Hey Guys!
Basically, I have an Advent 3511
(specs are here: UKT Support - Advent 3511 PC).
As I am unable to play most of the current games on the market, I thought I would build one instead of buying a pre-built one as then I wouldn’t be paying for extra parts that I don’t want (such as speakers and screen e.t.c) and tailor making it for my needs. Before i go on, I am a complete newbie to building computers!

I use my computer mainly for work and surfing the internet but over time the computer slows down and multi-tasking becomes hard to do...possibly as I install and uninstall software but don’t clean up the system registry files which I don’t want to touch (registry cleaner messed up my computer). When I play games, I only play it on moderate settings.

So I want to build my computer as cheap as I can (around £300-£400 or ~$600-$800 bearing in mind that hardware in the UK can cost more to buy than the USA and the US sites i find hardware dont ship to the UK ), run on XP and I would like to let be upgradeable and last for as long as possible (in relation to its ability to play games). One big thing I do not wish to do is over clock any of my hardware as i do not know how to and i dont wish to learn at the moment.

After doing some research, I have my eye on the following components:

Motherboard:
Gigabyte M57SLi-S4 Socket AM2
This has SLI feature in which I can add another graphics card in the future to be able to play demanding games in the future if need be and has two PCI-E slots (in the mean time, 1 for graphics card and the other…I have no idea what it can be used for other than graphics card use. Therefore is a motherboard with one PCI-E better for me & I have found that not many games support SLI feature so is this motherboard not 4 me?).......if you know any other good motherboards please feel free to list.

CPU: - need a dual core in this computer!
AMD X2 Athlon 4000+ Dual Core processor – energy efficient or 4200+/4400+

Graphics card:
nVidia GeForce 7600 GT PCI-E (read good reviews on this and apperently its really quiet!)

DVD RW – must be dual layer
LITE ON Black SATA Super AllWrite DL DVD
Or
Pioneer DVR-212 18x DVD.RW/RAM SATATA beige bare drive

I would like to have around 2-4Gb or RAM - which brand I have no clue

Questions I have:
Is there any other motherboards that you can recommend for my needs or is the one I have picked good? (it must have a parallel port so i can use my old printer if possible)

Are the components listed all compatible?

Which RAM would be cheap and good to use for the mild user?

Which is a good case (i like the stylish/modern look), CPU fan, case fan and PSU to use in this case? (bearing in mind that the computer wont get hot until I play games in moderate settings)

What other uses can PCI-E slots have?

I also wanted to use as many parts I can from my Advent computer.

All the websites and reviews I read are all for SERIOUS gamers and people that overclock their hardware and I am neither.

Am I just wasting my time and should I just quit while im behind?

Hope you guys can help, (i tried another website before and they ignored me probably because i asked tooo many questions at once!)

Merry Christmas!

The motherboard looks good. You are correct. the Extra PCIe slot is for another graphics card, (it has to be IDENTICAL to the one you have, same manufacturer, chipset, model etc etc) and it doesnt really have any other use. For you, i recommend this memory

A-DATA 2GB DDR2-800
As for a case, a nice Thermaltake, or Antec case would be good bets. I have this one, and love it.
Thermaltake Matrix VX VD3000BWA Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
As for power supply, this is a great, reliable, pretty quiet, and stable.
ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail

Thanks for the information! Is the graphics card good? (its around £40) or is there a better ATI version for the same price?

my preference has always been for nVidia cards, and that is a decent one, especially if you don't intend to do any major graphics with it. But gaming on moderate settings should be fine.

Yes its a good one. But if you can, i recommend the Geforce 8600GT. Even better, is the one i have, and recommend highly, the Radeon 3850, which is quet, and much more powerful.

haha i was actually looking at the 8600GT just before your reply. But I read a review that said the extra money to buy the 8600GT in comparision to the 7600GT isn't worth the little benefits you get with it....check it out Legion Hardware


just want to confirm:
SLI is only for nvidia cards and crossfire is only for Radeon cards right? so if i get the ga-m57-sli board, is it worth getting the Radeon graphics card?