Date: 11/17/06 (Computer Geeks)    Keywords: web

Though I've bodged together a number of PCs in my time, I've never selected and built one from scratch. I've been going over components for a few days now and wanted a bit of critiquing on my choices. My goal is to build something I can upgrade over the next few years. I don't want bleeding edge because, quite franky, I don't want to spend over $2k on this little project. The ultimate goal is to build a nice little gaming/media center with upgrade potential.


First, the case. I wanted something fairly expandable and quiet, without tons of neon and windows. I think the Antec P180 fits the bill from both a style and sizing perspective - I really appreciate the clean look. To go with the case, I chose the Neo HE 500 (also from Antec) to power everything.

My biggest splurge is the video card. El Reg pointed me towards the ATI Radeon x1950 which fits nicely with what I want: quiet, 512MB, and within my price range. Bonus: It's pretty.

Onto the processor. Definitely an Athlon, and definitely dual core. The AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+; it's powerful, and not outrageously expensive.

Hard disk was easy. A pair of mirrored 320GB Seagate Barracuda drives will be more than enough to get me started.

For memory, Corsair Value Select Dual Channel 2048MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB), upgrading to 4GB as soon as finances permit. No link for this one as the Corsair website is useless.

Choosing a motherboard is where I really fell down. It really took me awhile to navigate my way through all the compatibilities; I also wanted something that I wouldn't have to upgrade anytime soon. Support for PCIE, Gigabit LAN, and RAID were essential. The A8R32-MVP Deluxe is my current head of the class choice; it supports the above hardware as far as I can tell, and as a bonus, if I suddenly find myself with a ton of extra cash I can buy a second videocard.

Peripherals and minor components (DVDRW, monitor, mouse, etc) aren't really worth getting into.


My biggest fear is that I'll get everything home and find out that something doesn't fit, or I've missed some vital component that I just can't live without. Additionally, I have some concerns about whether the cooling will be sufficient. Regardless, this should be a very fun project!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1000315.html