Gonna attempt my first pc build...

[oddsbodikins]

The spec is as follows:

Case: Antac Sonata III (with Earthwatts 500w PSU)

Mobo: Gigabyte P35C-DS3R (supports 45nm)

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (Penryn)

RAM: Corsair 2GB DDR2 6400CS Twinx (2x1GB)

GPU: Asus Geforce EN8800GT

HDD: 2 x Western Digital RAID Edition 160GB SATA II 16mb cache - in a RAID 0 set up.

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S202HBEBN 20x DVD rw IDE

Sound: Onboard

OS: Existing XP SP2

Monitor: Asus VW1935 19" Widescreen.

I can source all this from various suppliers for around £660.

I was looking at getting vista 64bit and 4 gig of RAM but i have heard that the SP1 for Vista is still easily outperformed by SP3 for XP, according to beta tests.

I want this primarily for playing games, specifically AoC, although i am not expecting uber high resolution and performance or DX10.

Not sure wether to get this now or wait until Funcom guarentee no further delays closer to May.

Do you think there will be price drops in the key items between now and then, as i have heard that the geforce 9000 series are on their way.


And finally i have read the post about building the rig, but the thing i am unsure of is what i do after it is all put together and powered up (if it works ^^) do i stick in my OS disk and install it or do i need to do stuff to the mobo bios first or something else?


Anyway all comments much appreciated.

 

[jak731]

once everything is put together, it will be a good idea to check certian things like ram voltages in the bios and correct them if need be, before installing the OS, but only begin OCing once your OS is installed so you can do all the stress testing you want to check for stability

 

[mp260767]

if you're thinking of getting the wolfdale then consider you might need to update the bios on the mobo.

also, maybe think of getting pc8000/8500 memory if you plan to overclock the processor, along with something like the tuniq cpu cooler.

doubt the prices will drop much tbh.

 

[SGWills]

price drop wise i dont think there would be much change.

from what you chosen looks good for the price however i would look at getting a SATA rewriter as it makes the inside look tidier due to the cable being smaller etc, these can be picked up for about £20.

once you got everything installed, turn it on and go to the bios screen and set up the boot priority to cd first, then put your install disc in and then restart the pc, install the OS, once installed, turn pc on and go to bios again and set the priority to hard drive and then put your programs back on, if i have missed anything out im sure someone will correct me