Building New Desktop

I'm looking at getting a summer project. I'm thinking of probably buying all the parts, and building it myself because from what I hear it is ALOT cheaper that way. Anyways, since I now have to do a lot of research and find out what kind of things to buy and what not, I need some advice on what brand and what kind of parts to get. I'll put a list here of the part, and it would be great if you could name off some good brands for each. Also I'm probably gonna want to buy the parts from USA.

CPU:
Hard Drive:
Motherboard:
Memory (RAM): Better to buy 2x 512 or 1x 1024???
Video Card: (For playing games: CS:Source, Age of Empires III
CD/DVD Drive:

Any other things that I'm missing that you have advice on would be great!

Oh also, total I'm looking at a price range of about $1000

 

AM2 system, very customizable, and can swap parts very easily..

Motherboard: ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition ATX AMD Motherboard - $239.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813131011

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2000MHz HT Socket AM2 Processor - 295.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16819103631
(you can always upgrade this beast, the AM2 socket is the best out now)

CPU HS/Fan: ZALMAN Fatal1ty FS-C77 120mm 2 Ball Red LED Light CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink - 69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16835118221

Memory: OCZ Gold 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Channel KIt System Memory - 119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820227029
(buy one or two of these babies... you have 4 slots, so if you feel low on 1gb, get another set)

GFX: (leave it to XElink)

Sound: (use onboard, the sound on the ASUS is good..)

HDD: Western Digital Raptor 74GB 3.5" Serial ATA150 Hard Drive 159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16822144160
(for system)

and

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive 89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16822144701
(for storage)

DVD: NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Beige IDE Model ND-3550A - 34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16827152059

PSU: Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 550W Power Supply 83.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817103931

Case: ASPIRE X-CRUISER-AL Silver Computer Case With Side Panel Window - 69.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16811144152

 

1> HOw much are u willing to spend.

2. what are your main purposes of using this comp?

 

I edited it at the top, but anyways its for just general use and also gaming. maybe some sig making and what not.

price range: all together about 1000 dollars.

 

Please:
Wait.
Till.
The.
----ing.
Summer.

We say this every god damn thread and still we get 10 'Build me a computer please' threads a week. WAIT FOR CORE 2 DUO.

 

Sorry, I just joined the forums... When does it come out?

 

dont get THAT hyped up about conroe. he has only 1000 bucks to spend also. lol

 

How much will the core 2 duo cost..?

 

would advise you to wait a bit under a month for conroe(intel core2 duo they range from $209-600+) to come out if possible if not, that's a fairly good setup Xmaster listed. for a GFX card, at $220 the x1800XT can't be beat... performs compareable to a 7900GT but OCs like mad...

 

that hyped up? its going to be the best processors out.

and $215 isnt a lot with a $1000 budget.

 

well, u read the article that the conroe has lower FSB than expected now?

 

So the core 2 duo is only gonna cost about 215??? :huh:

 

yup. lol

 

SWEET! Wow... can't wait for that thing to come out!

 

for the lowest model of course... but even at that performane will be between that of an athlon 4600+ and a 4800+ for almost 1/3rd the cost... they should also OC very well too...