building comp- help please!

[BMF]

Hi guys, i am gonna try to build my own comp from ground up. I have speakers and a monitor. I am really new to this so any advice would be greatly appreciated. What i have pretty much set in stone so far are amd athlon 64 3000+, asus k8v deluxe mobo, corsair xms memory. I really need some advice on the case, hard drive, and video card. For cases i have read good things about the Lian Li PC-65. Does anyone know anything about this case? Some folks told me about a Antec Sonata, what would the difference in these cases be? For hard drive, i think i have a 18.6 now. I pretty much just play games and save music on media player. Would one 74 gb raptor be enough? And lastly the video card. I either want a 9600 or 9800. Are there real world differences in these cards?

Thanks Much
Robert

 

[BMF]

anyone???

 

[Corporate Thug]

there is a world of difference between 9600 and 9800. if you game a lot, 9800 is the way to go

as for the hdd, i thought that 80 was enough for me too but then i added another 60 and a 80

i would just go for the seagate 160 gb SATA HDD @ compusa for $89 AR

 

[RaNDoMMAI]

hey dude,
i am in the process of the same thing and i also asked a bunch of questions

check out my thread
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=1218572

~RaNDoM

 

[Rapier7]

9700 Pro is almost as good as the 9800 Pro, but for far less cash. Check newegg.

 

[Aikouka]

Try reading reviews, they're a good tool for finding fast and good performing hardware.

I own a GeForce FX 5200 (an upgrade from my GeForce 2 MX) and I don't mind the lower-end hardware. It plays all of my games well and it only cost $67 from NewEgg.

If you want to go SATA, you should try doing SATA RAID Level 0. Don't let the risks scare you, Level 0 allows for great speed increases.

A friend asked me to design a computer for him, I recommended Mushkin PC3500 Level II or OCZ 4200 Platinum (I wrote it a couple weeks ago.) These two are great performers (as shown by Anandtech reviews.)

I own a Xaser III case, and I do not recommend it. The cases are the shoddiest things made (especially the cheap molex connectors for the rheobus) and have horrible air flow. The Rheobus has caused me power problems and the fans are too slow for the cases low-opening front. There's all that I can help you with case-wise.

 

[Cerb]

Video card:
If you're getting the 3000+, your minimum should be a Radeon 9600 XT ($150-$200).
However, a 9700 Pro is a good option ($220-$250), as would be a 9800 ($260-$300). For NVidia, a 5900SE, 5900, or 5900 Ultra (with the first two having better bang/buck, I can't recall the prices off the top of my head).
HD:
Go SATA. Raptors would be good, but of course they don't hold that much. Best would probably be to have a Raptor or Raptors in (R)AID 0, and then a single large HD for storage. If you go RAID 0, you probably should make the storage drive PATA. While Raptors should be much more reliable than normal IDE drives...having everything on a RAID 0 is asking for trouble, unless you back up regularly.
Case:
Lian-Li are pretty much all good. Another you should consider is the Antec SLK3700, and the Antec Sonata (the 3700's quiet cousin).

 

[BMF]

Ok guys, sounds like the 9800 is for me. I love gaming! Does anyone know where to get this card at a fair price? And what does oem mean? Thanks for the help guys, but i am still lost on the hard drive. I have no idea what a raid is. Is there one hard drive that you guys would recommend? I am really liking the Lian Li case. Been reading lots of good reviews on them. Antec comes with a great power supply though, im torn here, and how much power is enough for this setup?

 

[optimistic]

I recommend getting your video card & case from microcenter (if you live by one). They have an Antec 3700AMB 350w PSU, 2x 120mm fans. And 9600 & 9800s for cheap.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Case:
Antec Sonata w/ antec TruePower 380 is great. Just picked one up myself. Very quiet.

Video:
9700Pro = 99% of 9800Pro for less $$$. Got 9700Pro myself. Great card.

 

[Markfw]

I second the Sonota case, the 160 gig Maxtor SATA is my hard drive choice, the Radeon 9700 pro (almost 9800 and a lot less), but I recommend the Kingston Hyperx PC3500 C2. As you can see I have that with your CPU and mobo, and OC'ed to 2170 or 2200 depending of the app I'm running.

 

[BMF]

Where do i find the 9700 pro at online for a fair price?

 

[Corporate Thug]

zipzoomfly.com has OEM 9700 pro for $206 shipped!!! tax only in CA

 

[BMF]

Any good places to buy the 9800 pro and what is good price?

 

[BMF]

Any good places to buy the 9800 pro and what is good price?

 

[BMF]

Any good places to buy the 9800 pro and what is good price?

 

[BMF]

bump

 

[gunbounder]

I suggest the Kingwin Case KT-424. I just bought one and I really like it. It's very very similar to the Lian Li one you looked at, but it's like $30 cheaper and has a bunch of extra stuff. It doesn't come with a PSU, but I use the TruePower 380w and it works great. I actually just built a new computer, check my specs below. Works fantasitic~