drewsteriam5

Ok, so basically I'm a mac guy. I love everything about them and I will never not own a mac again. But more than a "mac guy" I'm a technology guy, and to fully explore the technological world I'm building a PC from the ground up on a budget. Right now my PC to play with is a Dimension 8200 just for my Zune and such.

So, enough rambling, this is what I have (already bought so non-negotiable) so far:

Case: Raidmax Tornado
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811156226

Mobo: Asus P5N-E SLI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131142

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115003

Hard Drive: I've got plenty lying around, I'll figure something out

Video Card: Old 32mb card. I'll upgrade it later but the system needs to be up ASAP so it will do

Monitor: Old Dell CRT VGA

Keyboard: Old Dell Keyboard PS2

Mouse: Microsoft Arc
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826105228

Now I need to get whatever else I'm gonna need to get it up and running for cheap. I'm not really worried about gaming, that's what the 360's are for.

I would assume I'll need a PSU and some RAM and maybe a few cables.

PSU: I wanna keep it around $40 but the connectors for the mobo confuse me. I may want to slightly overclock eventually.

Ram: I'd like a 2gb stick for around $40 so I can upgrade the other 3 slots as necessary

Cable/Accessories: Idk what I'm gonna need, any suggestions would be great.

So that's about it, let me know what I'm forgetting if you would. Thanks

Deviance

For that system, I wouldn't think you would need anything more than a decent 500w. This has some good reviews for around the price you were looking for. On a standard ATX motherboard, there are two direct connections from the PSU, there is one 4-pin (near the CPU, at the top of the board) and one 24-pin, on the right side of the board.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...693&CatId=1079

Here's a 2gig stick of RAM at your boards default frequency for RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146728

Cables? You probably have everything you already need.

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drewsteriam5

So if I decide to toy with overclocking some time in the future will I need an all new PSU or will that be good for just the basic stuff? Thanks

Deviance

I think you should be okay with that one. I bought this one before I moved on to my Corsair, specifically because it had a lifetime warranty:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...393&CatId=1483

And if you upgrade your video card later, you'll want to be around the 600W range. Oh, and I didn't check this, but you might want to, the on-board video of your motherboard is probably more powerful than that 32mb video card.

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drewsteriam5

The only issue is that the P5N-E has no on board video at all, so I'm stuck with the 32mb card. I could get another card after about a week as I can add around $50 to my budget a week, but I need this up and running for a business deal.

Deviance

Oh wow, you're right. I think you'll be okay with that 32 mb one for now then.

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Dopamin3

You messed up buying lga775 stuff. It's older tech and is outperformed by most Athlon II setups, especially compared to Conroe. For a second I thought the e6600 was Wolfdale.

drewsteriam5

This is just a computer to play with, if I have any serious work to get done I'd do it on the iMac no questions asked. The only real work this machine will ever do is probably burning dvd's or listening to music. I did consider AMD machines but when I saw the deal I got on the mobo and cpu combo I couldn't pass it up. I got the mobo and cpu with warranty for $88, not a bad deal I wouldn't think. Haha. If I decide to take a build 100% serious I'd go i7, but this is just a plaything for a spoiled college student.

drewsteriam5

Any thoughts on these two PSU's? They look like good deals by me.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341016

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341022