So here is my case, the old P4 1.6 just fell out of its Rascal scooter, and the venerable Radeon 9700 Pro just is not cutting it these days. Not to mention the rest of my PC sans the Crucial memory is stock Compaq from four years ago.
Now, I am an extremely cautious buyer, and I tend to get myself in some drawn-out loops of waiting for the 'next-best-thing.' But I have given myself a deadline, even though it seems I have decided to build when the industry is at quite an indecision about things like PCIe vs. AGP, LCDs, SLI, and all that jazz.
What I am aiming to build is a PC that will last me a few years, with the prospects of a video card upgrade every two or three generations, thus I am aiming for a PCIe setup. I do not care for overclocking or SLI, or anything of that nature. I will keep things pretty much stock.
So here is what I am looking at:
Motherboard: At kind of an indecision, though I wish to have a good integrated audio and a single-slot PCIe solution, so the
CHAINTECH NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU, Model "VNF4/Ultra" is what I am eyeing. I am just wary of the Chaintech name, and the fact that it is the first of its kind.
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 939 Winchester 90nm. Pretty much done and done here.
Memory: Corsair ValueSelect PC-3200 DDR Dual-Kit (1GB, 2x 512) Again, decisive. Lower CAS than the Kingston.
Video Card: This is my first major hitch. I am loyal to ATI, and was looking forward to the X800 XL, but due to this ridiculous unavailability, I do not feel like shelling out $600 for a card they were placing at $299 back in December. I am looking for a card that is high-end, but not the ultra enthusiast, somewhere around where the XL is placed. What should I do here? Jump ship to nVidia or wait it out?
Hard Drive: Seagate 160GB Barracuda 7200.7 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model ST3160023AS, OEM. Just recently decided to tack this on, my old 80GB is not enough. Good? I am wary of more storage, as I cannot see myself utilizing 300GB or anything like that.
Speakers: Logitech Z-680 5.1. Decisive, nice and cheap at Tiger Direct.
Case: Lian-Li Silver Mid-Tower Case PC-60. I have dreams about this case.
I am recycling my keyboard, mouse, power supply, and removable drives.
I know this is just another 'critique my build thread,' but would like a second opinion before I do something ridiculous. Thank you so very much in advance.
Now, I am an extremely cautious buyer, and I tend to get myself in some drawn-out loops of waiting for the 'next-best-thing.' But I have given myself a deadline, even though it seems I have decided to build when the industry is at quite an indecision about things like PCIe vs. AGP, LCDs, SLI, and all that jazz.
What I am aiming to build is a PC that will last me a few years, with the prospects of a video card upgrade every two or three generations, thus I am aiming for a PCIe setup. I do not care for overclocking or SLI, or anything of that nature. I will keep things pretty much stock.
So here is what I am looking at:
Motherboard: At kind of an indecision, though I wish to have a good integrated audio and a single-slot PCIe solution, so the
CHAINTECH NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU, Model "VNF4/Ultra" is what I am eyeing. I am just wary of the Chaintech name, and the fact that it is the first of its kind.
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 939 Winchester 90nm. Pretty much done and done here.
Memory: Corsair ValueSelect PC-3200 DDR Dual-Kit (1GB, 2x 512) Again, decisive. Lower CAS than the Kingston.
Video Card: This is my first major hitch. I am loyal to ATI, and was looking forward to the X800 XL, but due to this ridiculous unavailability, I do not feel like shelling out $600 for a card they were placing at $299 back in December. I am looking for a card that is high-end, but not the ultra enthusiast, somewhere around where the XL is placed. What should I do here? Jump ship to nVidia or wait it out?
Hard Drive: Seagate 160GB Barracuda 7200.7 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model ST3160023AS, OEM. Just recently decided to tack this on, my old 80GB is not enough. Good? I am wary of more storage, as I cannot see myself utilizing 300GB or anything like that.
Speakers: Logitech Z-680 5.1. Decisive, nice and cheap at Tiger Direct.
Case: Lian-Li Silver Mid-Tower Case PC-60. I have dreams about this case.
I am recycling my keyboard, mouse, power supply, and removable drives.
I know this is just another 'critique my build thread,' but would like a second opinion before I do something ridiculous. Thank you so very much in advance.
