheaper computers I would go with Pentium just because motherboards are cheaper for pentium and sometimes so are the processors...
$700: intel celeron D 2.66ghz processor ($92), ASUS "P4P800 SE" motherboard ($95), corsair value ram 512x2 ($132), and a good 480watt powersupply and case of your choice with a ATI 9600 xt ($140)
*prices according to newegg.com
hope that helps you out a little... that system will play just about anygame out there... not full graphics but a worthy first pc.
 
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