Building new computer

"Windows XP Pro 64"

i wouldnt use windows 64 bit edition yet as not may programs support it, (you will run into more difficulty than it is worth) i would try windows xp pro or xp media edition.,


your ammount of memory looks ok, which you can buy from (www.crucial.com)

you can get graphic cards from crucial too, i would suggest at least 128 dedicated graphic memory, but 256 will be even better

I agree with mdeko about 64 bit windows, they are not very stable and still going through alot of testing process so in my opinion, stick with 32 bit xp pro or go for media edition gonna be a safe bet.
Because you said something about photo, your best bet is to go for 256 graphic card and about 2 gig of ram and you won't be sorry!
Oh, if you did't do some research about your "dream" mother board, i suggest you visit the website and look for its spec, you might find it offers some more unexpected feature and therefore need some "weird" hardwares to take the advantages!
Hope this help!

cd_rom said:

I agree with mdeko about 64 bit windows, they are not very stable and still going through alot of testing process so in my opinion, stick with 32 bit xp pro or go for media edition gonna be a safe bet.
Because you said something about photo, your best bet is to go for 256 graphic card and about 2 gig of ram and you won't be sorry!
Oh, if you did't do some research about your "dream" mother board, i suggest you visit the website and look for its spec, you might find it offers some more unexpected feature and therefore need some "weird" hardwares to take the advantages!
Hope this help!

Click to expand...

Think I misled you. My photo work is limited to maintaining albums, touch up up, sizing and printing, snap shot type stuff. The motherboard is per recommendation of others and isn't concrete, willing to change to anything as long as its quality and proven.I'm an older (77) person and will pass this computer on to my grandson so I want it to have a little upgrade possibility.Woorking with a Sony RB 30 now and have two older Sony's, one in repair and one kaput. Don't know what you mean by unexpected featuree and wierd hardware. Don't need problems. Thanks for help, will appreciate all you can give me.

in that case i would suggest at least 1gb of ram (maybe more if you can afford it)

i too am not clear about the dream motherboards

If you're going to stick with just photo editing then 1GB+ of RAM is what o look at. Crucials, as mentioned before, is a good pick. And, if you don't plan to do any gaming, almost ANY card will work. No more than 16MB of VRAM is necessary for that line of work. A 400w quality PSU from Antec is a good pick.

Sticking to 32-bit XP Pro is also best because of the simple fact that most current software is designed for that environment and the extra power would be wasted for a good while.

Here are some solid recommendations to go by:

Video card: Radeon X800Pro (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102465) or a Geforce 6800 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130202)

If those cards are too expensive or just not what you want, post back about it.

Power supply: I dont know what would possibly encourage you to get a 500-600W PSU. 450-500W should be the maximum of what you would need. Here is my recommendation: 480W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153007)

Unless you or your grandson are planning on overclocking the processor, any name brand PC3200 RAM should do. I used Corsair ValueSelect ($85 for 1GB) in my PC for 2 years and it did the trick.

my comments, i dont know how much your willing to spend, but their are some less pricy ways to go then corsair and the case you choose, but those will treat you well.
as for what you have, like they said 1gb of ram will treat ya well.
as for raid, youd have to ask these guys if the paging file runs on the raid?
if it does then your hds will be able to act as extra ram at a faster speed in which 512mb of ram and raid would do the trick. If it doesnt some extra ram might help if you do massive photo editing, but the only time ive ran out of my 1gb of memory is with bf2 editor which has passed 3.3gb which is insane and you wont need to worry about that.

the 3700+ has a 1m l2 cache but if u want to save a buck you can go less then 3500+ if it has a 1ghz fsb, im not sure which do.


as for the *** stuff
for ram get the best deal you can get, with a good case like those you wont need to worry about overheating
the best deal i could find... they said corsair matched it look around
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141212

i donno about power supplys, depends on what u want to spend

video card, for photo editing... ide go with a radeon 9600 or geforce 6200 with 256, those will last ya ahwile.
again it all depends on money, its best to set a limit then try to build under that. you can get the same performance at a cheap price, but u dont want to do that if u can pay more... im only 14 and buy the cheapest parts around, theirs no shame in that

Acutally, going with what you can afford can be bad if you can't afford much. Stick with proven brands such as Antec and Enermax. Both put out great products that you can rely on.