Yet another "Help me put together a rig" thread

[Thuban]

I want to build a new computer from scratch with a budget of $1200. I'll mostly use it for games, surfing the internet and other general purpose stuffs.

My current computer is 5 years old now and it's slow and crash all the time. I've never build a computer before but I've wanted to for about 2 years now. I keep putting it off because I keep waiting for the new stuffs to get cheap but then a few months down the road, new expensive stuff come out that make the old stuff obsolete. So here I am with a 5 years old computer that can't really play any new games at all. For the past 2 months or so, I've been coming to sites like Anandtech.com and read reviews, system guides and lurk in the forums, to see what they recommend and what other people are getting. I'm still not sure what to get though. Hopefully you guys will nudge me one way or another and help me avoid making and mistakes.

CPU: I could get the AMD Athlon 64 3200+ for $166 and upgrade to X2 a year or two down the road or I could get 3500+/3700+ for $200/$233 and stick with it. The X2 3800+ at $322.00 is possible if I go for a lesser video card and ram. Dual core would be nice and useful but I'm not sure I really need it.

Motherboard:
I'm not looking to overclock so stability and up-to-date features would be the most important for me. I can't decide between these three.

EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD $105

ASUS A8N-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD $122

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD $128


RAM:
There are so many choice and price I'm not sure what to get. I want 2 Gig for less than $200. I probally won't overclock so I think anything reliable, cheap and work will do. After all this time I still don't get what the timing mean and how much it affect performance.

Video:
eVGA GeForce 7800GT $299


Should I spend my money on this or get a cheaper card? I heard Dx10 coming out next year with Vista wont be backward compatible so Dx9 card can't play any Dx10 game and have to be emulate with software.

Sound:
I'll either use on-board sound or use the Phillips PSC706 from my old computer.

Hard Drive:
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA $115

I want something reliable, quiet and fast so would this do?

Optical Drive:

NEC ND-3550A $44.99


Case and PSU:
Another two things that I'm not sure of what to get. I'm thinking of getting these two

Thermaltake Soprano VB1000BNS Black Computer Case $74

Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 550W Power Supply $89

Or should I go for cheaper stuff?

Antec Solution SLK3800B Black $99.99

OS:
Windows XP Professional SP2 $142

If I got with the 3700+ and expensive stuffs it'll be $1325 total so I'll need mix and match to get it to come out $1200.

I've never buy hardware online before so I don't know if I should buy stuffs now a couple of weeks before Christmas or should I wait to do it after the New Year?

Suggestions, comments, and critiques are welcome and thanks for reading all this way.

 

[Bobthelost]

Do you really need 2Gig of RAM? Unless you're doing photoshop you won't need it. The difference for gaming is near non existant, only BF2 (that i've heard of) feels any benifit, and that's a rather small benifit at that. Timings is more tricky, but the short answer is that by getting low latency RAM you can get around 5% more performance, but for you i'd say it's a waste of money, better to get two 512 sticks of value RAM. Preferably in a dual channel kit.

The graphics card is a nice one, it's capable of running any game out at a good resolution with all the features turned on. If your prime requirement is for gaming then i'd stick with this.

Rest looks ok/good. Someone else will chip in soon enough.

Oh, the PSU you have is far too big, your rig will be drawing around 300W at full load. Give it a little leeway and go for a 400W instead. The 380W model http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103927

is $60 and it'll be all that you need.

 

[Thuban]

Ok, thanks Bobthelost. Is there any particular brand of RAM that I should get?

There seem to be 4 versions of the 3500+ CPU. The Clawhammer (ADA3500ASBOX), Venice (ADA3500BPBOX), Venice (ADA3500BWBOX) and the new stepping Venice (ADA3500CGBOX). They are all around the same price. Which one would be best?

 

[Thuban]

No one else have any advice for me?

A lot of the PS seem to have fan on top and the cases doesn't seem to have any holes on top for air intake, how is that going to work?

Since my computer is usually on a lot, I think I'll get a high efficency Seasonic S12 380 or a Antec NeoHE 380 and get a cheaper case like the Cooler Master Centurion 5.

 

[Lasthitlarry]

Originally posted by: Thuban

3200+

EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD $105

Video:
eVGA GeForce 7800GT $299

Hard Drive:
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA $115

NEC ND-3550A $44.99

Antec Solution SLK3800B Black $99.99

OS:
Windows XP Professional SP2 $142

I would consider a gig stick of Crucial Value and get another gig stick later on if you need it.

Also, I would consider the Sonata 2 Case with PSU from Antec, or even a Cooler Master case and a Fortron/Xclio/Seasonic PSU.

Good choices.

 

[imported_rod]

RAM: Get 2GB of Ram. If you want to play BF2 or FEAR at good settings, you'll appreciate the extra RAM. And you don't want to bottleneck that beautiful 7800GT.

CPU: You could get the 3200+ now (it'll play any current game fine), and upgrade to an X2 some time down the line when they're cheaper and you have more cash.

MoBo: If you're not overclocking, don't go with DFi. The ASUS would probably be your best choice. There is a newer ASUS board - the A8N-SLI32 i think it's called.

PSU: As "Bobthelost" said, you don't need a 550W (the 380W or 430W model would be enough), but the PSU isn't a component you ever want to upgrade, so might as well go with the 550W. Hey, you might want to add another 7800GT somewhere down the track...

RoD

 

[ProjectSinister]

for the CPU why not go with a 3000+ , for the MOBO if your not overlocking look at some ASUS , for the ram if your not playing games like FEAR and BF2 1gig but if your a big gamer and want to make sure all the actual and future games coming down the road can be played smoothly you can go with 2gig of ram, its not so expensive.

a 7800gt is a good choice for your video card.