FANALLY!!!!! I get a new computer!!!!

[34erd]

Oh, so its like 38a...

Do I also need to get more fans or do they come with cases?

 

[Praetor]

case ( [new!!!] RAIDmax x-1 ATX mid-tower case w/420w power supply silver ) case lighting ( neon light blue )

1. so a bling bling computer i see...
2. odds are the PSU sucks. have a look at PSU 101.

Power Supply ( [$30 Mail-In-Rebate NOW !!!] Ultra X-Finity 500W ATX PS w/2 80mm Fans - Titanium Black(ULT31648) )

Much better ... 12V@32A

Processor ( [939-pin] AMD® Athlon-64 3000+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology )

Whats the core on this?

Motherboard ( MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum-SLI nForce4-SLI Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Dual Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE 1394 PCI-E MB )

Good motherboard yes but do you really need the SLI?

Hard Drive ( [Special !!!] 160 GB HARD DRIVES [S-ATA] Maxtor 160 GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Hard Drive )

How much are these? Odds are you'll get much better value from their 16MB cache drives or to hunt down a WD 16MB drive

CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( Sony DWQ-28A Dual Format/Double Layer 16X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Silver )

Nothing special at all about sony optical drives

Sound Card ( Creative Lab Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit 7.1 )

Hmmm... the motherboard features hardware onboard SBLive audio .... could this be it?

Network Card ( Intel Pro 10/100/1000 Network Card )

Heh you dont actually need this since it comes onboad with Gb ethernet

Will my bottleneck be the CPU?

Absolutely.

IU'm also thinking of getting the liquid CPU cooling option for only ~$100 more so that way I can OC my 3000 instead of spending another $250 on a better CPU.

1. If you're spending an additional 250 to upgrade the CPU you're either upgrading excessively or getting ripped off
2. You can OC on air fine too

EDIT: also will my PSU be good enough if I decide to SLI another 7800 later or should I try to make budget room for an SLI certified PSU?

Not necesary.

Smart move. I got pro. wiring, my case looks EMPTY and I have great airflow.

Which is also somehting you could have done all by yourself....

So I am going to get a good headset

The Zalman 5.1s are nice

Good choice, because the temp display really does nothing except make people think your PC is 'advanced'

And other people think you've got a bling bling box .... (which may or may not be a good thing)

Ok, so nogo on the sound card if I'm just using a headset?

No go on the soundcard entirely since the same thing comes built into the mothebroard

hahaha, well, i have ALOT of media!
around 90-100 GB of music alone
and i also have around the same amount of video and also some movies........

Ok, I have 300 songs on my PC and that doesnt even take up a gig, so 100 gigs is like....... quick calculation 28,500 songs!?!?!?! Is that right???

Lets stay on topic

DVD/RW = EVERYTHING!!! lol, they will read anything and burn anything, espeically if they are a dual layer and dual format drive

Assuming its a good DVDRW of course

X24 you said I should go fro cheaper parts and the GTX, so is it better to lower the RAM and mobo quality and get the GTX? Because I'm planning to overclock my CPU so I want good parts, also I think the 7800GT will be powerfull enough.

The 7800GT will be plenty good enough for now

Which puts me a bit over budget but I'll see if I can do something about it because the reviews of puget systems were better than ibuypower and they seem less overly flashy.. I dunno, I might just be over obssessed of getting a perfect computer.

Thats ebcause its overcharged by a few hundred dollars at the very least.

Could you guys write up a post that will convince my mom...

A buch of random people on the internet.... lol

I believe he has the full capability to put it together, and trust me, building a PC is not as hard as it sounds. Also, if he runs into any problems, well, thats what we are here for.

Hehe a wonderful guarantee that is

 

[34erd]

Ok, so oh mighty praetor do you think I should take a stab at building? My mom said I was allowed to, I just hope I dont screw up.

 

[Praetor]

Ok, so oh mighty praetor do you think I should take a stab at building? My mom said I was allowed to, I just hope I dont screw up.

LOL whether or not you screw up the build is irrelevant ... the simple thing is a bunch of random people saying "go for it" shouldnt be convincing for anyone who puts any thought into things...

 

[34erd]

Ok I tweaked my specs a bit so here is what I'm getting:

DVD-RW

Case

Hard Drive

Monitor

Mobo

Video Card

Sound Card

PSU

Heatsink

CPU Fan

Keyboard

Mouse

RAM

CPU

And I still havent decided on headphones, I think I'll go to my local music/sound store and ask there. Eitheir way I want to save up for some nice ones

Oh and I just changed it so no soundcard, and the heatsink to xp90c. And I'll get the mouse when its available. Also what are good keyboards for gaming? Not a gaming keyboard but just one that will do well with games, preferably wired.

Also do I need a fan with the xp90?

