Building my first computer, advice appreciated.

Heya everyone, I am about to venture into the world of PC building, and have come up with a list of things I am getting, and a sort of "objective goal" of what I want my computer to do, and found the best prices I could from different stores and such.

If anyone knows anything about the parts I have selected good or bad, for the goals I wish to accomplish. Please let me know. I appreciate any feedback and will take EVERYTHING into consideration, so if someone posts an opinion on something you disagree with, please say something.

FYI: I named this computer project: MECHA OUTRIDER. So it will be known as that henceforth.

Objective:
Allright, the goal of Project: MECHA OUTRIDER is to make a portable gaming PC for LAN parties, and of course superior speed and power. Plus it must look cool as always.

The parts and stuff:

CASE:
Super Lanboy Aluminum Super Mini Tower Case

Info:
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=312199&pfp=cat3

HARD DRIVE:
80GB 7200 RPM Internal ATA100

Info:
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3727566

MOTHERBOARD:
865PE ATX Motherboard Socket PGA478 "Springdale"

Info:
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3653125

PROCESSOR:
Pentium 4 2.80GHZ 800MHZ Bus Socket 478Processor

Info:
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3938348

MEMORY:
x2 512 PC2700 184PIN DDR RAM

Info:
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=50245453&pfp=BROWSE

CD and DVD DRIVES:
52x32x52 Internal IDE CD-RW Drive
Memorex 16x DVD-ROM Drive

Info:
CD: http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=307370&pfp=cat3
DVD: http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3796716

GRAPHICS/VIDEOCARD:
Verto GeForce FX 5600 VideoCard 8x AGP 256MBDDR

Info:
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=50277291&pfp=BROWSE

POWER SUPPLY:
400Watt Chrome Power Supply

Info:
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=292584&pfp=BROWSE


Thas everything, it will be running on Windows XP as well.

So, there is all the links and cool stuff, I worked very hard trying to find good compatiable parts that all fit together and would look nice. Please let me know what you think.

Also as a sidenote:
I compared the prices against newegg, and after S&H It would cost more than the prices listed on each link.

Thank you in advance for any comments or suggestions.

i'd say toss the 2700 and run with some PC3200 if you can....the 2700 can limit your system potential..as it has done with mine....

Do you plan on overclocking at all? Because if you do that system is a walking bottleneck.


DO yourself a favor and get a 10k rpm raptor drive to.

Im not sure on your price range here, but ill try and help you on the few main things.


Mobo, i'd get a asus or abit, im asuming at this point you are going to want to do some overclocking, and im sure most people would agree they are great boards overclocking intended or not. Abit IC7 or MAX3 would be good choices or ASUS p4c800. If you want something abit cheaper try a Abit AI7.

RAM, You will want PC3200 atleast, again if you want something low budget, you can get the same ram as i have, TWINMOS DDR 400 nice ram, cheap to.

Graphics Card, again this really depends on your budget, a ATI 9800PRO/XT is the card most people will tell you to get for a good price and performance, if you want to stick with nvidia try a 5700 or 5800 if you can, the 5600 is a bit weak. Also a ATI 9700PRO if you can get one is also a nice card.

CPU, a good price for performance here with the 2.8c, and even if your not planing on overclocking, getting to 3.2Ghz, would be rather easy if you wanted a bit of a boost.


HDD, 7200RPM is fine, might want to get a 8mb 'buffer' as it says on the site you have listed the HDD, seagate is a good make, same as me.

i think what ive suggested will put the price up a bit, but with nice performance gains. If you change anything let it be the Graphics card, for a gaming pc thats pretty much the most important piece of hardware.

I hope this helps.

Make sure you get a good brand name power supply, like an Antec or Sparkle. I have an 550W Antec truecontrol. It's rock solid and has never caused me any problems...and worth a few extra bucks.

Case: Looks great!

Mobo: Asus P4P800-VM is the best O/C micro mobo.

HDD: Definitely get a SATA 7,200 RPM with 8 meg cache. If all you need is an 80 gigger, then check out this Hitachi (see link) that is faster and cheaper than the one you listed. I have two 160 gig Hitachi's and I love them.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-145-049&depa=1

CPU: You listed the 2.8E which is a Prescott. They run hot and need lots of cooling. For a LAN system with limited space and cooling, you want a Northwood. Look at the 2.8C or better yet, the 3.0C (the Northwoods will have 512k cache).

RAM: Forget that RAM you listed... there are way better choices. What you pick depends on your overclocking goals, but you can't go wrong with either Crucial Ballistix PC3200 or OCZ EL Platinium rev. 2 PC3200. I bet you are on a budget though and can't afford that high price stuff. Here is some budget RAM... A-Data PC3200.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-211-119&depa=1

Vid Card: This is a LAN machine. You wanna impress your buddies and make them drool. Somehow scrape up enough cash for a 9800 Pro.

PSU: Don't skimp here. Antec True 480w would be my choice. Also look at Fortron, Enermax, or OCZ.

What Jimbob said, lol

Ok, I guess that case will take regular ATX mobos... so, look at what Jimbob said for mobos.

a-data is cheap and very confident mem.
and it has nice ocing attributes

Good setup. But understand that you wont be able to ugprade this in the future. I would go with lga775 to better secure your future, but thats just me.

To everyone who has replied and help me, I thank you. I have now recompiled a list, and have read a book on building PCs now in the short time I have had. Besides it being a bit costly, the computer is going to be excellent when its built now thanks to yours, and the books input. I should have it posted on my forum sig sometime mid december, once its fully operational. Its going to be sweet, I promise that. Project: Mecha Outrider. Is about to commence!

Just so you know A64 is a better gaming processor.

me= hides under the desk