My upcoming project

[Persimmons]

I've finally decided to undertake this project, having had my eye on it for some time.

I'm looking for a computer that will run smoothly, handle high end games reasonably well. A very important factor for me is price. I'm a college student and need to set up a good rig without breaking the bank. Here is what I have in mind right now:

Motherboard - Link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856167010) - For around 80 dollars, I get:
-Case
-300 Watt Power Supply
-An AMD Socket AM2 MoBo with: Onboard video, Audio, Athlon 64 CPU support, DDR2 ram support

Processor - Link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103023) For 40 USD:

-Athlon 64 3400+ socket 939

Ram - Link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609084) - 20 USD for 1 512MB stick of DDR2 Ram.

I'll probably buy another stick later.

Video Card - GeForce 7600GS - Link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130075) - The reviews on the Internet are quite favorable, as are the benchmarks (considering it's price, at around 65 USD)

Hard Drive - Link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075) - 120 GB SATA Hard Disk for 50 USD by Western Digital. Likely more than I'll ever need. Or not. But it'll do for now.

DVD RW - Check
Sound Card - Check
Operating System - Check
Monitor - Check
Power Supply - Check
Case - Check
Cooling - Hmm...
Peripherals - Check

Around 300 USD in the hole. Im willing to put a little more money into it if need be.

My concerns:

- Cooling. The video card comes with a heatsink. I'm gonna buy a fan for the CPU once I'm set on it. The case comes with a fan. Does the RAM need a heatspreader? Is this cooling enough?

- Power supply. Is 300 watts enough? The video card doesn't mention power supply needs.

- RAM. Im going to follow the MoBo and go with DDR2 Ram. Does the CPU need to be taken into consideration? Will it work with my gig?

Opinions and recommendations would be appreciated.

Well, whaddaya think?

[Rob]

I believe this video card recommends a 350-watt power supply. Remember that quality is as important as wattage when it comes to a power supply.

[napalmdest55]

I found a nice watt calculator you could use.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

[Persimmons]

Thanks.

I went over some reviews of the video card. I was initially impressed by the 512MB memory. But once I looked over some benchmarks, I decided it was not all it was chalked up to be.

Im looking at the GeForce 7600GS Link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130075) which is cheaper and even performs better according to reviews.

Im looking more into power supplies now. Thanks for the link, napalmdest55.

[Rob]

Yes, very nice link. I've made a new sticky for links like this.