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This is following the last thread; I'm not reviving that one because I selfishly desire your attention. You guys have helped me to learn a ton and given me great recommendations, especially Panoptic and Felix, and I'm really grateful. Nothing's really changed for me in the past six months other than some money coming in, some money going out, some money coming in, some money going out... but right now--really, right now--I have a check clearing for nearly $1100, and I am actually, finally going to buy all my computer parts as soon as it goes through. Don't sigh and walk away; this isn't a reboot, and I've basically taken everything you showed to me in the last thread and walked myself through the store with it. I'd just like you to look things over and give me final recommendations.

New rules and special requests:

1) This computer is a hold-me-over. It is not my dream machine. With luck, I will totally rebuild with all kinds of delicious and expensive things within six months. But I want to feel good with this machine while I'm using it. I want it to be capable of audio and video capture and editing, enjoyable reading and writing sessions, lovely DVD and DIVX playback, and, of course, great gaming. Crysis can fuck itself, but I hope that the parts listed below add up to a pretty high quality time with, you know, Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, and STALKER. It would be nice if I could plan to play some forthcoming games at decent settings as well, but I'm not kidding myself either. It's a budget machine. More than anything else, I'd like you to tell me that my choices and deal-findings fit well together to create a machine that makes sense to this end. For example, could I get by with less power? Have I overdone it with the processor a little bit? Which of the two video cards should I go with?

2) I am not interested in overclocking. This will be my first time building a PC, and I just want to be direct with it and have a straightforward learning experience with a straightforward machine. I understand that overclocking is pretty simple these days, but still, given (1) above--that this is just a hold-me-over--and given my budget constraints, I'm going to save overclocking for my second, future PC-building experience.

3) I will need to transfer data from two older hard drives onto this new one. One of the drives is in a computer that does not turn on any longer; it is from an E-Star machine circa 2001. Will I be able to open up that old box and just plug the drive into my new machine while I'm putting it together? The second older drive is in a currently functioning PC that does not belong to me; I cannot open this one up. It does not, as far as I can tell, have firewire. It does have many USB drives. I do not have room in my budget for crazy external hard drives and other funky devices. My new computer will share its DSL internet with this computer. How can I transfer this data?

4) I'm going to acquire Windows XP with its service packs on CD. Is there anything I need to know about preparing to boot my new PC for the first time and install this OS? I mean, will the DVD-RW drive of my new computer be working when I first turn it on? I don't know about stuff like BIOS. I guess this information will be towards the ends of the several build-your-own-PC guides I've found, right?

5) I need a keyboard and mouse that are good for gaming (so that WASD won't give me claw-hand) but I can't afford a $50 mouse. I guess I need a mouse pad, too--do you PC gamers look for special shapes in those these days? Any suggestions? Also... I don't, like, have adequate furniture, and I'll be using my computer from a sitting position upon a twin bed tucked in a corner (elevated; not a mattress on the floor). Does anyone have experience with this? I'd really appreciate some ideas about how to be comfortable like this. I guess one of those triangle cushions behind my back (at the wall), sitting across the width of the bed, with some kind of a tray across my lap for the keyboard and mouse, and my computer monitor elevated to a comfortable height by boxes and books?

6) As I said, I have a check for about $1100 clearing; however, I want to spend only about $800 on everything. Really, I wanted to spend $700, and maybe I'll get a $15 cheaper hard drive or something, but it looks like it's going to be almost $800, and that's before keyboard, mouse, and any USB cables or triangle cushions. I'm hoping that post-shipping will be $850 at the very, very most, leaving me with like $150 I can spend on games without being totally, insanely irresponsible. Of note is that the monitor's price is contingent upon a $50 refund that I don't know when I'll see. But I am seriously fucking finally buying this shit; if I can only afford one sodding game afterwards then so be it.

I'm so fucking complicated.

Okay! The List!

HARDWARE

Athenatech case with 350W PSU -- $70
OR
X-QPACK2 with 500W PSU -- $100

The question here with these two cases is basically whether or not I can fearlessly and sufficiently power everything below with the cheaper one's 350W.

Foxconn Micro ATX Intel Motherboard -- $50

Super cheap but perfectly functional and fits the Athenatech case. Also fine for the X-QPACK, as I understand.

Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W -- $120

I figured that this would be a good middle-of-the-road choice on the C2D spectrum.

Radeon X1950 256MB 256-bit Video Card -- $118
OR
Radeon 2600XT 512MB 128-bit Video Card -- $110

For that price difference and based upon the advice I received in the older thread, I am inclined of course to purchase the X1950; however, I noticed that it has 256MB to the 2600's 512MB. I don't know how important that is, and I can't seem to find a 512MB X1950 on NewEgg for a price comparison. So which is better? Will I miss that memory if I go with the otherwise clearly superior X1950?

