I'm going to be building a new computer for the first time... what do you think of these parts?

(unless specified, all parts are Retail versions through newegg.com)
Case: A-Top Gladiator 450W ATX Mid Tower, $50
Motherboard: ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 ATX (includes audio and LAN), $110
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 4000+ Socket 939, $470
Video Card: eVGA Geforce 6800GT 256 MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16, $310
RAM: CORSAIR 1 GB (2x512 MB) 184-Pin DDR 400, $80
Hard Drive: Seagate 7200 rpm 300 GB Serial ATA150, $200
DVD Drive: ASUS IDE, $25
DVD Burner: LITE-ON IDE, $50
Floppy Drive: SONY 1.44 MB Internal (OEM), $10
Monitor: ViewSonic 19” 4-5ms, $420
Keyboard: Logitech USB + PS/2 wired, $30
Mouse: Logitech 8 button w/ wheel USB + PS/2 optical, $30
Speakers: Logitech 32 Watts 2.1, $35
Headphones: Sennheiser 3.5mm/6.3mm, $20
Operating System: Windows XP Home w/ SP2 (OEM), $90
(Belking Anti-Static Wrist Strap, $6)

Total $2000


Anyone see anything wildly incompatible or unreliable? Another question - how easy is it to set up an SATA hard drive? I've only installed IDE...

Thanks for the feedback!

my advice is to get a name brand case, such as antec, thermaltake, or raidmax. stick to one of said brands when choosing your case and power supply, making sure you get 480 watts or better. if you truly need that extra power, that's your call. however, an a64 3400 or up would still be a great cpu, and would cost you much less. make sure the one you buy is a 90nm process and utilizes a san deigo or winchester core. stay away from newcastles.i's stick to a card made by msi, gigabyte, or asus. if you go with an sli motherboard, get a card with said feature.'tis a solid choice. if you are going to be buying another identical video card in the near future, get an sli motherboard and video card. otherwise, get the non-sli version of that board. of course, is you don't have an sli capable board there is no need for an sli capable video card. also, ensure your choice has ncq support for harddrives.get a maxtor diamondmax 10 with ncq support, as they are superior to any other models on the market at this time.okay for gaming, but you will be dissapointed if you like to blast music (like myself)sata is even easier than ide, on account of the lack of jumpers.

Are maxtor diamondmax 10's any good? I've heard maxtor is not a good brand, and that people have issues with boards detecting the max 10's.

I think evga is a decent brand for video cards.

Definitely get a better psu, like a enermax, antec, tagan, ocz, etc.

Thanks for all the comments. I found a much better thermaltake case I'll be using. I'm having trouble finding a 939 motherboard with ncq support though... any suggestions?

recently a friend of mine got the gigabyte GA-K8NXP-9 and it is a solid board, i'd look into that. it suppoorts ncq, and there are both sli and non-sli versions available. looking for board with the nforce4 ultra will hale you find more boards with ncq, as every major manufacturer has ncq enabled models out on the marked at this time.the diamondmax 10's are basically diamondmax 9's with 16 mb of cache and ncq support. my experience with maxtor has been excellent, and i have yet to meet someone who thinks less of them.

I think any board with sata II supports ncq, IIRC, ncq is a property of the sata II spec.

that is correct. sata II drives are not widely available yet, but the latest models support ncq at sata I speeds.

Picking a brand name case is important if you're the one putting the PC together. Cheap cases have sharp edges, OUCH! While I've never wrecked any components with blood, I can say that I'd rather not destroy my hands while building computers...

not only are they roughly constructed, but often the screws and parts are poorly machined and do not fit right.

Thanks for all the discussion. I decided to order my computer with the following parts:

(unless specified, all parts are Retail versions through newegg.com)
Case: Thermaltake XASER III 420W, $120
Motherboard: ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 ATX (includes audio and LAN, supports SATAII), $110
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Socket 939 (OEM), $370
CPU Cooling: Themaltake Silent Boost, $30
Video Card: MSI Geforce 6800 256MB PCI Express x16 (supports SLI), $290
(Video Card x2 will be bought sometime next year)
RAM: CORSAIR 1 GB (2x512 MB) 184-Pin DDR 400, $80
Hard Drive: Maxtor DiamondMax10 7200 rpm 300 GB Serial ATA150 (OEM), $200
DVD Drive: ASUS IDE, $25
DVD Burner: LITE-ON IDE, $50
Floppy Drive: SONY 1.44 MB Internal (OEM), $10
Mouse: Logitech mx1000 wireless, $70
Speakers: Logitech 32 Watts 2.1, $35
Headphones: Sony 3.5mm/6.3mm wireless, $70
Operating System: Windows XP Pro w/ SP2 (OEM), $150
(Monitor bought separately at Circuit City, Samsung 19” LCD, $360)

Total $2000


I decided to just stick with a 420W power supply, since the official ASUS site recommends at least 400W (and thats including two 6800GT's and two hard drives). I'll upgrade the psu if I ever want to start stuffing lots of PCI cards in or upgrade the processor or something.
EDIT: I'm also comforted by the fact that the psu has active PFC so it's supposedly very powerful for a 420W

Thanks for all the help and discussion! I've belonged to a number of forums over the past few years, and many of them tended to shun forum newbies. I will definately be back to TechSpot boards again! :giddy:

P.S. Plus TechSpot has monkey smilies

sounds like one hell of a machine. i hope you enjoy it.

PS > yes, i also have doubts about said power supply, i guess you'll wait and see if it cuts it.

Somehow I think the 420W supply isn't good enough, at full use, your dual 6800 will be taking up a hell lot of power.

Also, if you're going SLI, get it now. Saving up to get a second card later is a bad idea unless its within weeks as any small difference (software or hardware) on the 2 cards will render the SLI unworkable.

I've got no doubts about maxtor, and for your information, I've been buying seagate only for years, but my latest (bought this month) HDD is a Maxtor diamondmax 10.

Also, are you gonna stick to exactly $2000? I see you've cut back on some other nice stuff to keep your budget. They're not vital, but they're nice to have :P