Building new PC

[Chubasco]

Planning on building a new desktop P.C. within the next few weeks and I'm considering the configuration below. It has been over 4 years since I built my last desktop and I've been living off of a Notebook for the last year. Please provide comments, criticisms, suggestions, etc.

I'm looking to spend within the range of $1,800 to $2,800 and do not need a new display.
Also, will be connecting to network/internet wirelessly and already have a Linksys wirless G router (WRT54G).


Case = Wave Master TAC-T01
CPU = AMD Athlon 64 3800+
Power Supply = Antec 480W NeoPower
Motherboard = MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
RAM = 2 X 512-MB Corsair TwinX XMS DDR400/PC3200LL
Harddrive = 2 X Seagate ST3200822AS 200GB 7200 RPM SATA 8MB Cache in Raid 1 array (just experienced my first hard drive crash and complete data loss )
Video card = eVGA GeForce 6800 GT
OS = Windows XP Pro
Purpose = Gaming
Printer = ???? looking for advice
Print server/router/switch = ???? looking for advice
Wireless access point = ???? looking for advice

 

[LtPage1]

sweet. looks great to me.
for a printer, i recommend the cx6400- its an epson all-in-one. ive got one, and its great. if you get any epson, you wont be disappointed. for a wireless access point (i think youre talking about a wifi connection for the computer) id grab a wireless-g linksys card, for compatibility with your router. print server- can you connect the printer into the router? my apple airport base station has a usb port for printers. otherwise, i have no idea.

 

[IceMole]

I'd replace the seagates w/ raptors, unless you really need the space. Also you should WAIT for Nforce4.

 

[nick1985]

ram = complete waste of money.

 

[KoolDrew]

I would wait until Nforce4

 

[ts3433]

NF4 maybe if you spend that much (you can SLI and upgrade to future PCIe graphics cards; the CPU shouldn't be the bottleneck with that for quite a while). Low-latency RAM, like Nick mentioned, is a waste on A64. (If you need to OC just buy PC3500-4000.)

 

[Chubasco]

Thanks for the feedback. A few questions:

- When are N4 Mobo's scheduled for release? I want to build before the end of the year.

- Buying the first round of N4's might be a bit risky, no? I may only wait to get a better deal on N3's.

- Can you recommend an alternative motherboard? Guess I won't be buying an MSI if they're falsifiying their multipliers (MSI Falsifying?)

- Can you recommend some alternative RAM?

 

[Gravity]

I'd change the case to an Antec Sonata. Drives will be quite loud unless they are gromett mounted.

Also, Sonata has very, very good cooling. You'll want to add a 120mm right behind the drives and it will keep them uber cool.

 

[piasabird]

I like the small HP Laser printers.

All depends what you want to print.

Some like smaller inkjets that do scanning copying almost like a copy machine.

 

[Chubasco]

- When are N4 Mobo's scheduled for release? I want to build before the end of the year.

- Buying the first round of N4's might be a bit risky, no? I may only wait to get a better deal on N3's.

- Can you recommend an alternative motherboard? Guess I won't be buying an MSI if they're falsifiying their multipliers.

- Can you recommend some alternative RAM?

 

[DrCool]

Originally posted by: Chubasco
Please provide comments, criticisms, suggestions, etc.

Case = Wave Master TAC-T01
CPU = AMD Athlon 64 3800+
Power Supply = Antec 480W NeoPower
Motherboard = MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
RAM = 2 X 512-MB Corsair TwinX XMS DDR400/PC3200LL
Harddrive = 2 X Seagate ST3200822AS 200GB 7200 RPM SATA 8MB Cache in Raid 1 array (just experienced my first hard drive crash and complete data loss )
Video card = eVGA GeForce 6800 GT
OS = Windows XP Pro
Purpose = Gaming
Printer = ???? looking for advice
Print server/router/switch = ???? looking for advice
Wireless access point = ???? looking for advice

Looks like you've been doing your homework..

Are you looking for the best setup for TODAY or you looking for something that will be 'semi' upgradable in the future? ie, do you want to spend $1800 every 2 years, or would you prefer to get some longevity out of your components?

If you just want the highest performing for the moment, you've got a good setup.. but if you want a setup that will have some longevity; i'd go with an intel based 915p setup (PCI Express, DDR2, native NCQ SATA) http://techreport.com/reviews/...ntel-9xx/index.x?pg=21

People seem to be underestimating the potential that PCI Express brings.. i'd suggest you read more about it, and how it effects your system as a whole:
http://arstechnica.com/article...edia/hardware/pcie.ars

I don't believe the nForce 4 boards are going to be worth the wait, from the couple 'previews' i've read, and intel has a much more proven product at the moment.

Don't get me wrong, currently the platform your considering will be the highest performing, but what about 6 months from now? I don't believe it's a platform that you'll be able to upgrade much.

 

[Chubasco]

Thanks for the feedback Dr Cool. I am definitely excited about the ability to SLI again (I have fond memories of this back in the Voodoo days). Also, you've raised some very valid points about upgrade-ability which is one of the main reasons I bother building my own.

However, I prefer to go AMD. So, does anyone know when the N4's are scheduled for release? I know they're still working some kinks out.

 

[Mrvile]

Well, if you're gonna be using SLI, I bet you'll be doing some serious gaming...


If you have up to 2800 to spend, you can go all out and get an Athlon 4000+ or something in the FX series, that way you won't have to upgrade your CPU for a long time, and you might even consider SLIing two 6800ULTRAs together, you should be able to with that kind of budget. But with two crazy crazy GPU's like that you'll need a PSU of at LEAST 500w.

Two 200gb hard drives with RAID is gonna be really expensive, are you sure you really need that much space? 120 or 160 should be more than enough for games...


And to answer your question, nForce4 was SUPPOSED to come out by mid November, but they had some problems with the chipset so you might have to wait until December-ish.



FINALLY, about the RAM, any kind of Valuram has just as much power as your Awesomespecial RAM, and costs much less. You should stick with a cheaper RAM.


EDIT: Drcool is definately the Intel fanboy , but I like AMD personally.

 

[syconub]

dont get the msi board