Mushkin 2GB RAM -- $57

There wouldn't be much point in getting more than 2GB RAM with a setup like this, right?

Seagate Barracuda 320GB Hard Drive -- $85

Only $15 more than the 250GB, so I figured that I might as well.

Samsung Black 20X DVDR 8X DVDRW -- $30

Grado SR60 (Open Box) -- $45

These are good, right? Good for gaming, good for music, etc. I know they won't keep the sound in, but that's fine since I'll be using this computer in privacy. Oh, yeah: What will 5.1 sound like with these plugged right into the motherboard? Some shit just doesn't come in stereo these days, and I'm also curious as to whether I can get a decent gaming experience with surround sound in the cans.

Acer 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor 1680x1050, DVI, VGA -- $200 (after rebate)

This is pretty great, right? But one question: Earlier, I was looking at this SCEPTRE monitor with the same resolution but at only 20", and it said it was good for 1080p. Now, at some point while I was sleeping, they invented these things with "p"s on them that have something to do with HD resolution, I gather. There's 1080p, I think there's 720p, maybe 480p... I don't know. I kind of don't care that much right now because I'm not shopping for a tv. I just want to know that I'm getting what I need with that monitor--that I'm not overlooking something that has to do with HD or widescreen technology and that I'm not making a mistake. I haven't bought a screen of any kind for like seven years.

That's it. Plus your recommended keyboard and mouse... unless there are other peripherals or accessories I'm not thinking of here?

Any issues with compatibility?

Cost with Athenatech case and X1950 video card (my current plan): $775
It's not ideal, but it's a pretty damned good job, isn't it? Of course, shipping will add like another fifty...

SOFTWARE

I'd also like to ask for all of your top picks for software. I've been out of it for the last couple years, as I've been using a PC that isn't mine to customize. I've never even added a single Firefox extension. Ever. So please give me some heads up suggestions on stuff.

Speaking of Firefox, shouldn't I download the install and be ready to bring it over to my new computer so that it, you know, has a browser?

I'll want to customize XP. What can I do to safely clean out crap I don't want? And what crap don't I want? For instance, that VLC Media Player program is better to have around than Windows Media Player, right?

I'll also want to make XP more pleasing to the eye--and more functional, as well. There are programs that do this, yes? A company called Stardock comes to mind. It would be nice if I had constant access to my bank account, instant notification of new hacking jobs coming in from the company, that sort of thing.

Best free antivirus? Firewall?

Email (I use gmail, at least for now; is there a software app that can read that?), RSS, newsgroups, etc.

DVD playback.

CD burning.

DVD creation, burning.

Video capture.

Video editing.

Image editing.

I'll probably be okay investigating various audio editing and creating programs on my own, but I'll be happy to hear about anything you guys use.

What's that stuff I heard way back about... what was it.. code, scripts, uh, Greasemonkey or something? What's that all about? Ways to deeply customize your computing and web browsing experience?

I'm not really looking to do complex stuff like partitioning my hard drive (why would I?), but I guess I'll want some system tools like for general maintenance.

I don't know what else. Any kind of software anyone wants to recommend.

CONCLUSION

I'm going to stop there. I think that exhausts all of my needs. As you can see, I hope, I'm pretty much ready to go. I'll be buying all that shit like Thursday or Friday, so I'm looking for a final check and advice. Anything you can do to help me find answers to the little questions strewn throughout would be fantastic.

I swear, this is not a drill. This is not like the last two times I made computer planning threads over the past year. I'm either putting this machine together within the next two weeks or spending that money on a cheap weapon of some kind that can put a bullet in my brain.

I'm very grateful for any help from before or still to come. This is a big deal. Thank you.

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WAIT. My Grandmother seems to want to send me $300 for computer parts.

That will, like, totally change everything. I don't know what to do at all now. Let me tentatively say that I'm fine with a $1000 total budget, including monitor, fancy keyboard + mouse, and all the fixin's (like a lap tray, maybe?). I'll update later when I know for sure on the budget.

Thanks, Donny. I think I'm pretty satisfied with my options for transferring data from old drives now. I should be able to network the newer one, and I'm getting the vibe that, one way or the other, I'll be able to hook the old drive into the new computer temporarily.

Don't think I can use the PSU from the e-star because I'm pretty sure the PSU is what's preventing the e-star from turning on. It's probably very weak, anyway.

