With this setup http://cgi.ebay.com/AMD-ATHLON-64-3400-ASUS-K8V-SATA-64bit-BAREBONES_W0QQitemZ5245486152QQcategoryZ52475QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem does anyone have any recommendations for video card, sound card, and/or LCD? Budget is an additional 400 dollars. Thanks.

It's over $350 & all you're getting is a case w/PSU, S754 board & CPU w/HSF? DONT DO IT! You could put together a much better S939 A64 barebones system for that price! CPU @ $146 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537 Motherboard @ $105 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136163 RAM @ $78.50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220057 Buy a case w/PSU locally to save on the huge shipping charges. Be sure to get one with a PSU that has a 24-pin main power connector. ASUS A7N8X-X Athlon XP 1800+ 8.5 x 200MHz 1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7 Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro SP2

Thanks, but I'd like name brand stuff. 1.Even without overclocking, is the venice faster, because the frequency is a bit slower although the L2 cache is a lot higher 2.how difficult is it to overclock the venice? 3.what level of cooling do i need for this processor(standard-w/case ok, and overclocking?) 4.Is 20ms LCD response time too slow for gaming? 5.what would a good (up to 100 dollar) video card be? First time building a sytem, thanks for the help.

I know of no good up to 100 dollar video card. I mean, if you're building a GAMING computer, and you want it to handle state of the art games, I mean ... GO ALL OUT. Fork over for an ATI Radeon X800 PRO, or a Nvidia or something. The X800 PRO is what I got. Goes for around 300. Might find one cheaper on ebay? Hurts the wallett, but delivers some darn pretty graphics.

"Thanks, but I'd like name brand stuff." What does that mean? DFI has been around for years & probably makes one of the best if not THE best S939 board currently available...their 2 best lines are the Infinity & the LANparty. Check some of the hardware reviews sites & see for yourself. The S939 Venice is MUCH better than the older S754 A64 & you can overclock the hell out of them with just stock cooling...plus the S939 supports dual channel RAM, the S754 is single channel only. PDP Patriot memory is somewhat of a newcomer, but the reviews on their RAM are excellent. Once again, check some of the hardware reviews sites. None of these products are "no-name". BTW, I'd be willing to bet the case w/PSU in that system you plan on buying IS a no-name piece of crap. 20ms is WAY too slow for gaming...look an an LCD monitor with 12ms or less..8ms is preferred. ASUS A7N8X-X Athlon XP 1800+ 8.5 x 200MHz 1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7 Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro SP2

Thanks, I only knew that asus and gigabyte were good. How about a videocard(from reading the boards people like MSI geforce6600gt, although its 156 AR on new egg =( ). Does the amount or type of memory matter more to its performace(I noticed some 256Mb DDR ones were cheaper than 128Mb DDR3) A link would be helpful.

The MSI 6600gt is a good choice. I have the BFG 6600gt and all I have is praise for the 6600gt, the performace/price ratio is just phenomenal! P4 - 3.2Ghz/800Mhz, 1M 1.0 Gb of RAM, WinXP pro SP2 40 gb HDD ASUS P5GD1-VM-UAY0Z, 420 W PSU BFG Geforce 6600 GT OC PCI-E x16 Onboard Audio HP CD R/RW LG DVD burner