Does this look OK?

[desk]

I'm upgrading my computer for the first time in a long while. I won't tell you how old it is, but you'll be happy to know it's doing well in kindergarten (my boy is growing up!).

Anyhow, my goal is to be able to play HL2 on moderate to high settings. After reading through the forums over the last month or so, I think I have a pretty good idea of what I want. I'd like to stay under $1000 dollars (not including the monitor and other peripherals). Also, I think I'm going to stick with socket 754, since I probably won't be upgrading again for another couple years (I'll probably have to buy an all new system by then anyhow).

Could you let me know what you think:

BFG Nvidia GeForce 6800 OC 128MB 256-bit - $279

How much better is this card then the vanilla 6800? The OC version at futurepowerpc is actually cheaper then the vanilla at Newegg, so it seems like a no brainer.

AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 512k L2- $190

Chaintech VNF3-250 NForce3 250 Motherboard S754 - $73

Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 - $157

Western Digital SE 80GB 7200RPM IDE Model WD800JB - $61

I don't need an enormous drive, so the only reason I would change this would be performance or noise.

Antec 430W Power Supply, Model "TRUE430" - $75

I figure I'll need something more then my 300w power supply to run the 6800. Is this overkill?

Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 - $91

I know that XP Pro is probably the optimal choice, but it's a lot more expensive. Is XP Home missing anything important?

Mitsumi USB Digital Card Reader/Writer Model FA404A/404M - $27

I already have:

SoundBlaster Live! Value, Klipsch ProMedia v.2-400 - I'm not an audiophile, so I think this is adequate

Enlight ATX case - Are there any issue with an older Enlight case? I figure its ok since I'm replacing the power supply.

Monitor, CD Burner, DVD drive, optical Mouse, keyboard, etc.

Total = $962

 

[DanDrop]

Looks alright to me. How about getting a 1G of kingston hyperx dual DDR 3200 from outpost for about $189 instead of the 512 corsair?

 

[ts3433]

If you plan on OCing that S754 setup it would be wise to get a single 1 GB stick of memory.

The BFG 6800 series cards all just come pre overclocked. Try and save up a little more for the 6800GT if you can though (or just get a 3000+; performs about the same and OC's well too)--more OCable and will probably fare better in a year or two.

 

[desk]

Thanks for the quick responses!

Originally posted by: ts3433
If you plan on OCing that S754 setup it would be wise to get a single 1 GB stick of memory.

I wouldn't mind overclocking, but I don't really know much about it at this point. So I'm not building this sytem with the intent to do it.

The BFG 6800 series cards all just come pre overclocked. Try and save up a little more for the 6800GT if you can though (or just get a 3000+; performs about the same and OC's well too)--more OCable and will probably fare better in a year or two.

It's not that I'm on an actual budget.....I just can't see paying $400 dollars for a video card (not criticizing those that do). The thought of spending $279 for the 6800 is already making my left arm hurt (why do I have this copper taste in my mouth?).

Would there be a performance improvement with the 6800 OC, or am I bottlenecked by something else?

 

[ts3433]

I personally couldn't either (observe my 9600 vanilla; 13 and not a PC gamer), but I thought it a valid suggestion to throw out.

I don't believe you're bottlenecked by much of anything; if you downgraded to a 3000+ and got a GT you'd still be fine, most likely. (And even if you're not building the system to OC, it's still a good idea to just buy that anyway--it's not much more expensive IIRC and if 2 GB of RAM somehow becomes a necessity in a year, you can get another 1 GB stick and be able to run full-speed PC3200 with it all.)

 

[desk]

bump for the sunday crowd.

 

[SonicIce]

The system looks great to me. What do you plan on using the computer for? if its gaming, I'd downgrade the processor to a 3000+ and upgrade the videocard to a 6800GT. That'd come out to be around $1050 if that's OK.

 

[imported_JeReMY]

Originally posted by: SonicIce
The system looks great to me. What do you plan on using the computer for? if its gaming, I'd downgrade the processor to a 3000+ and upgrade the videocard to a 6800GT. That'd come out to be around $1050 if that's OK.

I agree.