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Ok folks...another gamer needs some input on new system

A

Andy22

Golden Member
It's now been two years since I upgraded to my current Athlon 2800+ system so I have been out of practice and not keeping up with the latest and greatest. Thankfully I am going to be able to keep my current system and run two with a kvm switch so no need for a monitor or DVD burner. I have around a $1200 budget. Less would be better though if I can swing it.

These are the parts I have picked out...would love some feedback.

Mobo:

MSI K8N Neo4/SLI nForce4

I like that it has an on board sound card by creative labs as this will allow me to not have to buy a new sound card. I figure it will be good enough for my games...which consists main of of World of Warcraft right now. SLI is a feature I don't plan on using right now but can't find another mobo that has a creative labs sound card. Am I reaching thinking this will suffice for games?
__________________________________________________________________________
Case

Antec P160

Solid case with a reasonable price tag.
__________________________________________________________________________
CPU

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+

Read so many good things about the X2 I changed my mind and decided to bite the bullet.
__________________________________________________________________________
Memory

Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2PT 1GB DDR400 XMS3200 Dual-Channel Memory

2 GB!
__________________________________________________________________________
HD

Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L300S0 300GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer

Have always bought and loved Maxtors. This will be my first sata drive setup...will I need a floppy for drivers during setup?
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Video Card

eVGA e-GeForce 6800 GT PCI Express 256MB DDR3 Video card w/Dual DVI

Just couldn't pull the trigger on a 7800 GT but I am coming from a 9800 Pro so this should be a huge upgrade.
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Power Supply

Sparkle Power FSP400-60PNU-B 400 Watts ATX12V ">http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=270534</a>

Decent?
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CDRW

Liteon SOHR-5239S / SOHR-5238S 52x32x52 E-IDE/ATAPI CD-RW Drive

Have a DVD burner on other pc.
__________________________________________________________________________

So...that's it. Please feel free to give me some feedback on what ya like and\or don't like.

Thanks in advance!
 
You realize you're only getting 1 gb of memory? 512x2 matched pair. (unless you buy two sets)
I'd pay the extra $20 for a dvd burner that way you can watch movies//load pc dvd games.
Otherwise looks fine to me.
 
Thanks for that heads up...I misread it. It begs the question if 1 GB is sufficient for a gamer. The cost is around $260 for a 2 GB kit so it's quite a jump.
 
It's not sufficient for Battlefield 2, at least. 2 gigs made a huge difference for me.
 
Thanks Mark.

Another question I thought of...do I need to get XP Pro x64 to take full advantage of this chip?
 
Originally posted by: Andy22
Thanks Mark.

Another question I thought of...do I need to get XP Pro x64 to take full advantage of this chip?
Click to expand...


No.

Stick with XP.
 
Originally posted by: Andy22
Thanks Mark.

Another question I thought of...do I need to get XP Pro x64 to take full advantage of this chip?
Click to expand...

No, go Windows XP, you mentioned WoW, I heard 2GB helps a lot in loading heavy towns. I know 2GB made a huge diff in load times and stuttering in BF2 and F.E.A.R for me,
 
Get the 2GB of memory. I went with this set:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227210

I was able to set the command timing to 1T for my motherboard and the memory has held up just fine. Also, when I had questions about the memory, I received quick replies from the OCZ rep who frequents Anandtech.

Video card:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322741

For an extra 80 bucks, you can get the new 7800 GT CO and get a free copy of Call of Duty 2 by registering at eVGA.

I love my 3800 X2. I'm frequently running multiple programs and it has handled absolutely wonderfully. Just remember to install the AMD processor driver.
 
Performance RAM is a waste of money. You can get 2x1GB of value RAM for ~$200. It would perform much better than 1GB of premium RAM. Also, don't get a 6800GT. For like ~$250, you can get an X800XL instead, which performs about just as well as the 6800GT, so you save a bit of money. How much is that PSU? My pick would be the 450W Fortron for $50. It's the best PSU for the money. Also, try to get a DVD burner, they're pretty usefull. The NEC3540A is pretty good, but I think the BenQ model is a bit better.
 
Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb
Performance RAM is a waste of money. You can get 2x1GB of value RAM for ~$200. It would perform much better than 1GB of premium RAM. Also, don't get a 6800GT. For like ~$250, you can get an X800XL instead, which performs about just as well as the 6800GT, so you save a bit of money. How much is that PSU? My pick would be the 450W Fortron for $50. It's the best PSU for the money. Also, try to get a DVD burner, they're pretty usefull. The NEC3540A is pretty good, but I think the BenQ model is a bit better.
Click to expand...

I considered the ATI X800 XL and had actually put it in my cart originally. I have the 9800 Pro now and it works great but I wanted some variety so I thought I would go with Nvidia this time. Noise IS a factor...wonder which one is better in this regards?


 
Well...thanks to a lot of good information on these forums and lot more research I ordered the following parts from ZZF:

Case - Antec P180 https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=140118

PS - Coolermaster 450w https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=370776

Mobo - MSI K8N Neo4\SLI https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=241167

CPU - A64 3800+ Venice https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80721-5

RAM - Patriot 2GB Kit DDR400 https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=83745

Video - eVGA 7800 GT https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322739

HD - Maxtor 300GB Sata https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=100719-4

CD\DVD - BenQ DW1640 https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=173827

Was just under $1400 inlcuding shipping via UPS ground. All parts had free 2 day shipping but the case so I just went with ground. My budget was around $1300 so I went over a bit or I would have gone with the X2. It was nice to be able to come back to these forums where I hadn't been in a while and catch up so quickly. These forums are a tremendous resource!





 
Don't forget to register for your free copy of CoD2.

edit: check out this cardpool thing:
http://evga.com/community/promos/cardpool/

I have a 7800GT that I haven't registered yet - I don't know how the cardpool thing works, but I'll check it out.

edit 2: Looks like I had to have bought my GT on or after 9/26 - I was a couple weeks early. Maybe someone else on the board will be able to help you out.
 
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