Build

[Myoushu Chi-Fu]

Here it is:

Lian Li V-1000B-W Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $220


Thermaltake Silent Pure Power W0049RUC ATX12V/ EPS12V 680W Power Supply - Retail - $155

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Toledo 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4800CDBOX - Retail - $884

SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP2004C 200GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $188 (x2 in raid 0)

pqi 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model PQI3200-2048DB - Retail - $225

SAMSUNG 913V-Black 19" 12ms LCD Monitor - Retail - $290

eVGA 256-P2-N528-AX Geforce 7800GTX 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail - $509

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Elite Pro 8 (7.1) Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail - $400

Total: ~$2870

I still don't know which motherboard is best. I thought asus was but then I heard that they're bad with AMD processors . I'd also like to know if there is a clear winner between ATI and nVidia gpu's.

 

[Alex81388]

As far as motherboards go, for what you are running, stay with DFI or Abit.

For your video card, DO NOT get an XFX, it will be the poop on your system.

 

[BColes]

With ATI's X1800XT coming out there's no clear winner with GPUs. you will have to wait a few weeks to get that ATI card though. This forums users will tell you to go with a DFI mobo.

 

[Myoushu Chi-Fu]

What's wrong with XFX? I've heard good things about it. I read about this one guy that overclocked it to 585/1397 on stock cooling. Which one do you recommend?

 

[Myoushu Chi-Fu]

Edit: I just read a preview of the new ATI card and compared to the nVidia they where basically the same. I'd rather get the nVidia now then wait for the ATI. Another question: is a 12ms screen good enough for gaming or would i get choppy images? Is it true what i hear about the DFI being picky about ram modules? If its true do i need better RAM than what i've chose?

DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $189

 

[BColes]

Is the ATI X1800XT that's coming out better than the current nvidia 7800GTX? If it is it'll be worth the wait.

It's a highly variable choice. browse the thread labeled "r520/g70 discussion" (something like that.)

 

[Alex81388]

A lot of XFX fail, more than any other brand closely followed by leadtek. Mind you that you may end up with a solid card, but I'm just giving you a warning towards the trends.

eVGA blows them away. Runnes up are MSI Giga-byte and BFG.

 

[j4ckaL]

You don't have to get a pre-overclocked GTX to get amazing performance. You could get a stock GTX for $430 and then overclock it when it becomes necessary (which wont be for a long time). Then again if you have the money you might as well get the pre-OCed one and keep the warrenty on it.

Do you really need the Elite Pro Edition X-Fi? You may be an audio professional and need it I don't know, but if your just playing games you should just get the Extreme Music Edition.

 

[BColes]

Do you really need the Elite Pro Edition X-Fi?

i was thinking the same. Another thing would be dropping to the next lower speed teledo CPU and save about $300.

 

[Myoushu Chi-Fu]

I'm going with the eVGA, then. Does anyone know anything about RAM not working with the DFI? What kind of RAM should i buy?