New gaming pc need suggestions and comments

[Shootingblanks]

Recently sold my intel based 4.2 ghz based system. Going to amd for gaming. Here is list of components that I am using from my old system and what I plan to purchase:

Items highlighted are new hardware purchases.

Modded Kingwin 424 Black w/ 80mm Blowhole
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo
CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 433 (PC 3500) Dual Channel Kit System Memory
THERMALRIGHT XP-90C Heatsink
NEC Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 4X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE DVD Burner
Liteon CD/RW Black Drive
Liteon CD-Rom Black Drive
Black Floppy Drive
2 x 36.7GB WD Raptors(Raid 0)
Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM SATA 7K250 Hard Drive
eVGA 7800 GTX KO edition-purchased and am number 5 on waiting list
SB Audigy 2 ZS
OCZ Powerstream 520W
Cooler Master CoolDrive 4
Vantec 305 Nexus Fan Controller
Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 930SB

Will be replacing my Kingwin case with the Cooler Master CM Stacker this December. Will be going back to water cooling when I get the case. so I can have it all internally in the case instead of the external case I custom built.

First AMD system so suggestions are appreciated. I chose Asus due to I have had nothing but good experience with them. I feel I am on the right track.

 

[Shootingblanks]

bump

 

[zoz123]

1- ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe : This mobo offers minimal performance boost if you are getting one video card, better get it for SLI 7800 GTX setup to make use of the dual 16X PCIe slots. Why you get board for 250$ that offers 2 full speed PCIe slots while you are getting a single video card? If you are getting one card, then get the premium version it should cost 80$ less and will do well.

2- Too many CD/DVD drives/burners you want all these on one PC?

3- 2 x 36.7GB WD Raptors(Raid 0): Better get a single 74 GB raptor, more reliable than RAID 0 as one of the drives might fail and you lose all data, plus RAID setup can be a bit tricky to set i up. A single 74 raptor is same storage and is MUCH faster than the 36 GB older models. However, if you already have themn then its OK

4- eVGA 7800 GTX KO edition: You already purchased so congrats, but I would choose 2 7800 GTX with ACS3 instead, they cost $950 and each of them has corec clock speed of 460 not much behind the 490 of the KO version plus they will give much better performance in 3D games.

If you wanted to buy a single card, then again the 512k version of the 7800 GTX will be released very soon and would offer better performance than the overpriced KO version.

5- SB Audigy 2 ZS : Better get an X-FI

6- OCZ Powerstream 520W: If you are planning to buy another video card and use SLI (I think you are willing to do so otherwise you wouldn't buy the ASUS SLI mobo), then get better an SLI certified powersupply.

 

[Shootingblanks]

well my 36.7 raptors are quite fine and ran good on my intel pc. nothing wrong with them and raid o was easy to install on the p4c800 deluxe. I plan on buying another 7800gtx ko edition next month. also the sb audigy zs is from my old pc. I chose the a8n32 for future upgradebilty with going with 2 7800 gtx cards so $80 dollar difference is inmaterial. Should I replace the OCZ 520 with the OCZ 600 or another psu?

 

[zoz123]

If you are going to get two video cards then the a8n32 is the way to go I was willing to get 2 from these KO version cards but found them to be way overpriced to a ridiculous way ($615 at Monarch) so I decided to get the eVGA 7800 GTX with ACS3, they have the SAME improved heatsink of the KO version but come at $475 each thats 140$ savings.

About the powersupply, I don't have experience with it so I am not sure if it will handle the SLI setup well or not. I think you can try it at first and run your games at max settings and see if it will handle them without issues or not. If it does, then keep it