EDIT: Ok I'm still trying to find a good heatsink. Should I just stick with factory cooling? Will I still be able to overclock well with it?

 

[Praetor]

Oh and I just changed it so no soundcard, and the heatsink to xp90c.

Thats not what the links say...

Also do I need a fan with the xp90?

Naturally

EDIT: Ok I'm still trying to find a good heatsink. Should I just stick with factory cooling? Will I still be able to overclock well with it?

Depends on what you call "well" and your ambient room temp

 

[Geoff]

the mouse is still to expensive, just go with the MX518 Gaming Mouse for aruond $40, and i would recommend a better cpu for that system, try getting the X2 3800+, or the AMD 64 3700+.

 

[34erd]

Ok... I changed my specs a bit once more so now its even cheaper, but its on my moms computer and I dont have the passowrd to it.

Is it better that I get a better processor and a 6800 ultra? Also I've decided on the zalman 7000B CU, and I am getting DFI's SLI DR Mobo since I've heard its better than my curent chioce and cheaper.

Also what is the best 7800GTX in peoples opinion I want to get the MSI one because it runs cooler, but its OEM.

Oh and whats better the "UT" version of the mobo or the non UT version? Is the DFI board even a good high end one?... like comparable to the ASUS premium board...

 

[Apathetic]

Yeah, maybe you could get a better proc, but I would stick with the 7800GTX, So maybe if you could find some else cheaper but not completety screw the build up. But its your choice so yeah.

 

[Praetor]

the mouse is still to expensive, just go with the MX518 Gaming Mouse for aruond $40

Possibly but for an extra $18 it might be worth it it he uses it for a wide variety of games ... having the button to toggle sensitivty on the fly is bloody useful

get a better processor

Lets make a useful post ok? (start by suggesting a counterexample as well as a reason)

Is it better that I get a better processor and a 6800 ultra? Also I've decided on the zalman 7000B CU, and I am getting DFI's SLI DR Mobo since I've heard its better than my curent chioce and cheaper.

You're current configuration is fine The CPU and Videocard are balanced decently well ... the only other real option id consider might be the 3800 paird with the 7800GT

Oh and whats better the "UT" version of the mobo or the non UT version? Is the DFI board even a good high end one?... like comparable to the ASUS premium board...

UT = UV on, Tweak Fun ... i'll be damned if i know ... as far as i know the Infinity series scales identiically but without the bling.

 

[34erd]

OK I finaly know what I want, I'm almost 100% sure, so here it is:

Case: Lian Li PC-65 USB B2 Silver Aluminum $120.00

PSU: Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 $105.00

Mobo: Update DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR $178.00

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice Socket 939 $219.00

Cooling:ZALMAN CNPS7700-CU $47.99

RAM: OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR 400 $169.91

Video Card: BFG Tech 7800GTX $515.00

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 160GB 7200 RPM 8M Cache Serial ATA150 $91.50

DVD-RW: NEC Silver IDE DVD Burner $45.00

Monitor: HYUNDAI L90D+ Silver 19" 8ms LCD $339.99

Total is $1,783.39

I'll be buying the keyboard and mouse from my local office depot or something and the headphones once I find some good ones... I still cant decide...

 

[34erd]

Ok.. so I'm getting that. I think I'm going to polish my case and maybe If i'm feeling really ambishus I'll do the stealth drive bay mod... And I also have to get a yellow cold cathode UV light but Newegg doesnt stock it. Then I'll have an awesome looking computer also... YAY. Oh and I think I'm going to spend the extra $20 on the non UT version of the mobo because I'm under budget anyway.

Will games be utilizing 2 gb of RAM any time soon?

 

[redrider773]

BF2 will utilize 2 Gigs of RAM, will reduce the lag to ZERO, except your ping crap

 

[Praetor]

BF2 will utilize 2 Gigs of RAM, will reduce the lag to ZERO, except your ping crap

1. Having two GB of RAM wont reduce lag or frame-iness.
2. Lag *IS* ping-crap.

 

[34erd]

Ok, in that case I'll be ordering soon. Thanks for all the help guys. I'll just upgrade my RAM later if I need to.

 

[Praetor]

The price you've got on the 2x1024 2-2-2-5 is very nice however I might suggest you consider something like this or this ... pricier yes ... but also a crapload more performance on each stick .. just a thought

 

[34erd]

You mean 2 x 512 right? I cant afford 2 GB even in my dreams. I'll try to squeeze in the other RAM.

Oh and should I buy a floppy drive? Is it needed to boot the computer?

 

[redrider773]

You need a floppy to update your bios.

 

[34erd]

The Zalman HSF I am buying doesnt have a protective grill on the fan. Is this going to be a problem?

 

[redrider773]

no, unless you have a bad habit of sticking your finger in your fan when its open while its running