Help building a computer?

Question

Can somebody please give me a list of computer parts that are compatiable. i am going to be using this computer for mainly school work and games but i dont really want it to be for games, but if i ever wanted to do that i would be able to. i want to have lots of ram in it but i am not sure about either intel or amd cpu and the other parts. so just give me a list, also i want it to be vista compatible with a diretx 10 card and have good video ram

i will choose the best answer by how i think which list is the best with the best details.

Thank you Alot

Answer 1

Processor - Since windows vista take advantage of multi threading processors. Get the Core 2 Duo, you can choose the one with the slowest clock speed if you want to keep the cost down. But get Core 2 Duo for future proofing your laptop.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115013

Ram - Get one with 2 GIG of Ram. Get the one with 240-pin if you are buying a Core2 Duo computer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145015

OS - Windows Vista of course
http://promotions.newegg.com/msvista/Vista_Products.html

Motherboard + Case - Get a motherboard thats Socket LGA775 for Core2 Duo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16856110060

Soundcard - Get any one thats made by Creative Labs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102007

Hard drive - Any SATA Hard drive would do. Id recommend one with 7200 RPM and 16MB Cache though, atleast 8MB cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144417

Video card- Get one with PCI-E x16. To take advantage of Windows Vista's directx 10 i would get one that supports directx 10. Nvidia's geforce 8000x series are the only directx 10 cards available right now. They are extremely expensive. Id say buy a cheap directx9 card for now and wait for a cheaper directx 10 card to come out. This is the best directx9 card for your money
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143049

Answer 2

I really don't feel like looking around for computer parts that are all compatible that will suit your needs. But here are the things to look for to make sure all your parts are compatible.

-CPU/Motherboard
- Make sure that the front side bus (FSB) speed on the motherboard is equal to or less that on your processor.
- Make sure that the socket type of the CPU matches with that of the motherboard.

-Motherboard/RAM
-Make sure you get the correct type and speed of RAM for your motherboard.

-Motherboard/Graphics Card
-Make sure that your motherboard has the right type of socket that is required by the graphics card you want.

All of this information is listed on the specifications for each of the items on a site like newegg.com. I would advise using a website, especially if you are putting together a computer from scratch, because you're able to pick from a much larger selection. Don't go to a store, unless you just need one part, because otherwise it's hard to build an affordable computer from the parts in a store.

Answer 3

PC Buyer's Guide Christmas 2006
http://www.guru3d.com/article/pcbuyguide/394/

Answer 4

Best thing to do is check out the items yourself at www.ttmstempien.com