My First Build

[rjnjr]

After so much reading (and a bottle of aspirin) just to become familiar with what goes into a system I came up with this:

Present system-Dell 8300 Pentium 4

Purchase date-within 2 weeks

Budget-not a factor

System use-home, work online, surf net, netflix, hulu, excel, word, NEVER GAMES

Parts not required-keyboard, mouse, speakers, dual monitors. 2 optical drives

Parts supplier-newegg online, compusa local store

Overclock-no

Expand in future-possible video and sound card if needed

Processor:

AMD Phenon IIX4 955 Black
HDZ955FBGMBOX
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

Motherboard:

ASUS #M4A88T-M LE
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131673

HARD DRIVE:

Seagate Baracuda 500 GB
STE500418AS
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395

MEMORY:

DDR3 /1333 (2-240 Pin)
G SKill 4 GB
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231179

CASE:

I want to stay with plain black
XIGMATEK ASGARD II B/B
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811815004

POWER SUPPLY:

Antec EA500D - Green
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371035

Thank you all for all your great information on this site
If I am off base - let me know
If I am missing anything-cables, extra fan etc - let me know

Now I hope I can get it done without frying everything and having to buy a store unit

 

[genghiskron]

you wont need that much power, even if you add a moderate graphics card or sound card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033&Tpk=antec%20380

personally id go with an i3-2100 instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.660600
it uses less power, similar/better performance, better integrated graphics, mobo socket will support newer processors.

you may also want to check on the connection type of your optical drives, it may not work with your mobo.

i dont think either earthwatts power supply includes a main power cable, but you can use the one from your old computer, or an old monitor or printer. pretty much everybody has several of these laying around. you should also check that one of your dual monitors can use a VGA cable and the other a DVI cable

do you live near a microcenter?

 

[ps3hacker12]

only thing id change is the mobo, you should really be looking at getting a 890fx/990fx board so you can upgrade to bulldozer/bobcat in the future.

 

[rjnjr]

you wont need that much power, even if you add a moderate graphics card or sound card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033&Tpk=antec%20380

personally id go with an i3-2100 instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.660600
it uses less power, similar/better performance, better integrated graphics, mobo socket will support newer processors.

you may also want to check on the connection type of your optical drives, it may not work with your mobo.

i dont think either earthwatts power supply includes a main power cable, but you can use the one from your old computer, or an old monitor or printer. pretty much everybody has several of these laying around. you should also check that one of your dual monitors can use a VGA cable and the other a DVI cable

do you live near a microcenter?

Thanks
That is the intel I picked and finally decided on AMD because it stated Quad and thought it would be better since quad is more than dual

 

[Onus]

I'd probably get a HD6450 or GT440 for decoding Blu-ray. If your video interests include transcoding, take a look at an Intel Z68 system with Virtu that will let you use Quick Sync.
Otherwise, with your emphasis on NEVER GAMING, you would likely find any CPU "good enough" for your intended uses. The 955BE is now so cheap it's hard to argue against it, although genghiskron's points about the i3 are all valid. Here's a comparison: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/88?vs=289 . They trade blows depending on the application, BUT, if you run many applications and/or background tasks at once, the true quad core 955 won't take the same performance hit that might really bog down a hyperthreaded dual core i3. If budget is not a factor (as you say), and you'd like consistent high performance, look at the i5-2400; with one tiny exception, it blows the 955 out of the water: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/88?vs=363

 

[rjnjr]

Best answer selected by rjnjr.

 

[Onus]

Thanks. What did you decide? Let us know how it goes.