My First REAL PC

iTim387

Hello everyone, I am new to these forums and I hope to stay active for a long time here.

OK, so my parents are FINALLY letting me get my own computer in my room, so I have decided to build it myself so that I can learn as much as I can. The specs are in the signature. I haven't built it yet so changes are still possible. Basically I want to know if I designed a nice system. Also I would just like some general advice before building the machine - hints, tips, etc. Thanks a lot!

versello

Grats and good luck building it Building yer first PC is always a fun learning experience.

I would write some tips for you but I'm watching teh movie Hero right now. :jelly:

citrixmeta

awesome!!! welcome to the forums!

if you have any Q's , ask away

SSR_06

i have to say its very smart of you to build your own cpu. i would reccomned going for a 2500+ for oc capabilites, mines oc to 3200 w/ a fsb of 200(fyi) good luck and welcome!!!

NeoFX

Hey! Nice little computer ya got ther! Very balanced and should make u happy Have fun w/ it.

I'll just throw out the word "fold" for you to think about.

iTim387

Yeah, I've read about it a lot and I see that you guys here are quite into it. I plan on getting a little linux box up and running specifically for that kind of stuff.

airalex

I would recommend a mobile athlon xp chip. I have the mobile Athlon 2400+ and it's a great overclocker.

kryyst

Pretty nice looking specs. Only thing I can offer is this. If it's your first PC take the advice about overclocking into consideration and get the faster chip however you may not want to OC it right off the bat until you are sure that everything is running propperly and solid. That way if something is going wrong you know it's not because you overclocked it incorrectly.

The other thing I'll advise is this. Look into getting a dual Head video card (not sure if that chipset has one or not) then instead of getting a 19" monitor get a good 17" and an ok 15". In the end the monitors will be about the same or a little less. However you get a lot more screen space and way more functionality if you are planning on doing anything other then gaming and surfing. For any sort of video/photo editing, programming data work anything 2 monitors is so much more usefull then 1. Hell even just keep that card and get an 32 meg PCI video card for a second card. Believe me ask anyone that uses 2 monitors and they'll agree the benefit is phenomanal.

However if this is strictly a gaming rig and you aren't planning on moving past that stick with the 19".

Next question is what OS are you planning on running? I'll assume XP as any other version of windows is a waste of time at this point.

iTim387

Yeah, I'll be running WinXP Pro. I am pretty sure the card isn't dual-head but I like the idea of getting a cheap PCI card for a second monitor. I was planning on saving some money and getting a decent LCD for non-gaming stuff. As of right now, I am going to be primarily gaming, web design, and programming. I would consider getting a 17" and 15" CRT, but I dont have enough room on my desk for that. Thanks for all the help so far.

iTim387

I just wanted to say I built the system and everything is running nicely so far. I was a little nervous while attaching the heatsink to the cpu - it was a little nerve-wracking. Glad to say I didn't crack the core. That's always good. Again, thanks for the help and advice.

SSR_06

lol, first time always worries you. it may seem like your going to hurt it but you won't.