Building first PC. How?

[Trumpet]

Alright,
First post here, so a little background. I'm 35, and not the most computer literate. My six y/o HP is running on fumes. I like to play games (particularly COD 2) and my non-gaming PC stuff is mainly word processor type stuff, web surfing, etc. How hard is it to really build a machine? I looked at the Ars system guide, and it looks good, however I honestly have NO idea of what all the numbers etc mean. Can you all recommend a good resource? What all components would you recommend for a "screamer" gaming machine, that could also do all my other "stuff" and come in around $2k?


Thanks
R

 

[Standpoint]

I think you found your source right here

Just look around the general hardware forum section here and look at other peoples builds. Read up on this site and you'll eventually gain most of the knowledge you could use.

 

[Wraithetc]

Search for mechbgon on google. That's one of the best tutorials there is.

And for parts I would suggest you post your budget and let people here try to slap one together. From there you can nit and pick.

 

[MYSTic Jedi]

Its not to bad, i'd say the hardest part is insalling all the drivers and stuff (most time consuming too). But what do you want to be included in this, if you get the right stuff, $2k can go a ways. Do you want a monitor with it too? (LCD or CRT) Well, if I were you and had 2 grand, this is about what i would get:
Case: Really up to you, but my personal favorites
$50 Cooler Master Centurion 5
or
$130 Antec P180
Motherboard: $230 ASUS P5B Deluxe/Wi-Fi
Processor: $320 Intel Core 2 Duo
Power Supply: $170 PC P&C Silencer 610W
RAM: $330 Corsair XMS2 2GB
Hard Drive: $95 Segate Baracuda 320 GB
DVD Burner: $32 Lite-On Dual-Layer DVD Burner
Graphics Card: $320 Radeon X1900XT
All that = $1630
Add to that a Dell 2007 for about $350 or so amd id say you'd be set! Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Standpoint]

1 LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model SHW160P6S05 - OEM

1 MITSUMI Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive - OEM

2 Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive -

1 BenQ FP202W Black 20.1" 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

1 eVGA 512-P2-N635-AR Geforce 7950GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card -

1 Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card -

1 Logitech X-530 70 watts 5.1 Speaker - OEM

1 ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler - Retail

1 Rosewill RFA120L-W 120mm Sleeve 4 White LEDs LED Light Case Cooling Fan -

1 Logitech G15 2-Tone USB Wired Standard Keyboard - Retail

1 Logitech G5 Laser 931376-0403 2-Tone 6 Buttons 1x Wheel USB Laser Mouse - Retail

1 nMEDIAPC ZE-C18 USB 2.0 Card Reader with USB Port - Retail

1 Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

1 CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) Dual channel

1 ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

1 Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 -

1 ENERMAX Liberty ELT620AWT ATX12V 620W Power Supply - Retail

1 COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid

1 LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/ LightScribe and 5X DVD-RAM Write Black


Subtotal: $2,143.81


This is a really nice setup w/ everything included for just over 2000. It would be very easy to knock the price down by removing the keyboard, speakers, mouse, LCD, etc. Also the case would be your personal taste.

Quite a nice rig if I do say so myself

 

[darkeen]

How hard is it to really build a machine?

Think expensive legos

 

[engiNURD]

Its not to bad, i'd say the hardest part is insalling all the drivers and stuff (most time consuming too). But what do you want to be included in this, if you get the right stuff, $2k can go a ways. Do you want a monitor with it too? (LCD or CRT) Well, if I were you and had 2 grand, this is about what i would get:
Case: Really up to you, but my personal favorites
$50 Cooler Master Centurion 5
or
$130 Antec P180
Motherboard: $230 ASUS P5B Deluxe/Wi-Fi
Processor: $320 Intel Core 2 Duo
Power Supply: $170 PC P&C Silencer 610W
RAM: $330 Corsair XMS2 2GB
Hard Drive: $95 Segate Baracuda 320 GB
DVD Burner: $32 Lite-On Dual-Layer DVD Burner
Graphics Card: $320 Radeon X1900XT
All that = $1630
Add to that a Dell 2007 for about $350 or so amd id say you'd be set! Let me know if you have any questions.

For you, I'd go with this build exactly. Personally, I think corsair is overpriced, but hey, they are the best... but since you're a novice, corsair is good for you. Another personal opnion of mine is that while PC P&C is the best, they are overpiced, too. If its over your budget with tax and shipping, let us know and we can fit it.