Should I attempt to build my own computer?
Question:
Case: XION Onyx XON-303 ATX mid twr.
PS: CoolMax "PCI Express" CXI-450B ATX v2.01 450w
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB 3.5 SATA 3.0gb/s -OEM
Mobo: EVGA 122-M2-NF59-TR Socket AM2 Nvidia nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX
CPU: AMD Athlon 64x2 5600+ Windsor 2.8ghz socket AM2
Mem: A-Data 2gb (2x1gb) 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) dual channel kit
GCard: eVGA 256-P2-N554-AX Geforce 7600GT 256mb 128-bit GDDR3 PCI express x16
Opt.Drive: Samsung DVD+R/RW CD+R/RW
OS: WinXP Home
Monitor: 17" LCD (no specific brand yet)
Does that look compatible?
My total would be around $1042 (before the rebates)
Answer:
Sounds like you have a good idea of what you need.
I would like to make a few suggestions though... Hopefully, I will be able to save you enough money to consider a video card upgrade.
First, EVGA is not a company that I would trust as a motherboard manufacturer. Personally, I would stick to Asus, Epox, MSI, Abit and Gigabyte.
The Gigabyte Tforce boards are cheaper and rock the socks off the EVGA.
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.as...
Skimping on memory is not a good idea either, if you want some cheap, good quality memory stick with Corsair Value Select or Super Talent. Actually, the 2 x 1gig set of Super Talent ram is cheaper than the A-data.
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.as...
The processor was a good choice, the 2x1mb cache memory rocks.
As far as the video card goes, that 7600gt might have a good price point, but you really should go for the 8600gt. It may cost $60 more, but the double lifetime warranty from XFX and the Direct X10 support will be well worth it. Not to mention the card is much faster than the 7600gt.
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.as...
The optical drives from Samsung are not bad. But from what I see, Newegg does not have any dual layer samsung drives.
You will want to be able to burn Dual Layer disks eventually, and this drive is only 8 dollars more than the cheapest Samsung, and it is 20x with dual layer support. I use nothing but Lite-On optical drives, awesome quality, though a little loud.
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.as...
That might be a little bit more money than you originally planned, but the upgrades will be well worth it in the long run.
Building a computer can seem frustarting at first but once you do one or two rigs you will be so glad you can do it yourself and not open your wallet to some guy in a shop. Or have to buy a premade rig that you could build 2 times better for the same price.
As far as your specs you can play easily i play it on a 4 year old ati radeon 9550 and only 512mb of memory on medium settings with a good frame rate even able to frap videos without any lag.
Oh and if you want to play wow NO VISTA that game does not like it at all then again who does really buggy crap...
wel! wel! wel! don't pay much attention to the case, as it won't hurt to get a cheaper case, will it?...as for the PSU..a decent 450 to 600WATT PSU should do. You could get a bigger HDD like the Seagate Barracuda 320GB HDD. The CPU/mb combo looks good, so no comments on that. Try to get a 800MHz Memory if possible. and get a dx10 based G Card, like a card based on the newly released nVidia 8600GTS or the mid-hig range 8800GTS. The Optical drive should be fine. The OS could be Windows Vista Home Premium, no compultion though, its reaaly upto you. and get a 19" Widescreen monitor.
Cool...
Be sure that your MOBO support your RAM and Processor. Better read the manuals, or try to look for the latest MOBO that can support latest Processors for future upgrade.
For the main things just make sure you do all of your homework and that all of the components match.
Like the processor made to fit the MB, and the ram matched as well. Same with the video card. You would do better with XP Pro SP2. Its only about $50. more and worth it. Plan for your sound, like optical audio and spdif,and lan, like giga lan. and usb, especially the usb headers for adding extras like top and front ports.
I really like Asus boards.
I have spent as little as $500 and as much as $3500. for a tower. You will get more satisfaction building you own.
http://wowus.virgolds.com
http://woweu.virgolds.com
to to a grocery store or a place that sell a lot of magazines and find a magizine that is called
"PC BUILDING BIBLE"
along with telling you about all the new cool stuff that is coming out it has a walk through on building a computer that you can't mess up on.
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.as... go for it, but i like this card,,,,,,! 24 pipelines!!
building your own computers is a ton of fun and you will learn a lot from doing so
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