Going To Build My First Computer!

You Write "$55 each" But how much total ram? Wait, $55 for 512 MB RAM?
Where?

Yeah, I'd like to know where to get 512MB of DDR for $55. Cheapest price I've seen is $90 or so. If 512MB DIMMs are $55, I'm totally buying two.

You'll bever find it for $55 , the 512Mb 400Mhz DDR from Samsung cost $96 the cheapest 512Mb DDR is 266Mhz and it cost $82 !!!

I'm not sure why you are adding the Creative sound card when the nforce2 chipset probably already has just as, or even better sound quality.

Yeah forgot to mention I would get 2x 512, there found at that price easily at pricewatch.com, oh and as for the audio, the integrated nForce audio does not have proper hardware acceleration for some games, plus it its 5.1 channel...
(EDIT) Also About the RAM on pricewatch, some of them are as of now deals, or sometimes generic, you just have to watch out.

Watch out on PriceWatch. I snagged some cheap as all heck RAM from a dealer I found on PriceWatch and popped it in my mac, where it didn't work. I deduced it was too far out of spec for the mac logic board to support, but it worked in a generic PC, most except RAM that is somewhat out of spec.

Just find out how specific that motherboard is.

What's the difference between you're prospective motherboard and the NF7-s, which is what I'm thinking of using.

There actually in many cases considered the same board, the difference is in the feature set and AN7 has more potent overclocking success...
(EDIT) And also Macs can be a tad harsh when it comes to RAM, generic doesn't play nice with them...

I've just read a bit on the AN7 as compared to the NF7-S, lots of people say it's the way to go for overclocking the 2500+. However, all the reviews/comments say it's a little buggy, these seem fairly old though. Do you happen to have links to any newer reviews of the AN7?

Those reports about it being buggy are odd, I know abit is a top notch company. Could you perhaps have been looking at the similarly name Asus A7N, their identical boards but the Asus is not very good. Here’s a recent review of the Abit AN7:
http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q1/abit-an7/index.x?pg=1

i just got 2 gig of 533mhz ram for 100$

Well, by those specs, methinks you're going to be overclocking it, right?

Samsung RAM is TERRIBLE for that. If you want a good overclock (as in one that boots) I highly recommend you get something like a (Corsair/OCZ/Kingston/Mushkin) 2x256MB dual channel 'kit'. It's much more expensive, but the only way to go if you're overclocking.

And what's with the GeForce?! Get a Radeon! (though if you get a sapphire 9800/9800 pro, watch that it's not a 128bit version, which performs like a 9800se).

I may dabble around in overclocking, so I am probably going to use/find memory based on Hynix DRAM blocks...
On the subject of the graphics card, the Radeons pale in comparison to the FX 5900XT, Here’s proof...
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/faq.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gainward-5900xt.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/fx5900xt-modding.html
http://www.techreport.com/reviews/2003q4/geforcefx-5900xt/index.x?pg=1
http://www.nordichardware.com/reviews/graphiccard/2004/Mid-End/
http://www.nordichardware.com/reviews/graphiccard/2004/Mid-End_2/
Sorry for the inundation of reviews and mods

I too bought an AN7 and the dang thing won't boot. I've tried every combination of components and resetting the board ABIT recommends and it just turns on powers up then immediatly shuts down.

I'll RMA the board this week. How was your luck?

BTW, did you check the CMOS/BIOS jumper on the motherboard. A LOT of motherboard manaufacturers wil set the bios jumper to "CLEAR BIOS" when they ship the board since I beleive it bypasses the battery. And one of the common symptons of that jumper being on is that the comptuer will fail to boot.

CHeck that jumper and see if its set correctly.

Also try holding down the insert or home key on the comptuer while powering it up. Sometimes that will clear some bad cmos setting allowing the comptuer to boot.

Actually not done building it, I started to run low on funds so had to wait awhile, then nVidia debuted the GeForce 6600GT and thus I am waiting for that card to comeout...
Oh and my configuration has changed a tad since I originally wrote this topic, here it is now:

Processor: AMD Athlon XP (Barton) 2500+ M
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Jet7 Socket A
Motherboard: Abit NFS7 Socket A 400 FSB (nForce2 Ultra 400)
Hard Drive: Western Digital WD800JB 80GB 7200RPM 8MB CACHE
Ram: OCZ 512MB 2x DDR3200 184pin (400MHz)
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 6600GT 128MB
Sound Card: nForce2 SoundStorm
Disc Drive: Lite-On 48x24x48x16 CDRW/DVD Combo
Case: Antec P160 Anodized Aluminum Super Mid Tower
Power Supply Unit: Antec True430
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Pro
Keyboard and Mouse: Logitech Elite MX Wired Keyboard Mouse Combo
Monitor: Samsung 997DF-T/T 19"

Well I have FINALLY acquired all the necessary parts for which to build my computer, I just now have to build it, once again the specs have deviated (For The RADICALLY BETTER Though) Here Is The Components I Have Now:
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 (ClawHammer) 3400+
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 64
Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo Platinum (nForce3 250GB)
Hard Drive: Seagate 120GB 7200RPM 8MB CACHE
Ram: OCZ 512MB 2x DDR3200 184pin (400MHz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce 6800GT 256MB
Sound Card: nForce3 SoundStorm
Disc Drive: Lite-On DL-DVD/CD-RW
Case: Antec P160 Anodized Aluminum Super Mid Tower
Power Supply Unit: Antec True430
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Pro
Keyboard and Mouse: Logitech LX 700 Keyboard Mouse Combo
Monitor: Samsung 997DF-T/T 19"