I've decided on socket 754...please help review the components I plan to select!

[mitchafi]

I'm growing tired of waiting for socket 939 so I've decided to build a socket 754 system unless there are very good reasons to wait. Here are my rough system specs, any suggestions/reccomendations are welcome and appreciated.

Note: I do not plan on overclocking but would like to have the option to overclock slightly down the road

CPU: AMD 64 3000/3200/3400 (undecided, any input?)
MOBO: Asus K8V deluxe (anything better I should know about?)
HD1: 74 GB Western Digital Raptor
HD2: Large Storage HD perhaps a Western Digital 1200JB (120GB) 7200RPM (8MB cache) (let me know if you think there is something better)
RAM: 2 X 512MB Mushkin PC3500 Level One Dual Pack (CAS2) (downgrade to PC3200 to save money? Any better brands?)
VIDEO CARD: Radeon 9800 Pro - purchased already
SOUND CARD: Audigy 2 ZS - purchased already
CASE: no idea at all, nothing too expensive or flashy, doesn't need a floppy bay...just needs to have a decent amount of room...do cases usually come with a PSU?
PSU: Not sure if this comes with case, but if not I heard antec trupower 430 is great
DVD Writer: NEC 2500A (Anything better with a comparable price tag?)
CD-R/DVD Drive: Have this taken care of already

Is there anything else I am forgetting? Do the cases/parts come with all neccesary cables? Does the case have fans or do I need to buy them separately? Thanks in advance!

 

[DaveSimmons]

Antec Sonata is a good case with good power supply. My P4 3.2C is in one, as is my brother's. A good 380 watt PS like the one in the Sonata is plenty of power for your system.

 

[mitchafi]

Is the one fan powerful enough to keep all those components cool?

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Sonata? Ew.

This case
One of these PSUs
This fan for intake

With only the 120mm intake in the front and the 120mm exhaust in the Silverstone, you're going to move about 70CFM through that case, and at 26dB. Slap a Zalman on the A64, and you're done.

- M4H

 

[andrewt1187]

get the 3000 if you're on a budget and the 3400 if no budget.
i heard the k8v is tricky to work with, im getting a MSI k8t.

 

[Markfw]

CPU ? Wharever the budget holds, but the 3000+ is great by itself. You should be able to get any of them to 215-218 HTT with that memory. Case ? Antec 1080awg is my favorite. All functionality.

 

[mitchafi]

Would some PC 3200 memory be wiser since I won't be overclocking? If so, what brand. I pretty much know the good brands at least I think I do: OCZ, kingston, crucial, muskin, etc...What I know nothing about is latency and how it affects performance.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: mitchafi
Would some PC 3200 memory be wiser since I won't be overclocking? If so, what brand. I pretty much know the good brands at least I think I do: OCZ, kingston, crucial, muskin, etc...What I know nothing about is latency and how it affects performance.

Latency - The lower, the faster. Most perceivable in heavy gaming and other memory-intenstive applications such as video editing.

- M4H

 

[mitchafi]

Any reccomendation on the secondary harddrive? Would it be wise to make it SATA so both the HD's are SATA? So far I think I'm going to go with the 3200+, Antec 1080 because it has 3 fans and is only $20 more than the Sonata, and I still don't know which memory I'm going to get, but now I know what latency is, and I am sure I want the ram to be PC3200.

 

[biostud]

get the 3000 or 3200, and I wouldn't use much on memory, since you don't plan to o/c. It's just not worth the extra money IMO, specially not on a64 systems. I would say corsair value.

Memory timings influence on speed

 

[StrongShock]

3 more good reasons not to do a major upgrade for a few months (mid summer we beg):

1) DDR2
2) PCI Express
3) BTX

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: StrongShock
3 more good reasons not to do a major upgrade for a few months (mid summer we beg):

1) DDR2
2) PCI Express
3) BTX

DDR will cost $$$ and is not really beneficial until DDR-II 667
PCI Express will not be on AMD boards for a while (???)
BTX.......haven't heard about AMD switching to BTX either (???)

 

[Corporate Thug]

i recommend Kingwin 424 for the case

 

[mitchafi]

What about memory, that is what I am stuck on right now. Kingston Hyper X, OCZ, crucial, mushkin? What has the best price/performance ratio?

 

[EngenZerO]

Originally posted by: StrongShock
3 more good reasons not to do a major upgrade for a few months (mid summer we beg):

1) DDR2
2) PCI Express
3) BTX

LOL... you will end waiting till next year if you head his advise,

go for a MSI K8T Neo, 512x2 Mushkin Level One 3200 (2-3-2), Lian-Li aluminum case (90 bucks on newegg), Antec True Power PS.

CPU... what ever your wallet can purchase.