Upgrades on a budget

[imported_JohnC]

I'm looking to carry some parts over from my old desktop (hd, monitor, etc) and buy a new motherboard, cpu, ram and video card to put together a decent gaming machine.

First question is whether to go socket 754 or 939. The difference is only about $30, using the following:
754: Epox 8KDA3J $70, Athlon64 3000+ $145
939: Epox 9NDA3J $94, 939 Athlon64 3000+ $153
Both boards seem to have gotten decent reviews. Tho the 8KDA3 seems to have trouble with 3 sticks of RAM(while the 9NDA3 seems to handle 4 alright), which brings me to the next question:

Does expensive RAM really make a difference?
I'm looking at Corsair Value Select 512mb PC3200 for $71. I plan on running stock speeds at first, but I think I might try my hand at a little overclocking later on. Should I spend a little more on ram now in case I want to oc in the future?

Video card: I'm looking at the GeForce 6800, and hoping prices go down a little after new year. The plain 6800's on Newegg all seem to be about $270-290. Not too much I can do about that but hope that they'll be a bit cheaper after a few weeks..

And I need a case with power supply to put this all in I was looking at the Antec SLk2650-BQE which comes with a 350W power supply, but I don't know if that'd be enough. Any suggestions on this?

I won't start ordering until Jan 10 (when my last paycheck comes in) so maybe this is a little early to start planning. But still, I don't see these choices changing much unless there's a better "budget" 939 motherboard or 6800GTs drop in price or something. I'll have a maximum of about $750 to spend by then.

Any comments on choice of motherboard/case/psu? Those are the things I'm most unsure about..

 

[ts3433]

Corsair Value should be good till 215 or 220; you can always run a divider when you OC. Try to get a gig of RAM for gaming, but don't go below PC3200.

The Antec 350W in there should be fine, at least for stock and light overclocking.

 

[biostud]

go for socket 939, it will last longer for future upgrades.

 

[imported_Computer MAn]

Originally posted by: ts3433
Corsair Value should be good till 215 or 220; you can always run a divider when you OC. Try to get a gig of RAM for gaming, but don't go below PC3200.

The Antec 350W in there should be fine, at least for stock and light overclocking.

Originally posted by: biostud
go for socket 939, it will last longer for future upgrades.

And outpost has been selling a 6800NU for around $250 lately if you want to look at that

 

[Zimdesign]

I don't see anything wrong with any of your choices. I would go for the socket 939 setup with the Antec case.

 

[WuGahCha]

the S939 have 4 memory slots yes, but it'd runs slower if u use all 4, I'd just get 2x512mb and stick with it til next upgrade.
plus S939 OC better.

having expensive ram will not give u a noticable gain, so get the cheap ones, the money is better spend on higher cpu or better videocard.

antec case w/350 psu is fine, any brand-name 350W psu is plenty as long as u dont run FX cpu with SLI

 

[imported_JohnC]

Thanks guys.

Yeah, I'll go ahead and get 2x512mb. And I'll see if I'm happy with stock performance before thinking about oc'ing at all - coming from a crappy university-sold laptop, I think I'll be alright.

I'll keep an eye on the $250 6800NU from Outpost - thanks for the tip.

Now to wait for my Christmas money and paycheck to come in.