Hey Everyone, Whats going on? I'm looking to build a new computer. I've never really done it before, but it seems pretty easy to learn. And there is tons of support around if I need it. I have started a "shopping" list, and wanted to run it by some of the experts on this site. The computer will be mostly used for internet surfing, some gaming, playing cd's and heavy downloading. (Umm.. definitely not porn though, everything else but porn.) Here is what I have so far. Will the Mobo I selected work well with the CPU? What about the power supply - it should be more than adequate, right? And do I need additional cooling? I was planning on using the nVidia SoundStorm on board audio. Does anyone have any experience with this board? And what is a good video card to go with all this? Does anyone have any other suggestions? What else will I need? Thanks as always for all the input. I appreciate it. Take Care! Pete Case: ANTEC Silver Aluminum Performance 1 Series ATX Mid-Tower Case with Side Window Panel, Swiveling Front Control Panel features LED Display, Model "P-160WF" Motherboard: ABIT "NF7-S" nForce2 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 512k L2 Cache, The Only 64-bit Windows Compatible Processor Hard Drive: (1 for now) Maxtor Ultra Series Kit 120GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model L01P120 RAM: OCZ Enhanced Latency Series 184 Pin 512MB PC-3200 Platinum Edition Power Supply: Antec 480W Power Supply with Blue LED Fan, Model "TRUE480BLUE" Burner: Sony Internal 16X DVD+/-RW / Double Layer Drive Black, Model DW-D22A-B2, CD-ROM: SONY Black 52X CD-ROM, Model CDU5211-BK Floppy: SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, Model MPF920

don't really need cdrom drive if you got dvd burner david

That's a trivial matter compared to trying to put an Athlon 64 on a slot a board...

Socket A mobos are for Athlon XP and (some) Sempron processors. To further add to the confusion, Athlon 64s now come in two different pinout formats. Choose which processor, then choose a motherboard with the same socket. Personnally I like Gigabyte, good features at a good price. Mine's been going 2 1/2 years, no probs. p.s. Microsoft isn't Windows64 compatable yet!

Thanks guys. All good stuff to know. Im learning. I like dsbal's sarcasm. Mocking my stupidity, but not quite. Like I said, this is my first time. David, I have both cd drives so I can copy cd's. Back to the computer... a friend suggested I get the ABIT "KV8 Pro" K8T800 Pro to go with the Athlon 64. And 1GB of that OCZ Enhanced Latency Series. Rimfire, any idea how long until Windows would work with this processor? Any more input?

Just clarify that comment. Windows 64 is probably about 6 months away. The Atlon64 is fully compatable with 32 bit operations. Its just a matter of current Windows not making the best use of all that grunt.

Thanks Everyone. The info has helped out a lot. I am sure I will be back when I get all these parts. Thanks again!