I still don't understand motherboards. I mean, I think I get most of the stuff pretty well, but I don't know anything about how one motherboard differs from the next. Why, for example, would someone buy a fancier mobo when he could pick up a $50 micro thing?

I'm also confused about the power requirements for cards--what do you mean about buying a power adapter? How would a power adapter change the wattage coursing through the PC?

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man that does not even make sense

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Okay, then. I just saw some power consumption charts and I'm very, very not worried about having enough juice. Enough with that.

And forget Vista.

I get the impression that a motherboard is sort of the heart of the computer, but surely they improve over time just like any other component and should be swapped out for better parts eventually as you change your machine gradually over time, right?

Felix, I'm not going to have any space problems with an X-QPACK2, am I? I know it requires a microATX mobo, but there won't be an issue with a video card, will there?

As long as I choose a motherboard whose max is 4MB RAM, I don't see any rationale for having a larger case than that. Under what realistic circumstances would I find a strong need to change to a larger case or have a non-micro motherboard? The only thing I can imagine is if my cooling options in the small case become insufficient.

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Oh, shit! We need to talk about game pad things and joysticks!

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Here's another stupid question. I looked around at reviews and options and I guess that the Turtle Beach sound card looks good. Only thing I want to be sure of is that it has direct output for stereo rather than 5.1. Either mini or 1/4 is fine. I just can't tell from looking through the specs.

I'd also really like to know whether this card will give me options to somehow simulate the surround qualities of 5.1 channels within stereo headphones. I kind of figure that sort of thing would be standard, but I'd like to make sure. I have many DVDs that lack stereo sound options, and I... have no idea what sound output options are like in PC games these days.

I wonder whether 5.1 converted to stereo would be better than sound originally mixed for stereo. Probably not.

Oh, and will this sound card fit in a SFF case? Will it be possible to have the audio jacks on the front of the X-QPACK2 go to the sound card and not to the straight mobo out?

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Here's a great deal on RAM--2GB for $26.50 after rebate.

"Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400 2GB Kit DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 Xtreme Performance Memory"

There's no reason not to go with this, right?

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I need somebody to tell me why there are so many different versions of the same video card (Geforce 9600GT) and pick the one I should buy from this list, please.

X-QPACK2 with 500W PSU -- $90
ASUS P5K-VM LGA 775 Intel G33 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard -- $110
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz 4M shared L2 Cache -- $170
Geforce 9600GT video card -- ~$175 (haven't picked which one yet)
Seagate Barracuda 500MB hard drive -- $120
Samsung DVD-RW drive -- $30
Corsair 2x1MB DDR2 RAM -- $26.50 (after rebate)
Turtle Beach RIVIERA sound card -- $30
Grado SR60 headphones -- $50 after shipping
LG L246WP 24" LCD -- $295 after tax (if I can find it at Circuit City)
Logitech keyboard -- $27
Logitech G5 mouse -- $50

Total -- $1173.50 (plus shipping on some items)




That didn't work right. I'm not sure I can live with spending more than $1000 on this. Well, that was the ideal version; now to make cuts.

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Yeah, I'm thinking I'll go with this motherboard instead. If someone could compare the two for me, that would be very helpful.

I can also take off $40 by going with the 320GB hard drive.

Any suggestions for a quality gaming mouse that doesn't cost $50?

Honestly, I do have a mouse and keyboard from that 7-year-old machine, but they're really pieces of crap. Actually, I think I'll go dust them off and prod them a bit; if I can take both the keyboard and mouse off that list and go with the cheaper motherboard (without regret), I should be pretty happy.

So how do I check to make sure that everything's compatible and such?

Also, WTF, Circuit City should have opened 30 minutes ago.

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Okay, none of the Circuit City stores in my area have that LG monitor anymore. The Westinghouse is reported sold out on the website, and it's too damned expensive anyway.

I'm going back to the Acer at $250 minus $50 mail-in rebate. Any last-minute efforts to sway me should be made in the next six or so hours; I'm going to buy all this stuff tonight for sure.

I'm assuming that I can get as nice a picture out of the Acer with some one-time tweaking as I would see on the Samsung. If I'm wrong, please tell me. The Acer has DVI, a higher native resolution, and 3" more screen space, so I think it's the better buy unless I'll find it difficult or impossible to match the Samsung's quality after playing with contrast and everything. I can't just demo these screens, so I'm relying on your experience, gang.

Edit: I might actually buy the Acer at NewEgg, trading the $50 rebate for $20 off immediately. I know, that's completely ridiculous, but I'm very here-and-now about money.

I also notice that it's very popular with NewEgg customers--moreso even than the Samsung.

