New system build - Comments?

[dibrah]

I'm purchasing a new system and wanted to get comments on what I should change & what's missing. The system will primarily be used for gaming. And no, I don't want to build it myself. I've done so in the past but can't now for a few reasons. Besides, having priced the basket of components at Newegg and Monarch, it didn't come out to much more to have it built.

Here's the system:

Cooler Master Silver MID-TOWER CASE with Window
Microsoft Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2
Antec 550W Power Supply For TRUE550 EPS12V (Item#ABS17103918) 1 Standard
ASUS "A8N-SLI Deluxe" NVIDIA nForce4 Chipset Motherboard
AMD Socket 939 Athlon 64 3500+, 90nm, 2.2 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit - OEM
Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 Copper Heatsink and Fan
CORSAIR XMS, 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200, Model TWINX1024-3200XL
eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT
Seagate 160GB Barracuda 7200.7 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Sony Internal 16X DVD+/-RW / Double Layer Drive Black, Model DW-D22A-B2, OEM
1.44 floppy drive

Price: ABS - $1900
Monarch - $1760 (I get a 10% discount for using Amex)

The case and the CPU cooler differ depending on who builds the system but they are equivalent. Also, I know that I don't have two video cards for SLI but I figured I'd spend the extra $50 just in case I go that way down the road.

So a few questions:

1) What's missing or what should I change?
2) Monarch is about $140 less but are they as reputable as ABS for full system builds?

 

[blackinches]

everything looks pretty good to blackinches. is there anyway to get an nec burner instead of the sony one? and blackinches thinks you may as well save your cash and not get the sli mobo.

 

[Cook1]

I have heard very good things about Monarch, check them out at www.resellerratings.com

Good rating, and I always reccomend them to others who want a pre made PC.

 

[Gooberlx2]

gooberlx2 agrees with blackinches. dibrah should scrap the SLI and substitute SONY for NEC. gooberlx2 wishes he would get an AMEX card to get 10% discount from Monarch. Now gooberlx2 must go and stop talking in 3rd person.

 

[Tool]

OT: 10% off anything using AMEX?...i didn't see that anywhere.

 

[dibrah]

The Amex offer is hard to get to but here it is:

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/amexoffer/

10% off using your American Express card. It's a fantastic offer. FYI, I have a Amex charge card which carries an annual fee but Amex has plenty of fee free credit cards. Get one of those and purchase away at Monarch!

 

[Plumcuda1]

I have the same PS ... if I built this one again I would use the neopower 480 ALOT neater.

 

[nvbtye]

yeodls

 

[nick1985]

that RAM is overkill

 

[dibrah]

What would you recommend for RAM? There are so many options from Corsair alone that it's a bit confusing.

 

[Ike0069]

Corsair value RAM is all you need.
I would go with ABS personally, Monarch is too shady for me.

 

[slots]

Originally posted by: dibrah
I'm purchasing a new system and wanted to get comments on what I should change & what's missing. The system will primarily be used for gaming. And no, I don't want to build it myself. I've done so in the past but can't now for a few reasons. Besides, having priced the basket of components at Newegg and Monarch, it didn't come out to much more to have it built.

Here's the system:

Cooler Master Silver MID-TOWER CASE with Window
Microsoft Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2
Antec 550W Power Supply For TRUE550 EPS12V (Item#ABS17103918) 1 Standard
ASUS "A8N-SLI Deluxe" NVIDIA nForce4 Chipset Motherboard
AMD Socket 939 Athlon 64 3500+, 90nm, 2.2 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit - OEM
Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 Copper Heatsink and Fan
CORSAIR XMS, 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200, Model TWINX1024-3200XL
eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT
Seagate 160GB Barracuda 7200.7 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Sony Internal 16X DVD+/-RW / Double Layer Drive Black, Model DW-D22A-B2, OEM
1.44 floppy drive

Price: ABS - $1900
Monarch - $1760 (I get a 10% discount for using Amex)

The case and the CPU cooler differ depending on who builds the system but they are equivalent. Also, I know that I don't have two video cards for SLI but I figured I'd spend the extra $50 just in case I go that way down the road.

So a few questions:

1) What's missing or what should I change?
2) Monarch is about $140 less but are they as reputable as ABS for full system builds?

Your system is very similiar to what i am building from Monarch. Get the low -latency ram from Corsair, i read its better than the standard.

As far as Monarch is concerned, this is a first for me, but the wide selection of components to actually build the system is Monarchs edge.

Never heard of ABS, but i will check them out in the meantime.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: slots

Originally posted by: dibrah
I'm purchasing a new system and wanted to get comments on what I should change & what's missing. The system will primarily be used for gaming. And no, I don't want to build it myself. I've done so in the past but can't now for a few reasons. Besides, having priced the basket of components at Newegg and Monarch, it didn't come out to much more to have it built.

Here's the system:

Cooler Master Silver MID-TOWER CASE with Window
Microsoft Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2
Antec 550W Power Supply For TRUE550 EPS12V (Item#ABS17103918) 1 Standard
ASUS "A8N-SLI Deluxe" NVIDIA nForce4 Chipset Motherboard
AMD Socket 939 Athlon 64 3500+, 90nm, 2.2 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit - OEM
Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 Copper Heatsink and Fan
CORSAIR XMS, 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200, Model TWINX1024-3200XL
eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT
Seagate 160GB Barracuda 7200.7 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Sony Internal 16X DVD+/-RW / Double Layer Drive Black, Model DW-D22A-B2, OEM
1.44 floppy drive

Price: ABS - $1900
Monarch - $1760 (I get a 10% discount for using Amex)

The case and the CPU cooler differ depending on who builds the system but they are equivalent. Also, I know that I don't have two video cards for SLI but I figured I'd spend the extra $50 just in case I go that way down the road.

So a few questions:

1) What's missing or what should I change?
2) Monarch is about $140 less but are they as reputable as ABS for full system builds?

Your system is very similiar to what i am building from Monarch. Get the low -latency ram from Corsair, i read its better than the standard.

As far as Monarch is concerned, this is a first for me, but the wide selection of components to actually build the system is Monarchs edge.

Never heard of ABS, but i will check them out in the meantime.

proof that low latency is better? all tests shown here say that low latency is a marketing gimic with no real world performance gain. and no, 1-2% does not count as "noticable", especially when the RAM is $100 more

 

[slots]

proof that low latency is better? all tests shown here say that low latency is a marketing gimic with no real world performance gain. and no, 1-2% does not count as "noticable", especially when the RAM is $100 more[/quote]

Its only $25 more and the quality of the ram is important. My old system has been suffering because i went with generic ram.