Hi,
This is the spec i've decided on for my system, if anybody sees any glaring errors, ommissions or stupid mistakes, please tell me!
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (Retail)
Abit NF7-S Rev 2.0
TwinMOS PC3200 DDR 512MB
LiteOn LTR-52327S 52x/32x/52x CD-RW
LiteOn 16x DVD-ROM
Maxtor SATA 120Gb 8Mb Cache
Coolermaster Centurion ATX
Enermax EG365AX-VE(G)(FMA) 350w PSU
Samsung 3.5" Silver Floppy Drive
MSI GeForce 4 MX440
NEC 15" TFT (Refurb)
Coolermaster Q Alloy Keyboard
Logitech MX300
Coolermaster 5.25" Front Bezel
Coolermaster 5.25" Front Bezel
Thanks,
Merlin


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No need for a retail AMD CPU, an OEM with a decent cooler like Volcano 11+ is a MUCH better idea. Getting 512MB now in order to add another 512MB and then enable DUal Channel is fine in theory as you only lose 5%ish in perf by not using Dual Channel ... however it is a very good idea to buy 2 sticks at the same time to use Dual Channel, buying another stick of TwinMOS PC3200 in 3-12 months time may not be good enough. I'd say buy 2x256MB now and get the DC boost and when 1GB proves useful sell the 2x256MB and get 2x512MB ... you may even get faster RAM, better latency or DDR-II by the time 1GB proves truly useful.
350W from a good brand like Enermax should be more than enough for you sure but a 400W one should cost little more and will ensure it doesn't become a limiting factor so it makes better long term sense. 15" TFT vary a lot esp older models. You should be certain the native res suits you and if you plan to game or watch movies you really want to ensure it has 24bit colour (not 16bit) and 25ms response time (pref 20ms).
BTW why aren't you considering a DVD Writer? Now that many drives can do + and - it takes the worry away. not only that but you can read CDs/DVDs, write CDs/DVDs, rewrite CDs/DVDs all with the one unit. Since on-the-fly copying makes no sense it seems strange not to have the option of 7 times the capacity of a CD for media that now costs £1. I'd rec the £90ish NEC ND1300A myself.

TiG I wasn't meaning to put DDR-II in a current mobo but trying to suggest that by the time most users have a use for 1GB DDR-II will probably be the std anyway. As for trying to match sticks as closely as possible for Dual Channel it isn't necessary but strongly rec'ed. I think the DVD Writer is worth it because you can still copy CDs (20p each 700MB) but you also get the ability to copy DVDs (4.7GB for £1ish) which is very useful for backing up and storing video footage. Decent DVD-ROM and CDRW are going to be around £50-60 whereas a 4x +&- DVD Writer is now only £90ish ... well worth the extra £30(ish) IMHO. Geez that's a lot of 'ish'!
