Ok so ive settled on the parts for my new pc (first im gonna build!)

wanna know basically is they are all compatible with eachother and if they are any good and worth the money.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5200+ AM2, Retail with Fan
AMD Phenom 9950 Black Edition Quad Core AM2+, Retail (125Watt)
Gigabyte GA-MA790X-DS4 AMD 790X CrossfireX Socket AM2+ DDR2 Motherboard
Gainward GeForce GTX 260 Limited Edition 896MB GDDR3 Dual DVI/TV Out PCI-E, Retail
Corsair Twin2X 2GB DDR2 (2x1024MB) XMS2 6400
Western Digital Caviar GP WD10EACS 1TB SATAII/300 5400-7200rpm 16mb Cache - OEM
Samsung SE-S084B/RSBN 8x Slimline External DVD-RW Retail Kit
PowerCool 650W PC-650AUBA Dual 12v V2.2 80+ Efficiency PSU
Thermaltake Armor+ VH6000BWS Black Aluminium Case with 23cm Fan & Window
Razer Arctosa USB Gaming Keyboard
Razer COPPERHEAD 2000 dpi Anarchy Red Laser Ultra Precision Gaming Mouse

Clocks in at £918.41 including delivery.

Please be simple, im a total n00b at PC hardware.

are you in a rush to buy a pc?

Not particularly no, just want one for Gaming and Editing. Would be handier than my fail of a laptop at the moment. Why?

windows xp, intel dualcore, 2 gigs of ram, 9800gt

Whats a 9800gt?

slow down... stick around. Read about the parts you chose. Search on google for forums that discuss each part you have on your list above.

One of the first things I did when I first built my computer long ago was make a "dream" list of what I wanted my pc to have. I didn't know a lot about PCs, I had to learn. So this dream list was a "first pass" for me. I lurked forums and read reviews of computer hardware to know what is "in" and what is not. It took me... almost a year before I bought and built my first PC.

Little by little I learned about the technology and how things worked. I had school and I couldn't spend an arm and leg on a PC, so I had to determine how I would use the system I would build... I would need to know its strengths and weaknesses AND be content with it. It took some time and the final system setup I bought was not what was on my initial "dream" list I first made...

That's why I say "stick around". Don't be someone always asking "what's good?", be someone who knows so you are not mislead or tricked.

So you need to learn. You therefore have homework. Read reviews about all the items in your list. You have listed 2 processors, you need one. Learn what is a motherboard.. learn about what are the stanard features part of a motherboard, do they meet your needs? you need to see. Don't rush, don't make hasty decisions.

Good advice, I suppose ill just buy a cheapy pre-packaged for basic needs at the minute since my laptop is all but dead and read up on what i really need.

"Whats a 9800gt?"

"Shinryu said:

"Whats a 9800gt?"

you ever hear of google son?"

Suggestions - Core 2 is better performance than current AMD offerings. Q6600 isn't really that expensive, E8400 if you're slightly more stingy. Core i7 is out if you're willing to spend the money. Also, best deal for the money is probably either 4850s in CrossFire or a 4850X2 - this is coming from somebody who bought nVidia for 6 years.

Buying something prepackaged as you suggested, something cheap that meets the basics, seems good since you need something now. And from that point onward read and learn about the hardware. Just as you come here... you read some game reviews and see what's cool and what's not... lurk around computer hardware forums to see what is liked and what is not. (even ask here... if you want an opinion on something... there are users who will share experiences)

You will need to do a lot of google'ing, to get into the mind set. I could fling model numbers and hardware suggestions at you... but is the PC for me or for you? You are the one who knows how the system will be used, you know your usage patterns.

Not only will you be google'ing to understand the hardware, but you will google to see the latest prices and determine if the hardware is worth it, or maybe you could make due with a cheaper part that will provide similar performance...

Have you thought about an operating system? You didn't include that in the list. If you go with Vista... you might as well go for 4gb of RAM... 2gb won't do much good, though it depends.

