First PC Build (under $3500)

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Culley

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I am building my first PC, but have been using computers for most of my 30 years, so I know what I want.

Priorities:

1. Speed
2. Video quality
3. Audio quality
4. Storage capacity

Use:
1. Home Theater
2. Storage of audio and video
3. Gaming

I have a second computer in the home and would like to efficiently network them together to share files, share a cable modem, and share a printer.

I was also curious if most people use a console controller with adaptor for pc gaming? Or what?

I am seeking advice as to things I might improve on, are inadequate, excessive, etc.

Motherboard: ASUS A8N-SLI Socket 939 nVIDIA nForce 4 SLI ATX AMD
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego Socket 939
Video Card: eVGA GeForce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express
RAM: 2GB Corsair 184-pin DDR 400 (PC3200)
HD: Seagate 7200 RPM 250GB (Serial ATA)
Cooling: Zalman CNPS7700-CU 120mm
Power Supply: Antec True Control 550W
Case: Antec Performance I P160
Monitor: Samsung 915N LCD 19"
Sound Card: Creative Audigy2 ZS Platinum
Speakers: Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1
Router: D-Link DGL-4100 10/100/1000Mbps
OS: Windows XP 64

Thanks in advance,

Culley
Illinois, USA
 
you could do better on a budget under 3500 bucks

try dual 400 gig sata's in raid 1
go for pc power and cooling 550w psu
and personally i dont really like that antec case but it is your descision
and yes you selected the agp version of the eVGA 6800gt you need the pci express version
and for the heatsink you slected you will need a thermal paste to provid ebetter contact between the heatsink and the cpu
arctic silver 5 is regarded as the best choice
and a ton of ppl are gonna tell you to get a dfi lanparty nf4 slid mobo but it really doesnt make a difference wether you get the asus or the dfi ive used both brands before and both work fine.
 
Careful with getting Windows XP 64, driver and software support for it is dicey at best. I would recommend just getting windows xp home or professional now, and waiting until windows vista comes out in a year or so to go 64-bit. That is when the whole '64-bit' revolution will take place, anyways.
 
Okay, I switched to the PCI-Express interface for the GFX card. Didn't notice that the first time around.

Arctic Silver 5 for the heatsink and CPU.

I've read up on the XP64... it seems Longhorn/Vista is due out in Beta 1 in about a week... I may just hold off and use XP Pro for now.

Thanks.
 
Do you have a copy of XP pro at home? If so don't waste your money on getting another copy, recycle the one you have.

It will be 2006 until it is actually due out.

You will need to check if that PSU is 24 pin, as I don't know if Antec have made a revision for the T.C. But Antec are a great company, if that is not a 24pin PSU get the True power 2.0

I will still recomend getting DFI, as it is alot better, very good quality, excellent for overclocking and is very reasonable priced. Also when the ASUS SLI boards were first released they were buggy, I don't know if they have fixed it with a new BIOS/revision yet.

Are you overclocking?

Is that Corsair value ram? If so, get generic ram, as that is all the Corsair ram is, and they put the price up for being a middle man.
 
I have never overclocked before, but I may be with this PC. I would be new to it and need some help along the way.

I'm checking into the DFI Lanparty mobos now as well as checking the psu.

It is Valueselect Corsair, yes. Thanks for the tip. ;)
 
you have a big budget, you might be able to squeeze 2 7800GTX's and don't get Windows XP 64-bit becuase its too new, and there are very few drivers for it.
 
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