building my own computer

[joeboss]

hello,
I am new to building computers. I have got some time on my hands and I thought Id save some money by doing it myself. however it would be great if one of you could check if i have everything. I also included the price, it is in CDN$.
Aslo would you suggest amd or intel for PT databases + poker programs + other random stuff? My current setup is as follows, help appreciated.

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0 GHz Socket 939 (Retail Box) Yes
$249.00

$249.00
Antec SLK3700AMB Metallic Bronze Super Mid Tower w/ SmartPower 350W Power Supply Yes
$83.00

$83.00
Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce3 Ultra w/ Dual-Ch DDR400, Gb LAN, SATA RAID, 8-Ch Audio, IEEE Yes
$142.00

$142.00
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 EIDE 160GB ATA-133 7200RPM 8MB Buffer (OEM) Yes
$108.00

$108.00
Sony (DDU1621) 16X DVD-ROM Drive (Black) (OEM) Yes
$29.00

$29.00
PowerColor Radeon 9250 256MB 128 Bit DDR AGP 8X Yes
$91.00

$91.00
Kingmax PC3200 DDR400 512MB 184-pin DIMM Yes
$55.99

$111.98

Your Total $813.98

[Jeff W]

Is $1 CDN<$1 US?

Good case choice. I would upgrade the DVD-rom to a DVD-RW--it's worth the extra money. Also, if you can get a Seagate 160GB for a similar price, then go with a Seagate(5-yr warranty).

There have been a number of recent posts on building computers. Search for posts by "Jeff W" in Internet Gambling and General Hold'Em forum. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[BarefootBill]

2nd the case choice. I like Antec.

I would go with 1 GB of memory.

Also, consider how you are going to partition your disk drive. I run a dual booted system but even if I didn't I would like to keep the operating system separate from data and user applications. It makes management easyer, at least in my opinion. You can always resize partitions later with Partition Magic. You would get better performance by having 2 disks.

[tinga81]

as already said, spend the extra loot to buy a DVD+/-R .. a good one would be here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152035)

might want to think about upgrading the 350W power supply, that is something you don't want to cheap out on.

[Jeff W]

[ QUOTE ]
might want to think about upgrading the 350W power supply, that is something you don't want to cheap out on.

[/ QUOTE ]

That power supply will be fine for his needs. If he gets his own power supply, then he should go w/ the SLK3000 antec case instead.

[DrPhysic]

Definitely second the thought about doubling up the memory. With Win2k and especially with WinXP the increase in performance from 512M to 1G is noticeable. Increasing from there to 1.5 or 2G helps but not as noticeable.

Also, add good CD/DVD RW. 1 standard CD/DVD, 1 re-writeable.

Also, tell the store you are trying to do this as a part time job, get your local puterparts store to give you the oem (original eqipment manufacturer) price. (You might need a state tax resale license.) You'll save 30% to 40% off retail prices. This may not work with national chain stores ie: compUSA etc, but will with your local supplier.

Have fun. I've built my own computers for years. This may be rocket science (literally) but it is not black magic.

Doc

[joeboss]

thanks for the help.
the exchange is about 1$ canadain= .80 us. making the system 650 us.
I will upgrade to that dvd drive, looks good.
the price does include 2x 512 mb ram, it didnt copy over properly.
partitioning drives sounds good too... ill have to search the internet on how to do this.
I like that idea Dr, no pain in trying.
thanks again all good points.