building my 1st system, any tips

started with Antec tower case, 380 watt power supply, 5 cooling fans, 3 exhaust fans, MSI875P neo FIS2R mobo, audigy Mp3+ s/c, unsure about v/c, looking at MSI Ti4200 128Mb, 8X, 1Gb kingston p3200, 400Mhz w/ecc. unsure about cpu, waiting to see if new prescott chips will be out in June, if not P4 800 Mhz fsb between 2.4 and 2.8 any suggestions? also should I replace factory thermal patch with thermal grease? I currently have no plans to o/c. can't afford to void warranty. any tips or suggestions would be appreciated.

If you dont plan on OCing then the pad is fine but the AS3 will transfer better. Just get the highest possible chip you can afford for a non OCing situation. I dont see why you dont want to OC but to each their own.


Edit: BTW Welcome to the forums.

the 2.4 C-s are very nice overclockers reaching 3 ghz and beyond,for the vidcard i would say buy a DIRECTX9 compatible card will ya last longer,check out those radeon 9600 PRO-s and FX 5600

You might need a more powerful Power supply....

I can't see overclocking if it voids your warranty. with the money involved in parts, is it worth it? i also know very little about o/c and I would sure hate to screw it up.