My first build: comments/suggestions welcome

[randy5554]

I'm planning on building my first ever PC. It will be used for gaming. I don't plan to do any overclocking; maybe slightly with the video card. Not sure about the case with PSU included within. Would it be better to get a case and buy a separate power supply?

Here's an image link to my Newegg list. I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions. I don't want to go much above what I already have money wise. (I don't need a keyboard or mouse).

http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/5862/build2cd.jpg

Subtotal: $1,440.55

 

[DougLite]

2005FPW? (the screenie is 1680x1050, stab in the dark on my part) If so, then the 7800GT will be put to good use. If you plan on playing Battlefield 2, 2GB of RAM eliminates hitching at high resolutions, but may be out of your budget.

The NEC 3540A is an excellent DVD burner. The fact that it is so cheap is merely icing on the cake. I have also heard good things about that LCD, but I cannot authoritatively comment on that.

The only revision I would make is to get a bigger and faster hard drive, even if you need to step down to a 3200+ Venice and try your hand at overclocking to afford it. The 7200.7 is a solid drive, but is pretty old now. Drives such as WD2500KS, Hitachi T7K250 and Samsung SP2504C will deliver much better performance than, and provide operation every bit as quiet as, the 7200.7. Any of those drives will also net you double the capacity of the 120GB Seagate you've linked. For only $40 more, it's a worthy investment. Look at this way. None of your other parts will see a 20% boost in performance by spending an extra $40, but you can achieve such large gains with a better HDD.

 

[randy5554]

OK, I'm definitely going to go with that Western Digital HD. Thanks for the suggestion!

If I went to 2 GB of RAM, should I go 4 x 512 or 2 x 1024? I'll have to look carefully at this, because it might go over my budget. Would I do better with the 3500+ and 1 GB RAM, or the 3200+ and 2 GB RAM?

I can't afford that 2005 FPW monitor or any other 1600x1200 or 1680x1050 one. I'll leave that to look foward to in the future. I'll keep the 7800 GT so I can play at the 1280 x 1040 resolution with everything enabled.