Please advise on my future college rig *UPDATED .. AGAIN

[fut]

My goal was to keep it under 1400 including everything except a sweet wide screen monitor which I can get at the end of the summer. Please tell me if anything should be changed. This rig will not be overclocked. It will be used for things that regular college kids do - e.g. latest games, multitasking music, firefox, aim and such.

Foxconn NF4UK8AA-8EKRS Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $97.00

COOLER MASTER CAVALIER 3 CAV-T03-UK Black Aluminum/Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $56.50

NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A - OEM - $48.00

Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM - $123.00

Saitek PZ30AU Black USB Wired Standard Eclipse Keyboard - Retail -$47.00

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model VS1GB400C3 - Retail - 81.50 x 2 = 163.00

Razer Plasma Diamondback Black Mouse - Retail - $50.00

XCLIO XClio 450BL ATX 450W Power Supply - Retail - 52.50

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3500BPBOX - Retail - $267.00

CREATIVE Inspire 5800 72 Watts Speaker - Retail - $69.99

eVGA 256-P2-N376-AX Geforce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - $359.00

The total is $1,378.74 after shipping, slightly under budget :Q

Thanks guys.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: fut
1) Is the 2GB RAM overkill? I don't do any 3D rendering or anything of that sort nor do I plan to but I do like to visit forums where there are several MBs of pictures loading per thread and do multiatask with photoshop from time to time.

For me, no. I do tons of Photoshop with photographic images involving layers, masks, and other fun and memory-consuming stuff, as well as multitasking with other apps at the same time. For you, if you're a "light" PS user, then less may be fine.

2) If I did bring down my RAM to say 1.5GB - i'd be around 100 bucks under budget. Should I just leave it at that and perhaps get some more clothes or is there any room for an upgrade? Say maybe the 3700+ or 6800 Ultra?

1.5GB doesn't make sense; you should have two matched modules, so it's either 2x512MB or 2x1GB.

3) My powersupply, case and keyboard light blue - there aren't any mouses with blue optical lights, are there?

Not that I know of, but I have seen optical mice modded with blue LEDs. There's certainly a page or three on the internet if you know where to look.

Final note: get a Venice core CPU, like this one.

 

[Juno]

like proviafan mentioned above, get venice core instead.

 

[suicidalpigeon]

cant comment on the mobo cause i dont know much about it, 2gig memory might be worth it if you read the bf2 test in the video section. aspire psu arent that great get an xclio if you wish to stay at similar price range, or go to ocz,seasonic, or fortron. like proviafan said get a venice. if you want to save some more cash get the 800xl for $100 less, if you ever decide to get an ultra just get the 6800gt and oc it and consider it an ultra. if you care for led colors so much just switch to red so it would accommodate with the red laser on the mouse.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: wafflesandsyrup
cant comment on the mobo cause i dont know much about it, 2gig memory might be worth it if you read the bf2 test in the video section. aspire psu arent that great get an xclio if you wish to stay at similar price range, or go to ocz,seasonic, or fortron. like proviafan said get a venice. if you want to save some more cash get the 800xl for $100 less, if you ever decide to get an ultra just get the 6800gt and oc it and consider it an ultra. if you care for led colors so much just switch to red so it would accommodate with the red laser on the mouse.

<ass>He's not getting the Logitech MX1000, so his mouse doesn't have a laser...</ass>

I have a Seasonic PSU - it is totally silent (important in the dorm room, which I will be living in this fall as well). Also, consider a Zalman CNPS7xxx series CPU cooler (check for motherboard compatibility at Zalman) or a Thermalright XP-90 and quiet fan.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Speakers... bigger speakers

 

[suicidalpigeon]

<ass>He's not getting the Logitech MX1000, so his mouse doesn't have a laser...</ass>

im sure you knew that i meant led.:heart:

 

[fut]

Can you guys tell me why the Venice would be a better choice in my situation and which one I should get? The lights aren't that important, just thought it would be cool.

 

[jpeyton]

Just swap out your Aspire PSU for something good, like this, and you're set.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Speakers... bigger speakers

That's about the only part left to be filled in on my "college rig," and I'm planning to wait until I get there to find out whether I need a regular 2.1 speaker setup or IEMs (largely depending on if my roommate likes to blast (c)rap at 115dB or not), rather than ordering potentially the wrong thing now.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: fut
Can you guys tell me why the Venice would be a better choice in my situation and which one I should get? The lights aren't that important, just thought it would be cool.

Venice core is newer, improved memory controller, has SSE3, and a few other things that I can't remember at this hour of the night. The cost is nearly identical, so there's no reason not to get the Venice.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: ProviaFan

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Speakers... bigger speakers

That's about the only part left to be filled in on my "college rig," and I'm planning to wait until I get there to find out whether I need a regular 2.1 speaker setup or IEMs (largely depending on if my roommate likes to blast (c)rap at 115dB or not), rather than ordering potentially the wrong thing now.

I've filled in my speakers for my "college rig" three times already. I don't think I can afford to do it again

 

[El Brujo]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Speakers... bigger speakers

For the sake of his dorm roommate/s, hopefully he'll opt for smaller speakers and bigger headphones.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I've filled in my speakers for my "college rig" three times already. I don't think I can afford to do it again

Well, I spent too much on an X2 to afford more than one set of listening devices, so that kind of extravagance won't be an option.

