Building a system for a friend (System Critique)

[Cawchy87]

He will be going away to university after summer and needs a computer that will last him a few years. He enjoy's playing games, but this will be a multi purpose computer.

I made it so that he could upgrade the ram when he had more cash (summer mabye) and throw in a sound card if he decided the sound wasn't the best. I understand that onboard sound takes away cpu resources.

I think that the processor may be a bit overkill for what he is looking to do as with the vid card, but if he's got a bit extra cash, I figure... why not? The processor is only 50 bucks more than a 3200+ venice.

1. Links for products at bottom

2. SYSTEM WILL NOT BE OVERCLOCKED.

3. All prices Canadian .

4. Budget? This is already at the top of his budget. Not looking for anything more expensive unless it will give a lot more proformance.
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Mobo: ASUS A8N-E ATX S939 -PCI-E 16, sound, raid, gblan, 3pci - $119.98

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3700 S939 San Diego 2.2GHZ - $249.99

Vid Card: eVGA E-GEFORCE 7800GT CO (Copper Heatsink *470MHz*) PCI-E 256MB - ON SALE $364.99- 25 MIR = 339.99

Sound Card:

Memory: Kingston ValueRAM PC3200 1GB DDR400 - $109.25

Hard Drive: Seagate 250GB SATA 2 ??NCQ?? - 115.98 ****OR***** WD Caviar SE16 250GB SATA2 - $118.98

Floppy Drive: Sony Black Floppy - $10.28

Optical Drive: NEC 3550 - 57.41

Case: Antec Sonata 2 - 126.27reg 118.99 on sale

PSU: 450watt w/ sonata
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MOBO: $119.98
CPU: $249.99
Vid Card: $364.99 - 25 MIR = $339.99
Sound Card:
Memory: $109.25
Hard Drive: $118.98
Floppy: $10.98
Optical: $57.41
Case/psu: $118.99

TOTAL: $1150.57 * 1.14 = $1311.65

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Mobo: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?...pn=A8N-E&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1056

CPU: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=14828&manufacture=AMD&promoid=1056

Vid Card: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16412&manufacture=eVGA&promoid=1056

Sound Card:

Memory: http://search.ncix.com/displayproductde...n=KVR400X64C3A/1G&manufacture=Kingston

Hard Drive: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?...17477&manufacture=Seagate&promoid=1056

*****OR*****

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?...facture=Western%20Digital&promoid=1056

Floppy Drive: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?...9047&vpn=MPF920-1/121&manufacture=SONY

Optical Drive: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?...3550A-BLACK&manufacture=NEC-MITSUBISHI

Case: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?...TA%20II&manufacture=ANTEC&promoid=1056

PSU: 450 watt w/sonata


Thanks for any input/suggestions!

 

[Bobthelost]

That's pretty damned good for the budget, go for it.

I'm not sure on the HD front, the WD is faster, but the seagate has the 5 year warranty.

 

[Effect]

You've definately done your research, i can't find anything wrong with it. Either hdd is good, i'd suggest going with the brand you or your friend have used before and/or prefer, or check reviews on various sites, see which is better for you.

Good luck with the build, and hope your friend enjoys it =D

 

[Smartazz]

The video card is amazing I got one.

 

[Cawchy87]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Only thing I am wondering about is what is the "NCQ" on the Seagate drive? The only thing I read about it was that it helps proformance in Raid setups, but may be slower in a single drive set-up which this one is and probibly will never go raid.

Personally, I've never had a WD fail on me. But Seagate does have that 5 year warrantee. I'll probably go with whichever is cheaper at time of purchase.

Thanks for the responses!

 

[Cawchy87]

Oh shoot, forgot about the 20 pin vs. 24 pin psu issue. Will I be fine with the psu that comes with the Sonata II?

 

[Cawchy87]

Any advice?

 

[Bobthelost]

Not sure on the sonata PSU, but NCQ can be turned off so it's not a problem.

 

[vertigofm]

Value RAM? Bleh... Go with something a little better

 

[alimoalem]

looks good...i'd get the western digital drive though

 

[pkrush]

I'd replace the Sonata and included PSU with a Coolermaster Centurion 5 (or Antec SLK3000) and get a Fortron AX450-PN for the power supply. The quality of Antec power supplies has been slipping lately.

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

The Sonata II PSU is a 24 pin. It'll go with the Asus mobo.

I'm assuming you already have an operating system, office suite, other software?

 

[Cawchy87]

Originally posted by: vertigofm
Value RAM? Bleh... Go with something a little better

Why? He won't be overclocking. And it still comes with a lifetime warrenty does it not?

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Not sure on the sonata PSU, but NCQ can be turned off so it's not a problem.

Alright, sounds good. Puts the two drives dead even imo. I'll just go for whichever is cheaper.

q]Originally posted by: pkrush
I'd replace the Sonata and included PSU with a Coolermaster Centurion 5 (or Antec SLK3000) and get a Fortron AX450-PN for the power supply. The quality of Antec power supplies has been slipping lately.[/quote]

It will cost a bit extra, but I'll explain to him the importance of a good psu. Thanks for the input! Last time I was building a comp the psu that came with the sonata was considered very good. I'll let him decide between cases.

Thanks for the input! Any other suggestions for PSU's? Or is this fortron model considered the best price/performance?