Final System Specs

[imported_SoulCatcher]

Cpu : LinkAMD Athlon 64 3500+ 512K 90nm (939)
Mobo: LinkAsus A8N-SLI Deluxe
Memory: Link1 GB (2 pcs 512) DDR (400) PC-3200 Mushkin LII V2
GPU: LinkBFG GeForce 6800 GT OC 256MB X2
HDD: LinkWestern Digital 74 GB SATA 10K Raptor X2
HDD: LinkSeagate (ST3300831AS) 300 GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA X 2
DVD-RW: LinkAsus DRW-1604PBLK 4x-DVD+R DL 16x4x16-DVD±RW Drive
CD-RW: LinkAsus 5232ASQT-BLK (BLACK) 52X32X52 CD-RW Drive
Sound Card: LinkSound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamer
PSU: Link Pc Power & Cooling 510 SLI
Speakers: Unsure, will be 5.1 in the 300$ price range
Monitor Unsure, still looking for the right 21"+ CRT

Total cost : approximatly $2,900 Without speakers or monitor

Anyway, I would appreciate any input, as im wanting to hit that buy button tonight or tomorwo, so let me know what you guys think

So let me know what you guys think

 

[mwmorph]

go 3200+. save some money and it oc's just as well. stock it isnt much slower anyway.
mobo, go dfi lanparty nf4 sli.
ram: value ram is just as fast, even when ocing(just use dividers. slower ram dosent really even impact performance noticably[see memory matrix sticked at top of cpu/processor forums])
gpu: bfg is good. personally i wouldnt go sli but to each his own and you do seem to have the money to do it.(no real improvement in most games though)
hdd: good just use jbod, raid 0 dosent really help speed up any hdd for normal procedures(only realyl speed up stuff if you work with HUGE files[at least as a bare minimum 1+GB] it actually slows down smaller file because of increased seek times.
HDD2: seagates are good. damn though 750GB storage? overkil. raid for 7200rpm drives should be fine.
DVD drive: newegg is habving a great sale on benq[great drives] 16x dl drive with a free version of nero($52)
cdrw: no need for cdrw if you got dvdrw, but if you really need it, get 2x benqs. it's cheaper then the 2 asus frives and now you can buurn 2 dvds at same time.
sound card: no need for audigy gamers unless you need the bundle. otherwise just get some regular audigys
psu: dont skimp on a quality psu. besides go http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=17-153-021&depa=0
thermaltake 680w truepower. great ps for less $ and many more watts of power available.
speakers: may i suggest some klipsch?
monitor, go mitusuibishi diamondtron. same as the trintron line by sony(thought by many to be highest quality, best crt's out there)

 

[MustISO]

That thing should scream! Even with one 6800GT it would be great.

 

[nick1985]

you are wasting over $100 on RAM

 

[mwmorph]

exactly that's wht i told him. value ram works as well as high quality costly ram people! when will you people learn?! ram is 1 area where performance dosent scale well with cost!!!

 

[macewank]

theres a difference between high quality and low quality ram... value ram is NOT necessarily low quality ram, look at the vendors.. THAT is how you decide what quality ram is

that said, yeah.. $100 in ram that you dont really need to spend, $415 in extra video (reaaaaly not necessary right now.. one 6800GT will hold you just fine)

 

[imported_SoulCatcher]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
ram: value ram is just as fast, even when ocing(just use dividers. slower ram dosent really even impact performance noticably[see memory matrix sticked at top of cpu/processor forums])
DVD drive: newegg is habving a great sale on benq[great drives] 16x dl drive with a free version of nero($52)
cdrw: no need for cdrw if you got dvdrw, but if you really need it, get 2x benqs. it's cheaper then the 2 asus frives and now you can buurn 2 dvds at same time.
sound card: no need for audigy gamers unless you need the bundle. otherwise just get some regular audigys
psu: dont skimp on a quality psu. besides go http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=17-153-021&depa=0
thermaltake 680w truepower. great ps for less $ and many more watts of power available.
speakers: may i suggest some klipsch?
monitor, go mitusuibishi diamondtron. same as the trintron line by sony(thought by many to be highest quality, best crt's out there)

Thanks for your thoughts, Im going with that memory for 2 reasons, one I dont plan to oc for at least a few months on this system, I will oc my old box once I get this one put together and stable, so I get a feel for doing it without risking any major components, secondly I know alot of people reccomend value ram, but I do not want to have to mess with dividers, and from what I have this ram will run better at stock speeds.

On the optical drives, have you ever owned an ASUS optical drive? out of all the optical drives I have owned, asus has been the most coaster free, reliable quiet drive, not to mention they have a very nice firmware update utility.

I am going with the audigy gamer, cause for 20 bucks, I get 3 games I do not currently own, 2 of which I want to play

Trust me, I am not skimping on the PSU lol, that psu is currently the only one approved by nvidia for dual 6800 gt cards. While that thermaltake may be called a 680W psu, thats peak power, take a look at the specs, it has 3 +12V rails (totally un needed imo) and I cant find the normal power rating, or efficiency rating on their page. Take a look at these specs Link The PCP&C has a peak power rating of 650W, not a whole lot different, unless you take into account the lower ripples, effeciency, and 5 year warranty

Thanks for the reccomendatios on the speakers and monitor, I have been looking at those speakers, and I will check into those monitors

 

[ribbon13]

Have you considered this CRT?
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=24-002-091&depa=0

 

[ribbon13]

BTW the 680w will get its ass trounced by the PCP&C on the derating chart!
http://pcpowercooling.com/pdf/Turbo-Cool_510_vs.pdf

The only thing that can beat the Turbo-cool 510 is the Turbo-cool 850 ETX
http://pcpowercooling.com/about/whatnew_850_ETX.htm

 

[n7]

I like your idea of HDD space :thumbsup:

Who said 674 GB is overkill?

