Opinions Needed

[wardog3187]

Well, I decided to take the plunge and build my own "Super PC". I will be using it for the following;

1) Play and store mp3 and DVD (ipod)
2) Gaming (Army Men and flight simulators)
3) Photo (Adobe Photoshop)
4) MS Office applications (Powerpoint, Excel, Word, etc, etc)
5) Probably a few more things that I have not thought of yet.

I'll plan on using the following items;

Motherboard - ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
Processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ AM2 (dual-core)
Ram - Crucial 4GB kit (2GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-5300
Video Card - EVGA Geforce 8800 GTS 320MB DDR3 PCI-E
Hard Drive - Western Digital 750GB/500GB 7200rpm SATA
DVD RW - Sony DRU-830A Dual Format Double Layer
Sound Card - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
Operating System - Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2
Case - Antec Sonata III with 500-Watt power supply

I'm here to learn and built one butt kicking system that can be upgraded over time.

I know that I have WD 750/500GB listed as I plan on installing both.

Any and all opinions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

PS - I have the case already.

[Jamie Nixx]

You will now plan on using the following items ;)

Core 2 Duo E6750
Asus P5K E P35 motherboard (supports DDR2 and DDR3 memory for ultimate upgradeabilty)
EVGA 8800GT (a gazzilion times better than the GTS and cheaper)
Corsair XMS 2GB (only use 4GB if your using a 64bit OS, more than 2GB for a 32bit OS will slow your computer down)
Harddrive, good.
Don't need a sound card.
DVD drive, good.
Case is good, PSU is absolutely the worst PSU in the history of the PSU, i hate them (this stems from one taking down one of my gaming systems). get a Corsair HX520w.

This Rig will cost you less and will kick your proposed Rigs ass 10 times over :D

[wardog3187]

Thanks for the advise Jamie. I'll probably start ordering the parts tonight/tomorrow.

[Jamie Nixx]

Post your parts list with links so i can double check it for you.

[wardog3187]

Here is the revised parts list Jamie. Let me know if I need to get anything else. Thanks again!!

Motherboard - Asus P5K E P35 - Newegg - $139.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131225

Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 - Amazon - $188.99 http://www.amazon.com/Core-2-Duo-E6750-Processor/dp/B000R9BJ2C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=A3KLSV76HCK5CK&s=generic&qid=1196691249&sr=1-2

Ram - Corsair XMS 2GB - Newegg - $183.00 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145574&Tpk=TWINX2048-3200C2

Video Card - EVGA 8800GT - Newegg - $289.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130303

Hard Drive - Western Digital 750GB/500GB 7200rpm SATA
Newegg - $159.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136131
Newegg - $129.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136143

DVD RW - Sony DRU-830A Dual Format Double Layer - Amazon - $65.99 - http://www.amazon.com/Sony-DRU830A-Internal-Dual-Layer-Burner/dp/B000HPXO2O/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1196693332&sr=1-1

Operating System - Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2 (Service Pack 2)
Amazon - $191.49

PSU - Corsair 57228 520W HX Series ATX Power Supply - Amazon - $124.02 - http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-57228-520W-Power-Supply/dp/B000I54FFS/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1196693688&sr=1-1

[Jamie Nixx]

The Ram is wrong, i hope you haven't bought it yet.

This is the memory you need http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034

There is no point in getting retail XP, this is half the price and the same http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116056

Get this motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048

Everything else is a-ok.

[wardog3187]

Nothing has been purchased anything yet because I wanted to make sure that I'm getting the right components.

Thanks again for your assistance.

[RickyTick]

Yeah, that ram you listed is wrong, and its out of stock anyway.

Get the XMS2 that Jamie linked. Its better, and much cheaper.

[Jamie Nixx]

Yeah, that ram you listed is wrong, and its out of stock anyway.

Get the XMS2 that Jamie linked. Its better, and much cheaper.

$183 that memory cost, and its PC3200 :eek:, i can't even remember the last time i used PC3200 memory, its so old.

Lmao how can memory cost almost four times as much as memory that is double the speed, whoever thought of that, i want some of what you are smoking please XD

[The Wise Monkey]

Actually, the latency makes much more of a difference than the MHz. So if that PC3200 had a latency of 2, say, then it would be much faster than any PC2-6400. :)

[Jamie Nixx]

But it doesn't, which makes it a waste of money XD.

[wardog3187]

Everything has been ordered late yesterday afternoon with only one glitch. The Sony 18x DVD is sold out but the seller offered me a 20x in its place. :) I should receive everything by this weekend (fingers crossed).

To top off the evening, my wife and I attended the John Fogerty "Revival" Tour concert in Louisville. It was an awesome show!! :D

[Jamie Nixx]

Good luck, if you get stuck or need some advice just ask.

[wardog3187]

Will do. Thanks!

[wardog3187]

:confused: It looks like that I have all of my components to start my build, but a few more questions popped up;

(1) Thermal compound - Is there a particular brand that I should use for the Intel processor?

(2) Case fan - Should I upgrade the case fan?

(3) PCU - Is the cooling unit that is provided with the Intel chip be sufficent?

[The Wise Monkey]

1. The best out there is Arctic Silver 5
2. Case fans are all pretty generic, so you don't need to mess with those - only if you want to add one with LEDs or something like that
3. The stock Intel processor fan is very good, so you won't need to replace it unless you decide to do some overclocking.

Hope this helps. :)

[wardog3187]

Thanks for the speedy reply!