Suggestions on a build

[cdipierr]

As per the guidelines, here's a build I'm looking at putting together. I've been out of the hardware biz for a while, but think I've done a decent job of research. Let me know if anything sounds out of line. All parts are priced from Newegg. I intend to use the system as a combo gaming & development & video editing machine. It's replacing a once good, but now-dated Socket 754 Athlon system.

Power Supply -- Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W SLI Ready-ATX12V V2.01 Power Supply ($70) -- It seems like a good supply due to ratings, and 600W sounds like more than enough, no?

Case -- COOLER MASTER Mystique RC-632S-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum/ SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ($65) -- Like the look of the case and the reviews. I'm not popping the case open all the time, so something functional is my requirements.

Motherboard -- ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard ($135) -- This seems expensive, but I like the bells and whistles as well as the SLI ability (even if unused at first)

CPU -- AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ Windsor 2.8GHz Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core Processor Model ADA5600CZBOX ($140) -- This seems to me to be a decent price/performance choice. I know people are running 6400+ or whatever now, but I'm trying to keep it reasonable. Is Windsor the correct core choice?

Heatsync/fan -- I'm not going to overclock, so just intending to use the retail fan with the CPU

Memory -- Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop ($75 -- minus a mail in rebate) -- I love that DDR2 is so cheap, and this seems like a good start. I'll probably upgrade to 4GB eventually, but 2GB is what I've got going now in the 754 board, and it's usually sufficient

HD -- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive ($100) -- Seems like a fine drive. I have 2 others I'll be moving over as well, so figure 3 drives total, for about 1.25TB of total space, but I'm not replacing the data drives I already have

Optical -- LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner with LightScribe ($40) -- I hadn't really intended to replace my burner, but I like the idea of SATA and one that's faster than what I have. I'll probably drop in my old +-RW just because it needs a home

Video Card -- EVGA 256-P2-N751-TR GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card ($100 - minus mail in rebate) -- Here's probably one of my biggest questions. I'm coming off some older ATI cards, and really would like to avoid the headache that is ATI if at all possible. This card looks like a reasonable solution. I'm still waffling on Vista vs. XP (see below), but the idea of a DX10 card sounds good. Also, since I have the MB specced to support it, I'm debating about going SLI here. I'd love some advice on this.

OS -- Here's my other question. My desktop currently runs XP SP2, and I like it fine. My laptop is running Vista Pro 32-bit, which is ok, but feels slow even on a high-spec laptop. Additionally, I'm looking to run a wide variety of applications on the new system, including some stuff that might be "legacy" such as Adobe Premier Pro 2.0. I've seen a lot of posts about using Vista x64, which is certainly an option, but I'm having a hard time deciding which way to go here. Opinions welcome given the configuration above.

Total price of the build (sans OS): $730 + shipping - mail in rebates

Seems like decent value for the money, though I had assumed it'd all come a little cheaper, honestly.

 

[DSF]

What is your budget, and what do you need this computer to do? It's really impossible to give a good recommendation without knowing at least those two things.

And if you're looking for a way to cut costs, forget SLI.

 

[MegaVovaN]

600W is plenty...just amke sure amperage is good (30+ A combined on +12 rails).

I personally don't like Lite-On drives. Mine died in 2 years.

$75-MIR which you may never get for 2 gig o' RAM is cheap? I recently picked 2x2gb ddr2-800 supertalent ram for $70....no rebates!

If you want power, buy 8800GT 512mb or 8800GTS 512mb. Either of those cards will SPANK two 8600GT in SLI!!!! 8800GT is a very sought after card and there are shortages everywhere...I picked mine for $250 from ZipZoomFly a week ago, nowadays they're going like $290 due to insane demand....try to find cheaper.


No need for mobo with SLI, as a rule of thumb new generation card (one card) will own 2 cards of previous gen in SLI. SLI is only for those who want top end performance by matching two (three) high end cards TODAY. They get wose bang for their buck than single card holders.


For OS, just use your XP for now and if you want, go for Vista64 later.



Now, with that much budget I was thinking fast Core 2 Duo processor paired with ~$110 motherboard will spank that AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ set-up.
Here's the benchmarks to play with:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/...2&model2=874&chart=422

and keep in mind you can O/C the CPU. Consider picking up and overclocking E6550 dual core CPU.

Also P35 board should let you upgrade to Intel quad core later.

 

[cdipierr]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
600W is plenty...just amke sure amperage is good (30+ A combined on +12 rails).

I personally don't like Lite-On drives. Mine died in 2 years.

$75-MIR which you may never get for 2 gig o' RAM is cheap? I recently picked 2x2gb ddr2-800 supertalent ram for $70....no rebates!

If you want power, buy 8800GT 512mb or 8800GTS 512mb. Either of those cards will SPANK two 8600GT in SLI!!!! 8800GT is a very sought after card and there are shortages everywhere...I picked mine for $250 from ZipZoomFly a week ago, nowadays they're going like $290 due to insane demand....try to find cheaper.

No need for mobo with SLI, as a rule of thumb new generation card (one card) will own 2 cards of previous gen in SLI. SLI is only for those who want top end performance by matching two (three) high end cards TODAY. They get wose bang for their buck than single card holders.

For OS, just use your XP for now and if you want, go for Vista64 later.

Now, with that much budget I was thinking fast Core 2 Duo processor paired with ~$110 motherboard will spank that AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ set-up.
Here's the benchmarks to play with:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/...2&model2=874&chart=422

and keep in mind you can O/C the CPU. Consider picking up and overclocking E6550 dual core CPU.

Also P35 board should let you upgrade to Intel quad core later.

Thanks for the suggestions on power supply amperage and video card. I'll need to reconsider there. The memory is $75 and then there's a $20 MIR after that. I consider $75 for 2 GB CAS 4 cheap compared to what memory goes for for my old systems of DDR.

I'd like to reiterate that I don't want to overclock. When I was 21, sure. Now that I'm in my 30s, I just want my system to work w/o fuss. As for Intel vs. AMD ... admittedly the last time I put together a system, AMD was very much in the lead. Now I realize that things have switched, but somehow I never really seem to get a good vibe building Intel despite choosing them for work PCs and laptops.

Edited to add -- For the person who asked about what my needs were ... as I said in the original, development, gaming & video editing ... specifically WoW, Madden, etc, not necessarily the latest and greatest there ... development is VS.Net (I'm not worried on this front), and video editing is typically with Adobe Premier. These are my 3 "must have" apps basically.