First time build

[Eirias]

Looking for advice on my first build, done a fair amount of research and narrowed things down to the below.

Processor
Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2x512KB Manchester - $322
Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2x512KB Manchester - $400
If I want good performance out of the box and maybe some mild OCing with stock cooler... thoughts?

MB
DFI nForce4 Ultra Infinity - $98 (worried that it is hard to troubleshoot and more likely to not like a component)
Epox 9NPA+ Ultra - $101 (worried about the USB 2.0 problems)
eVGA 133-K8-NF41 nForce 4 Athlon 64(FX) - $60 (free w/ 7800 GT, but 7800GT costs 60 more, so costs $60)... its a great price for an SLI board (don't expect to need SLI), but not sure how good the board is for OCing.

Ram
OCZ PC-4000 2x1024MB EL Gold - $210 (after rebate)
OCZ PC3200 2x1024MB 184-Pin DDR Platinum - $199.81 (after rebate)
Corsair PC-3200 2x1024MB ValueSelect - $164
Patriot PDC2G3200ELK 2GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 Eased Latency - $170

Graphics Card
7800 GT - ~300 (when I pull the trigger, will do a quick cost comp)
eVGA Geforce 6800GS - $184
Having trouble deciding if the performance boost is worth $116.

Hard Drive
Western Digital 3.0Gbps 250GB 7200RPM 8MB Caviar SE - $99

DVD drive
Will just pick, not a big concern.. maybe NEC DVDR ND-3550A or BenQ DVDR DQ60

Case
Antec P150 - $159

PSU
430-Watt ATX12V v2.2 Neo HE (comes w/P150) - know there are big problems with this PSU, but not looking at ASUS MBs and don't want to spend more than around 160 for my case/PSU. Am I making a big mistake? Suggested alternatives in the same budget?

I already have a Dell 2005FPW LCD. No specific budget, looking for good price/performance... I'm willing to spend money, but perfer not to I plan to use it primarily for gaming.

Thanks for any help!!

 

[imported_Roman]

The Athlon 3800 will be fast out of the box and will have great OC capability. I would say go with the DFI Lanparty UT Ultra-D for a mobo, great interface and great for OC'ing. I am partial to Corsair myself, but OCZ is good from what I hear. Make sure to spring for the Cas 2 though. The video card is a personal issue. What do you plan at setting your games at and what are you playing? If you want to max everything out then bite the bullet and go for the 7800GT (I prefer ATI myself). The HD is fine, Seagate is quiet if that is what you are looking for and you probably don't need to spring for the 3GB/s transfer rate. Benq makes great DVD Burners, enough said. As for the case and PSU I suggest this case

Antec SLK3000

Great cost and good airflow. Add a fan if you need to in the front but not necessary.

And the PSU, you can't go wrong with an Antec Purepower, or make an Enermax noisetaker if you want the silent solution.

Hope that helps.

 

[eXx08]

I would go with a Opteron 170. Text

 

[Eirias]

Roman, AnandTech's recent Mid-High Buyers Guide suggested the SLK3800B (pretty sure, its the SLK3000B+PSU), any reason you don't like the included PSU? It costs the equivalent of $48 or so for a 400W SmartPower 2.0 ATX 12V 2.0 PSU.

Opteron Guy, I've never built a computer (or OC'ed), do you think it would be easy to OC the Opteron 170 (think that's the only reason to get an Opteron vs X2)?

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Eirias]

Any reason to get the OCZ PC3200 2x1024MB 184-Pin DDR Platinum instead of more Value-type ram (like Patriot PC3200 Signature with 3-4-4-8 for $155 After Rebate http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220079) if I only plan to play with OCing the processor? (haven't fully researched OCing, so forgive any ignorance). Its ~$40 difference, which seems like a lot if not that big a difference in performance.

 

[eXx08]

Originally posted by: Eirias
Roman, AnandTech's recent Mid-High Buyers Guide suggested the SLK3800B (pretty sure, its the SLK3000B+PSU), any reason you don't like the included PSU? It costs the equivalent of $48 or so for a 400W SmartPower 2.0 ATX 12V 2.0 PSU.

Opteron Guy, I've never built a computer (or OC'ed), do you think it would be easy to OC the Opteron 170 (think that's the only reason to get an Opteron vs X2)?

Thanks for the suggestions!

No a Opteron is better than a X2 in many reasons including better cooling and 1MB L2 Cache and will be better in performance.

 

[imported_Roman]

Originally posted by: Eirias
Roman, AnandTech's recent Mid-High Buyers Guide suggested the SLK3800B (pretty sure, its the SLK3000B+PSU), any reason you don't like the included PSU? It costs the equivalent of $48 or so for a 400W SmartPower 2.0 ATX 12V 2.0 PSU.

Thanks for the suggestions!

The case looks good to me (very similar), but I think for the rig you have, to be on the safe side, you should get a PSU with a little more juice. 480w+ would suffice. I believe you can run what you have with 400w, but I like to be safe rather than sorry. And it gives you the option to add more if you want to in the future.

 

[imported_Roman]

Originally posted by: Eirias
Any reason to get the OCZ PC3200 2x1024MB 184-Pin DDR Platinum instead of more Value-type ram (like Patriot PC3200 Signature with 3-4-4-8 for $155 After Rebate http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220079) if I only plan to play with OCing the processor? (haven't fully researched OCing, so forgive any ignorance). Its ~$40 difference, which seems like a lot if not that big a difference in performance.

If you don't plan on OC'ing the RAM, then the value ram will work fine. However, the lower timings will help get some more fps during gameplay, if that is what you are looking for.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Get an Opteron 165 or x2 3800+, no sense in getting the 4200+ or 170 for "mild overclocking"

 

[pkme2]

Check "New PCs?' Link

Good Hunting.