First Rig: Suggestions and Tips Welcome

[Stolen_Thunder]

I have been window-shopping for PC components at newegg for awhile and have a general view of the computer I want. But, due to this being my first build, I am unsure whether or not these parts will integrate well with each
other. So I thought it would be best to run my specs through you seasoned pros before buying these parts. I have a $3000 budget, so I plan on making a pretty beefy rig. My (future) specs are:

Processor: Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail

Motherboard: Looking for a better one (please help). If you see a 240-pin, AM2, Sli compatable mobo, please tell me.

RAM: Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS2 DOMINATOR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Hard-drive: Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3500841A 500GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM

Video card: Newegg.com - BFG Tech BFGR88768GTXOC2E GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

Sound card: Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

Power supply: Open to suggestions. (SATA plz)

CPU Cooling: Newegg.com - Dynatron A48G 70mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - Retail

VGA Cooling: Open to suggestions (other than water cooling)

Case: Newegg.com - Thermaltake Eureka VC8000SWA Silver Chassis : 1.0mm all aluminum Front bezel : Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

CD/DVD: Newegg.com - SONY Black 8X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 4X DVD+R DL 8X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 4X DVD-R DL 5X DVD-RAM 8X DVD-ROM 24X CD-R 24X CD-RW 24X CD-ROM 2MB Cache E-IDE/ATAPI Slim DVD Burner - OEM

What do you think? Comments, suggestions and tips are welcome.

 

[jakebrick]

If you are going to be using it for gaming, and you are serious about using 3000 dollars, than I think I would go with an SLI set-up. With those specs there, you defiantly have some room to spare on another card and different MB. At least someone will tell you to go with Intel, but I like your choice considering the new AMD pricing, but a 5600+ would suffice for gaming. I would personally choose different RAM, and go with 4 gigs, but that's really personal preference.

 

[Phantom118]

Agreed... with a budget like that... (if you wanted to use it all) I would go with an Nvidia 8800GTX SLI setup.

What about a monitor??? or do you already have one?

 

[Stolen_Thunder]

Thanks for the advice, it is greatly appreciated. @ jakebrick: I also think that I should purchase 2 additional gigs of RAM, but isn't there a bug in Windows XP (I'm not upgrading to Vista for a while) that it can't recognise more than 2 gigabytes of RAM? If not, what brand/type of RAM do you recommend (must be 240-pin). @ Phantom118: Good suggestion! I checked the 8800GTX out, and seriously, that one is more stable, needs less cooling and has a higher rate of customer satisfaction.

Thank you both for your wisdom. Any further help is appreciated.

 

[plumber4578]

What PSU are you going with?

 

[Oreo]

Heres your first person telling you to go Intel. Get a Conroe E6600 Dual Core Processor, it may be similar straight out the box to the AMD 6000 X2,but the overclocking potential is Huge, You could easily make it as fast as some of Intels Quad Cores at stock i would think,(900USD). Also swap that GTS to a GTX, and Even go SLI if need be. Swap the motherboard for a ASUS P5B Deluxe.

Then your system will be Top notch, BUT!, I have a better reccomendation... Hold back for the ATI X2900XTX real benchmarks are released, so we can see wether the upgrade to a X2900XTX would be substantial, and worth the wait.

I would change the ram to some PC6400 Crucial Ballistix, but again, thats just my preferance. Maybe another 2GB Would be nice, but then you'll probably go over budget. 4GB of ram is not needed at this moment in time by any means for gaming, but will hold out well for gaming.

Personally i wouldnt be to fussed over getting a SATA or IDE Harddrive, SATA are slightly better, but dont get all bothered about it. 500GB for me, would be to much, a 300GB would be plenty for me, That might be something you might like to take into consideration. Also good brands are Western Digital, Seagate, and Hitatchi in my opinion, try and make sure it has atleast 8MB Buffer and 5400RPM.
Preferably 7200RPM.


Another point is, that you probably wont need VGA Cooling. Find a Normal GTX Catd, then look for a 50 dollar more card, you'll probably find its got built in better-than-stock cooling.


You'll probably want atleast a 600W PSU to Drive this BEAST of a set up, but a 700W+ PSU to be safe (DONT be drawn in by the 1200W ones, there RIDICULOUS) Brands to look out for (good ones) are...Hiper, NorthQ,Seasonic,Coolermaster, and Tagan are brands that i would reccomend for being
reliable.


Another nice thing to have is a Ageia Physx card, certainly not needed, but a few games are starting to be released now that support Physx cards.

The X-Fi ExtremeGamer soundcard is good, but many will argue the the XtremeMusic is a better card. If you want more opinions on this, go into User Control panel (User Cp) and send a personal message to either Crysalis, or EricB. They'll be happy to help, or simply post is the Audio and Multimedia section on tech forums.

If you do order a Intel CPU, you may want to wait till the Intel Price Cut, i think its happening sometime this month (Backup on this guys ??)


Thanks, have good fun with the build .

 

[Sora]

The X2 6000 is faster at stock...but the E6600's easily hit 3.4-3.6ghz which destroys the X2 6000. Right now it actually isn't worth it but once the price cuts come it will be.

Dominator ram is UNNEEDED.

Get G.skill HZ's instead and no you do NOT need 4gb. The increase after 1GB is minimal already in games while 2GB is plenty.

Get a Seagate 7200.10 SATA drive

Get at least one 8800GTX. You could build a SLI gaming system for that price...with two 8800GTX's

 

[dario03]

From what I've seen the E6600 is about as fast as the X2 6000. They compare a little odd because their about the same in games but in other things there can be some huge differences.

I would base the decision on if you plan to overclock or not. If you do then get the intel but if not get the AMD.

But I would also go with G.Skill ram and just get 2gb for now and upgrade to 4gb later on.

 

[Nagasama]

if you're going to wait for anything wait for agena/kuma release. that is, if you are set on amd (thats okay so am i).
that way you will be able to buy a mobo made for one of them instead of putting it in your "backwards compatible" am2 mobo.
we will see if these chips are going to crush intels c2d, or if they only match performance of c2d (which would still be excellent). if they exceed, there will be some price cuts at intel, fo sho fo sho. they will end up priced like the x2 amds.
dude either one of those cpus are absolutely excellent and top of the line performers. and waiting sucks, SO GET ONE!
as far as the overclocking, i dont know how far you will take a 6000. possibly 3.5ghz? but intels architecture and secret sauce, not to mention the breakdancing skills of the people on the assembly line, makes them much more efficient. and clocked at 3.5 a 6000 will still have trouble matching an e6600 (in some benchmarks and applications) clocked to about +/-3. but they'll be reeeeeeeeeeaaaaallll close.

 

[jakebrick]

Make sure you get lots of extra cooling things, like aftermarket fans and heatsinks. If you have two 8800's it's gonna get hot. You defiantly need a huuuuge monitor too. I would go with 24" at least. Do you have speakers? They could cut deep into your budget if you want their performance to match everything else. I'm a huge logitech supporter. As for the processor, it doesn't matter which one you get really, with all of your other components, you would be able to play anything on any resolution with even a 4200+.