Check out this config for me...

[MadDog31]

Hey all,

I've narrowed it down to a point I'll post some specs to see what you guys think (mainly for parts compatibility reasons). I have a set budget so this is going to have to work.

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
AMD64 3200+ 90nm
1 GB Corsair ValueSelect
Thermaltake A1883 Heatsink/Fan

**********
Right now I'm running a couple of ATA hard drives, but plan on upgrading to SATA later this year when funds allow me to. Plus I want to learn more about RAID before I screw around with that.

My current sound and video cards are as follows:

Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128 MB
Hercules Game Theatre XP

Both are cards I'm sticking with. I have to have the sound because of the breakout box for my Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 sound system.

Overall, I won't be doing any overclocking for a while. I'll simply be playing Half-Life 2, working in Photoshop & Dreamweaver and other basic stuff most people do.

I like the looks of this setup, and just wanted some final analysis from you folks.

Regards,
Ian

PS...and thanks for everyone's help in previous posts regarding my upgrade research.

 

[CheesePoofs]

I think you'd do better off getting the retail athlon 64 3200. It probably costs about as much as the OEM proc, the heatsink, and thermal paste combined, but you will get a 3 year warranty and be still able to OC in the future with the retail HSF. Aside from that it all looks good.

I wouldn't recomend putting your HD's into a raid unless you want to do it for data redundency. They give you no speed boost when striped, so its really not worth it. Its also probably not worth upgrading to a sata drive if your short on cash. They will give you a very small performance increase, if any. That money would be better spent on a new graphics card if you wait until you have enough to upgrade to a $200 card.

 

[Anubis08]

Looks adequate for what you describe.:thumbsup:

 

[flamingspinach]

Looks like you're going to upgrade your video card before you upgrade your CPU again, so good choice going with 939. Neo2 Platinum is one of the most well-known nForce3 Ultra motherboards right now, so you shouldn't have any problems that can't be solved. Good choice with the memory, it fits perfectly with the A64. Thermaltake HSF... couldn't find it on NewEgg, but if it's a cpu combo heatsink/fan, I'd go with the Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu instead, if you can afford it (~$40 IIRC).

-fs

 

[Markfw]

The retail HSF is fine since you are not OC'ing. Save the money and get a better video card....9800pro minimum, 6800GT preferred (or X800pro)

 

[MadDog31]

Thanks for the comments. I want to get the 90nm 3200+ ($193 on Monarch) as opposed to the retail version at $238. The heatsink/fan is $25.

Do you guys see a performance increase using a single SATA hard drive then instead of RAID? I've seen benchmarks for RAID and it just doesn't seem worth the money to get 2 drives to get very little improvement in performance. Would a single drive be good for reduced power consumption, quicker access, etc then?

Ian