Edit2: oh shit what does this mean

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Just so you guys know, the computer that I've been using for a long time now--the computer that I used to play HL2 and Episode 1--is an emachine with the following specifications:

AMD Sempron Processor 3300+ (2.0 GHz, 1600 MHz System Bus, 128 KB L2 Cache)
DVD/CD-RW Drive: 16x Max Read/48x Max Writer
80 GB ATA Hard Drive
512 MB DDR SDRAM
nVISIA GeForce 6100

I still don't know much, but even I can make some wide-eyed comparisons to those numbers. 128 KB L2 Cache in this processor vs. a 4 MB shared L2 Cache in the C2D. I don't have more than 20 GB to myself on this fucking hard drive, and I'm a media fiend. 512 MB DDR(1) ROFL. 6100! 6100!!!

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Another reviewer said:

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I just found this monitor, which seems like a slightly better version of the one I was about to buy. The only differences I notice are 800:1 vs. 700:1 contrast ratio and built-in speakers. This new contender has a silver frame and is worth $10 more, but the savings counter that and offer it for the exact same price. I don't care about or even want built-in speakers, and a silver frame is less preferable to black. Should I stick with the original or get this one instead?

I guess the most important question is whether the higher contrast ratio is better and worth putting up with a silver border.

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oh man that is a lot of tax =(

Is it pretty easy to find RAM at local stores? I might wait until next week to buy that.

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I was going to get this for $26.50 after rebate, but I literally don't have enough money to buy everything right now. I'll just have to buy RAM at a store next week when I get my next check; I won't want to wait for it to ship once I've received all these other parts. The RAM is the only thing I'm leaving off; I figure it will be easy to come by.

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Okay, that's it. It's done. I bought everything I need except the RAM. Now to browse Steam and think about game prices.

Thank you all very much for your help! I'll be sure to use this thread to talk about post-op matters such as "wow this computer chip is really neat" or "zomg I can't believe how amazing it is to browse the web in widescreen." And possibly "I can't figure out how to build the computer help =(" but we'll see.

I'm kind of depressed now. It's the guilt of spending money.

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Oh, awesome, Bioshock finally came down from $50 to $30. Unfortunately, CoD4 is kind of the FPS I'm most itching to play. I'll just have to "bide my time" with STALKER, Bioshock, Portal, and HL2: Episode 2. Shouldn't be too bad a time.

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WTF, Episode 2 is $30 and Portal is $20. Doesn't Valve have a way to buy these games without paying the full cost of the Orange Box?

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Man. For some reason, newegg claimed that my bank's payment authorization failed, but my bank says they never got the request. So I made a mistake somewhere, I guess. It's weird.

Anyway, I've got to place the order again now, but I think I'm going to swap out the keyboard and mouse for some RAM because I'll be able to buy a keyboard and mouse at a local store for not-too-insane prices (right?), even if they aren't totally ideal models.

I'm pissed about the Orange Box. I might actually pirate Portal. Fuck Valve.

Also, I'm thinking about giving EVE another shot. That'll be a hell of a lot of bang for my buck, and I'd like to see it on a nice computer/monitor instead of this pile I've been using. I'll just take another 21-day trial and hope that the skill system doesn't depress me too much now that I'm ready for it.

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Ha! Maybe later. I'm also downgrading to the Seagate Barracuda SATA 250GB w/ 8MB Cache. That's basically Portal bought right there.

Any ideas where to shop for keyboard and mouse locally? I'm not sure right now whether I want to get the same models I had picked out, but I'd at least like to know a good bet for cheap but not too crappy stand-ins. Circuit City's a bit far away. We have Best Buy, Target, a few small place, and I don't know what else.

I'm going to have all the cables I'll need included with stuff like the motherboard and case, right?

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The new order's also failing to get in touch with my bank to make the transaction for some reason. I've never seen this happen before. I spoke to two different customer service reps; the first checked my numbers over the phone and resubmitted the payment info, and after I got another failure email the second one told me that she can't really do anything other than resubmit again. But after 24 hours of failures they'll do a manual submission, which probably means they'll actually call my bank.

Fuckin' weird. Not killing me though, because if this stuff ships Monday it'll be perfect timing to get it maybe Thursday as I'll have just finished some work.

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Okay, so, my friend is very, very strongly encouraging me to cancel my order and buy a pre-fab machine, which I can then supplement with one or two improvements. There are many excellent deals on such machines at this forum. So right now I'm torn.

Also, here is a fantastic deal I think on an EVGA 8800GT with 512MB. $190 with Google Checkout. Shipping is free, and it's only $10 more than the superclocked 9600 in the order that's stuck on hold right now. Should I get that instead?