My New Rig

For the last several weeks I've been spending a small portion of my paychecks at newegg buying independent components in my never-ending quest to build the ultimate computer. I decided that buying my new computer piecemeal was the only way I would be able to afford a top-of-the-line computer. I've tried to be selective in my purchases, carefully weighing cost and performance. The regular reviews I found at Anandtech have been exceptionally helpful in the decision making process, and I think I've been able to select the best possible components at reasonable prices. Right now I have all the components to comprise the main computer itself, but I still am not ready to put it all together. My goal is to create a solid gaming rig that can also be used to edit and process digital video. (I have delusions of grandeur about someday becoming a Hollywood movie director.) Unfortunately, I'll be spending all of my expendable funds on Xmas gifts for the next few weeks. I probably won't get my weekly 'new component' fixation until the new year so I'll just write about components instead.

Here's what I have so far:

• AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 512K, L2 Cache, Socket 939 Windows Compatible 64-bit Processor


• MSI "K8N Neo2 Platinum" NVIDIA nForce3 ULTRA Chipset Motherboard


• 1GB(512MBx2) 184-Pin DDR PC-3200 OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel Memory


• Microsoft Windows XP Professional With Service Pack 2 Operating System


• Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA Hard Drive (Model WD740GD)


• Silver NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive (Model ND-3500A S)

Theoretically, all that is enough to make a working computer, but I still need to get a case, monitor, keyboard w/mouse, and security software (at a minimum) before I'll put it all together. I could test it out now if I canabalize this computer but I'd rather wait since I'm giving this one to my wife. Of course, once I do get a few more components, I won't stop there. I also want a good video card, speakers, scanner, printer, camera, video software . . .