Yeah, I know what I want to get, it's just a matter of having the funds, but I certainly appreciate advice as I am a bit of a novice. But, due to having to rebuild the PC that the motherboard went kaput in a couple times (though I haven't actually gotten to the motherboard yet) I've become pretty knowledgeable the last few years. (my family's amazed I can even build a PC because I'm self taught.
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Thanks for the link! I'm always on the lookout for new tech stores. :evil: Unfortunately, they don't do many computer shows in my area, if they do any at all. I've been looking at components at
www.buy.com because it was the best place I knew of for components (typically cheaper than places like tiger direct.) I've been looking in the 250 to 300-watt range for my PS. I do some gaming on the PC but mostly on consoles, so I can play while I render.
And most of the games I want to play will work fine on the built-in 64 MB graphics cards in new motherboards. (truth be told, most games in existence don't need more but people always want more and they want faster.) Besides, a 128 MB PCI Graphics card will run on a 250 PS, I think.
As for the processor, I'm always looking at AMD because I love their stuff, it lasts a long time and it's, as you say, cheaper. As for the Sempron/Athalon thing, I'll probably start with a Sempron simply because of the price issue but later, when I don't need to buy the motherboard, processor, PS and RAM all at once, I can splurge on an Athalon. As you say, anything will be faster than the old K6-2 or the even slower processor (you don't want to know) in this older computer that I'm currently forced to use. Besides, the newer AMD motherboards will run most Semprons and Athalons, allowing one to upgrade later.
I'm liking the prices I'm seeing on that link you gave me. Also, they have brands buy.com doesn't have. buy.com only has 2 or 3 brands of motherboards and some of their less expensive MSI motherboards over there have questionable graphics processors. (I've already had to deal with that by buying Compaqs.)
I'm basically wanting to build a PC for my art projects and a few games. I'm not needing the latest gear, just something that will run well and will be relatively inexpensive, which is why I want to build one rather than buy a new PC. Plus, this way, I'm not stuck with Windows Vista and I know exactly what's under the hood.