I would honestly skip the second 6800 GT right now, as the difference in games isn't likely to be even close to worth the cost ATM.
If you feel you need better performance for the newer games later, then you can buy another one, but by then it will be better priced too.

I will also say skip the expensive RAM, since timings mean almost nothing in A64.
Get some good Corsair or Kingston Value RAM & send the money saved to me

Edit: I didn't notice you had 2 Raptors for RAID-0.
Forget RAID-0; not worth it IMO & most others.
Get a third 300 GB HDD for storage instead

 

[airfoil]

Backing that monster up is going to be real easy, assuming both sets of drives are going to be in a RAID0 configuration!

For the burners, you may want to consider an NEC drive over ASUSand a Sony CDRW/DVD combo.

 

[n7]

You mean RAID-1

 

[imported_SoulCatcher]

Thanks for the tip on the monitor ribbon13 it looks like a good one, im really hoping to find a 25", but there seems to be a dearth of high end ones right now.

Yes the 510 PSU pretty much tromps everything except the 850, but when I spoke with PCP&C today, they didnt think the 850 would be going to single purchasers for at least 6 weeks, unless the got an extra one here or there during a days production, apparantly alienware has a huge order in for them

I know I dont NEED the dual 6800GT cards, but sometimes its not about what you need, but what you want

Im not looking at the raid-0 on the raptors for a speed increase really, but more for the space, if there was a 200gb raptor I would just buy that, since there isn't... well you make do with what you can get.

 

[imported_SoulCatcher]

well, unless anyone sees any conflicts with hardware, or some really stupid mistake im making, (other than my choices explained for my reasons above) Im going to go ahead and hit that order button in 30 minutes or so

 

[SrGuapo]

Looks like a kick ass system. I will agree with the above posters that the Raptors, RAID0, RAM, 2nd video card, and CPU are overkill (but still great performers). I could build a system with 98% (1-2 FPS in games) of that one's performance for almost half the price.

Edit: OK, without a CRT and ($300!) speakers, your total is $2750. That means I have $1500 for a system with speakers. Yhis ought to be interesting.

 

[nick1985]

you heard wrong about that ram...

 

[SrGuapo]

Here's a quick system. I could have saved a bit more money, but I was trying to keep the specs similar to yours (graphics and Hard drive space mainly. How mnuch porn does one guy need ):

CPU: Athlkon 64 3000+ winchester
Mobo: MSI Neo4 SLI
RAM: 1 GB mushkin/corsair/etc. value PC3200 RAM
GPU: 2x geForce 6800gt
HDD(s): 2x 400GB Hitachi 16MB buffer
DVD: BenQ 16x DVD-RW (off newegg)
CD: Lite-on 52x32x52
Sound: not needed
PSU: Antec Neopower 480W (though yours will work fine)
Speakers: Not too sure: these seem to be a god deal though: Logitech Z5300e 5.1

That will bring your total to ~2300. About $700 less. Not half, but if you only get 1 6800gt (that will run everything maxed out now, anyway) more realistic Hard drives (ie only 300-400 GB), you could bring the price down by another $700. Add in a decent, but not overkill CRT ($250 maybe) and you have a $1800 PC that will easily rival your $3000 PC.

 

[Spicedaddy]

Take out a video card, a raptor and a seagate, and keep the money for future upgrades...

 

[imported_SoulCatcher]

Originally posted by: SrGuapo
Here's a quick system. I could have saved a bit more money, but I was trying to keep the specs similar to yours (graphics and Hard drive space mainly. How mnuch porn does one guy need ):

CPU: Athlkon 64 3000+ winchester
Mobo: MSI Neo4 SLI
RAM: 1 GB mushkin/corsair/etc. value PC3200 RAM
GPU: 2x geForce 6800gt
HDD(s): 2x 400GB Hitachi 16MB buffer
DVD: BenQ 16x DVD-RW (off newegg)
CD: Lite-on 52x32x52
Sound: not needed
PSU: Antec Neopower 480W (though yours will work fine)
Speakers: Not too sure: these seem to be a god deal though: Logitech Z5300e 5.1

That will bring your total to ~2300. About $700 less. Not half, but if you only get 1 6800gt (that will run everything maxed out now, anyway) more realistic Hard drives (ie only 300-400 GB), you could bring the price down by another $700. Add in a decent, but not overkill CRT ($250 maybe) and you have a $1800 PC that will easily rival your $3000 PC.

Yes, I could do that with some OC'ing, however that is not my goal here. I have the money to spend, its been years since I spoiled myself, and I actually do use that much hd space. I have 450 gb in my current box, and its about 75% full or so.

Im not out to build a budget system, Im out to build a higher end gaming system, that not only will it run the current games, it will run them VERY well.

Thank you everyone for your input, I have taken everything said and mulled it over. My final decisions will be on a monitor and speakers. Right now, I am leaning towards the Klipch speakers, but I will probably have to do a little more digging on the monitor front. Trying to find a 21"+ preferably 25" with a true flat screen, and good dot pitch... A few I am looking at, but no clear leaders yet