Building A64 Gaming Rig : Your thoughts Please?

[IndyTimS]

Ok, I am finally ready to upgrade my old P4 1.4 system
I am 95% gaming/5% web-browsing & e-mail.
I have no current plans to overclock.
Prices below I've found are approximate, taken from Pricewatch.com:

AMD A64 3200+ CPU / MSI K8T Neo2-F Motherboard (939) -- $305
WD 74gb SATA 10K Raptor HD -- $170
2x 512mb Corsair Value DDR400 PC3200 -- $140 ($70 each)
Antec ?TRU430? 430W power supply -- $71

Total est. investment: $686.00

Items that I already have:

GeForce PNY 6800 128mb Video Card
CD-ROM
DVD R/W
Case
Keyboard
Mouse
Monitor


Questions/Thoughts:

1) Is the MSI mobo acceptable? I've read a lot about different brands, and I seem to always see MSI, ASUS, and A-Bit listed together, so I figured any of the three should be ok. Anyone have differing thoughts on that? I am not particularly loyal to any one brand, and price-wise the three are within $10-$30 of each other. I do not mind paying a little extra for a better board.

2) For a gamer, is the Raptor HD "overkill" for what I want to do? I see other SATA 7200 drives for a lot less, but I am under the impression that the Raptors are screamers when it comes to HD load times, and that they are worth the extra $$. I had been planning on a 60-80 GB drive anyway, so size (to me) is not important, as I usually only ever have 3-4 games on my system at one time anyway.

3) RAM - I've read a lot of great things about Corsair. For this price-range, I also see Kingston listed, as well as other brands. Are both brands acceptable to you folks? Will this RAM allow me to run my new system in "Dual Channel" mode? And what's with Dual Channel anyway? Is it a decent peformance difference, enough to make it highly desirable?

4) Is the Antec PSU "enough"? Considering the pieces it will be pushing (CPU/Raptor/VidCard/CD/DVD R/W), will it provide enough "juice" for my system? I keep hearing things about "making sure the 12v line is high enough quality for any AMD mobo", and I assume the Antec would be good enough? Is that true?

5) I will need another copy of XP, so I can get Windows XP/Pro @ $140 or Windows XP/Home @ $80. A difference of $60... for what? Is there some reason I should get Pro, considering my use of the system? (Both have SP2).

6) Lastly, I have been terribly worried about my vidcard. I've heard so much about the 6800's problems, I have considered returning it for an ATI card equivalent. Any thoughts?

Thank you very much for reading!

Any and all feedback would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Tim

 

[w00t]

replace the hd with a normal 80gig raptors arent much better maybe 3-5 sec better loading times or get somthing bigger more hd space segate 7,200.7 i think its 250gig. i was gonna get the raptor until i saw benchies now i am gonna go with the maxtor 300gb 16mb cache a lil bit more than the raptor they also make a 250gig. get msi neo3 plat. i would take back the 6800 and get a 6800gt.

 

[dennisjai215]

Originally posted by: w00t
replace the hd with a normal 80gig raptors arent much better maybe 3-5 sec better loading times or get somthing bigger more hd space segate 7,200.7 i think its 250gig. i was gonna get the raptor until i saw benchies now i am gonna go with the maxtor 300gb 16mb cache a lil bit more than the raptor they also make a 250gig. get msi neo3 plat. i would take back the 6800 and get a 6800gt.

if u can read he said size is not important to him

raptor depending on you if u wanna save 2-5secs then the money is worth it for u.. if not just get a seagate 60gig hd or watever

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: dennisjai215

Originally posted by: w00t
replace the hd with a normal 80gig raptors arent much better maybe 3-5 sec better loading times or get somthing bigger more hd space segate 7,200.7 i think its 250gig. i was gonna get the raptor until i saw benchies now i am gonna go with the maxtor 300gb 16mb cache a lil bit more than the raptor they also make a 250gig. get msi neo3 plat. i would take back the 6800 and get a 6800gt.

if u can read he said size is not important to him

raptor depending on you if u wanna save 2-5secs then the money is worth it for u.. if not just get a seagate 60gig hd or watever

if you woulda read "replace the hd with a normal 80gig".

