Need Feedback On New Gaming System

[joker_king16]

I'm preparing to purchase parts for my 1st computer. These are the current parts on my list:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939
MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD
XFX PVT43GNDF3 Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6B250S0 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150
NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A - OEM
ASPIRE X-InfinityBlack Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX w/420W PS
acer AL1714CB-8 Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor

This machine is being built to play games such as Battlefield 2, CS:S, and Doom 3. Do you forsee any problems with this?

This system currently would cost about $875 to build. Can you think of any areas that could be significantly improved without a dramatic increase in price (total no more than $1200)?

Specifically do you think it would be worth it for each of the following upgrades:

SLI Motherboard
2 (1x1GB) RAM
6800GT Video Card
Athlon 3200, 3800
19" LCD 8ms
450W< Power supply


Thanks, I really appreciate it!

 

[aj2003]

i would say the only things u should look at changing is the 6600GT for 6800GT and the 3000 for a 3200. You dont realy need a SLi motherboard tbh. That board you have there is decent.

 

[DoomUK]

An SLI board is nice for future upgradability; if he bought a single 6800 GT now he could get a second down the line when needed.

And personally, I'd swear by having 2GB of RAM. Games like BF2 and F.E.A.R. (demo) eat your memory for breakfast.

 

[Counter-Strike]

SLI blows, in a lot of benchmarks 1 6800GT is = or better than 2x 6800GT's.

I say that is a dang nice build. I would recommend with an eVGA version of any nvidia card though...

 

[joker_king16]

Do you think 420W is enough power or should I look at soemthing aorund 500?

 

[j4ckaL]

Power supplies that come with cases are known to be poor quality. Get an after market one thats at least 480W. Antec, Thermaltake, and OCZ are good brands.

 

[vaderpro]

Yep get a good psu as above, 450/500w for a 6800gt. The 6800gt will really kick ass and the 6600gt does fine, so its a cost thing. If you have the money dont hesitate and get the EVGA 6800gt. If your playin BF2 get 2x1GB ram for dual channel, value is fine. Oh and Seagate Barracuda HDs are generally better than Maxtor.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103929

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153020

 

[joker_king16]

So given a choice between upgrading memory and upgrading the video card which would you choose?

Also, will upgrading the video card to the 6800GT show a significant increase if I keep the 3000+, or would I need to upgrade that to a 3200 or so to really warrant the upgrade?

 

[j4ckaL]

I'd upgrade video card instead of memory.

 

[Alex81388]

So given a choice between upgrading memory and upgrading the video card which would you choose?

Also, will upgrading the video card to the 6800GT show a significant increase if I keep the 3000+, or would I need to upgrade that to a 3200 or so to really warrant the upgrade?

Video Card over the memory. Like I tell everyone else, BF2 USES 2gig's nicely, but it runs just fine on 1. Even people with 512 are able to play it decently. 1 Gig will suit you well.

You will get a increase with using the 3200 obveously, but I don't think it will show through the Video Card. Most people buy the 3000+ and OC it, because it's very capable. If thats you, make sure you get good OCing ram.

Good luck!