Building a new computer, need advice

[KickServe]

Hi guys,

I'm planning on building a new computer in the next couple of months and wanted some advice. I'll probably be using the PC for mostly games, but I'm not wanting to spend a ton of money.

I was thinking of doing a barebones system with an AMD Phenom. So here are my questions

1)How much RAM, I was thinking 2gb or 4gb. Will 2gb get me by?
2)Not sure about the video card, again, I don't need the highest end card, but something enough to play games would be awesome. Probably going to be playing the Warhammer MMO mostly.
3)I want a new monitor as well and saw a 26inch Vizio LCD for 400 bucks, seemed like a good deal, but don't know much about it. Has anyone used it? This is the one that I saw: http://www.vizio.com/productDetails....=2466&pid=1508.
4) How big of a power supply do I need? there seems to be a lot of options with the barebones systems.
5) Anything special I need to do with the cooling? Will the standard CPU fan and case fan be enough?

I'd like to keep the PC budget under $600 (not including monitor).

Thanks for the help!

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Hi, welcome to TPU

1)How much RAM, I was thinking 2gb or 4gb. Will 2gb get me by?

That really depends on what version of windows you decide to get. 32 bit windows XP, you'd be ok(not great) with 2 gigs. For 32 bit Vista, I recommend 4 gigs of RAM. If you get a 64 bit version of windows, XP or vista, you'll have the ability to use more than 4 gigs or RAM.

2)Not sure about the video card, again, I don't need the highest end card, but something enough to play games would be awesome. Probably going to be playing the Warhammer MMO mostly.

Depending on your motherboard choice, whenther you get a crossfire or SLI motherboard, For a good card that can do what your asking I recommend the gtx260 on nvidia's side and the 4870 on ATI's side. Their not the top cards, but they are only 1 step down.

3)I want a new monitor as well and saw a 26inch Vizio LCD for 400 bucks, seemed like a good deal, but don't know much about it. Has anyone used it? This is the one that I saw: http://www.vizio.com/productDetails....=2466&pid=1508.

I don't know about Vizio's quality

4) How big of a power supply do I need? there seems to be a lot of options with the barebones systems.

For a 4870 or a gtx260, I recommend a 550 to 600 watt power supply. The brand you choose is extremely important, as a poor quality PSU that fails can friy your intire system. Corsair and PC power and cooling arethe best you can get today.

5) Anything special I need to do with the cooling? Will the standard CPU fan and case fan be enough?

If your not planning on OC'ing, you'll be fine running the stock heatsink and fan. If your gonna OC and get yourself some of the free performance gain(which I recommend doing) You'll need a good aftermarket heatsink. The zigmatek 1283 120 mm rifle cooler is one of the best heatsinks available and only priced around the $35 dollar mark on newegg.