Padawan learner new system build

[Jakebrake]

I'm going to buy the parts online and at local stores over the next couple of weeks. I plan on spending about $700-$800 and have pretty much narrowed my selections. I'd like any comments, observations, personal experiences or wisecracks you can provide about my choices.

I plan on using this computer for gaming mostly, but I will also use it for work and school (MS Office apps, Endnote.)

I do not plan on overclocking.

Alright, without further ado, the nominees are:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 (939) 3200+ 512KB Venice $199
or
AMD Athlon 64 (939) 3000+ 512KB Venice $149

Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (939) $135

Memory: OCZ PC-3200/400 2x512MB Value or Premier Series $80
I?m not too sure on which brand of memory to buy, but I plan on spending about $100 or so.

Video card: ATI 9800 Pro ? I already have it, that?s why I?m going with AGP.

Case: Antec P160 w/ Antec TruePower 480 combo for $202 @ PCNation. Saves about $86.
Or
Antec P160 with separate psu. Recommendations are welcome within an $80-90 price range.

Sound card: Onboard sound - 7.1 channel audio codec RealTek ALC850
Or
SB Audigy 2 ZS Gamer $100. I might get this because it includes the five games, Jedi Knight, Halo, Tomb Raider, Rainbow Six 3, and Splinter Cell.

Hard drive: Seagate 160gig ? current drive.

Floppy drive: I?m old school and just in case. $10

DVD drive: Lite-On 16X DVD-ROM Drive Internal EIDE $30
I?ll get a burner later.


Also, what is the best way to burn-in a new system?

 

[imported_Kensai]

Either of the Venice cores are good. Just pick whatever fits best in your budget.
The NeoPower is a great PSU, don't get something else.
If the ZS gamer fits, get it.
The board is good, the memory is pretty okay, but some Corsair VS is my pick.

SiSoft Sandra, Winstress or Prim 95 are all good ways to burn in a new system.

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Originally posted by: Jakebrake
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 (939) 3200+ 512KB Venice $199
or
AMD Athlon 64 (939) 3000+ 512KB Venice $149

Either one is a good choice.

Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (939) $135

Last I heard the quality on this one was still sketchy as best. It may have changed over the months though.

Memory: OCZ PC-3200/400 2x512MB Value or Premier Series $80
I?m not too sure on which brand of memory to buy, but I plan on spending about $100 or so.

I'd say Corsair Value Select :thumbsup:

Case: Antec P160 w/ Antec TruePower 480 combo for $202 @ PCNation. Saves about $86.
Or
Antec P160 with separate psu. Recommendations are welcome within an $80-90 price range.

Either will do. The Seasonic S12 430W is a nice PSU though.

Also, what is the best way to burn-in a new system?

Prime95, Memtest86, I'm sure they have tons of other utilities for that.

 

[the wombat]

Looks like I'm the only one who voted for take up board games....sigh....

Not a bad rig, Might wanna consider the ASUS A8V Deluxe for the mobo. I heard good things about it.

For audio, first try the onboard to see if you like it. You can always add another card later.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Nice build. You can get decent performance from Venice 3000+. I would keep the stock power supply and on-board sound, if you can live without the games. Save $200 there, plus some future savings, and grab a newer vid card down the road. It would benefit you more than a sound card, especially with digital audio outs on the mobo.

Instead of a DVD-ROM now and burner later, just get a decent burner now. It's cheaper in the long run to buy one good one.
Newegg- PLEXTOR PX-712SA/SW Black SATA DVD Burner - Retail
66 bucks! Quick!

good luck

 

[akugami]

You might want to pick up your CPU & motherboard at monarchcomputer.com because you get free Farcry and Half-Life 2 when you buy them together as a combo. HL2 kicks much ass. It kicks it even harder when you get it free.

I'd recommend you sell your old 9800 and then getting either a 6600GT or X800XL. This moves you up to PCI-E and that means two-three years down the line you can save some money by just picking up a video card upgrade rather than needing a video card, motherboard and cpu upgrade. We're at the point where it seems like a video card upgrade will give you a bigger boost in gaming than a CPU upgrade so I envision a Venice 3200+ CPU will be just fine even two years down the line.

I'd pick up the DVD burner, I've seen BenQ's and NEC 3520A's for about $50 shipped lately. It's only $20 more.

 

[Jakebrake]

Thanks for the replies.

I think I'll go with the 3200+ Venice, get a burner now, get Corsair VS memory and get the CPU & mobo combo to get HL2 and Farcry for free.

I bought the 9800 pro a few months ago and I don't think I'll be able to get much better than $100 for it, so I'm going to stick with AGP for a few years...

I'm looking into what people are saying about the Asus A8V Deluxe vs. MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum before I make my final decision. Pros, cons, which has more features etc.

Until then I'll break out the classic Illuminati or Diplomacy games.

 

[Jakebrake]

After reading the official ASUS K8V thread I'm getting the MSI board.

 

[n7]

I am getting that 3200+ Venice + MSI mobo too, since i have an AGP 6800 GT.

Looks good