The new rig has been ordered!

[Xatrix]

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Processor Socket 939 90nm Retail $309.00

Asus A8V-Deluxe Via K8T800Pro Athlon 64(FX) Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, Gigabit LAN, RAID/Serial ATA Retail (Rev 2.00) $129.99

Corsair TWINX1024-3700 1GB DDR466 XMS3700 Ultra-High Bus Speed Dual-Channel Memory w/Heat Spreader Retail $241.00

Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB Serial ATA 10,000RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer $175.00

Thermaltake xp-120 Heat Sink and some Arctic Silver 5 $67.99

Antec 120mm Blue LED Fan <----this will be used on the Thermaltake xp-120 $15.99

Antec TruePower True550 550W Power Supply Retail $102.00

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Sound Card Retail $164.99

BFG Geforce 6800GT 256 MB $400.00

NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Black, Model ND-3500A BK, OEM $71

Asus WiFi@Home 802.11g PCI Slot Network Interface Card Retail $0.00



How'd I do?

 

[Wahsapa]

the raptors a little overkill but who cares?

also instead of an ultra check out the gainward or BFG 6800GT, should overclock to ultra speeds :thumbsup:

 

[Xatrix]

Thanks for the advice =)

Also I got a NEC dvd burner as well forgot to mention that.

 

[Xatrix]

lol tried to find one of those gainward cards.... no where to be found.

 

[Wahsapa]

froogle?

 

[imported_Negative3]

I would have gotten a better CPU fan and an nForce3 motherboard...otherwise everything looks fine...

 

[YabbyU]

I've got the Asus A8V with a 3500+, evga 6800 ultra and it's very stable &amp; easy to set-up. I had a NEO 2 Platinum that scored a little higher in 3dmark and doom 3 but it's dead and was nothing but headaches. Check Circuit City for the EVGA 6800 ultra...They had it for $499.99....$100.00<newegg which is always sold out anyways

 

[Xatrix]

What's wrong with this fan? It has just as high a CFM rating as most of the high end 120mm fans. Is it too loud? Trust me, my case is already going to be really loud LOL

 

[Hit]

I'm building pretty much the same box atm.. also my first.

Newegg has the evga 6800GT in stock today, I put the order through as it was sold out when I placed the rest of my order a few days ago..

What made you go with the ASUS VIA setup? from what i've heard and read, i'm trying to stick with the nf3's, even though they seem to be plagued lately..

I'm leaning towards the epox mobo right now.. but i'm pretty much at a loss of what to do about it.

 

[Chubasco]

Nice rig. Get a new case too? If so, which one?

 

[Daemonifuge]

Why is the 90nm 3500+ more expensive than the 130nm or whatever it is?

 

[ts3433]

Because it's new (should be obvious), produces less heat, consumes less power, and seems to overclock a bit better.

To the OP: Another recommendation for a 6800 GT--most of them overclock effortlessly past Ultra speeds. The Gainward has an oversized cooler, and the BFG has a lifetime warranty and comes pre-overclocked a bit.

 

[masshass81]

VIA and NF3 perform virutally the same. The only big differences are the features the mobo producer includes. Anyway, the 120mm fan is more than enough. Most stock HSF comes only with 60mm? (I know its smaller than 80mm) The only part I would change is the 10k Raptor, performance gain is not worth the hefty price IMO. Otherwise, looks great. :thumbsup:

 

[steveox]

where did you find the asus wireless card add-in? i've been looking for it and can't find it anywhere

 

[Xatrix]

I found it at zipzoomfly.

Thanks guys. I think the antec fan should work fine with the thermaltake xp-120.

 

[Xatrix]

Edited with a few changes hehe.

 

[Subhuman25]

Nice selection overall.Just a few things to mention/ask:

Did they fix the PCI/AGP lock problem on the VIA chipset MB's?If not then don't plan on overclocking.
And judging by the memory you opted for,I'd wager you're planning on OC'g.

Will the TT XP-120 fit that MB? If not,opt for the Zalman 7000(a or b)AlCu

Not to alarm you,but I've seen a few posts lately about Antec Truepower PSU's and compatibility issues.Can't find the thread I'm thinking of,but it was yesterday I believe and it had a link to an official answer from Antec regarding/admitting compat. issues with a few Asus boards.Maybe someone else remembers and can elaborate more.By the way I do swear by Antec PSU's &amp; cases and have both in my current build and my 2nd 'puter sitting here.

Personal preference - I would have opted for an Nvidia NF3 or NF4solution.VIA has "blown it" too many times for any current or future considerations.

Also personal preference - eVGA 6800GT or Ultra.Less problems than other brands noted that have changed from Nvidia reference design with fancy cooling set-ups.Seems all the eVGA GT's OC to Ultra (1100-400) and beyond without a hitch.Plus the price on eVGA's is likely the lowest too.Add an NV Silencer5 to it and you're in overclocking business.

Cut your costs by droppping hte Raptors.No appreciable performance increase over 7,200 RPM drives.
Grab a Seagate 200GB SATA drive - more room for less $$$ and steer that money towards improved cooling i.e. NV Silencer

 

[Megamixman]

if u really want to OC then go with tccds, ive seen some crazy results with them on 939's. my rig hit 2.6 ez w/ pqi Turbo's. Yah idk about the via chipsets for Ocing. If your not going to OC then just keep the configuration you have in the first post. Otherwise get the K8N Neo2, very good for OCing

 

[Zebo]

Xatrix,

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Processor Socket 939 90nm Retail $309.00 = Bad move IMO considering you can get from Mwave.com a bundle with farcry, with the board you want Abit, with a 939 3000 and overclock EASY to 3500 levels for $265!!! Less than your chip alone, And the 3000 will be faster and cooler due to more refined core design 90nm.

Also your ram bites. Get a module with TCCD look here http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2145


Antec TruePower True550 = sucky 12V rail get either an enermax 465 or the antec with "EPS 12" feature.


http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=17-103-918&amp;depa=0

 

[Megamixman]

http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2235 is actually a much better review since it puts the two most hyped up tccd's head to head, i seriously think the pqi turbos are well worth it , 1gb(2 x 512) is only $171 and ofcourse you get a lifetime warranty. Plus it same chips and PCB as the G.Skills

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Megamixman
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2235 is actually a much better review since it puts the two most hyped up tccd's head to head, i seriously think the pqi turbos are well worth it , 1gb(2 x 512) is only $171 and ofcourse you get a lifetime warranty. Plus it same chips and PCB as the G.Skills

BEWARE!!! Not those $171 those cost $245

http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=20-141-194&amp;depa=0

 

[Xatrix]

Well I already bought this stuff

I asked about RAM last night but no one responded haha. So I went with a few other websites' suggestions. I was also told that the Antec truepower was a good PSU....

 

[Megamixman]

wow thats interesting im running the 171 and i hit 2.6 on a64 3000+ and Msi K8n Neo2

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Xatrix
Well I already bought this stuff

I asked about RAM last night but no one responded haha. So I went with a few other websites' suggestions. I was also told that the Antec truepower was a good PSU....

Ya you can't go wrong with what you got....excellent choices really..just pointing out little better value.

 

[Xatrix]

OK thanks Zebo... I will be over-clocking this system but not heavy-duty. A lot of the parts I wanted to be able to re-use on my next system upgrade in about 6+ months.

The reason I posted this thread was to make sure everything would work together and make sure I was not missing anything crucial to the system. The post above about the PSU worries me, but I guess we will find out.