Noob's first gaming/o'c build

[Shibby]

Hey guys,

I'm sure these types of threads must get pretty annoying, but I'm building up my first 'real' gaming system, and plan to overclock it (a few months after I buy the system, when I can afford to upgrade the stock cooling bits). I just want to check with some experts (that's you guys ) for advice before I make this rather hefty investment.

Budget is a factor here, but not to the point where it will compromise the system quality or the o/c ability. I will be swapping my HDD/optical drives from my old system for the time-being. So, here's my current spec list, let me know what you think about it, especially if it's not well "balanced" in terms of component choices. This spec bring me about to the top of my budget, so I don't want to go higher unless it is really necessary.

CPU: Athlon 64 3200+ winchester core (o/c capabilities)

Mobo: DFI LANPARTY nF4 Ultra-D (can't go wrong, and I'm not too keen on SLI or anything more than a RAID0 setup, so this board suits me well)

Video Card: ATI x800xl (seems like the best bang for my buck, what do you think?)

Memory: OCZ Dual Channel GoldVX PC4000 2x512 mb (I am really in over my head with memory, this was suggested to me as being a great match for this mobo, and you can apparently o/c the heck out of it, unfortunately it is hella expensive....any other suggestions here would be greatly appreciated)

PSU: Enermax Noisetaker EF495P-VE-SFMA 2.0 480W (seems like a high quality psu w/ 2x18A on 2-12V rails, and I can get a pretty good deal on it)

Case: Aspire Black X-Dreamer Mid-Tower Case (cheap case with good features and good cooling capabilities)

There ya go! Lemme know what you think, I'm super stoked on putting this thing together and seeing what she can do!

Cheers,

Shibby

 

[SkyHi]

As I've heard, ATI has problems running it's own games on it's own video cards. That's a nice PSU, and the case.. really doesn't matter much, unless you want it to look nice, then choose what you fancy. Your mobo doesn't seem bad, but I'd personally go with the GIGABYTE GA-K8N Ultra-9:
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=13-128-283&depa=1

 

[SkyHi]

Oh, just wondering, what games you plan on playing? Cuz I really (personal opinion) don't think you need to OC if you don't need to, I don't see much improvement

 

[aspire]

get a high end nvidia card 6600gt maybe or if you want to shell out the extra dough get a 6800gt

 

[SkyHi]

Don't worry about the 6800gt it's not really worth your money unless your usuing intense-graphics programs, which you probably won't need more than 128mb

 

[Shibby]

I didn't know that the ATI cards had issues like this, I thought the x800xl was supposed to pretty good. For my budget, I could probably afford a MSI NX6800GT-256TD. Is this necessary, I want to save money, but not at the expense of the system. To answer your question, I play all types of games, so that doesn't help you very much

Also, why do you suggest the gigabyte mobo over the DFI?

Thanks!

 

[Elbatrop1]

The 6600GT is the best budget card out right now with wicked-awesome performance. Go to the VGA Charts on tomshardware to see benchmarks on vid cards:
http://www20.graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041222/index.html

Also, you will find that most people around here will recommend the DFI. It seems to be a really good board.

 

[diabloII]

no, get the X800XL, it's the best bang for the buck; the 6800gt is unnecessary

also, you should look into G skill's rams (the L series, for ex. LA, LE, LD), they are MUCH better than those ocz's

 

[truebe]

what kind of games are you going to be playing?

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

no, get the X800XL, it's the best bang for the buck; the 6800gt is unnecessary

also, you should look into G skill's rams (the L series, for ex. LA, LE, LD), they are MUCH better than those ocz's

It will fall short enough of the 6800GT to warranty the GT's price, and the XL cannot play HL2 HDR level.