I've never built my own PC before so I thought it would be a fun and rewarding challenge to do it myself. I've been researching for a couple months trying to decide what I need and have finally starting buying components. Keep in mind this is for simple computing only, browsing the web, streaming audio and video, office, maybe a little bit of photoshop. No gaming or heavy/intensive cpu stuff. So, you won't see any high/mid range parts here.
Here is my old system:
An HP864n Media Center, circa 2003. It was given to me a couple of years ago and have been using it since.
Processor - Intel Pentium 4 2.66 GHz
Motherboard - MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD MS-6577 (Socket 478)
RAM - Kingston PC3200 1GB, Smart Modular PC2100 512k
Graphics - 128MB NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440
PSU - Bestec 1956d b2 200 Watt Micro Atx
Hard Drive - 78GB Western Digital WDC WD800BB-00JHC0 (PATA) (This is a couple years old)
Optical Drives - HP DVD Writer 200j, MITSUMI CD-ROM FX48++W
As you can tell, this thing is a dinosaur and I felt a change was needed. I want a computer with low(er) energy consumption and something that can handle multiple tasks with relative ease.
So far I've bought (don't laugh/cringe too hard...remember this is a super budget build. I'm not looking for the latest and greatest as you'll see below)
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Processor - Intel Celeron G530 ($46)
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Motherboard - ECS H61H2-M2(1.0) LGA 1155 ($28)
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PSU - OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance ($55 Bundled with DVD Burner)
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DVD Burner - Sony Optiarc 24X
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RAM - None yet
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Case - None yet
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Hard Drive - I'm going to use my existing hard drive for now. I can't or won't spend the dough for a new sata drive. Prices are too high right now. When they lower I will consider buying one. That or an SSD(when the price is right).
So I need an IDE/SATA Adapter to run with my new system. I've found one on
Monoprice . I plan on ordering it when it's back in stock unless you know of something similar in functionality and price.
It's late so I'm off to bed. Must get sleep. I'll snap some pics in and show you some progress once I start my build. Later.
