Build; What to sacrafice??

[sanitystealer]

I'm trying to choose between these two builds. I plan to Game heavily, and overclock very minutely (if even at all).

Here is build one.

Antec Super LANBoy Aluminum Mid Tower Case No/ PS

DFI Lan Party NForce4 SLI-DR Audio/GB-LAN/IEEE/PCI-E/SATA/DDR/ATX 64 939

eVGA GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB DDR3/PCI-E/VIVO/Dual-DVI (Retail Box) w/Battlefield 2

Seagate (ST380817AS) Barracuda 80GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache SATA

Antec NeoPower480 ATX 12V 480W Power Supply

ViewSonic 19" LCD VP191B (Black)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Dual-Core 1MB Per Core 90nm (939) (Retail Box-w-Fan)

2 GB DDR (2 pcs 1GB) PC-3200 (400) OCZ Dual-Channel (OCZ4002048PFDC-K)


The sacrafice in this build is RAM and HDD. The next build is almost the same, with a couple changes.


Build 2



Antec Super LANBoy Aluminum Mid Tower Case No/ PS

DFI Lan Party NForce4 SLI-DR Audio/GB-LAN/IEEE/PCI-E/SATA/DDR/ATX 64 939

2 GB DDR (2 pcs 1GB) PC-3200 (400) OCZ Dual Channel Platinum (OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K)

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 1MB 90nm Rev. E San Diego (939)

eVGA GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB DDR3/PCI-E/VIVO/Dual-DVI (Retail Box) w/Battlefield 2

Antec NeoPower480 ATX 12V 480W Power Supply

ViewSonic 19" LCD VP191B (Black)

TWO X Western Digital 36 GB 8MB 360GD Raptor SATA 10K RPM
(WD360GD) IN RAID 0



Obviously the second build has more HDD performance and higher quality/lower CAS RAM, but which will offer me better stock performance?

Also, it seems to me that the first build will be easier to surpass its shortcomings. (ie: drop another gig of ram and another HDD in). Whereas the second build would require me to scrap a part in order to upgrade. Scrapping = waste. Waste = bad.

Let me know what you guys think!!

P.S. There are parts missing, because I will be purchasinga Floppy, DVD-RW, Case fans, and a CPU heatsink from newegg.

I chose to go with monarch for the majority of my purchase because it had lower prices, no tax, and cheaper shipping.

 

[damasta55r]

Don't forget the thermal compound and windows if needed. i would go for the first one.

 

[sanitystealer]

I'm leaning towards the second as well..

How drastic a performance change would I experience from 2 36 gig raptor to two 80 gig 7800 rpm drives?

 

[sanitystealer]

Any one else? Post your thoughts!!

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

The first is more futureproof with it's dual core processor, games like FEAR will take advantage of dual core

The harddrive isnt that much of an issue, slightly affects the game loading times.

 

[Alex81388]

First one definately. Make sure you price them out if you buy the parts seperatly then just buying them built from somwhere.

It can save you cash, or you can put the cash towards even better stuff.

 

[sanitystealer]

Yeah, I've priced out the parts between Monarch computers (No taxes!! Yippie!!) and Newegg. My 2600 system is now gonna cost me in the ballpark of 2300. Wahoo!!

 

[septoid2]

DEFINATLY the second one. You dont need a dual-core proc for gaming. The second one has more HD space and a nice video card, you'll be set for any game. THe 3700+ is VERY powerful.

 

[sanitystealer]

The first and second share a videocard.
HD space isn't the main concern for me... It is HD performance, also the ram for build one is not as good a quality.
Would you guys reccomend getting 1 gig of the platinum series? I do not plan to OC my ram.

 

[synergy]

I would go with the first build as well. The HD performance increase with the 36GB Raptors isn't that much.