Hey,
Ive decided to build a computer ( and when i say this i mean a knowledgable friend will be building it for me) and i would like opinions on the hardware i plan to purchase for it. I am by no means an expert and thats why id appreciate any comments, or even what i should get instead of said parts.
Explanations behind your opinons would be super handy as it teaches me and will help me in the future.
Anyways these are the current parts im thinking of going for, with prices, most being priced from
http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf


1GB 467o gigabyte graphics card - $129
Asus M4A78-EM - $120
x3 Phenom II 710 - $162
Seagate SATA 1TB - $125
4G Kit-800(2x2G) Kingston - $63
IDE Samsung DVD DRIVE write and burn - $35:
PSU Seasonic PSR550+ - $125
Coolermaster 330 - $75

It's also prob important to note im going to be using the comp for gaming, but not high end gaming, and would like to keep the price around 800 or less.

Thankyou for any help =) I'd beef up the PSU...other than that looks good to me....what country do you live in?Hi! That MoBo can handle a Ph2 X4 940..... with the price of $190.00, you would have room to upgrade in the future..... Even if you don't OC.... a 3.0 Ghz CPU is the way to go! And yes Patio is on with the PSU....Get 650Watts min.... Good Luck! I have noticed that your optical drive is IDE try to upgrade to a SATA drive because it will be faster and only a tiny bit more expensive.

Another thing to look into is fitting a Bluray drive if you can afford one because they are getting cheaper and they are very good for backups.

Other than that it will be a good PC - Much better than mine!

Cameron GrayOn newegg sata drives are the same price as ide. I really dont THINK theres much of a speed difference eitherYes computeruler, not much of a speed increase, but(you knew there had to be a BUT in here) go for the future, SATA.... Why not!....... I agree. Go sata. Just cause its a thinner cable and I like it better. Hey! Has anyone heard from Luxce lately..... awsome, ive been checking up on this on my phone, and your help has been useful =) Its mainly also helped me know im not fully off-track with what im buying and wont be wasting money. Need to look into the Sata more, and PSU prices. cheers Hey good to HEAR from ya' Try http://newegg.com/n82e16822136319..... Great HDD Western Digital 640GB - just got one, It's great..... The five yr warrenties not bad..... Also look at the PSU's..... Good luck Well ive been going around to the comp shops in box hill (australia =) ) and gotten some opinons and prices and this is what im thinking of atm. A few modified prices.

Asus M4A78-EM - $115
AMDx550 instead of x3 Phenom II 710- $138
Seagate SATA 1TB - $125
4G Kit-800(2x2G) Kingston - $63
SATA Samsung DVD instead of IDE- $49
PSU Seasonic PSR550+ - $125
Coolermaster 330 - $78

and this plus some building costs ends up being $782 which is what i feel is relativly good. Only problem now is the graphics card. Any ideas of what would be best?

My budget ends at $1000 and was hoping to get a second hand LCD screen somewhere within this price bracket. But chances are that isnt very possible lol. But i still dont want to spend the remaining money on a graphics card, so somewhere round the $150 range if possible. or less... that said i dont want to have to scimp. So any ideas would be great =)

Also unsure about the power supply i can go with the PSU Seasonic PSR550+ for $125 or the CoolerMaster eXtreme Power Plus 650W Power supply for $125. Which would be best?

Thanks againYou'll likely want the phenom II X2 550 over the X3 710, one less core but faster. In my opinion, a faster CPU is probably better than more core.

Also the X2 550 is cheaper but has nice overclock potential if you're into that sort of thing.Wow thats expensive for a optical drive! Sence this is a gaming computer then I would go for a higher clocked dual core instead of a LOWER clocked tri core