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!!
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!!