Will This Work?

[pyr0000]

Hello, I have not build a pc for a few years, mainly becouse i have been buying laptops, well now i need a home pc. so i was wondering if this system is going to be enough for what i need. i will need this to browse the internet, burn dvds, handle 10gig files, photoshop, some basic video editing, and some gaming.

so here is the list
MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - $94.00
MSI Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card - Retail - $179.00
THERMALTAKE Silent PurePower TT-420AD(DUAL FAN) ATX 420W Power Supply - $38.99
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor $190.00
CORSAIRValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) - $83.00
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA NCQ ST3160827AS 160GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive - OEM - $102

for a total of 688.53
does this sound like a good system?
is there something you would change?
Thanks so much

 

[shoRunner]

the powersupply...this one's not too much more

that powersupply has a pretty weak 12v line which isn't good for new pci express systems.

oh and what do you mean handle 10gig files, what kind of files.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Originally posted by: shoRunner
the powersupply...this one's not too much more

that powersupply has a pretty weak 12v line which isn't good for new pci express systems.

oh and what do you mean handle 10gig files, what kind of files.

Yeah, a few more bucks on a better psu could save you some problems later on. I've seen the xclio recommended several times on this forum. Read the first review on the page linked above.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

The XClio is made by the same company that makes Antec's (channelwell) = good stuff.

I'm thinking that if you're working with really large files in photoshop you might benefit from 2 gigs of ram. That's certainly going to bring the cost up quite a bit though on a budget build. I think you have a good balance going now.

Just a thought: are you planning on getting a new case too? If so, you could get a very nice powersupply and case together from Antec and it's a very good deal.

 

[IntegraGSR]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

I'm thinking that if you're working with really large files in photoshop you might benefit from 2 gigs of ram. That's certainly going to bring the cost up quite a bit though on a budget build. I think you have a good balance going now.

i wouldn't buy 2gb right off.. if 1gb doesn't seem to be cutting it, then opt for the extra gb

if you're going to be dealing with imaging. you would benefit from buying 2 80gb hdds instead of just 1..

also, if you're a light gamer, i would recommend getting a much cheaper video card and putting some extra money towards the psu and/or processor... you can get a great video card for light gaming use for <$100... i would consider myself a hardcore gamer and my most recent build (bout 2 months ago) has a radeon 9550 in it... the 9550 will run all current games very nicely.. i dont need to run 120+ fps at max resolution and visual settings.. just isn't worth the extra money in my opinion

while pci-e may seem to be the way to go. it doesn't really offer any performance benefits (except in dual video card setups).. current video cards hardly use the bandwidth of agp4x..

 

[pyr0000]

Thanks for the quick reply
The large files would be moving image files from other pc's on a high speed connection
IE: like large movie files zipped and I usually need to be unzipping them while moving the next file over... if that makes sense ? I pull the movies/pic's off my server at about 300-900k/s so I need some thing that will not bog down when moving files while uncompressing them..
i went for pci/express because just thought it might have better stuff coming out for it in the future don?t want to get stuck with agp...
as far as the case goes I guess I need one of those as well so YOyoYOhowsDAjello if you know of any with the power supply that would be great if you could point me in a good direction...

Also would this setup play halflife2? or any other current videogame. as I said I use to go to tournaments when quake2 was big and then I think I had 2 voodoo2 cards and I always came in 2 or 3rd place... but i got a real job and my gaming time is gone.. But I would still love to play some games some time...
Thanks


also cooling might be an issue? what type of cooling would i need,
you guys are awsome
Pyr0000

 

[shoRunner]

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129148

most antec cases come with decent power supplies.

if you only play CS:S then you may think about saving alittle money and going with a x700pro(about $120) it would give you about the same fps as the 6600gt.
the 9550 would really work(agp) and i wouldn't really recommend it as you would have to play at 800x600 or less. and whats the point of playing new games know for their great graphics if you can't play them and see the great graphics.

 

[IntegraGSR]

you will probably be better off buying a case and psu seperately.. buying them together with severly limit your case selection.

you will be able to play any current game extremely well

sticking with pci-e is a good idea if you're interested in upgradability without having to change motherboards.. however i still think that the 6600gt is overkill for your purposes... i would pick up a >$100 pci-e video card for your applications

as long as you have sufficient airflow through the case cooling will not be an issue

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Yeah, that one shoRunner linked to is a good one for case/PSU together. If you go to newegg and look at their antec case section, anything with a 350watt or above powersupply would be a good option for you.

