Need help choosing new system components.

[leadwall]

Hi,

I've been reading alot on this forum about what components I should buy for my new pc upgrade. I think I have it narrowed down but still have a few questions. I am upgrading from my Dell 8200 P4 1.8, 512MB RAM, Geforece 3 Ti500 (Dell sucks and will never buy again. I was ignorant back then) For my new upgrade I want the best performance for the buck. I'm not concerned about making sure the MOBO will be upgradable 2 years from now, I'll just buy a new CPU and MOBO when the time comes. So with that in mind, below I have listed my ideal "mid-range/budget" system. Can you guys please give me suggestions on the best system specs for the price. This new system will be mainly used for playing the new Battlefield 2 game when it comes out.


(new system specs)

-Antech case w/400 watt PSU (I want 2-3 120mm fans, don't like the noise of 80mm fans)

-WinXP Home SP2

-AMD Athlon 64 3200-3500 939pin (Will I be able to OC a 3500 to a 3800 and be stable? Or should I get a 3200 and OC it to 3500?)

-MSI/ASUS MOBO (Suggestions welcome, not sure what the best mobo, psu and RAM combo to get. I am very unfamiliar with SLI, chipsets and wheather or not I need PCIe or not)

-1GB Corsair value RAM (I've read value RAM is the way to go with no noticeable performance decrease, any suggestions? I am unfamiliar with OC'ing and want the RAM to be flexible, I don't know what
dividers are used for when OC'ing, I've heard Patriot is good. Any comments?)

-Nvidia Geforce 6800GT (AGP or PCIe? I heard PCIe is alot more money with no noticeable differnce in performance. Also does anyone know what card Battlefield 2 will be optimized for? I want a card optimized for it ATI or Nvidia)

-Maxtor 37GB 10,000RPM (What's the best and fastest HD to get? Any comments?)

-Sound Blaster Audigy 2

 

[pol II]

Looks good to me

Some things to consider:

1. PSU: Make sure there is a decent amperage on the 12v rail.

2. You can probably safely assume a 200MHz overclock on either of those CPUs on air; that being said, be sure to equip yourself with a decent HSF. Note the word "probably." It is possible that your processor willl overclock only slightly or not at all, in which case you will have gotten exactly what you paid for If it were me, I would get the 3200+ out of the two choices you gave.

3. I have never owned an MSI board, but my ASUS boards have been rock solid.

IMO, getting the AGP system now seems reasonable for your requirements.

 

[ribbon13]

Most case/psu combos come with 20-pin atx psu's, and new gen mobos need 24-pin ATX, FYI

The price difference between PCI-e and AGP is pretty much neglible. I would get a nice ASUS A8N-SLi and PCIe cards, buying a 6800GT for AGP is a waste of money.

 

[leadwall]

Thanks for the FYI I didn't know about the pin differnce. About the PCIe vs. AGP though. I was aware that no games even come close to using the 16x capacity that PCIe offers and its more of a marketing attempt at this point. Therefore why would AGP be a waste of money. I've read PCIe is about $300 more than AGP. Care to comment?

Thanks,

 

[ribbon13]

This was a 2-minute check... $100, I bet with a few more minutes of searching it would be neglible

agp
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...tion=14-130-203&depa=1

pci-express
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...tion=14-150-081&depa=1