I've bought all of these parts and they should arrive tomorrow or the day after. As I am a relative newbie to the rig-building experience, I don't plan on overclocking right away because I want to gradually build up to the point where I feel comfortable tinkering around with the rig specs. However, I bought this stuff with the idea of being able to so in the relatively near future without having to buy all new items. If some of this stuff seems redundant with other posts on the site, I really do apologize. It's just that I spent so much time looking at the boards and deciding on the parts that I did buy that I'm neglecting work (and getting fired is really not high on my list of priorities right now).
Here's what I have so far, the parts marked "?" indicate that I haven't made the purchase:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 512K 90nm (939)
MOBO: Asus A8n SLI-Deluxe, PCI-e
GPUs: dual BFG 6800GTs
RAM: GSKILL 1GBLE Kit (512x2) DDR-PC4400
HD: 2x Maxtor 300GB (6B300S0)
Case: Lian Li v2000B--- Is this case going to get too hot and or crowded with this setup? Should I invest in some cooling materials?
OS: Windows MCE 2005-- I wanted to make this a good htpc as well (plan to expand storage in the future). Is it a bad idea to go MCE? Should I just leave it at XP home or pro?
PSU: ?... Based on various posts, I figured the PCPC 510SLI would be the safest long-term choice, but the sales rep at the site told me they were sold out. Is there comprable PSU I can buy for around the same price? I want to dedicate this weekend to setting up the rig, so don't feel like waiting too long. Is the BFG 530 watt psu enough for now (ie, w/o crazy overclocking)?
CD/DVDR drive: ?... As I want to make this a good htpc, i want to get the most quality dvdR drive available. This includes speed and quality of encoding/burning. Most people seem to have the NEC dual-layer in their rigs, but as I already have the external SONY DL, I didn't now if buying another dual-layer burner was worth it (i.e., I'd unnecessarily sacrifice the speed of a good single-layer burner).
I really hope you guys can provide me with some suggestions here. Thanks in advance for any help.
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Here's what I have so far, the parts marked "?" indicate that I haven't made the purchase:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 512K 90nm (939)
MOBO: Asus A8n SLI-Deluxe, PCI-e
GPUs: dual BFG 6800GTs
RAM: GSKILL 1GBLE Kit (512x2) DDR-PC4400
HD: 2x Maxtor 300GB (6B300S0)
Case: Lian Li v2000B--- Is this case going to get too hot and or crowded with this setup? Should I invest in some cooling materials?
OS: Windows MCE 2005-- I wanted to make this a good htpc as well (plan to expand storage in the future). Is it a bad idea to go MCE? Should I just leave it at XP home or pro?
PSU: ?... Based on various posts, I figured the PCPC 510SLI would be the safest long-term choice, but the sales rep at the site told me they were sold out. Is there comprable PSU I can buy for around the same price? I want to dedicate this weekend to setting up the rig, so don't feel like waiting too long. Is the BFG 530 watt psu enough for now (ie, w/o crazy overclocking)?
CD/DVDR drive: ?... As I want to make this a good htpc, i want to get the most quality dvdR drive available. This includes speed and quality of encoding/burning. Most people seem to have the NEC dual-layer in their rigs, but as I already have the external SONY DL, I didn't now if buying another dual-layer burner was worth it (i.e., I'd unnecessarily sacrifice the speed of a good single-layer burner).
I really hope you guys can provide me with some suggestions here. Thanks in advance for any help.
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