AMD Gaming PC Build for $1500

Mike1567

Member
Jan 16, 2005
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I found everything except a keyboard, mouse, soundcard, speakers, and monitor as I already have. Let me know what you think. The video card is out of stock right now at chumbo.com. I plan on running one of them then getting another one later for sli when I need it and the price drops down further.

Are there any parts I should upgrade that have significant performance for minimal price increase, and are there any parts I can save my money on that have minimal performance increase? Are there better deals on what I have selected currently or will price drop on any of these? I won't be overclocking.

Case - Lian-Li Aluminum(Black), Model "PC-65B" - $116

PSU - Antec 480W Power Supply,Model "TRUE480" - $92

Motherboard - ASUS "A8N-SLI Deluxe" nForce4 SLI - $269

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 512K, L2 Cache, Socket 939 - $268

Video Card - BFG GeForce 6800 GT OC PCI-Express - $399.99

RAM - Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 - $139

Hard Drive - Seagate 200GB 7200RPM SATA - $131.18

DVD - SONY Black 16X DVD-ROM Drive - $23.99

DVD Burner - NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive - $59.99

Total: $1499.15
 

ts3433

Platinum Member
Jun 29, 2004
2,731
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I like it. Some comments:

You can probably find a better PSU for around the same price as the one you have, but the True430 is great too and will cause no problems.

I've heard the Chaintech is a poor overclocker, so you may want to wait for other manufacturers' offerings if you're set on an NF4 Ultra.

Whenever Chumbo.com has BFG PCIe 6800GTs in stock, you can actually get it from them for MSRP ($400), but they seem to be heavily backordered right now. Going AGP+NF3 at this point would be fine, too.

The Raptor may be just a minimal performance increase over a conventional 7200RPM drive; you'll have to look up benchmarks and consult people who are more knowledgeable about hard drives to decide whether or not it's worth the money.

The Sony DVD burner is probably OK, but the NEC 3520A seems to be getting all the recommendations at the moment.

Yeah, your CPU is OEM and doesn't have a cooler (I didn't bother to look). Use the retail stock cooler for a while; it's supposed to be pretty good at overclocking. If Newegg'd price on it is too high, try MWave, ZZF, or Monarch.
 

imported_bum

Golden Member
Jan 15, 2005
1,402
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Everything looks good... except you forgot a heatsink for the CPU. If you haven't decided yet, the Thermalright XP-90 (or 120 if it fits) with a Panaflo fan. For overclocking, you could save some money on the processor, and possibly upgrade the RAM... But if you're inexperienced with that I would stay stick with those choices.

If you can wait a couple months and save a couple more dollars, I would highly suggest going the SLI route once it becomes a little more mainstream. It's not that that system won't do you good for awhile though...
 

jterrell

Senior member
Nov 18, 2004
559
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The Gigabyte nforce 4 low end board is actually out already and sells at mwave for about what that Chaintech would cost if it were ever in stock again.

If you really search you can find the 6800GT pci-express for 375. At 500 might as well look into the top of the line ATI cards.
 

Mike1567

Member
Jan 16, 2005
27
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Why bother with PCIe just to pay an extra $100 for the 6800GT?

I don't plan on paying an extra $100, I am going to wait til the prices drop to the same level once pci-express becomes more available. I will also be doing SLI eventually.
 

ahurtt

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2001
4,283
0
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Since you are buying the a8n deluxe sli board, you could get 2 BGF 6600 GT OC boards for about what you are paying for 1 6800 GT.
 

SrGuapo

Golden Member
Nov 27, 2004
1,035
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Originally posted by: ahurtt
Since you are buying the a8n deluxe sli board, you could get 2 BGF 6600 GT OC boards for about what you are paying for 1 6800 GT.

...For a decrease in performance at higher resolutions and no upgrade path.

Personally, I would just buy an nForce3 board w/ AGP (that's what I did - should be here tomorrow :D). The boards are better OCers, alot cheaper, and have the EXACT same performance as the PCI-e cards. AGP will still be around for a couple more years, so unless you plan on upgrading every year for 3+ years, you will be fine.
 

ahurtt

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2001
4,283
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Well, decrease in performance depends. . .you are running a lesser card with the 6600GT but you are running 2 simultaneously. And 2 of them cost less than 1 6800 GT. How much worse can the performance really be? Not quite sure why you say there would be no upgrade path though.
 

Malak

Lifer
Dec 4, 2004
14,696
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Originally posted by: ahurtt
Well, decrease in performance depends. . .you are running a lesser card with the 6600GT but you are running 2 simultaneously. And 2 of them cost less than 1 6800 GT. How much worse can the performance really be? Not quite sure why you say there would be no upgrade path though.

Check out numerous threads where they explain why 2 6600GTs are worse than 1 6800GT.
 

SrGuapo

Golden Member
Nov 27, 2004
1,035
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Originally posted by: ahurtt
Well, decrease in performance depends. . .you are running a lesser card with the 6600GT but you are running 2 simultaneously. And 2 of them cost less than 1 6800 GT. How much worse can the performance really be? Not quite sure why you say there would be no upgrade path though.

Also, the point of SLI is to be able to add a second card when performance isn't up to par. If both slots are filled, that won't be possible.

At low resolutions (<= 1024x768), two 6600gts will perform about the same as a 6800gt. But when you run higher resolutions and some AA/AF, the 6600gts will fall far behind. I assume since he is buying such a kick-ass system that he will want higher resolutions and some eye-candy.
 

imported_NoGodForMe

Senior member
May 3, 2004
452
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I agree with Sr. Guapo.
There's this fascination with SLI, when most people looking to buy it are putting in an average CPU and then low end GPUs thinking it will be future proof.

I'd also recommend an Nforce3 board, like the MSI Neo2 Platinum and an AGP 6800 GT. It's proven technology that is available right now. Plus the Nforce3 boards OC very well. The A8N doesn't, as I've been reading the OC forums and they're not impressed with the bios so far.
 

Regs

Lifer
Aug 9, 2002
16,665
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Rule of thumb - don't waste your time with SLI unless you can afford two 6800GT PCI-e's cards.
 

Edward Lee

Senior member
Dec 11, 2004
477
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There are dumb people and there are dumb people with money. If they have it let them spend it, I could use the extra cash.

Choson Man's Waterfall theory of Money: "Money like water flows from the hands of the dumb into the pockets of the smart"
 

Reiniku

Senior member
Dec 6, 2004
787
0
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how is he paying 100 more for his card if i cant find a 6800gt for less than 400? DAMN YOU MICROCENTER