Building A Budget Gaming Rig
Hi everyone :) I'm new to the site, I'm also new to the world of custom building and gaming etc. I've took it upon myself to build a new system on a budget, rather than splash out on an 'off-the-shelf' one. I think it'll prove much more satisfactory and it's something I've been thinking about for around a year now. Since this is my first time building a rig, I need a bit of guidance from some people to help me choose components and generally seek advice. I'll try to fill you in with as much detail as possible, so we can jump straight in to things.
I'm keen to get started in gaming, not 'hardcore' gaming by any means, just casual I guess. I want to be able to play things such as Battlefield 2 and FEAR, without my system crashing or experiencing excessive lag. Apart from playing a couple of games I also do a bit of recording on my guitar, putting together tracks etc etc. So I may need a decent sound card, but I don't think it's essential. All the uses like everyone else such as browsing the internet, downloading music and watching movies etc etc.
I've been looking around for the best deals on certain components, and trying to make the best system with as little money possible. Regarding the budget, I don't know what the exact figures are, it's something I'm yet to discuss with my parents. It mostly depends on how much I get for my current PC, which I'm selling to fund this build, my parents will add the rest of what I need. Anyway, this is what I've come up with so far. All I need here is a Case, HDD, PSU (providing I don't use one that comes with a case), Cooling and whatever cables and stuff that I need etc etc. (I'm not worrying about the monitor at the moment) Feel free to change/add anything, make recommendations, and I'll need the compatibility checked too. I expect it to change a few times anyway, it's only a rough and early idea.Thanks.
Athlon 64 3000+
MSI K9N SLI Platinum
XFX GeForce 7600GS 256MB DDR2 TV DVI PCI-E
Corsair Twin2X DDR2 1GB Kit
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
Pioneer DVR 111DBK - DVD±RW (±R DL) drive
My current PC is a few years old. HP Pavilion, 256 megs of RAM, Radeon 9200, Athlon XP 2800+. You can see why I need to upgrade, it is reliable though and with a memory upgrade it would be quite good.