PC Case:
Your old case may be suitable. A lot of cases have holes to accommodate the majority of motherboards that are sold. So use your old case and just buy a power supply only. The above may not apply if you have a proprietary case (HP, Dell and others).
Power Supply:
Most of the modern motherboards require a 24 pin power supply and an additional 4 pin 12V lead. The older power supplies tend to have 20 pin plug so check what the motherboard requirements are. When buying a Power Supply best to go for 400W or better in case you have many additional items attached.
CPU:
Well is it Intel or AMD? Many debates... Consider what your requirements are and make your choice. I am now using an AMD Phenom II 3.2 ghz (955) with 8G of DDR3 memory.
Excellent value for money.
AMD Phenom II – this is AMD’s newest
and most powerful range of processors. There are a few different models
available:
• 900 series – marketed as X4, this is the fully enabled
version of the CPU. It has four fully functioning cores and a fully
functioning 6MB L3 cache.
• 800 series – this is marketed as a lower grade X4. It
still has four functioning cores, but due to some faults with the cache
some sections of it are disabled, leaving it with 4MB of functioning
cache.
• 700 series – marketed as X3, this version of the CPU has
the full cache enabled. However, it has one faulty core which is as
a consequence disabled, making it less powerful.
• 500 series – marketed as X2, this is essentially like
the X3 except with two faulty and disabled cores rather than just one.
Memory:
As memory is fairly cheap at present I suggest you start off with at least 2GB. The AM3 or Intel utilise dual/triple channel DDR3 memory.
DDR3
Hard disk:
SATA drives have now been around for a few years and are available at reasonable prices. Just bought a 1TB for around £75, so check out those prices.
DVI:
Do you intend to play your films onto a high quality HDTV screen. Look out for a motherboard with a DVI or HDMI interface. You will need a decent graphics card (GPU) to get a decent picture. A few motherboard have a good enough GPU built in.
DVI Cable
More info on HDTV
HDMI Cable
Motherboard:
I have opted for a Gigabyte motherboard. This particular one suits my needs.
MA790XT-UD4P
Read my installation & setup blog here
AM3 Motherboard
Gigabyte
My Monitor
LG L246WH 24" wide format TFT Screen (5 ms) - HDMi DVI-D
The L246WH-BN from LG is a top-of-the-line, 24” monitor in 16:10 format with amazing visual performances that will impress even the most demanding computer users. The L246WH-BN has a 2000:1 contrast ratio and 400 cd/m² brightness for optimal graphics, and it even has an HDMi interface for your digital video applications.
Colour 16.8 million colours
Resolution 1920 x 1200
Brightness 400 cd/m²
Contrast 2000:1
Viewing Angle Horizontal/Vertical 170/170
Waiting Time 5 ms
Video Inlets/Type DVI-D, HDMI, YUV and USB ports (compatible with HDCP)
Frequency Page Vertical: 30 to 66 KHz
Horizontal: 56 to 75 KHz
USB Hub 1 x USB 2.0
Max. Consumption 80 W
Size 560 x 270.2 x 444.5
Weight 9.6 kg
The monitor worked 1st time out of the box. No dead pixels and good picture.
The default setting is amazingly bright. There are 3 different presets which are too bright. Set up mine via a user setting on the OSD. Went down to 10% on both brightness and contrast.
There are buttons on the monitor
to adjust brightness and contrast without messing around with the OSD
menu.