Ok so my comp is a few years old and i'm looking into building a new comp.  This would be my first cp build and I've looked on PC forums but its like sifting through mountains, cause people who build comps use them and have lots of forums..
Could you look over this and tell me if you see anything wrong with it.  I'm building a socket 939.
cpu: I'm going with AMD cause I do mostly gaming and audio/video stuff.  I decided to go with the slightly more expensive San Diego FX-55 over the San Diego 4000+ because with a difference of $40 I can have unlocked multipliers and possibly get 3.0+ gigs?  I haven't overclocked before, but I probably will with this one.  Oh and i'm going to use an artic cooler 64 freezer with artic silver thermal paste instead of the stock heatsink.
mobo: This is were I'm having a hard time deciding.  I am torn between
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe NVIDIA nForce SPP 100 ATX
or
DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX
I don't know which to get.  There both good boards and since the dfi is cheaper i'm leaning towards it, but my skill level is far from expert and i'm afraid I would mess something up.
Mem:  Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin SDRAM
I also wonder if the mobo is backwards compatable with the old ddr mem b/c I have 512mb of it that I would hate to throw out.
I guess i'm just seeing if there is anyone out there that could help me decide on the mobo I should get.

With a system like that, I'd recommend you got at least two GB memory, since memory is so cheap these days. I'd also recommend you do it in sticks of 1GB instead of sticks of 512mb for expandability later.

I'd recommend the asus motherboard, just because I've always been happy with ASUS stuff. If you check newegg.com, they have user reviews of products, you can see which mobo got the best reviews.

yup take the asus . i just built me another amd board ... but i used a asus with the ati radeon crossfire 200 in it .. i use to be nivida hard core did not want any thing ealse ... i stuck a 1600 pro in this new computer ... and i think i have moved over to ati  i can buy another xt1600 pro and have the dule video cards . but ... you also have to look at it to .. i'v been told the duel video cards are not supported by alot of games yet ..  but if you want the sli then stick with ausus the only other one i would go with would be an MSI board ... i use to use SOYO boards there freaking bad ass but they dont make them any more i never had one problem out of it ....... but i bought that board and stuff back in 2001 and just upgraded it about 2 months ago so now i'm running a ausu board 939 athlon 64 vince 3300 with 1 gb of ram and 1600 pro ati card .. and you said nothing about a video card are you getting one or just using the onboard one ? if it has one that is, you need to make sure it says if it has one  on the  board or not .. i know the ausu board i used did not have an on board. but if you have any Q's when you get the stuff then just let me know  i'll be more then happy to help .  are you using newegg.com ?

Go with the Asus board. I am IT Professional. I build, repair, maintain, upgrade, destroy, and explode computers for a living. Hundreds of them. Day in and day out. The boards I have the LEAST problem with Are Asus, then Aopen, Then Intel BRAND boards.

Asus costs a few bucks more, but makes up for it in the fact that you won't have to replace it in 6 months.

Quote from: FearedGS500 on December 14, 2006, 11:59:39 AM
you said nothing about a video card are you getting one or just using the onboard one?

are you using newegg.com?

if you have any Q's when you get the stuff then just let me know  i'll be more then happy to help.

oh ya.. the video card that came in this moo cow pc died about 2 yrs ago and at that time I bought an ATI Radeon 9600 pro 4x/8x AGP 256MB Dual DVI Video Card.  I'll be keeping it for this new build up.  As for my hd I also upgraded it about a year ago to a seagate barracuda 200 gb, and have my generic gateway 20 gig as a back up and normally isn't connected in case of infection.  The moo box will remain as the case, it is a good box with 3 hd slots, 2 cd/dvd slots, 2 3.5 slots, 2 front usb, 3 rear usb and 7 available mobo access slots.  It is a screwless box that locks everything in place with tabs as well as the side opens with a push of a button.  It is basically gateways replication of an antec sonata I.  Even if the case doesn't have the correct screw holes they can be made with my drill and tap.  I might upgrade the case with power supply at a later date but not sure, as it isn't broken and it really doesn't matter as long as it houses everything.

Ya I'm using newegg, I trust them. 

Will do, thanks for offering.

Quote from: NiceGuysFinishLast on December 14, 2006, 11:20:22 AM
With a system like that, I'd recommend you got at least two GB memory, since memory is so cheap these days.

Well this build is kind of on a budget, so more ram may be bought along with a new case at a later date.

