Building new PC Need help

[gamenutt]

Im building a new computer trying to stay around $1000 a little under hopefully...so its somewhat of a budget pc compared to some of the specs ive been seeing.

specs ive been looking at
Intel® Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe Processor 2.13GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 2MB Cache ($235)
or
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 2.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor($187)

video card
XFX PVT71PUDE3 Geforce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16($220)
SAPPHIRE 100153L Radeon X1800GTO2 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card($222)
GECUBE GC-X850XTP-VIVO Radeon X850XT PE 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card ($190)

Mobos:
ECS PF21 Extreme Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 925XE ATX Intel Motherboard($122)
Gigabyte GA-945P-S3 ($110)

Im not really sure about the motherboard as I dont think im going to go the sli route, doesnt seem practical when dx10 is due to come out. I do want 3 pci slots though. Basically you can see my price range for parts..any advice or recommendations would be highly appreciated. Thanks a lot

 

[Crescent13]

1. Conroe chips don't work with the 925X chipset
2. If you went the AMD route, what motherboard would you want? You do realize that those motherboards are socket 775 don't you?

 

[gamenutt]

oops? haha this mobo said conroe ready and read on a review that it worked with them so figured it was fine .. http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322347 and just grabbed 2 in the price range that fit what i needed to see if they were ok.

for amd maybe this one
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=241190

looking to spend anywhere from 80-130 on motherboard, and i could really go amd or intel...i like the core 2 duos though

 

[Operandi]

If you go AMD you want socket AM2 not 939.

 

[Smartazz]

That X850XT is a little pricey isn't it? For that much, look for an X1900GT, if they're still $200, not sure though.

 

[ViviTheMage]

get a gigabyte DS3 board, that will work with your E6400 (pretty cheap to 150$)

 

[Howard]

What are you planning to do with it?

 

[gamenutt]

its for pretty much everything...i do a decent amount of gaming some video editing web design graphic design and lots of everything else. So trying to pack in as much as i can for my 1000 dollar budget. The ds3 board does look decent for price ill probably end up going with that

 

[gamenutt]

So heres what im looking at getting so far..if anyone can recommend anything else let me know..
-GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail ($139.99)
-Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400 - Retail ($230)
-CORSAIR 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Unbuffered System Memory Model CMSS1GB-667 - Retail ($124.99)
-MSI NX7600GT-VT2D256EHD Geforce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail ($175.00)
-Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM ($100)
-NZXT Apollo ORANGE NP Orange SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail ($70)
-XION XON-500F8X2-201 ATX Ver2.2 500W Power Supply - Retail ($44)
-LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/LightScribe and 5X DVD-RAM Write Black ATAPI/E-IDE Model SHM-165H6S - Retail ($35)

total $918 +$31 shipping = $950
Not sure how big an improvement it is from the e6300 to e6400 core 2 duo chip is worth the 50 bucks? anywhere else i can save money without hurting it too much let me know thx

 

[HQ]

I would rather take e6300 and try to save money for 2x1GB memory if it's possible. IMO that would be better impovement than taking e6400.

 

[Operandi]

Xion is junk. A good 500+ watt PSU is going to cost you at least $75+, anything less then that is sure sign of trouble. I would suggest a good 350-400 watt unit from Seasonic, Enhance, or FSP.

NZXT is also not something I would recommend. If you just want a basic but high quality steel case I would suggest you take a look at InWin. If you want something a bit upper class Lian Li is the way to go in my opinion.

Lastly if you can make the jump to 7900GT do it.

 

[Skott]

Two of my co-workers have Xion psu in their systems. One failed other has not. Its not a brand I had heard of until a few months ago. Kinda hard to reccomend a brand I dont know much about.

 

[gamenutt]

I think im just gonna go with the xft 7900gs extreme edition it looks good from the reviews and benchmarks, performs really close to the 7900gt. And I think thats some good advice on the psu i thought xion looked a little shady...im going with a $50 450 watt from fsp....Is there any problems that anyone can see between the gigabyte ds3 intel e6400 and the corsair 1 gb memory that i have listed. I think other than that..that im set.

 

[Bobthelost]

If you're overclocking then get a 6300 and see if you can't get either a 7900GT or 2GB of RAM. You're going to end up with 2.5Ghz + either way and that's so much CPU power it's silly. $124 is rather high for 1GB too, value RAM is much better value than expensive stuff.

 

[Howard]

I too would get the E6300 and up the memory to 2GB.

 

[gamenutt]

i went with the e6400 and the 2gb...as well as the gigabyte ds3 and evga 7900gs KO and an antec smartpower 500 watt psu ...should be good xD thx for all your help guys