Hey everyone! I am interested in building a new system and would like some suggestions as to what components I should use in it. I would like a fairly modern and fast system. I intend to use an AMD Phenom X4 processor, and having no issues with systems I have built in the past with ASUS motherboards, I plan on using either the M3A32-MVP or M2N32-SLI; as those are the two recommended by AMD. As for the GPU, I was thinking something along the lines of the GeForce 9800 series, as it has HDMI support and I would like the capability of connecting my computer to a HD tv using HDMI. I figure I will SATA the hard drives and use Corsair RAM. At this point is where I am open to suggestion. I have not paid much attention to the growth in technology for quite some time now and would appreciate recommendations on which manufacturer's and/or models I should choose for components such as the GPU, hard drives, sound card, power supply, case, etc. I realize this will be a costly system, I am merely interested in what would be the most beneficial for what I have in mind. Thank you for your time and suggestions!

Budget? Also why the Phenom?

@ dead_end... need more info. As you can see most here list the components and justifications of the components that they want crytique on. You are merely saying you "want", well what's your budget? Why AMD? Why Corsair? Do you want to game? Do you want to overclock? Do you want Vista or XP? What are your interests in a computer? Why build?

Give us something to work with here.

Well, as for the AMD Phenom, I liked the high bandwidth that the Hypertransport provided. Corsair has always been known to produce RAM with a high FSB, and I appreciate the quickness of those aspects. They are also generally regarded to produce reliable products. I may overclock if I ever find it useful depending on the applications I am running. I do game from time to time and the system I currently have does not support many modern games seamlessly. I have not looked into the benefits of Vista yet, as I stated, I am somewhat behind on the technology. My primary interests for the computer is for multimedia purposes- music and movies mainly, and gaming as time allows. I prefer to not buy computers already assembled, I appreciate the customization factor and freedom I have of designing my own system. As far as a budget goes, I am willing to spend a couple grand. I'm not looking for the absolute "best" of everything, simply the fastest, most efficient computer possible without too much effort and not spending a fortune (4 grand+). Large storage capacities are something else I would like to have. As of now I have 400 GB of storage, and around 20 GB of it free. I have a large music collection that I backup onto my computer that is in excess of 200 GB, and will not cease to grow. As far as I have read, hard drives hooked up to run in SATA format are quicker than standard, and for as full as my hard drives become, it tends to slow them down. Would 10k RPM hard drives make that much of a difference over the 7200 RPM? I am also curious about compatibility, I do not want to waste too much time reviewing products that are incompatible with the components I am foremost interested in (the processor and GPU). I hope that helps somewhat. I'm looking for something fast, efficient, and with loads of storage (terabytes), and I have a reasonably large budget to work with. From day to day I perform basic tasks, but when I want to game or whatnot, I want it to perform with ease. Excuse me if this has not made what I am asking any clearer, I have a tendency to at times not portray what I mean very well heh.

Alright... Have it your way! J/K!

Start with proc for ya: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703005 none other than the new stepping in AMDs line of procs... this here is the latest and greatest. Its far superior to the 9600... easily overclocked to over 3ghz too.

Motherboard: I would try to stick with the spyder platform since you want AMD. So I would go with this MSI board. Not only is it the newer 790FX but it's at a good price. Supports CrossfireX too.

GPU: Probably would grab two of these if I were you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161224 Both have a rebate for pretty cheap... However maybe get one now and another later once prices drop and you feel the need for the added performance.

Memory: Lot's of it... steal of a deal and 1000mhz speeds for 2X2gb kit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231145

Hard drives: Dependent upon what size you want I would choose from one of these 7200.11 series http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148288 They perform exceptionally well... look at Toms Charts.

For CASE and PSU... We'll talk later once you figure out the basics.... Dont do a sound card right away... always see if you like the onboard. So tell US what you think!

^Link for the CPU is to a PSU (PP&C 610) Please correct the link.

My recommendations:

Q6600/9300 (easily OCed to 3.2+Ghz and easily beats most if not all Phenoms*)
P35/X38 motherboard like the P35-DS3x or (P35) P5K
Since you won't be gaming much a 9600 would be enough.
Corsair 550/520/450 or PP&C 610
Good CPU cooler like XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 (esp. if OCing)
500GB+ 7200.11 HDD(s)
4GB+ DDR2 800 from Corsair Crucial or Patriot or other reliable good brand. ++

*Note that most multimedia software will scale between Speed and Cores. Say for instance you had 6 cores running at 1.8Ghz. And you have 4 cores at 3.4Ghz. The performance for the 4 cores @3.4Ghz will be greater than the 6 cores at 1.8Ghz. (80% of the time, of course there are always exceptions)

++Must have x64 OS to use all 4GB.

If I were you I would go with Shadow's recommendation... but if you are an AMD fanboy than go with my recommendation.

^Agreed. You still need to fix the CPU link.

Thank you for your suggestions! I will look in to what you have both suggested. It is greatly appreciated!