Building a decent computer, please comment.

[KuuL]

After a little research, these are all the pieces I feel happy with.

Lian-Li Silver USB 10-Bay Aluminum Case, Model "PC-7" $79

DFI "LANPARTY UT nF3 250Gb" Motherboard $99

AMD Athlon 64 3400+ $219

PDP SYSTEMS 1GB DDR PC-3200 $184

BFG FX6800 OC 128MB Video Card $250

NEC 1.44MB Floppy Drive $7

SONY Beige 52x32x52 IDE Internal CD-RW Drive $22

Hitachi 120GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive $83

Antec P4 ATX12V 400 Watt PSU $53.50

Total price: $997 not including shipping. It will probably cost around $1050 with shipping.

For the case, I might get some 80mm Panaflo fans to make the box run quieter.

This computer doesn't include a monitor, mouse, keyboard, soundcard, or speakers. I already have all those pieces, and was just upgrading my case components. Thoughts/Comments?


****EDIT****
After thinking about what Jassi said about socket 939 stuff, I came up with this setup:

Lian-Li Silver USB 10-Bay Aluminum Case, Model "PC-7" $79

ABIT "AV8" K8T800 Motherboard for Socket 939 CPU $111 or MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum $136

AMD Athlon 64 3200+, Socket 939, 90nm process $219

PDP SYSTEMS 1GB DDR PC-3200 $184

BFG FX6800 OC 128MB Video Card $250

NEC 1.44MB Floppy Drive $7

SONY Beige 52x32x52 IDE Internal CD-RW Drive $22

Hitachi 120GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive $83

Antec P4 ATX12V 400 Watt PSU $53.50

Total price: $1009 with the ABIT mobo. $1034 with the MSI mobo.

 

[Jassi]

For that cost of MB and CPU, you could easily get a Socket 939 (much better for upgrades later and better in all respects from what i've heard).

 

[jpeyton]

This motherboard outclasses the MSI by so much, it's not even a close call. And right now it's on sale for significantly less. Grab it while you can.

Everything else looks good.

 

[KuuL]

For real? The DFI is better than the MSI for the setup I have? Hmmm, I'll have to research that a little bit more... Thanks for the heads up.

 

[DanDrop]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
This motherboard outclasses the MSI by so much, it's not even a close call. And right now it's on sale for significantly less. Grab it while you can.

Everything else looks good.

Yep, that DFI board is one the best board out for the 754 socket, too bad DFI didn't release one in the 939 socket. Is DFI making an Nforce4 board?

As to the original thread, i would suggest getting a 939 Board and CPU for the money and upgradeability.

 

[DanDrop]

BTW, Anand's gaming buyer's guide is out. Worth checking it out to get ideas for your rig.

Gaming Buyer's Guide

 

[Cawchy87]

I would drop the processor down to a 3200 or 3000 and go for a 6800 GT.

And the DFI > MSI anyday.

I think at least a GT is a MUST if spending over a grand on a computer.

 

[KuuL]

Well, with the 6800 that I listed, you can supposedly open up the piplines and it'll run as fast as a GT (or so I've heard). *shrug*

I'm not the kind of person that needs to have top benchmark scores or anything. I just want something that will run decently.

 

[jpeyton]

For the price, I think the 6800 OC is a great choice; stick with it. And if you can unlock the pipes and vertex unit, even better.

 

[KuuL]

Thanks for the info guys. Really appreciate it.

One thing I forgot to add was a decent heatsink for the AMD Athlon 64 3400+ CPU... any suggestions? I was looking at a few Zalman heatsinks, but I don't know whats good.

 

[jpeyton]

Good all around heatsink is a Zalman 7000 AlCu, around $30, quiet, efficient, looks good, easy to mount.

 

[alteredNate]

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
I would drop the processor down to a 3200 or 3000 and go for a 6800 GT.

And the DFI > MSI anyday.

I think at least a GT is a MUST if spending over a grand on a computer.

How about the DFI vs the Asus K8N-E?

 

[KuuL]

You're talking about this heatsink, right? ZALMAN CNPS7000A-AlCu

It looks cool and all, but I kind of want to get a heatsink that will allow me to stick a 120mm fan on it if I need to.

I found this, Alpha Heatsink for AMD64, which would let me put my own fan on the thing... but it doesn't look like I can put a 120mm fan on it.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: alteredNate

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
I would drop the processor down to a 3200 or 3000 and go for a 6800 GT.

And the DFI > MSI anyday.

I think at least a GT is a MUST if spending over a grand on a computer.

How about the DFI vs the Asus K8N-E?

For Socket 754 boards, DFI > ALL.

 

[jpeyton]

You can always buy a 80mm -> 120mm fan adapter for a few bucks (check out SVC.com), or you can get a Thermalright XP-120 which fits a 120mm fan natively (the heatsink itself goes for around $50 without a fan).

The downside to the XP-120 is that it doesn't fit all motherboards. Have you considered a Thermalright XP-90, which fits all motherboards and is a very effective cooler?

 

[KuuL]

I looked at the XP-90, but thought it looked alittle funky and wasn't sure if it was decent.

After reading the cases/cooling board, it seems that the XP-90 is pretty good, but I haven't made up my mind yet, hehe.