Newb....Picking a Motherboard/CPU

[PharmrJohn]

OK. First of all, my name is John. I have had NO computer building experience and have decided, instead of paying someone else to do this, to do it myself. Last night, I took apart my desktop (broken for about a 18 months) and removed the old components. This really doesn't seem that difficult. Plug and play really.

So now it is down to choosing my Motherboard and CPU. I am not an avid gamer. I like some gaming and don't want the slowest of the slow in order to save a $150, but don't feel I need to spend $600 this either. The MB I just pulled out of there was an ASUS Athelon 64 (taking this from memory----remember I am a newb and it may be a bit off). I know it is NOT dual core. Reading up on the net, I understand there is quad-core now. Whether that refers to the Motherboard or the processor, I am not sure.....I just realized that.

So any suggestions would be great. Thank you very much for your time guys and gals. These forums are sooooo useful in collecting information. This is my third forum and I hope to learn here as much as I have on the other two. Thank you again folks. John.

 

[Remeniz]

Welcome to the forum!

Whats your budget?

 

[woody84]

+1 it ALL depends on what you want to spend. But it's a good idea to build your own. I build the computer on my sig. and it was my first time. Take your time read the manuals and you'll be fine.

check out the "new build guide" sticky in this section it's the best place to start.

I recommend newegg.com

 

[PharmrJohn]

OK....visited the sticky build thread and came up with this.....

Mid range system: $750

CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E7500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
Motherboard: ASRock P45X3 Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
RAM: Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

My graphics card is an ATI Radion X800GTO 512MB
My power supply is an Antec Truepower 2.0 550W output

Comments?

 

[woody84]

Are you going to re-use the old case?
if you want new I recommend Antec either the 900 or 1200

Upgrade your OS?

 

[PharmrJohn]

Are you going to re-use the old case?
if you want new I recommend Antec either the 900 or 1200

Upgrade your OS?

I would rather not. IMO it does not have adequate cooling. Looked at the Antecs. I like the 1200. I will upgrade to Windows 7 after awhile....after the bugs are worked out a bit.