I am going to use the midprice build( listed on the website) to do my first build. Would this be a good selection for a first time builder?If not any suggestions?

The system should be well built for photos, gaming (family computer). Budget Cap $1500.00

Suggest a Gigabyte P35 DS3L or ASUS P5K E with or without wife depending on the features you want. Intel E6750 CPU and 8800GT video card. 2GB of DDR2 800 RAM (1GB x 2) Crucial Ballistix would be good. Antic cases come with good PSUs or get a Tier II PSU, 550w to 600w. Can't go wrong with a Seagate drive. Samsung, Lite On, and LG all make good DVD burners, like Samsung because they are quiet and no toasters. Strongly recommend a Floppy, if you ever need it, it's there a about $6. If it'll be a month or 2 wait for the new Intel CPUs to come out and see if they're worth the extra cost. $1500 is a sweet budget even if you need a monitor
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forum [...] p?t=108088

How long will you keep the pc? Will it be overclocked? What games? What monitor resolution if you already have one?

I plan to keep the pc for at least 2-3 yrs. I am not planning to overclock this system. I will purchase a 24 in flat widescreen monitor.

g-paw's got good advice for you....

I'd go with an x38 chipset ASUS board...
8800 gt sounds great, don't spend 500 bucks right now, upgrade in year
2 gig ram should be good if you stick with xp, i'd get 4 for vista
as far as proc....really look into quads...I know you'd have to wait for the new ones, but if you want your system to hold up for 3 years, I'd say having the 4 cores will really help out in the end

The mid cost system was done in sept 2007, it is a bit dated.

Here is my suggestion:

For gaming, start with the most important part, the vga card. 8800GTS-512-G92. You will pay a bit more than the 8800GT, but you will get a bit more performance. The real reason to get this card is for the superior cooling which exhausts the hot air out the back instead of letting it recirculate.

In a week or so, some of the the new 45nm cpu's should be available. I would look at the E8400 3.0ghz which should sell for about $200. Only if you did lots of multitasking with heavy cpu usage would I consider a quad.

I would suggest the GA-P35-DS3R. It will support 45nm cpu's. It is $30 more than the equally good DS3L, but I like the 8 usb back panel ports(vs.4) The P35 chipset now has a mature bios. There is almost no performance advantage to X38 or X45 boards if you are not into maximum overclocking.

With ram so cheap, get a 4gb kit of ddr2-800 ram. It should be <$90 after rebate. For a new build, just go with vista home premium-64 bit. It makes no sense to me to invest is XP which will not be developed further. If you have a kid who is a student, look into the substantial discounts you can get on vista.

At some time look into a tuner card. The media center application included in home premium is very good. Your pc can act as a pvr.

Find a case that appeals to you. They all will work. Personally, I don't like "bling" or cases with fussy front doors. I do like quiet. My case is the Antec Solo. The same case is also sold as the Sonata plus 550 with a good 550w psu, or as the designer 500 which is white(a good looking color) with a 500w psu.

Don't skimp on the psu. Pick a tier 1 or 2 unit from this list: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forum [...] p?t=108088

A 500w or better unit from a quality vendor like PC P&C, corsair, or seasonic would be good.

You can probably pick a 500gb hard drive based on price. They are all good.

I use a samsung 203B sata burner. I like it because it is much quieter than my old and expensive plextor.

Even though you will not be overclocking, Think about getting an oem cpu cooler. Look for one with a slow turning 120mm fan that directs the hot air out the back of the case. Such a unit will be much quieter than stock.

When you look at 24" monitors, get a good one, you will be looking at it for several pc generations. In particular, look at the viewing angle. a unit with a 160 degree angle is common on cheaper units. The problem is that if you don't keep your head relatively centered, the display looks washed out. A unit with 178 degrees is better. Lower cost units may have some number of bad or stuck pixels which can be annoying. There have been NO bad pixels in the 5 samsung units I have owned.

---good luck---

How about the aluminum case recommended for the mid price build(it looks nice)?