Check out this site(http://techreport.com):

This is Tech Report's latest computer buying guide...
http://techreport.com/articles.x/15941

they update it, every now and then. It's a good way to get some insight. They create various systems, from economy to something with all the bells and whistles. Use it do get some background and knowledge, but also use other sites.

http://bluesnews.com/
This site links to other sites... and they have a section of links for computer hardware reviews; so you follow them and read those reviews. While at those sites reading reviews, go to their main page and they too may link to other sites with other reviews. There are other sites like bluesnews.com . If you go to their pages, they link to many other sites that you can search through and see where they link to and so on.

It'll take time. But once you learn, you'll know. Even if you build a computer once and then don't keep up with the pc community for a few years... no problem because you will have one key thing: the knowledge of how to search and figure out what is good and what is not. That is a key thing, the ability to know where the knowledge is located, because you may forget and you will need to reference from somewhere.

while reading computer reviews and guides online... if you see a word or concept you don't know or understand, google it or yahoo or whatever search engine you like. But search for the term that you don't know, this way you will have a clear understanding. It'll take time.

While you are learning... have some "fun". Go to online computer stores like Dell and/or HP and/or Alienware and build a system for the hell of it. This way you will see prices vs performance and possibly available feature you may not have seen.

"Ok so ive settled on the parts for my new pc (first im gonna build!)

wanna know basically is they are all compatible with eachother and if they are any good and worth the money.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5200+ AM2, Retail with Fan
AMD Phenom 9950 Black Edition Quad Core AM2+, Retail (125Watt)
Gigabyte GA-MA790X-DS4 AMD 790X CrossfireX Socket AM2+ DDR2 Motherboard
Gainward GeForce GTX 260 Limited Edition 896MB GDDR3 Dual DVI/TV Out PCI-E, Retail
Corsair Twin2X 2GB DDR2 (2x1024MB) XMS2 6400
Western Digital Caviar GP WD10EACS 1TB SATAII/300 5400-7200rpm 16mb Cache - OEM
Samsung SE-S084B/RSBN 8x Slimline External DVD-RW Retail Kit
PowerCool 650W PC-650AUBA Dual 12v V2.2 80+ Efficiency PSU
Thermaltake Armor+ VH6000BWS Black Aluminium Case with 23cm Fan & Window
Razer Arctosa USB Gaming Keyboard
Razer COPPERHEAD 2000 dpi Anarchy Red Laser Ultra Precision Gaming Mouse

Clocks in at £918.41 including delivery.

Please be simple, im a total n00b at PC hardware.
"

"Shinryu said:

"Ok so ive settled on the parts for my new pc (first im gonna build!)

wanna know basically is they are all compatible with eachother and if they are any good and worth the money.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5200+ AM2, Retail with Fan
AMD Phenom 9950 Black Edition Quad Core AM2+, Retail (125Watt)
Gigabyte GA-MA790X-DS4 AMD 790X CrossfireX Socket AM2+ DDR2 Motherboard
Gainward GeForce GTX 260 Limited Edition 896MB GDDR3 Dual DVI/TV Out PCI-E, Retail
Corsair Twin2X 2GB DDR2 (2x1024MB) XMS2 6400
Western Digital Caviar GP WD10EACS 1TB SATAII/300 5400-7200rpm 16mb Cache - OEM
Samsung SE-S084B/RSBN 8x Slimline External DVD-RW Retail Kit
PowerCool 650W PC-650AUBA Dual 12v V2.2 80+ Efficiency PSU
Thermaltake Armor+ VH6000BWS Black Aluminium Case with 23cm Fan & Window
Razer Arctosa USB Gaming Keyboard
Razer COPPERHEAD 2000 dpi Anarchy Red Laser Ultra Precision Gaming Mouse

Clocks in at £918.41 including delivery.

