Yet another new system build...

[DamienK]

My current desktop (p3 800 GF4 4400) is in need of a serious upgrade, but I've waited so long to uograde, it makes more sense to me to build a new box. My budget is about ~$1500. Heres what I chose so far, anything I should change?

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA3800BVBOX - Retail

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Value RAM 2 Gig (need a brand/link for this)

eVGA 256-P2-N563-AX Geforce 7900GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

Antec Performance I P180 Silver 0.8mm cold rolled steel for durability through the majority of chassis, 1.0mm cold rolled steel around the 4x HDD area ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Antec NeoHE 500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

NEC Beige IDE 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Model ND-3550A - Retail

I'm going to go with Windows MCE 2005, run the onboard sound until I have more cash for an X-fi, and get a TV tuner card, just havent figured out which one yet

 

[Bobthelost]

Motherboard: alright, but a waste of money if you're not going SLI

Is that overclocking RAM i see? If so ditch it for the best stuff you can get for $160 or so with rebates. Budget RAM is the best bang for buck.

Definitly not the 7800GT, the 7900GT is out and far superior.

The NeoHE should be a good PSU for the P180, but there have also been conflicts with them and asus boards. However antec will RMA the PSU if there are any problems. The 500W model is overkill for a Nvida single card system, but a good choice for SLI if you are definitly going for it.

HD = good choice

DVDRW = Meh, NEC do very good drives, but you need the hacked firmware to take advantage of them. The BenQ 1640 and 1655 are better.

You're missing a CPU, if you're overclocking then the Opteron 165 or 3800X2, if you're not overclocking then the more power the better.

I recon you can get an XFI and TV tuner on that budget if you don't go overboard on the CPU.

 

[NaOH]

Maybe he is buying sLi mobo for future proof? Easily upgrade by buying another card? idk

 

[CalvinHobbes]

IMO SLI is a waste. By the time you need to add another card, a newer card/GPU will be out and you can just replace your old card.

 

[DamienK]

Motherboard: alright, but a waste of money if you're not going SLI

As AMDUALY said I'm trying to future proof it to a certain degree

Is that overclocking RAM i see? If so ditch it for the best stuff you can get for $160 or so with rebates. Budget RAM is the best bang for buck.

Any recommendations on what RAM to use then?

You're missing a CPU, if you're overclocking then the Opteron 165 or 3800X2, if you're not overclocking then the more power the better.

Fixed that, going with the X2 3800

 

[DamienK]

If i dont go SLI, any MOBO recommondations?

 

[BloodTravis]

Check out the biostar board that you get comboed with the 7800gt on newegg...

 

[Bobthelost]

Argh!

7800GT = BAD!

The ones i like at the most are the A8N E and the epox 9 *something or other* are good single card boards. The DFI lanparty range are very good, but also very picky.

As for RAM if you don't go for DFI then any budget RAM is a good choice, DFI being more fussy about what RAM it works with so you have to take more care choosing the parts.

 

[Twsmit]

pick up a 7900GT, everything else looks great. Though you can go with value ram, you dont need to spend the money on the XMS ram.

 

[BloodTravis]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Argh!

7800GT = BAD!

Why do you think the 7800gt is bad???
(wondering)

 

[Bobthelost]

Well since they cost around $250 and for $300 you get the 7900GT which performs a touch faster than the 7800GTX, they are no longer being made so buying one in the future to SLI it will be difficult...

 

[BloodTravis]

O I C

 

[DamienK]

Edited OP with 7900..also need value ram recommendations..

 

[Gagan]

ocz valueram?
best warranty for ram out there.

 

[Bobthelost]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231021 If you want to go high (ish) end. For $25 more i would, not sure if it's good bang per buck though.

Go to newegg, memory, system memory, then slect the following options

$100-$200
184 pin DDR SDRAM
2GB (2 x 1GB)

There's a load of stuff up there, i'd go with the PC 500 myself (If i could get rebates, damn international shipping).

 

[tjpark1111]

not exactly a $25 differece..... 2x1gb corsair value select for $137 shipped
gskill extreme 2x1gb for $197/180AR shipped. For $60 difference off the bat and a rebate that'll probably come in 2 months or so at best resulting in a $42 difference, value ram is the way to go, along with a EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra ******/app/productdetails.asp?submit=search&item=13-123-236 which would save you more money.
Case is overkill, do you really care about silence and airflow or do you just build it, close it, and forget it about it? In that case, an el-cheapo enclosure, or an Antec SLK3000B w/a NeoHE 380(that should serve you fine with that rig) should be more than sufficient. http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A1307330&cmp=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r
x-fi is overkill, simply by the fact that you won't notice much difference between an audigy2 zs and an x-fi. For me personally, I forget quiet often I'm using onboard sound with some cheap headphones because I become so immersed in the game and find myself thinking a dedicated sound card at all is overkill. Music is a different story, though. Whatever floats your boat.

 

[Bobthelost]

Didn't realise the value RAM had dropped so much (10%!) i'd still be looking hard at the overclocking RAM myself.

The case is good for overclocking / high powered builds or for low noise ones, but it is uneconomical.

The difference for the XFI is more complex than that, the software for generating 3d sounds even in headphones are supposed to be stunning.