When you mention this file transferring and unzipping at the same time it sound like you might be a good candidate for a dual core CPU that will be coming out soon. Unfortunately I don't think there will be any affordable ones out for quite a while.

 

[pyr0000]

thanks for the quick reply again...
that case did not look two bad. would 350 power 2 dvd burners?
i think it would but you guys know you stuff..
i thought about getting a cheaper video card, but with my experence with gaming is that the weekest link is the video card. so i figure for 70 more bucks get something that will be sure to pay these games..
i would love a dual core pc but that is not realistic in this price range.. if you guys could think of a better setup for about the same price >700$ then let me know.
thanks you guys rock
pyr0000

 

[shoRunner]

the include powersupply should power your current system without problems. though i'm not sure why you'd want 2 dvdrw

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: pyr0000
thanks for the quick reply again...
that case did not look two bad. would 350 power 2 dvd burners?
i think it would but you guys know you stuff..
i thought about getting a cheaper video card, but with my experence with gaming is that the weekest link is the video card. so i figure for 70 more bucks get something that will be sure to pay these games..
i would love a dual core pc but that is not realistic in this price range.. if you guys could think of a better setup for about the same price >700$ then let me know.
thanks you guys rock
pyr0000

A quality 350watt powersupply should be plenty for that system. Unless you're going to run a ton of harddrives that will draw a lot of power on startup or overclock your CPU, a 350watt is more than enough for most systems.

I think investing in a 6600gt is a good idea if you're going to do some gaming. I think spending an extra $70 now is better than getting something cheaper now and regretting it. The 6600gt is a great price/performance ratio.

 

[IntegraGSR]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
When you mention this file transferring and unzipping at the same time it sound like you might be a good candidate for a dual core CPU that will be coming out soon. Unfortunately I don't think there will be any affordable ones out for quite a while.

i have had no problems multitasking with my 2800+.. dvddecrypter + dvd shrink + folding + bittorrents + burning a dvd + winamp + active virus/spyware monitoring and i can still surf the internet with no noticable decrease in speed.

while the 6600gt would not be a bad choice in any way.. i still have problems rationalizing spending twice as much for less than twice the performance.. if you're worried about future games.. i would prefer to get a cheaper video card now, and when you need to upgrade, sell it and get another vc in the same price range.. but that's just me

 

[shoRunner]

actualy if its the 9550 you speak of 2x the performance would be reasonable to expect from a 6600gt if not more.

 

[jackschmittusa]

Transferring files is not very cpu intensive, so it should not be much of a hit on unzipping at the same time. how much ram depends on how big the Photoshop files are. Allow perhaps 300mb for Win and apps running; whatever the largest file size you would normally use in Photoshop, double that (once for the original file, once for the changed file); add the figures together. This will give you an idea of how much ram you need to keep from swapping to the hd and slowing you down.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: IntegraGSR

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
When you mention this file transferring and unzipping at the same time it sound like you might be a good candidate for a dual core CPU that will be coming out soon. Unfortunately I don't think there will be any affordable ones out for quite a while.

i have had no problems multitasking with my 2800+.. dvddecrypter + dvd shrink + folding + bittorrents + burning a dvd + winamp + active virus/spyware monitoring and i can still surf the internet with no noticable decrease in speed.

while the 6600gt would not be a bad choice in any way.. i still have problems rationalizing spending twice as much for less than twice the performance.. if you're worried about future games.. i would prefer to get a cheaper video card now, and when you need to upgrade, sell it and get another vc in the same price range.. but that's just me

Yeah, I was probably a bit off with the file transferring and unzipping being something you would want dual core for, but some of the other things mentioned (photoshop and video editing may also benefit from dual core if that's going on while unzipping is taking place).

But yeah, since it's not even close to being an affordable option yet, if this is being built in the near future a single A64 should be fine.

pyr0000, if this is mainly a work machine and gaming is a second priority you might be better served by going with a P4 system actually. A 3.0E P4 seems to perform around the same level or better than a 3200+ A64 at tasks like unzipping and encoding. The cost would seem to work out similarly though.

 

[pyr0000]

is thst 6600 a good one? or is there a better one?
thanks
and i would think about a p4 but i have mainly been a amd kinda guy...