good choice on the motherboard. it is pci express, and supports mostly SATA drives, with one UDMA channel (two IDE devices)
Processor is the exact same one I got, and so far no problems.
Memory is fine, but seems a bit high for kingston, not by much though. And you are only going for 512mb? Might want to consider a 1gb kit (and run it in dual channel mode) for max performance. But if you're on a budget, I understand.
Your video card is a problem. it is AGP, which does not work with your motherboard, as it is Pci express. not to worry though, the price difference is not much. I went with an Nvidia XFX 6600 GT 128 PCI express, from here:
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merch..._Code= 190439
, and it makes Call of Duty fly!. If you want to stay with ATI's products, you'll want to look at their X-series line. a X600 is the pciexpress version of the 9600. (You might want to consider an X700, if they are available) look carefully between the XT and the PRO, and how much memory you get. ATI's boards have a higher clock speed, but nvidia competes extremely well with a lower clock speed. In reading an article from anandtech, I decided I wanted to go with nvidia, and I've had good luck with them in the past.
Video cards are tricky, I don't understand a lot of their specs, I just go off second hand information from reviews and such. Stay away from an x800 SE, they suck balls.
And yeah, picking a case is not easy, there are so many! What you need is a mid tower, using the ATX form factor (so your motherboard will fit.) You need to decide what color you want (I try to match the case color to cd drive color, for aesthetics), do you care if it has a window, and if you want to skimp on the power supply.
I would not recommend going cheap on the power supply. Having a crap PSU can be the most frustrating and hard to diagnose things that could go wrong. For this reason I tend to go higher end, and don't get a bundled power supply. If you plan on buying an Antec, Enlight, or Thermaltake case, then a bundled supply will be okay, as these manufacturers make a very good product (the first two especially)
I would also recommend buying nothing less than a 400 watt powersupply. This is for scalability in the future. Say if you want to add a second drive, and switch to a higher power video card, you'll need that extra juice. (especially if the pc modding bug bites you...)
here are some suggestions for case/power supply combos:
This case (Evercase makes a good product, just bought for my girlfriend, it was SO nice and easy to work with):
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...127-047&depa=1
with this power supply (love the TRUE line, using one now):
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...103-909&DEPA=0
Or this power supply:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...103-604&depa=0
Or this case (I heard that this is a good case, and it looks awesome):
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...163-002&depa=1
with any of the above mentioned PSUs.
or this case/psu combo:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...116-172&depa=1
the only thing that bothers me about that one is its only a 350watt supply, but if your not into adding a bunch of stuff down the road, then this should be fine for you.
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ive done several AMD processors with shitty tools and never fucked a core. Also, 64 bit processing is a good idea if youre going to want to keep up with the times. You only put a heatsink on once, anyways. (most of the time) id suggest a thermaltake heatsink and definitely dont skimp on paste. if theres a 10$ tube, get the 10$ tube. Ive gone through the trouble of removing heatsink just to change the paste.
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I just suck when it comes to putting on heatsinks. I've learned now that its best to remove the board from the case when putting a heatsink on. I just put one on a socket A 1800 athlon, and man does socket A suck. what a bad design, thats why I generally don't like AMD. but their new FX series I think are designed just like intels, no exposed core.
And I just use the thermal pad if its already there. If I was overclocking or really superstitious I would remove the pad and use arctic silver grease, but I don't think its necessary. Did you notice a significant change in heat when you changed paste?
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ALSO if youre graphics serious Nvidia has a new board coming out by Xmas (nforce4 SLI) that runs dual video cards together. They have specific GeForce cards for hte application and you can run wither single or dual 128's or 256's and i believe it uses a 64-bit AMD.
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I don't understand how anyone is going to use SLI when most boards only come with ONE pcie 16x slot. Wheres the other card gonna go?
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MAKE SURE THE MOTHERBOARD DOESNT TOUCH THE CASE WHEN YOU TURN THE COMPUTER ON EVER
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^^tru dat. What he means is make sure that the board is seated and secured on the standoffs, and that there are no screws or other foreign material on the underside of the board, touching it to the case. This will cause a short and almost certain death of the board. Always work on the board on top of the anti static bag, and when you are ready to put in the case, be carefull to not scratch it on anything (drive bays, standoffs). having a light touch is crucial here.