Building a new pc - please help?

[FragFighter]

I'm getting a list together of what I want for a pc... can anyone help with compatibility/suggestions for hardware?
Ok, this is what I'm going to get (I'm doing up a new list completely based on compatibility) for a motherboard/proc:
Asus M2A-VM AMD Motheboard CPU Bundle - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Processor 2.30GHz OEM

And… last night while I was looking at video cards I realized, “OMG?! I don’t even know what components go into a computer, or how most of them work!” *forehead/palm* (Well, I do know a fair bit about hard drives, but that’s the extent.)
So, before I look like a total idiot, can someone tell me if this list is right? (I don't speak geek, so if my terminology is off, sorry):

Basic components of a computer:
Media drive (CD, DVD, Blu-Ray)
Sound card
Video card
Motherboard
Processor
Hard drive
Memory (RAM)
Power source
Fans (or a water cooling system)

Ok, I can't figure out where to go online to see if something is compatible with something else (yes, I have googled, asked, and webcrawled =D) so, is the
Asus M2A-VM AMD Motheboard CPU Bundle - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Processor 2.30GHz OEM
compatible with:
XFX GeForce 8600 GT XXX Video Card
or this:
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro Video Card
I do know that the board has built-in video and sound, but I would like a faster (and better) video card.... any suggestions?
Those are the two video cards I'm seriously considering... if they're compatible. I've already decided that the motherboard and processor are the ones I want, I'm just trying to make sure everything is going to work once I get it.

[james1700]

There are reviews on tigerdirect.com with people saying they have had no problems with this motherboard and an 8800 GT card. Do you have a budget for this build or were you looking at those specific cards

[rppprez]

if you don't have a budjet i suggest you but a way faster processor the amd 4400 is quite slow for some of the newer apps. If you want you can look up quad core and if they are too expensive try to look up at least dual core. even though the bundles might be cheap sometimes its better to spend a little more and get a better product. You can pick your processor first and then work from there. If you want a board with or w/o video or sound and memory you should at least try to have 2 gigs if it's not in budjet at least one gig

[FragFighter]

if you don't have a budjet i suggest you but a way faster processor the amd 4400 is quite slow for some of the newer apps. If you want you can look up quad core and if they are too expensive try to look up at least dual core. even though the bundles might be cheap sometimes its better to spend a little more and get a better product. You can pick your processor first and then work from there. If you want a board with or w/o video or sound and memory you should at least try to have 2 gigs if it's not in budjet at least one gig

Lol, I thought the 4400 was pretty good...
but now I'm going through and looking at all the system requirements for everything I want to run and am going to rechoose a processor based on that...
I did want to get a dual core processor, so I will look at that seriously...
My budget for this project is $500, and I'm just looking for something that will get me by for 2 or 3 years until I get the money and time to build a more serious rig.
My preferance is a board with sound, but it doesn't matter about video... I will probably upgrade that anyways.

[rppprez]

No problem with that budjet your can get at least a 6400 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103244 cheap enough for your budjet and powerful enough for a few years of service

[FragFighter]

No problem with that budjet your can get at least a 6400 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103244 cheap enough for your budjet and powerful enough for a few years of service

Ok, I checked out the 9600, it looks good, but I also looked at some reviews on other processors, and am also considering this one: http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=59514603/st=product/sv=title
I think I've decided on the Athlon 64 X2 5000. It's a dual core, which I like, and is newer and meets the minimum requirements (it exceeds, actually) of what I want to run on it.
Now, on to the motherboard, I guess...

[FragFighter]

Motherboards I'm looking at:
http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_techspecs_full.php/masterid=49850191/st=product_tab
and
http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_techspecs_full.php/masterid=58781315/st=product_tab

[rppprez]

sounds cool i looked at both this is now what you want personally hdmi or sound or video but for what u want to do the both boards are ok

[FragFighter]

Well, the requirements for what I want to run vary, so here's what I want to run followed by the system requirements... Some of the programs I have tested on my current computer and/or my parent's gaming computer.

Battlefield 2
1.7 GHz Intel Celeron D / Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP/ Sempron or greater
512 MB of RAM or more
8x or faster CD/DVD drive
Video: DirectX 9.0c compatible
Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible

Unreal Tournament 2K4
Pentium III or AMD Athlon 1.0 GHz processor (Pentium® or AMD 1.2GHz or greater recommended)
128MB RAM (256MB RAM or greater recommended)
8X CD-ROM or DVD
Windows® compatible sound card
32 MB video card required (64 MB NVIDIA or ATI hardware T&L card recommended)
DirectX® version 9.0b (included on game disc)

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
CPU Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 2800+ processor 2.4 GHz dual-core
512 MB RAM (768 MB for Vista)
Nvidia GeForce 6600 or ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Nvidia GeForce 7800 or ATI Radeon X1800:[20]
100% DirectX 9.0c compliant card Sound Blaster X-Fi (Optimized for EAX ADVANCED HD 4.0/5.0 compatible cards)

Office 2000 and Windows XP will pretty much run on anything, and certainly on anything I get...

[FragFighter]

I'm going to go back to the 4400 because it is a decent processor; it's not dual-core, but I think the single core will be ok for now.

[Samsang]

Why not go Intel motherboard/Intel processor and keep the money in the US for a change?

[FragFighter]

Why not go Intel motherboard/Intel processor and keep the money in the US for a change?

Because my technical advisor (my dad), who has been working on pcs for at least a decade, says that the Asus motherboards, for the most part, are the best. And although my current computer is a Pentium III, I'm far more familar with the AMDs.