Im building my own system for gaming for the first time, and would really appreciate some help from someone who has done this before. I'd just like you to look through what i have selected and check everything is compatable. Iv dont quite a bit of research and am fairly sure its all ok, i just want to double check before i blow £600 on all this stuff. So here we go: processer AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3800BVBOX) (CP-134-AM) Overclockers UK Socket 939 G card BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-025-BG) Overclockers UK 7600 Series Mobo Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS) Overclockers UK Socket 939 HD Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 160GB 1600JS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-047-WD) Overclockers UK Western Digital case/psu Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN) Overclockers UK Antec DVD drive Asus DRW-1608P3S 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - Retail (CD-020-AS) Overclockers UK DVD-RW Drives Now as for RAM, im not sure, but i had this in mind: Corsair 2GB DDR Value Select PC3200 CAS3.0 Kit (2x1GB) (VS2GBKIT400C3) (MY-080-CS) Overclockers UK Corsair Value Select DDR I want 2gig ram as cheap as possibe that is compatible. Also, i have 3 questions: -Will the heatsink for the processer come in the same box as the processer, or do i buy that seperatley? -If so, will i need to use thermal cream, or is there a built in pad thingie i've heard about? -Should all the wires and screws come along with everything (especially the SATA cable for the HD, since its OEM), or will i need to buy those seperatley too? I really hope you guys can help me out. Im happy with the components, unless they are not compatible with each other. Thanks
The SATA cables and IDE cables come with the motherboard. All retail boxed CPU's come with a heatsink that has a thermal pad on it. The pad is good for one-time use, so if you remove the heatsink in the future, you'll need to clean off the remnants and apply a new pad or a thin layer of thermal paste. One thing I would suggest doing is buying the case and power supply separately. While Antec does produce good units, the SmartPower that's included in the case you're looking isn't the best line Antec puts out. Their TruePower units are great, but their Smart Power's aren't something I'd pair with any decent machine. I suggest looking at the following: -Antec TruePower TPII 550 -OCZ PowerStream 520 -Enermax EG-565 (535W) -Hiper Type-R 530 or 580 -Hiper HPU-M530/M580 (same as the above without modular cabling) -Tagan TG-480-U22
welcom to HWF firstly y not go for socket am2 rather than 939, it will make it future proof. get an an2 mobo which is roughly the same price aswell as the processor. secondly that mobo from overclockers is the standard one for £65. theone on ebuyer is the SLI version and is only £56.91. gives u a idea of the price rip off on some things on overclcockers.ebuyer.com - Components » Motherboards » Socket 939 Athlon & 940 Opteron » Product details
Thanks for your replies! First off i'll point out that i'm just posting these links to show the items, i'm not neccesserily going to buy from there, just pinning down exactly what i want. Ill shop around to get the better deals. How do these look for case/psu? i see nothing regarding what will fit in what, so i assume all sizes are universal. psu Overclockers UK Enermax case Overclockers UK Asus for pretty much the same price as the combo i origionally chose. I'll look into the AM2 socket, but im never going to upgrade this rig - ill just check to see which option would go down cheaper. Thanks for your advice and info, i appreciate it.
Basically, most cases out there are ATX or microATX (mATX), but the power supply is the same for both. ATX and mATX are formfactors of motherboards. There are larger ones, but those are reseved for server-class motherboards with multiple CPU's on them...and they need the real estate. The PSU and case you chose will work together just fine.
Am2 is the way to grow but you say that you are never going to upgrade. Well the boards are cheaper and it will give you the option of upgrading.
