This will be my first build ever. I want to make a mid-level gaming PC for my son. I'm not trying to spend $1000 here, but I don't want to have to upgrade anytime soon either. This setup I've choosen is around $500 (after rebates). It's an MSI AM3 socket mother board, a AMD 3.2ghz quad core CPU, and 8 gigs of DDR3 1333mhz RAM. With a mid-level graphics card. I figure if he wants to play heavy games in the future, I could just overclock the CPU and upgrade the CPU fan and the graphics card.
I will deffinitely need some help with tweaking the BIOS settings. I plan on running winxp pro on it. And letting windows make the IRQ assignments (good idea or bad idea for the IRQ?). The manual for the MB sucks, but I can use some old MB manuals that better explain the BIOS settings. Initially, I plan on putting all BIOS settings on 'auto' wherever possible.
I have only slight experience with this stuff. I did manage to put a mod chip in an old Xbox. I soldered an apapter for a Xenium mod chip onto the LPC bus of a v1.0 Xbox and had to download homebrew BIOS's from the IRC channels to flash onto the chip. I learned a little about how this stuff works. That might not help me here though .
I have one question though before I forge ahead with buying these components from TigerDirect. The CPU FSB I've choosen says it's 2000mhz. But the mother board FSB spec is not listed. Should I find out what the FSB speed on the MB is first before I pair up this CPU with this MB?
Motherboard:
MSI GF615M-P31 GeForce 7025 AM3 Motherboard - Micro ATX, Socket AM3, nForce630a Chipset, DDR3-1333MHz, SATA 3.0 Gb/s, RAID, GeForce 7025, Fast Ethernet LAN
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=61474&CatId=4296
CPU:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition AM3 CPU HDZ955FBGMBOX - 3.20GHz, Socket AM3, 6MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Retail, Processor with Fan
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5752143&CatId=4431
PSU:
Thermaltake W0382RU Modular Power Supply - 750 Watt, 140mm Fan, 80 Plus Bronze, Active PFC
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=419877&CatId=5440
RAM:
Patriot PGV38G1333ELK Gaming i5 8GB PC10666 RAM - DDR3, 1333MHz, 2x4096MB, 9-9-9-24
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5688415&CatId=4534
Graphics Card:
Visiontek 900310 Radeon HD 5670 Video Card - 1GB, GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0 (x16), DVI, HDMI, VGA, DirectX 11, Single-Slot, CrossFireX Ready, Includes Lifetime Warranty with Registration
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=621465&Sku=V261-5674
HDD:
Western Digital WD5000AAKX Caviar Blue Hard Drive - 500GB, 3.5", SATA 6Gbps, 7200RPM, 16MB
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7281716&CatId=2459
Case:
Cooler Master NV-334-KWN1-GP Elite 334 nVidia Case - ATX, mATX
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4950638&CatId=1509
Wireless Network Card:
EnGenius EPI-3601S Wireless G Network Adapter - 108Mbps, 802.11g, PCI, Long Range
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3528055&CatId=2688
I will deffinitely need some help with tweaking the BIOS settings. I plan on running winxp pro on it. And letting windows make the IRQ assignments (good idea or bad idea for the IRQ?). The manual for the MB sucks, but I can use some old MB manuals that better explain the BIOS settings. Initially, I plan on putting all BIOS settings on 'auto' wherever possible.
I have only slight experience with this stuff. I did manage to put a mod chip in an old Xbox. I soldered an apapter for a Xenium mod chip onto the LPC bus of a v1.0 Xbox and had to download homebrew BIOS's from the IRC channels to flash onto the chip. I learned a little about how this stuff works. That might not help me here though .
I have one question though before I forge ahead with buying these components from TigerDirect. The CPU FSB I've choosen says it's 2000mhz. But the mother board FSB spec is not listed. Should I find out what the FSB speed on the MB is first before I pair up this CPU with this MB?
Motherboard:
MSI GF615M-P31 GeForce 7025 AM3 Motherboard - Micro ATX, Socket AM3, nForce630a Chipset, DDR3-1333MHz, SATA 3.0 Gb/s, RAID, GeForce 7025, Fast Ethernet LAN
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=61474&CatId=4296
CPU:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition AM3 CPU HDZ955FBGMBOX - 3.20GHz, Socket AM3, 6MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Retail, Processor with Fan
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5752143&CatId=4431
PSU:
Thermaltake W0382RU Modular Power Supply - 750 Watt, 140mm Fan, 80 Plus Bronze, Active PFC
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=419877&CatId=5440
RAM:
Patriot PGV38G1333ELK Gaming i5 8GB PC10666 RAM - DDR3, 1333MHz, 2x4096MB, 9-9-9-24
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5688415&CatId=4534
Graphics Card:
Visiontek 900310 Radeon HD 5670 Video Card - 1GB, GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0 (x16), DVI, HDMI, VGA, DirectX 11, Single-Slot, CrossFireX Ready, Includes Lifetime Warranty with Registration
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=621465&Sku=V261-5674
HDD:
Western Digital WD5000AAKX Caviar Blue Hard Drive - 500GB, 3.5", SATA 6Gbps, 7200RPM, 16MB
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7281716&CatId=2459
Case:
Cooler Master NV-334-KWN1-GP Elite 334 nVidia Case - ATX, mATX
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4950638&CatId=1509
Wireless Network Card:
EnGenius EPI-3601S Wireless G Network Adapter - 108Mbps, 802.11g, PCI, Long Range
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3528055&CatId=2688