Hello. Building a computer, comments and advice on components please.

[Alln]

hey,

i've been a lurker for a while but only now needed direct advice.

i basically tried to follow the "guide" and build a mid-level system. but because of availabilty of parts i'm forced to do things a little different. (i'm from toronto, canada)

the system is for general use, but my brother is going into graphics for school if that matters.

so here's what i got so far: (pricing from www.canadacomputers.com)

MSI K8N NEO2 Plat. $181
AMD athlon 64+ 3200 $236
OCZ (EL series) PC3200 DDR400 512MBx2 CAS2 $377
Maxtor 2GF w/16mb cache $155
NEC ND-5200a 16x dvd-rw $82
CS soundblaster audigy2 zs $107
Powercolor ATI radeon X800xt ddr-3 AGP $670
Antex supermini tower (350w ps) $126

I'm trying to keep it around $2500-$2600 (cnd) for everything.

i'm still up in the air regarding a good mid-range 19" lcd monitor.

i'm concerned about a few things, since i havent dont this for about 3 years.

am i wasting my money with parts that have no benefit over a cheaper version (whatever that may be)?

conversely, is there a obvious bottleneck in the system?

is the 350w PS enough?

recommendations for a quiet HSF. overclocking is not currently a factor.

am i missing something? and any other general comments/suggestions that you may have.

thanks in advance.

 

[nick1985]

holy SH!T!!! $377 for RAM? you can get quality ram for over $100 less. that is sooooo overpriced.

and with all that gear, although antec is a great brand, you might want to get a better PSU.

 

[Ioo]

Canadian Dollars is why his prices are so high.

 

[Ioo]

I'd think about nForce 4 and PCI express instead of AGP

 

[ddviper]

did u take into consideration that is was canadian $'s?

 

[Mrvile]

350w is enough, but still kinda low. You might wanna upgrade in the near future, but for now it should be fine.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: ddviper
did u take into consideration that is was canadian $'s?

even so, its still insanely high.

 

[cmp1223]

the MSI neo2 has been notorious for flaking out when not paired with a powerful PSU. Many suggest over 25A on the 12v rail, and that usually means your looking at a 400W-500W quality unit. For that PSU, consider the Asus A8V, abit, or maybe the epox if you want nforce 3.

 

[Alln]

thanks for the input so far.

yeah... i've checked a few places and $377 seems to be the standard price for that particular ram. but how about the ram itself? its not the same as the one suggested in the guide so how does this differ? what is the equivalent OCZ version? if you want to take the extra step you can check the website i mentioned at the top and check it out yourself to get a better idea of the pricing we have.

i dont know anything about nforce3... so i dont know if i'd want it or not.

getting another PS isnt a problem. I'd rather get a PS that accomodates to the mobo than the other way around. so what do you suggest?

oh and... is a PCI-E card generally better than the AGP version?

 

[AmdEmAll]

Needs a much better PSU. Nice namebrand one. I recommend Lian Li or Coolermaster for cases.

Antec, Enermax, Thermaltake... all good PSU brands.

 

[Alln]

ok i got everything now.

BenQ T904... wanted the F931 one but couldnt find it locally. they've got the same specs so i went with it.
same MSI mobo
same AMD cpu
kingston 2x512mb ddr400 value ram
didnt bother with the sound card just yet since i wasnt going to buy a 5.1 system right away.
250g Maxtor 8/mb cache
connect3d x800xt pe (didnt want the PE but it was the only one in stock so whatever, a little outside my intended budget though)
antec sonata (w/ stock 380w psu)

i've got some updated questions now.

1. should i have bought the maxtor 250g with S-ATA and 16mb cache instead?

will there be a noticeable difference? i dont even know what S-ata does? someone care to give a brief explanation?

2. the kingston ram is a rental since i cant get my hands on any OCZ brand ram. When they get back stock besides getting dual channel (honestly dont even know why but its recommended) what series should i get? there are so many variations, a little diresction would be appreciated. i dont plan on OCing much, if any.

3. how do i know what is the bottleneck of the system? what do you guys think it is?

any other comments or advice are welcome.

thanks.