Please be simple, im a total n00b at PC hardware.
"

Why do you have 2 CPUs on your list? (Athlon and Phenom)"

At the moment the best choice when it comes to cpu's are Intel's Core 2 series..They are the best bang for the buck when it comes to performance. Some AMD cpu's are decent but for the architecture I would stick with Intel.

Ya go with Intel. I don`t know what you use your computer for, but 1TB might be a little much. Might want to use that money for a better vid card. You could probably get a better card for roughly the same price as the card you have one you list. Just go for a ATI 4870. Since it looks like you willing to spend some money. About $240ish.

"Ya go with Intel. I don`t know what you use your computer for, but 1TB might be a little much. Might want to use that money for a better vid card. You could probably get a better card for roughly the same price as the card you have one you list. Just go for a ATI 4870. Since it looks like you willing to spend some money. About $240ish."

Stay away from the Athlon X2, they're long out of date and you're better off with a quad-core for video editing anyway.  The Phenoms, sadly, were a disappointment the day they launched.  If you want AMD, the Phenom II has just hit the market and is a vastly improved performer, and initial reviews suggest it also overclocks fairly well.  It's not as fast as the Core i7s, but they're much cheaper since i7-compatible motherboards are pricey and use expensive DDR3 RAM.  However, as other posters have said, you won't go wrong with the Core 2 series.  I'm running a Q6600 on my machine and it runs anything I throw it at with no overclocking.

pricewatch.com thats all you need to know when it comes to prices, as for that you talked about compatibility, your harddrive, usb stuff is all ways gonna be compat.

Your list seems fine for gaming and editing.  I have something similar and it works perfectly.  I would advise investing in a cooler for your CPU.
Your case is also crazy expensive, why not go for the cheaper and still amazing Antec 900 ?

In terms of processor, i would say its always best to spend as much as you can.  No point bottle necking your system in the processor area, especially considering you mention you need it for editing. 

A 1TB Hard Drive is necessary unlike someone else mentioned.  Games are 5 - 15 GB now and only getting bigger, and video editing is a major GB whore.  You wont save much by buying less, and you will only end up having to buy more eventually.  Theres even an internal 1.5TB HD out now!

I'm not too sure about your choice of graphics card.....you might want to go for the more reliable Geforce series. Particularly something from the 8 or 9 series.
Other than that, do you really need a gaming KB&M? Seems like an unnecessarily tacked on price to me.
Besides those, excellent choice.

I have a 260 and its worked perfectly for me so far.  Combined with a 10 yr warranty, its not a bad choice.  The 280 series is getting cheaper though, and the 285 and 295 are out soon, so i would expect more price drops.

I echo the advice to get a Core 2 Quad processor instead. Since you will need a different motherboard too, just find another one by Gigabyte. As for the graphics card, just look for benchmark comparisons.

A dual core would be cheaper, not to mention there are still very few games that benefit in the slightest from the additional two cores a quad would provide. 

"A dual core would be cheaper, not to mention there are still very few games that benefit in the slightest from the additional two cores a quad would provide. "

"A dual core would be cheaper, not to mention there are still very few games that benefit in the slightest from the additional two cores a quad would provide. "

You're right but the programming behind games is changing so slowly right now. When I bought might dual core E6850 on release day last year, for the same price the G0 Q6600 had been released and there were big discussions about which one to buy, loads of people were saying that all the games would be using four cores real soon, I still feel I made the right choice as despite what many said, few games ever did use all four cores and I suspect few will anytime soon.

"youstolemykill said:

"Ya go with Intel. I don`t know what you use your computer for, but 1TB might be a little much. Might want to use that money for a better vid card. You could probably get a better card for roughly the same price as the card you have one you list. Just go for a ATI 4870. Since it looks like you willing to spend some money. About $240ish."

I will be using the PC for Video productions and gaming. Thanks for the advice."

Check out this article discussing what to buy in terms of hardware...
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2009/02/03/what-hardware-should-i-buy-feb-2009/1

they share some prices, in dollar and pound, and explain.

Seems like a good resource.