 

[ts3433]

1. Try the Epox NF3 board.
2. Like w00t said, Raptors generally aren't worth it; if you really really needed faster HD space than a regular drive, you'd have a buttload of SCSI already.
3. Corsair or Mushkin is fins; Kingston seems to be more expensive for the same stuff. If you overclock, consider some Patriot CL2 PC3200 or something else that uses Samsung TCCD.
4. More than enough--you could probably use that on a quality 350W supply, though I'd still buy that get another quality ~400W unit for later headroom.
5. I have no idea.
6. Above $200 nVidia is the better choice for videocards; I wouldn't take that back and get a 6800 GT unless you had the money and the absolute need for that performance, especially if you got the PNY from CompUSA for $200. If you find you need more, you can always try overclocking or unlocking pipes/vertex units.

 

[imported_Computer MAn]

Like ts3433 said I would try the Epox board as I have heard very good things about them and n ot so good things about MSI.
I would go with a 7200rpm drive over a Raptor as IMO the price/performance ratio is not there
The PSU is more than enoough for your needs.
And Nvidia IMO won this round of graphics cards so the NVidia will be fine for you.

 

[w00t]

he had a GeForce PNY 6800 128mb i would say he takes is back and gets a 6800gt and oc to ultra speeds later on.

edit: "And Nvidia IMO won this round of grpahics cards so the NVidia will be fine for you." i wouldnt say that. maybe in doom 3 considering its runs best at open gl. ati is just as good as any nvidia card out there.

 

[imported_Computer MAn]

Originally posted by: w00t
he had a GeForce PNY 6800 128mb i would say he takes is back and gets a 6800gt and oc to ultra speeds later on.

edit: "And Nvidia IMO won this round of grpahics cards so the NVidia will be fine for you." i wouldnt say that. maybe in doom 3 considering its runs best at open gl. ati is just as good as any nvidia card out there.

The reason I say they wond is because they have many new features that ATI doesn't but they are both great its just my opinion.

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: Computer MAn

Originally posted by: w00t
he had a GeForce PNY 6800 128mb i would say he takes is back and gets a 6800gt and oc to ultra speeds later on.

edit: "And Nvidia IMO won this round of grpahics cards so the NVidia will be fine for you." i wouldnt say that. maybe in doom 3 considering its runs best at open gl. ati is just as good as any nvidia card out there.

The reason I say they wond is because they have many new features that ATI doesn't but they are both great its just my opinion.

exactly its an opinion not a fact like you make it sound "Nvidia IMO won this round of grpahics cards"

 

[ts3433]

w00t: IMO = "in my opinion"

Offering the OP his thread back...
w00t offers a valid suggestion to go back and get a 6800 GT if you're the type who takes all his games at 16x12, high details, triple digit framerates (exaggerating, but you get the point), but for things even slightly lower, a vanilla 6800 does fine, and as I mentioned earlier, you can always try unlocking extra pipes and/or overclocking.

 

[w00t]

o i c sorry about that Computer MAn

 

[jterrell]

Originally posted by: w00t

Originally posted by: Computer MAn

Originally posted by: w00t
he had a GeForce PNY 6800 128mb i would say he takes is back and gets a 6800gt and oc to ultra speeds later on.

edit: "And Nvidia IMO won this round of grpahics cards so the NVidia will be fine for you." i wouldnt say that. maybe in doom 3 considering its runs best at open gl. ati is just as good as any nvidia card out there.

The reason I say they wond is because they have many new features that ATI doesn't but they are both great its just my opinion.

exactly its an opinion not a fact like you make it sound "Nvidia IMO won this round of grpahics cards"

Thats almost an exact quote from an Anandtech article. THG said the same.

Nvidia is clearly the better choice at the 200 dollar range(where this guy is at) if you actually care about performance or benchmarks.

They're also a better choice if you want to go SLI with nforce4 Ultra.

 

[w00t]

what do you need sli for right now nothing you can play gaming fine on 1 card plus you have to buy 2 and get a 50% increase. when you are buying 2 cards you should be able to use those 2 cards not render half. what they need to do is full 16x on each gpu

edit and he already has a 6800. plus hes not going to be gaming so he does not need sli.

 

[ts3433]

Originally posted by: w00t
plus hes not going to be gaming so he does not need sli.

(speaking of which, if he did in fact say this, why did you recommend a 6800 GT earlier?)
At top of page:

Originally posted by: IndyTimS
I am 95% gaming/5% web-browsing & e-mail.

Resolves that.

That all said, SLI isn't a better option, even if he took back his current card and got a couple 6600 GTs, because they perform no better than one 6800 GT (which he still has the option of getting), suck more power, and require an extra-fancy motherboard.

 

[Edward Lee]

I have almost the same system

 

[Leper Messiah]

why no overclocks? other than that, it seems fine for what you want to do...

 

[imported_Computer MAn]

Originally posted by: w00t
o i c sorry about that Computer MAn

No problem w00t.