Building My First Computer- Advice please

[algoespanol]

Hi guys, this is my first time building a computer completely from scratch so please bear with me if I get confuzed. I'm a student so I want a fast gaming computer that also has adequate storage and room for other applications. Here's what I'm planning on using so far:
(Motherboard) Abit NF-M2
(CPU) AMD Athlon 64X2 3800
(Video Card) GeForce 7900GT
(Memory) DDR2-667 4GB (4 1GB modlues)
(Hard Drive) Seagate 320 GB SATA-300
(DVD/CD Drive) Lite-on 20x DVD Drive-Lightscribe
(Power supply) Thermoltake 750W PSU

I think that all of these components should fit together correctly. I am having trouble deciding on a case, so any opinions or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I don't think I really need a sound card as sound quality really isn't that important to me. I also would like a floppy drive but it isn't a must. Please tell me if you see anything that won't fit together correctly as I do not want to buy parts that aren't compatable. I was planning on getting some of the parts off of eBay/Amazon and some I'll probably buy new. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[LinkedKube]

Everything looks in place for the most part. Dont forget your operating system of course. Just make sure you have at least one intake fan and one outtake fan in your case. The more fans the better imo, and just about everyone here would tell you the same thing.

 

[algoespanol]

Operating System

Could you explain an operating system please? I'm a little confuzed by this. Would this be Windows XP? And, how do I introduce the operating system to the hardware? Does it come on a disk that just has to be "installed" when the comp is booted up for the first time?

 

[Jase123]

An operating system is windows xp, windows vista ect..
Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers

And yes you have a disk. you just enter bios on boot, set your computer to boot from cd and then put your windows disk in. Then follow all the on screen prompts.

If you need any help when your are installing, then just make a new thread and someone will assist you.

Regards Jase

 

[mailpup]

Yes, Windows XP is an operating system you could install. While technically you could install it when the PC is booted for the first time, I wouldn't advise doing so. You would want it to boot to check that everything is working correctly before you install the operating system. To shut down your PC at this point with no OS, you can just push the "on" button again. It won't harm anything.

You will want to enter the BIOS to set the boot device order so the CD/DVD drive is first. In that way when you have the Windows CD in the optical drive tray, the system will look for the CD drive first and you will be able to install Windows.

If you plan to install Windows XP, you will need a floppy drive. The reason is your SATA hard drive might not be recognized by Windows until you install the third party SATA/RAID drivers through a floppy drive. At the very beginning of the Windows XP installation process you will be given an opportunity to press F6 to complete this procedure. Your motherboard should come with the floppies needed for this. I looked it up. If not, you can either get them from the motherboard CD or from the motherboard maker's website. Either way, they go on a floppy. Your motherboard manual should tell you how to make the floppy.

 

[algoespanol]

Connecting

Thx for the help. I do have another dilema though. I have 3 computers/moniters/keyboards/mice right now. I want to be able to have 4 computers with 3 mice/keyboard/moniter because I really dont have the room for another moniter/mouse/keyboard setup. I'd like to be able to use my new computer on any of the moniters/keyboards/mice as they are all in the same room. Depending on the computer that other people in my family need, I'd like to be able to switch moniters/keyboards/mice quickly w/o having to change cables. I have found switches that allow 2 computers to run off of 1 moniter/mouse/keyboard but I havent found anything that allows 4 computers to run off of 3 moniters/mice/keybaords. I was thinking that I might be able to have it set up so that I just have 3 switches coming from the new computer to the other ones.
So, Moniter A would hook to Computer A and D, Moniter B would hook to Computer B and D, and Moniter C would hook to Computer C and D. Is this possible to have 3 2-way switches coming off of the same computer?