How can I make this rig better without going over $1500?

[slinky22]

I'm trying to make a solid gaming rig so I can play Everquest II when it finally comes out. I plan to buy a monitor locally (probably on black friday) and I already have speakers and a keyboard/mouse but I need to buy everything else, including Windows XP.

This is the best I can come up with so far:

ANTEC Life Style Series Black Case With 380W Power Supply, Model "SONATA"
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Retail
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

BFG nVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT Video Card with Doom 3
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

DFI "LANPARTY UT nF3 250Gb" NVIDIA nForce3 250GB Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

Maxtor 300GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Black
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

Lite-On Black 16X DVD-ROM
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

Samsung Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 OEM
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE

TOTAL: $ 1,407.49

I really don't plan to overclock right away, so I'm assuming the Antec 380w truepower will be sufficient even though I'm running a 6800 GT. I also plan to use the stock HSF from the CPU along with the stock thermal strip instead of buying paste seperately. Are my assumptions correct? Any suggestions or comments?

 

[Kenazo]

a 450w+ psu might not hurt.

 

[overst33r]

maybe you wanna invest in this case or this other one with the powersupply below.

http://www.newegg.com/app/view...=11-129-115&depa=1


http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=11-129-124&depa=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=17-153-007&depa=1

It will serve you much better in the long run for upgrades.

 

[Mrvile]

Hmm 2 DVD drives and no CD drives may not be that wise. I didn't click the links but most DVDs only go up to 48ish. Just stick with the dual layer and get a 52x CD-RW for the other. 300GB hard drive? Is 300 gigs necessary? I suggest just getting a 160 or 200 and get a 3200+ CPU instead. Finally, I personally HATE floppy drives and think they should burn in hell but finding one for the price of lunch at Subway?? I can't argue against that.

I'd take the Subway myself though

 

[Shortass]

Maybe a slightly less robust video card and some better ram?

 

[Childs]

If you aren't into serious overclocking you can save on the motherboard by going with the budget conscience Chaintech VNF3-250, and you chose Corsair Value Select so you might as well stay consistent. I would lose the Lite-On, as its a) redundant and b) will save you $30. 200GB SATA drives are around $120, so I would get a 200GB. Storage prices always drop, so if you need more you can always get it later.

Thing is, you should wait to EQ2 is out before you drop top $$ on a high end video card. What if it doesn't run well on a 6800 series card?

 

[Koing]

I'd ditch the 300Gb drive and get a 200Gb one. Best £ to Gb ratio imo.

Get a better power supply from the saving of the space. You can always buy more space later and it WILL be cheaper as HD drop quite a bit every so often. You can not say the same for PSU's.

Koing

 

[slinky22]

First, the NEC 3500 also burns CDs so that's not an issue. The Lite on also reads CDs so that's not an issue. I think the combo there is perfect for my needs. I also took the advice on the Antec SOHO file server since the PSU is higher and it looks like it has more room. As for the drive, I picked this one because it has 16mb buffer and I've heard that is close to raptors in terms of performance. I also need as much GB as possible to hold all of my porn, er I mean files. I'm sure the 6800 GT will be great for EQ II based on what I've heard from those in the beta test. The NDA was lifed on it so people have been talking a lot about those things lately. The only other card I would consider is a 6800 LE so I can unlock it and overclock it into a GT or Ultra. As for the chaintech board, I don't seem too impressed with it. Sure it's cheap, but the manual sucks and I heard the cool and quiet feature still doesn't even work yet. I don't mind paying more for the DFI since it's proven to be a stable board with a great manual and bios etc.

 

[Ka0t1x]

Upgrade the CPU and get better memory something with 2-3-3-6 timings or lower. PQI has some really nice memory, their Turbo series.. 1Gb PC3200 is like $200 @ the Egg if I remember correctly.

 

[slinky22]

Actually, I'm thinking of Crucial Ballistix if I upgrade memory. If I use the SOHO file server case, upgrade memory to Ballistix, and drop to the 200GB Seagate SATA, I'm still under $1500. Then, when I'm ready to OC it, all I'd have to buy is a better HSF and maybe some case fans.

Or maybe I should just wait until the first of the year when nforce 4 / PCIe is fully out and tested.