Building a gaming rig for a friend - please critique

[schdaddy]

Friend of mine has $1500 to burn & wants to get into some serious PC gaming (Doom III, HL2, Far Cry, etc)

COMPUTER:
Antec Case w/ 380W PSU

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (512 Cache)

ASUS K8N-E Deluxe

Mushkin 1GB RAM (512x2) PC3200

Gainward 6800GT

Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM

NEC 8X DVD +/- RW (2500a)

Floppy

Braided Silver Floppy Cable

Braided Silver IDE cable

Clear/Silver SATA cable


MONITOR:
Samsung SyncMaster 19"


ACCESSORIES
MS Keyboard & Mouse

Logitech 6.1 Speakers


PRICE:
CASE - $ 99
CPU - $225
MOBO - $137
RAM - $156
VC - $399
HD - $ 92
DVDR - $ 70
3.5 - $ 11
Cabl - $ 6

Moni - $199

KBMO - $ 33
SPK - $ 69
------------------

TOTAL = $1496

Did I forget anything important? Or something I should change?
Also thought about doing a little overclocking. Should I stick w/ the stock Heatsink & Fan? Maybe get better RAM PC3500 or something that OC's better.

Any suggestions would be great since this build will be soon.


EDIT:
Replaced cheapo case w/ an nice Antec case. Also adjusted prices & totals.

*Note* This setup does not included OS since he already has a copy of XP on current rig.
So here is the setup w/ Windows XP if needed.

Software:
Windows XP Home Edition w/ SP1

Hardware - $1496
Software - $ 90
----------------------

Total = $1586

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Quite possibly the perfect build.

 

[CRXican]

I'm jealous

 

[Blain]

I hate the case. Give him a wireless mouse and keyboard.
Is he going to run Linux on that box?

 

[Lonyo]

Try and make sure the PSU is quality, wattage means nothing in PSU's in real terms, unless it's a name brand PSU.

 

[User5]

Very nice choices.

Maybe one thing I would suggest is since you are a little under budget, go with the Logitech Cordless MX duo.

PS: Whats with the braided cables?

 

[Cerb]

Chuck the case, get a decent one with a decent PSU. Otherwise, it looks good.

 

[PizzaDude]

Yes get an Antec case that includes a power supply. Also, I would consider a Zalman CNSP-7000 AlCu HSF. It'd prolly be quieter than the stock Athlon 64 one. Otherwise..very nice.

 

[schdaddy]

I suggested that he get an Antec case (best case I've ever owned) but he claims they are ugly & boring.:roll:

I was thinking about spending the extra $50 on better RAM - that way OCing would go easier.

EDIT:
I'm on my way to his house now. I'll let you know what he thinks of the current build shortly.

 

[Mik3y]

this is about the closest to perfect critique i've seen in anandtech so far. only grudge is that you could get a better case and psu together, preferably antec. otherwise, it looks awesome. nice job.

 

[dmw16]

Nice setup, but w/ those parts, how can you lose? I agree with the two things everyone else has said. Ditch that case, or at least ditch the PSU that comes with it. If you friend likes the ugly case then so be it, but that PSU cant be all that great if it comes in a $50 case. Get an Antec or something. Also, get the logitech wireless duo. I have it and it is the best keyboard/mouse combo ever!

 

[schdaddy]

Thanks everyone for the input.
I've got him talked into this case now:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-129-127&depa=0

 

[Mik3y]

Now there you go! this setup is perfecto now! u are a god.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: Blain
I hate the case. Give him a wireless mouse and keyboard.
Is he going to run Linux on that box?

I don't see the price for Windows XP there, is he going to run Linux?

 

[Lyfer]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Quite possibly the perfect build.

Get the Sonata Case and then I'll agree.

 

[beach2nd]

Will the 380 Watt PSU that comes with that Antec case be enough juice for that system?

 

[animeba]

I believe Nvidia recommends atleast a 450w power supply for its 6800 cards. Your current 420w might be too low.

 

[capricorn]

I love that Sonata case. I built a system in one of those and it's so quiet, it's hard to tell that it's on. I added the 2nd 120 mm fan, too. (A stealth version, of course.) For this particular rig (a 2.6C GHz P4 with hyperthreaded DDR400 memory), it probably was overkill. Never gets above 34-35C in there.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: animeba
I believe Nvidia recommends atleast a 450w power supply for its 6800 cards. Your current 420w might be too low.

That Raidmax 420w is likely more than a little too low.

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: animeba
I believe Nvidia recommends atleast a 450w power supply for its 6800 cards. Your current 420w might be too low.

your wrong. nvidia recommends at least a 480W psu for the 6800 ultra and higher. the gt is made to run with a 300W quality psu. 380 is very sufficient for the computer. the reason y they had to make the gt work with a 300W psu is because 75% of consumers dont have anything higher then a generic 350W psu, and that wouldnt be very marketly intelligent for nvidia to make a video card that wont work for most comps. having to replace a psu requires knowing how to build a computer, and that is something most people dont know how to do.

 

[RadioHead84]

i wouldnt get a cordless mouse and keyboard...In my experaince if you are going to game you need a cord...i can tell there is a delay..

 

[animeba]

your wrong. nvidia recommends at least a 480W psu for the 6800 ultra and higher. the gt is made to run with a 300W quality psu. 380 is very sufficient for the computer. the reason y they had to make the gt work with a 300W psu is because 75% of consumers dont have anything higher then a generic 350W psu, and that wouldnt be very marketly intelligent for nvidia to make a video card that wont work for most comps. having to replace a psu requires knowing how to build a computer, and that is something most people dont know how to do.

You aren't making much sense. Why would a nvidia 6800 card work with a 300W psu???? If nvidia says it requires 450-480w power supply, it probably needs a power supply near that level. Sure, there will be a "fudge factor", but you aren't going to get away with a 300w quality supply

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: animeba

your wrong. nvidia recommends at least a 480W psu for the 6800 ultra and higher. the gt is made to run with a 300W quality psu. 380 is very sufficient for the computer. the reason y they had to make the gt work with a 300W psu is because 75% of consumers dont have anything higher then a generic 350W psu, and that wouldnt be very marketly intelligent for nvidia to make a video card that wont work for most comps. having to replace a psu requires knowing how to build a computer, and that is something most people dont know how to do.

You aren't making much sense. Why would a nvidia 6800 card work with a 300W psu???? If nvidia says it requires 450-480w power supply, it probably needs a power supply near that level. Sure, there will be a "fudge factor", but you aren't going to get away with a 300w quality supply

I wouldn't be suprised if you could. Their recommendation likely assumes a 480w Powmax, Raidmax, or similar crappola PSU.

 

[trexpesto]

Dang I was hoping this would become a sticky, not a pp match

 

[schdaddy]

To answer some questions:
We're sticking w/ the MS corded keyboard & mouse

And his current rig (Athlon 800 - built that one too) already has WinXP on it.
That system will be reformatted & sold minus the OS.