New Computer Build: Need Help

[uthscsa19]

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $132

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3000BPBOX - Retail $146

OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model OCZ4001024ELDCPER2-K - Retail $170

eVGA 128-P2-N368-TX Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $170

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JD 160GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM $82

SAMSUNG Black IDE Combo Drive Model TS-H492A/BEBN - OEM $35

Total $734

I am a newb to computer building, but I maintain and repair computers at work. I simply have never built a computer from scratch. I am hoping to build this computer and overclock to get a good gaming/general computer. I still need some help on picking a PSU and a case. The PSU needs to handle the overclocking and a possible upgrade in Video Card later if need be. The case just needs to be able to keep the whole thing cool enough. I plan to purchase some thermal paste when building (artic silver 5 is what i heard is best) and if needed, a heatsink, but ive heard Venice's are good on heat.

Anyways, please advise on my current list, and make suggestions for improvement. I will overclock, so let me know if these arent good choices. Also, a good but modestly priced PSU/case suggestion. I know the PSU is very important and should not by cheap, but I dont want something that is just wasteful and extra expensive.


Thanks for any replies.


Steve M

 

[persianxballer]

Nice build.
Good choices on everything, especially ram.

For power supplies:
OCZ 450W
Rosewill 550W
Antec 430W

For cases:
TT Tsunami
Aspire Dreamer
Rosewill TU-155

Have fun! My build was very rewarding.

 

[uthscsa19]

I think I like the Rosewill 550W PSU, and it seems to get good reviews.

Is it better to get a SATAII HD instead of the SATA150? Is there enough a performance boost to merit it? I havent looked at the price difference yet. *EDIT* Just checked, the SATAII drive is $2 less for the exact same drive. 160GB, same latency/speed. This one is SATAII. Are SATAII drives faster?

I also looked through all the cases, and I really like this one

Thermaltake Soprano VB1000SWS Silver Computer Case With Side Panel Window - Retail $80

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133146

It has 3 stock fans, 2 -120mm and 1 90mm
It has plenty of HDD/CD racks
Looks pretty roomy for all the add-ons
I've wanted a side-window setup for awhile, since my current Dell computer looks like crap. I just want to make sure it will be okay with airflow, size, configuration for my setup.

Total Build with Shipping from Newegg: $936.64
Anyways, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Steve M.

 

[PZEROFGH]

the ram wont OC as well as it does on an intel based mobo, cause most TCCD chips wont make it above 500...i believe the only one that does well on botbh intel and amd are the micron chips

 

[Grayfox]

I think I like the Rosewill 550W PSU, and it seems to get good reviews.

Reviews for psus normaly mean nothing.
They normaly only measure the voltage not the watage. (Its very expensive to get the right equipment
If the voltage is off you have a defective unit or the psu is overloaded.


Also you will see alot of reviewers try to keep there sponcers happy over the readers.

Example

This psu's 5V rail is VERY out of spec. maximum deviation to pass a psu is 5% on any rail (see atached image)

Also theres alot of stuff not mentioned in this review that went on.

The first unit ultra sent him blew up his motherboard (msi k8n neo 2 platinum) (Some info he doesn't want getting out)


Some how he gave it a 9/10 .......

The point of this story .... most reviewers are whores.

The only reviewer I trust remotely is tomshardware.com/

 

[uthscsa19]

So micron memory is the way to go with AMD Venice core overclocks? Can you give me a link to an equivalent memory as the 1gb I have.

So is the Rosewell PSU not good? Should I go with the antec?

Ill check on the Micron memory and see the price difference. The Antec is $10 more, but is the Rosewell one that bad?

Steve M.

 

[Grayfox]

I haven't seen a single review from good source.


Get the antec,enermax,ocz or a pc power and cooling.


And yes the antec is definatly worth $10 more.

 

[damasta55r]

Don't forget case, as5, and windows if needed. other than that, looks good.

 

[uthscsa19]

I havent found anything on micron memory. Can someone help.

 

[uthscsa19]

Okay, going with Antec power supply. But I still need to know about that Memory. Is the micron the Crucial Ballistix? They are about the same price as OCZ, but will I get better results. I also like the way the Crucial memory looks, but I know that doesnt really matter.