Ok two more thing:
1 are the new mobos backwards compatable with the old ddr memory? 
2 should I get the asus deluxe or the premium?  I'm strongly leaning towards the deluxe since it is compatible with amd duel core, for future upgrades.  Is there any reason why i should change my mind before I go ahead and buy the deluxe?

Thanks for everyones help.

if it will accept 184 pin ddr, is it pc3200 or higher? but if its 184 pin usually it is backwards compatible, however, the highest speed ram will default to the lowest speed ram. now, does the mobo have an agp slot, or is it pci-e? and as far as gaming goes, id get at least 2gb, as far as processors goes, id try to find a dual core opteron, pretty much same as what your looking at but cheaper, and QUITE tolerant to oc'ing      check out www.futuremark.com has all sorts of forums specifically for pc's and gaming in general.

Uhh, you're gonna need a new video card.

According to my googling, that's an AGP card and you've got a PCI-E16x mobo.

niceguys  right . (no google needed just newegg and the spec. )  you dont have an agp slot on that board so your gonna need to get you a new card ...  you can save your self some money .. look for the combo deals like this one you get a mobo,card,processor for a cheaper price .. look around at there combo prices .. i mean if you can spend 133-166 on a mobo  250+ on a processor and another 100+ on ram then your budge is pretty huy .. the athlon 64 x2 are supose to be pretty good .. i mean look at your options .. i understand wanting to get the best but if your on a budge get what you can now then slowly upgrade .. if you can get that 166 mobo then that one will be good for a while if it will just about every amd processer out there ... get the mobo then find a processor,video card combo go with the high one if you really plan on running dule cards and really want to OC it . that would be the best .. it has a good cooling system on the board and has a good set up for the process fan .

darn it..  I didn't even think of the compatibility of my video card.  That makes me mad.. I dropped almost 250 on this video card and now I have to scrap it.....
I'll just get a new case and power supply after all and get a completely new computer minus a new hd.   Its only money right?  at least I will have two working computers, one will be small and old in comparison but in case of a crash I will still have the internet to order parts and whatever.


Since the PC, mobo, and ram have already been ordered there's no going back now.  I looked at those combo deals and I didn't see any that combined items I wanted.  Now I get to do research on what video card I want, any suggestions on that also.. 

As for the case and power supply i'm getting the cheapest possible, so at least i don't have to reasearch that.

If your looking at proccessors, sometimes AM2 socket is cheaper and supports DDR2 which newegg has for cheap usually

Quote from: coll0412 on December 14, 2006, 11:11:42 PM
If your looking at proccessors, sometimes AM2 socket is cheaper and supports DDR2 which newegg has for cheap usually

Ya, I know am2 is the new wave but 939 has been here a while and there is allot more product options and research.  Since they are fazing out the 939 it is also a way to get some good deals out of known performers before the turn off the lights on them.  I don't do alot of multitasking, actually i do VERY little so a multi core didn't seem right for me.  I mostly either game, surf the internet, or do homework and thats about it.  So instead of getting a jack of a few trades i'm getting an ace at one.
I would have liked to get more ram, as some have said, and although there is allot of cheap ram out there I'm a believer in "you get what you pay for" so I'm willing to buy limited quantities of ram I know will hold up, AND fit in my budget.  My old pc is just that: old: I can play WOW and halo but the pc isn't big enough for quake 4 or doom 3.  So with pretty much anything over a 2g pc, even if it only has a total of 1g ram, i'm going to be extremely happy.  I want to play all the new fps  . 

Well I appreciate everyones help... Especially you guys who pointed out my agp error; without you I would have gotten everything together and tried to assemble it, only to find I needed a pci video card instead.  That would have made me extremely mad, and luckly you helped me avoid that.

