Building a new computer, need ideas

[Mattax]

As long as the sound card supports 7.1 I will look at it.

I looked into modding the Ultra however, I will be happy with the board I picked out.

I will stick with the P180 case for the seperate PSU compartment. It makes sense since the air duct vent will not be very efficent sitting in my desk.

The heatsink is only $30 more dollars vs spending $100 more dollars so that is not an issue. If I can get away with just the stock heatsink and fan I will do that.

 

[Mattax]

BUMP

 

[Mattax]

bump

 

[Mattax]

$347 CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA3800BVBOX - Retail

HEATSINK&FAN: XP-90c Heatsink and Panaflo (92mm) fan

$163 MB: DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD

$145 RAM:OCZ Platinum Series with Enhanced Bandwidth technology (EB) 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 500 (PC 4000) Unbuffered System Memory Model OCZ5001024EBPE - Retail x 2

$159 PS:SeaSonic S12-600 ATX12V 600W Power Supply - Retail

$124 CASE:Antec Performance I P180 Silver Computer Case - Retail

$168.99 HD 1:Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

$182 HD 2:Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3300831AS-RK 300GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - Retail

HD 3:Maxtor 300GB

$349 VIDEO:eVGA 256-P2-N515-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Desktop PC - Retail

$399/$277 SOUND:Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Elite Pro 8 (7.1) Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail OR Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro 8 (7.1) Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

$435 SPEAKERS: Creative GigaWorks S750 700 Watts 7.1 Speaker - Retail

Last item will be the CD/DVD ROM. What unit is hands down the best?

I already have an external Sony 12X Dual Layer DVD/CD Burner.

 

[Mattax]

bump

 

[Mattax]

Which ROM drive? Plextor 716SA OR NEC 3540A

 

[Mattax]

I am ready to begin placing orders for the above, but I want final opinions on the set up.

Thanks.

 

[alexthewolfe]

Wait!!!!!!!!!!
Don't get that vid card, get this one instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130249

It may look the same but it has a much better heatsink and it comes oc'd right out of the box.

 

[Mattax]

Ok I asked earlier in the thread but was told to go with the cheapest one.

Thanks for the reply.

VIDEO: eVGA 256-P2-N517-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

How about the DVD/CD ROM/BURNER I mentioned?

 

[Mattax]

bump

 

[mike3uz]

Maybe drop the dual 7800GT's and go with one 7800GTX. I would also get the 3540A. The 7800GT from eVGA is good also for single cards also but you could go with an SLI setup of 7800GT's. I would consider the X2 if you can fit in the budget. Nvidia has dual core drivers. Plus you should be able to do more things while gaming. Some people say SLI is a waste of money. It looks pretty good but maybe the raptor could be changed with a bigger drive since people think its ovepriced but thats their opinion. I hope this helps.

 

[TheoPetro]

i got the 36gb raptor and am vary pleased with it. the 74 has some better read/write times (i think i duno) its a nice drive but the space is becoming a bit of a constraint w/ all the games im trying to cram on it allong w/ os. you should be pleased w/ the larger one.

 

[Mattax]

For now I will go with one eVGA 7800GT VIDEO card. Considering how expensive the whole rig is now, I can wait until I build up some more cash to put in the second 7800GT. And by that time the price should drop as well.

Yes on the X2 CPU.

The Raptor is being used for the OS and programs such as Photoshop, Office, FTP, Audio and video players, etc.

The Seagate 300GB HD is for Gaming.

The Maxtor 300GB is for pictures and Video editing.

OK I will add the NEC 3540A for the ROM drive. I can reuse my other ROM drives if needed.

Am I set now?

 

[Mattax]

Last go over. Any opinions on this set up is welcome.


I will be ordering tomorrow.

 

[Mattax]

bump

 

[Mattax]

Last bump before I start a new thread for final opinions.

 

[LDRunner]

I see that you are planning to use OCZ OCZ5001024EBPE 1GB stick x 2 as memory. I'm also looking into using this with my new rig. A question to all out there. Is there any benefit to buying the 2GB packaged kit OCZ5002048EBPE-K? If the sticks are purchased seperately they can be bought cheaper from Newegg, but the kit is not as readily available right now (and I'm getting impatient waiting to purchase the last component of this rig).