Some options on my new PC

[DyslexicHobo]

I'm building a new gaming rig with a $600 budget, and I've gotten most of the parts down, but still need to decide between a few things. If someone could help me decide, that'd be great. :-D Any suggestions are appreciated.


Processor
AMD Athlon XP Mobile 2400+
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=19-103-400&depa=1

AMD Athlon XP Mobile 2500+
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=19-103-401&depa=1

I'm going to overclock it, I'm not very experienced with overclocking, though.


Motherboard
Biostar NForce 2 Ultra
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-138-227&depa=1


RAM
I can't decide where to start here...
The cheapest value RAM on the market? Go cheap with a good distributor (Crucial/Corsair/Mushkin)
And should I go for 1x512 or 2x256 (dual channel support on mobo). I don't think I should get 1GB yet, that would cost too much for now, but probably going to upgrade later.


Video Card
GeForce 6600GT
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=14-150-080&depa=1
(Or should I go for the LeadTek or Apollo?)


Hard Drive
Western Digital 80GB
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=22-144-122&depa=1



CD/DVD-RW
Lite-On 52x32x52x16 Combo drive
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...amp;manufactory=BROWSE


Any comments/suggestions would be great

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Oh, and the rest of the money will be spent on making it look nice (he wants LEDs and a good case for looks)

 

[Waylay00]

Get a Seagate 80gb HDD and if you are OC'ing get the ABIT NF7-S with the 2400+. I would maybe sacrifice some looks for performance. For RAM get Mushkin. Try to get 1GB as this improves performance drastically in games.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

The cheapest 80GB IDE Seagate on NewEgg is $30 more than the WD I found. Is it really worth $30 more!? What else is better besides the warranty? I read the WD reviews and they seemed great.

 

[Waylay00]

It's louder, more people have experienced failures with WD than Seagate, etc. The only WD I would get would be the Raptor.

 

[Rodney Anonymous]

I've been using WD, Seagate and Maxtor drives for years and I've found little difference in them. They all seem to be equally reliable and similar in performance. If the 5 year warrenty is important to you, go for it. Otherwise, you're probably going to be just as happy with the Western Digital.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Ok, I'm keeping the WD. Sound is not much of an issue since it's not going to be near where anyone is sleeping. I've decided that I should go with 1GB of RAM, I got 2x 512MB of Mushkin. Now the only real decision I have left is which processor to buy.

Which one is better for overclocking? The 2400+ or the 2500+, that's all I really need to know. Also, which motherboard should I get? I've heard that the Biostar one I picked out is great, but is there a better one, such as the ABIT NF7-S which Waylay reccomended?

 

[Rodney Anonymous]

I tend to think you won't see much (if any) difference between those two processors, but since the price difference is only 9 bucks I'd say go for the 2500+. That's what I have as well, and I love it. I just need a better motherboard for overclocking (I have a cheap DFI NFII 400) and maybe I can push some more clock cycles out it it too...

 

[DyslexicHobo]

I had to downgrade back to 512MB of Mushkin. I forgot to calculate tax.

Anyway thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to order soon. Any more suggestions for the mobo?