Here is my future pc:
cpu                   = socket 939 san deago AMD 64 FX-55 (ordered)
heatsink/paste    = Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro/artic silver 5 (ordered/at house)
mobo                 = Asus a8n32-sli deluxe nvidia nforce (ordered)
RAM                  = Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2 x 512MB) (ordered)
Video card          = undecided at the moment
Hard drive          = Seagate barracuda 200g (at house)
Case                 = undecided at the moment
Power source      = undecided at the moment
5" drives            = 1 sony 48x cdrw, 1 samsung 18X dvdrw, 2 generic cdrw ?speed (at house)
3.5                   = generic (at house)

I don't think i'm missing anything, am I?  My total spent at the moment is about 440, which would have been under my $500 goal, even with a case/power combo at about $50-60 I would still be under it.  I guess my idea of a decent pc for $500 wasn't to unrealistic if I didn't have to buy another video card.  This post might light up again when I narrow down video cards in the next day or two, if not, then possibly when I get it all assembled.  I'll be sure to let you guys know when it all comes together or if I have any problems.
Again thanks to everyone for there help, I really do appreciate it.
Keny

you can get a cheap case but dont get a cheap powersupply trust me thats another thing you get what you pay for .. i got a card and a 550w powersupply for under 200 . you dont need the best of the best video cards to play games at a good FPS  i have a shappier ati 1600 pro with a 939 athlon 64 with a 1g of ram  and i play Battle field 2142 on medium settings ( i really have to need to put it on high right now )   and i'v played dark meisshia  and not had any problems no fps lag notta .  good thing about ati is they give you software to keep an eye on your video card temp . but your gonna want to get a nivida card cuz thats what that mobo is setup for .. i'll look around and see what i can find . and you need a PCI-E (PCI-express) card not just a PCI

Heads up on the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro, it already comes pre-applied with heatsink grease, you just have to peel back the clear plastic cover. Also it takes a little force to install(read a pain in the arse), just dont use to much force. That heatsink is awesome, I used it on a 4800+ build and it is super quite and super effective.

I also bought this case for the build was happy with it, pretty basic, but it does have a temperature mongering ability with a thermistor built in that you can put on what you want to monitor. Power Supply is good with a lot of current avail on the 12V rail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811200035

yea .. that looks like a pretty good case .. i built my grandmother an amd computer not to lon ago ( its exactly like mine but i have a better video card ... only reason hers is like mine is i got one hell of a deal on it ... we spent 550 on all of it and got the case,mobo,processor,ram,HD,cd burner)  it was one of them months where if you bought the processer you got the mobo free !  yea it was crazy ..but i bought her a coolmax case and it runs cooler then my fulltower with 3 fans in it .. and hers only has 2 but i'm about to change that .. i'm gonna put a bigger fan in it

That case does look nice and it would be cool to have a temp reading but I decided that I'm going to use my old gateway easy access tool-less atx midtower case; I looked for some good pictures to post but I couldn't find any.
 
Ok so I've just finished placing the order for my new video card and power supply; so now I get to eagerly sit and wait for UPS.  You know I read up on some of the cheaper power supplies and some people who have bought those actually had the ps fry all their components, thats scary!  So after reading through allot of reviews and I found a really cheap but apparently pretty good ps. 

So basically I'm going one hundred bucks over my budget with the video card which kinda suxs (can I say that without getting banned?).  After carefully considering how much I wanted to spend on a new video card I said what the heck..  and I went for a good one.

Ok so here is the final parts list with prices if anyone is curious as to how much all this set me back.  All prices are through new egg.

$130  cpu                   = socket 939 san deago AMD 64 FX-55 (ordered)
   30  heatsink/paste    = Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro/artic silver 5 (ordered/at home)
163  mobo                 = Asus a8n32-sli deluxe nvidia nforce (ordered)
125  RAM                  = Crucial Ballistix 1GB (2 x 512MB) (ordered)
120  Video card          = eVGA 256-AX Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 (ordered)
    0  Hard drive           = Seagate barracuda 200g (at home)
    0  Case                  = Gateway easy access tool-less atx mid tower (at home)
   24  Power source      = Linkworld ATX12V 630W Power Supply (ordered)
    0  5" drives             = 1 sony 48x cdrw, 1 samsung 18X dvdrw (at home)
   0  3.5                    = generic (at home)
$592

So thanks again you guys, I really do appreciate the help.
And if any of you guys play doom 3 or quake 4 and after Christmas you start getting fragged all over the place just think of me..
  I'm just joking..

bla on that .. you  need to get Battlefield 2142   i'm getting it for xmas i play the demo alll the time.. you can download it just about any where .. and its a blast !!!

I'm so far behind.... I'm still only on Battlefield 1942....

I've got the original DOOM v 1.1 circa 1993 loaded up on this bad boy... lol

Quote from: ixolas on December 16, 2006, 06:14:35 PM

I've got the original DOOM v 1.1 circa 1993 loaded up on this bad boy... lol

Awesome, inexpensive, reliable PSU = Hiper 580W.