Starting From Scratch

[saintjimmy]

Here's some suggestions: Get DDR3 1333 MHz RAM instead, and save ~$15. Most AMD motherboards will underclock the 1600 to 1333 and you will need to manually set it higher if you want to get a higher speed, or change to a different motherboard that supports it (some support 1600 without overclocking). I would also recommend getting a DVD burner instead of just a DVD player. It's the same price, so there's nothing to lose. Plus, it gives you the option of backing up onto DVD's if you don't have an external hard drive (or if you don't back up at all, this can give you the chance to).

You could also get a small SSD of under 50 GB to use as your Windows boot drive, and keep all other programs/documents on the larger hard drive, which you could also bump in size & speed slightly to a 750 GB WD Caviar Black for the same price.

So here's the parts I would recommend - for the motherboard & RAM, I would suggest getting one or the other I list (1333 RAM for your currently planned motherboard, or new board for current RAM selection).

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231190

DVD Burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136168

40 GB SSD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227610

750 GB Western Digital Caviar Black:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283

 

[Iced8383]

Newer config...

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146062
CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808
Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402
Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-121-391
OS Hard Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227610
Storage Hard Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283
RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231190
CD/DVD Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136168
OS:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

New cost:
$1062.90...lowered the price by about $100.

 

[lewisner]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will look into it a bit tomorrow. I will likely bump the PSU down to around a 500W-550W supply. Also, I don't understand motherboards too well so I'm open to suggestions. My current hard drive (500GB) is a little more than half full, however I do plan on getting X-Plane 10, so who knows how big the filesize of that may be if X-Plane 9 takes of 73GB. I'm likely going to search for a new graphics card tomorrow, also open for suggestions there. In response to RRSignal, I do happen to have a copy of Windows XP 32-bit, however I have a computer running Windows 7 that runs very stable compared to my old computer. I'll likely stick with the 4GB of memory for now and upgrade it in the future. I think I may stick with the CPU, however if someone does make a suggestion I'll look into it. I'll post again tomorrow with updated specs and a new price.

Regarding the PSU, Nvidia have a PSU calculator on their website. I would suggest using that. 500 watt doesn't sound much, especially if you want to do upgrades in future.