BTW, here's some more Venice info for the OP.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: El Brujo

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Speakers... bigger speakers

For the sake of his dorm roommate/s, hopefully he'll opt for smaller speakers and bigger headphones.

You're no fun.

 

[fut]

Thanks a lot for your help guys. Any more input is appreciated.

Originally posted by: El Brujo

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Speakers... bigger speakers

For the sake of his dorm roommate/s, hopefully he'll opt for smaller speakers and bigger headphones.

Oh, the speakers there are the minimum. I am pretty sure who my roomie is going to be, and if he doesn't have any tinnitus problems, then i'll get bigger ones

 

[suicidalpigeon]

a system isnt complete without quality speakers. opt for some klipsch or better logitech speakers.

 

[Mrvile]

Hmm, biggest thing I have to mention is that if you're gonna get 2GB of ram, you'd definately want two sticks of 1GB. Allows for more expansion, and runs faster than four sticks.

Also get a better PSU.

Everything else looks good!

 

[El Brujo]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: El Brujo

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Speakers... bigger speakers

For the sake of his dorm roommate/s, hopefully he'll opt for smaller speakers and bigger headphones.

You're no fun.

LOL...Hey, I?m just looking out for the other guy, especially since it might be me. I don?t know where this guy goes to college, and since my last roommate was into some annoyingly horrible & weird 1980?s punk band called the ?Dead Kennedys?, I figured I?d cover all the bases.

 

[El Brujo]

Originally posted by: fut
Thanks a lot for your help guys. Any more input is appreciated.

Originally posted by: El Brujo

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Speakers... bigger speakers

For the sake of his dorm roommate/s, hopefully he'll opt for smaller speakers and bigger headphones.

Oh, the speakers there are the minimum. I am pretty sure who my roomie is going to be, and if he doesn't have any tinnitus problems, then i'll get bigger ones

Great! Doesn't sound like we'll be roomies, so buy the biggest set of speakers you can find.

 

[fut]

Originally posted by: El Brujo

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: El Brujo

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Speakers... bigger speakers

For the sake of his dorm roommate/s, hopefully he'll opt for smaller speakers and bigger headphones.

You're no fun.

LOL...Hey, I?m just looking out for the other guy, especially since it might be me. I don?t know where this guy goes to college, and since my last roommate was into some annoyingly horrible & weird 1980?s punk band called the ?Dead Kennedys?, I figured I?d cover all the bases.

LOL!

 

[fut]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
Hmm, biggest thing I have to mention is that if you're gonna get 2GB of ram, you'd definately want two sticks of 1GB. Allows for more expansion, and runs faster than four sticks.

Also get a better PSU.

Everything else looks good!

This is something I was wondering about. I don't think the extra money is worth it and in how many years will I ever need more than 2GB?

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: El Brujo
LOL...Hey, I?m just looking out for the other guy, especially since it might be me. I don?t know where this guy goes to college, and since my last roommate was into some annoyingly horrible & weird 1980?s punk band called the ?Dead Kennedys?, I figured I?d cover all the bases.

LOL... depending on my mood, I can alternate between Brahms and Rachmaninov (Chopin at the current moment), or Dream Theater and other prog and/or metal stuff. Maybe I should just get some Sennheiser HD280's and be done with it.

Originally posted by: fut

Originally posted by: Mrvile
Hmm, biggest thing I have to mention is that if you're gonna get 2GB of ram, you'd definately want two sticks of 1GB. Allows for more expansion, and runs faster than four sticks.

Also get a better PSU.

Everything else looks good!

This is something I was wondering about. I don't think the extra money is worth it and in how many years will I ever need more than 2GB?

Getting 2x1GB doesn't have to be expensive. Two times this Corsair VS would be not quite $170, which isn't a whole lot more to pay for the expandability (and potentially performance in overclocking?).

 

[fut]

Originally posted by: ProviaFan

Originally posted by: El Brujo
LOL...Hey, I?m just looking out for the other guy, especially since it might be me. I don?t know where this guy goes to college, and since my last roommate was into some annoyingly horrible & weird 1980?s punk band called the ?Dead Kennedys?, I figured I?d cover all the bases.

LOL... depending on my mood, I can alternate between Brahms and Rachmaninov (Chopin at the current moment), or Dream Theater and other prog and/or metal stuff. Maybe I should just get some Sennheiser HD280's and be done with it.

This is exactly why I made sure I knew who my roomate was. I have no idea who those bands are and metal isn't exactly one of my favorites.

This is something I was wondering about. I don't think the extra money is worth it and in how many years will I ever need more than 2GB?

Getting 2x1GB doesn't have to be expensive. Two times this Corsair VS would be not quite $170, which isn't a whole lot more to pay for the expandability (and potentially performance in overclocking?).
[/quote]


Thanks man, was under the impression it would be much more. For 10 bucks, its definately worth it to me

So I changed to the Venice and to the 2x1GB - what do you guys suggest for the PSU as some of said its not good enough?

Again, thanks for your help.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: fut
So I changed to the Venice and to the 2x1GB - what do you guys suggest for the PSU as some of said its not good enough?

This XClio, as posted by jpeyton above, will do fine in the event that you'd rather not spend $100 (twice as much) on a Seasonic.