Rate my $1000 build

[bluehmstr]

I'm building a general purpose machine with some light gaming ability -- nothing more taxing than, say, World of Warcraft -- that I'll convert to a dedicated HTPC down the road. I'm aiming for low power consumption and quiet. I have a budget of $1000, and that includes everything:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz Socket AM2
MB: GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI mATX
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
CASE & POWER: Antec Sonata III Mid Tower with 500W Power Supply
VIDEO: GIGABYTE GV-NX86T256H GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 HDCP
HD: SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD403LJ 400GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
DVD: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail
FLOPPY: MITSUMI Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal USB 2.0 digital card reader with Floppy Drive
MODEM: U.S. Robotics USR5670 56Kbps Fax modem
MONITOR: Acer AL2016WBbd Black 20" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor
KB & MOUSE: Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 USB Ergonomics Keyboard Mouse
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 w/SP2B

Total: $1001.86 (before rebates, taxes and shipping)

Can you guys make any suggestions or improvements?

 

[bluehmstr]

Anyone want to take a stab? Or is this build truly perfect? I could use any advice you give me.

 

[Aznguy1872]

Are you a loyal fan to AMD? If not, I would make the switch to intell and go with C2d Setup, which would still fit under your budget.

 

[Lethrir]

If you're not going to run anything more taxing that WoW then I think you could get away with a cheaper graphics card and get yourself a 22inch screen - I think the extra 2 inches is worth it, even if you don't get to increase the resolution. You'll also be throwing away less money when you go to upgrade the card which I assume would be reasonably soon if you're going for high power gaming...

 

[hawk16]

I built a much better system for $1000.

-Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6750
-A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
-EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
-ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI Motherboard
-Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
-RAIDMAX Hybrid 2 RX-530SS ATX12V 530W Power Supply
-COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

And few fans, and a generic cd-rom/dvd drive for about $1020 shipped. I got all my stuff on newegg.


However, you got a monitor with your setup. I guess you could do my setup with the monitor, just get a 8600GTS or a 8800GTS 320mb.

 

[sgrinavi]

Originally posted by: bluehmstr
MODEM: U.S. Robotics USR5670 56Kbps Fax modem

Modem? Really? Does anyone actually use those anymore?

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: hawk16
-EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

This card can't do HDCP @ 1080p.

All 8600GTS cards can. Only specific 8600GT cards can, so do your homework and make sure.

-Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

OP's choice absolutely trumps this...160G runs out of room very quickly on an HTPC.

DVD: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail

After this machine becomes your HTPC, this drive will be the first thing to be replaced...Lite-On is synonymous with noise.

 

[bluehmstr]

Thanks for all the input, esp Slugbait I didn't know about the difference btw the 8600gt and 8600gts with regards to 1080p.

The reason I went AMD here is because of the motherboard, which has all the features I want, as well as being very affordable. It has a great sound system, and the IGP has great connections if I decide to do without a graphics card altogether. Plus it's a mATX board which means I can move it to an HTPC case later, like the Antec Fusion.

I like hawk16's build A LOT, it's a very well configured gaming system for the price. But I need to squeeze in an OS and a monitor, which takes up almost $300 of my budget.

And yeah, I do need a modem The USR5670 seems to work well under both xp and vista.

By the way, Win XP MCE 2005 and Win Vista Home Premium cost about the same... I went with Win XP, but is there any reason why I should go for Vista? The 8600 series got new beta drivers recently that offload video processing in XP too, so that's not an issue anymore.

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: bluehmstr
Thanks for all the input, esp Slugbait I didn't know about the difference btw the 8600gt and 8600gts with regards to 1080p.

I believe you misunderstood...I quoted hawk16's suggestion to go with an 8800, which does not support HDCP @ 1080p. The thing I was trying to point out is that all 8600GTS cards support it, while support on the 8600GT depends on both the manufacturer and the specific model...you just need to be sure the card you want supports it.

I looked at Gigabyte's website, and the card you selected does appear to support it.

However, after a $25 Paypal promo and $15 rebate, this 8600GTS costs only $6 more...and will have performance that puts the card you selected to absolute shame.

In fact, I finally bit and bought one for myself just last night