howdy do
im going to be building my next computer i have the blue see though box now i just need the rest thinking amd athlon xp3200 and ? i dunno yet im thinking still but what do you all think.
i want fast but something i can put to gether my self. mabe a 7200 hard drive mabe two.
any ideas would be great help so i can think on it some more.

Depends on what you want to use the computer for, and what your budget is

Your absolute basic minimum would consist of the following

1 case and (hopefully) Power Supply (referably 350W and above)
Motherboard
CPU (AthlonXP 1800
RAM (256Mb)
CD/RW drive
Floppy drive
Hard drive (40Gb 7200)
Graphics card (64Mb)
Modem (optional)
Network card (optional and hopefully onboard the motherboard)
Windows XP

Most motherboards have on board sound and Graphics, sound is usually fine, but ignore the on board graphics. They are rarely any good

The thing to do to build in a certain amount of future proofing, by getting the highest spec you can afford

My computer is a built from scratch job..
Price these up
The case and 350 watt Power Supply is aluminium with 2 fans ( Extra Cooling is High on the list when using a High spec Processor)
Motherboard...Chaintech ,with built in sound (works well)and have a lot of spare slots for expansion Pic and specs here off makers site..ASUS board is ok but may need a sound card? If you can afford 1 then a Soundblaster card is good value
CPU AthlonXP 2000+ which are cheap (and will tide you over until the 3200 chips drop in price) Speedwise they are Fast
RAM 512 MB (memory is cheap)
CD/RW drive Yamaha CRW 4260 SCSI DVD drive
Floppy drive
Hard drive I have 2 running.
Seagate(ST 340824A) 40 GB size(7200rpm) NFTS as Master. and an IBM-DTTA-351010 9 GB(7200rpm)FAT32 as Slave
Have seen 120GB Hard drives on sale for the Price I paid for the Seagate 18 months ago So shop around (I have 1 of these on my shopping list to buy soon)
Graphics card Nvidia GeForceFX5200 256MB RAM
The 128MB cards are starting to struggle with some of the latest Games demands on Graphic Cards(If You play Half Life or Far Cry you'll know what I'm talking about)
Modem (optional)
Network card (optional)
Windows XP, XP Home is OK, XP Professional is more Flexible (works better on LANs and Networks)
I'm on XP Pro
Only thing is it is nearly double XP Home to buy
Try this site for pricing up your parts..
www.dabs.co.uk
They also have a clearance/used section to browse through www.dabs.com/uk/channels/useditems
Prices are in British pounds Multiply by 1.8 to get US dollar price (approx)
Ignore the inc VAT prices (add your own sales tax on instead...)
NOTE VAT is charged @17.5% in the UK
I'm using an old Belinea 17" monitor (Handles 1024 x 768 pixels)
Cost retail about $1200-1300+
Built up using some Second hand parts about $500-600

As dodgecity lives on the other side of the pond, the best place to start would be pricewatch.com to guage prices

newegg & eagle computers are well worth a visit

well ive got my parts , some of them any way . i chose athlon xp 3200 4oo fsb and a moboga-7n400pro2 atx what do ya think. i have to wait for a bit on the rest money is slow but ill get it. my hard drive i think will be maxtor 7200 about 80gb mabe two im still undecided. any imput would be great as ill need all the help i can get. this is my first system build i hope it goes great. but im ready for the not so great as well.

Looking good Dodge
Question Are you using any external fans?
When this Baby rolls there is going to be a lot of heat in there
Query Heatsink? are you using a fan and Heatsink combo?
Ever seen those fanless Heatsinks that look like a peacocks tail? the fins wave around to dissapate heat ..but needs an external fan to move the hot air out of the case (besides the transformer fan)
Also get some cooling paste to smear on the Processor (and get somebody to mount it with a steady hand) have to get the face of the CPU coated (with the paste) without dribbling onto the legs Can cause a short circuit also avoid blobbing on like glue can get a Hot spot and have a failure Just light coat it and marry the heat sink onto the processors face put a dab on the heatsinks face as well if you like?

Note:With Dwight being away sick(till?)..and TomGL2 been long term absent The only real tech help will be from a computer forum
I'll post the addy of some UK forums where you can get good help and have your comp running Asap
Putasolutions will know of some as well

thanx ya i got three fans on the case and the cpu came with a fan and heatsink im waiting till i get some moneyso i can get the power supply and the hard drive maby ill get two and try the raid mirror thing. right now ive got a lot of reading to do . need to study the all of the books that came with everything