How does this setup look?

[blackllotus]

I know the advantages of 939 socket over 754 socket have been discussed numerous times, but since this new setup is meant to last for 2-3 years anyways (WITHOUT replacing cpu or motherboard), I don't think the extra price of 939 socket is justified when searching for a budget computer (atleast for my situation). Anyways, here is what I have come up with after researching a lot of different products. Feel free to comment, criticize, etc... I haven't bought anything yet, so any improvements would be appreciated.

Processor: AMD Athlon 3700+ ClawHammer core, $263
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-K8U Socket 754 ULi M1689 ATX $55
Memory: Patriot 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 [2-3-2-5] $120
Hard Drive: Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6B250S0 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 $120

Total: $558

Another option I am considering is replacing the 3700+ with a 3400+ because I can get the 3400+ for $200 @onsale.com

EDIT: Yes I am aware the motherboard supports AGP and not pci-e. That is intentional

 

[Bona Fide]

Considering your circumstances, that's a very good solution. I think an nForce board would be a wiser choice though.

 

[Hacp]

Maybe the 3400+? Only 512 less cache and much cheaper than the clawhammer.

 

[blackllotus]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Maybe the 3400+? Only 512 less cache and much cheaper than the clawhammer.

I've been considering this, since I can get the 3400+ for $200 @ onsale.com and that would save around $60.

Originally posted by: Bona Fide
Considering your circumstances, that's a very good solution. I think an nForce board would be a wiser choice though.

Ok. I looked at some of the nForce3 boards and they are more expensive, but if I drop down from a 3700+ to a 3400+ (which would save me $60) then that should not be an issue.

Anyone else recommend I drop to a 3400+? I believe I recall reading that the extra 512kb of cache won't make that large of a difference in most applications (I will be using this computer to play games and to run some applications like Microsoft Visual Studio).

 

[LandRover]

I've been very happy with my 3400+ (2.4GHz/512 version). I'm using it with this nForce3 board. Very nice and stable board.