performance pc in the making

[Mok]

Hi, i've decided to build my own performance PC for the challenge and to save a lil' green while i was at it. This is the 1st time i've considered building a new PC, i've replaced fans inside my old PC but thats about it. Ne ways i read a couple of guides and i think i can pull it off. I've found most of my components on Ebuyer.co.uk. I'll post what i have found for my budget range and hopefully some1 can tell me how well balanced my PC will be or if there r any better products for my money out there? Or most of important of all if i have missed something (heaven forbid )...

Motherboard: Asus A8N-E SKT 939 NFORCE 4 AUDIO LAN PCI-Express ATX

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 (ADA3700BNBOX) 3700 CPU Skt 939 San Diego Retail inc Heat Sink Fan 3 Years Warranty

Memory: Corsair (VS1GBKIT400C3) 1024MB (2 x 512MB Matched Pair), DDR400 / PC3200, non-ECC, Unbuffered, CL3, Memory Modules With Lifetime Warranty

Graphics Card: Connect 3d Radeon X850XT 256MB GDDRIII PCI-E + DVI + TV (3026)

Hard Drive: Maxtor 6L080M0 Plus 10 80GB 7200RPM SATA/150 8MB Cache - OEM

Case: Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Midi Tower - With 450W SmartPower2.0 PSU

CD-RW/DVD rom: Sony CRX320E 52x32x52x16 CD-RW/DVD-ROM COMBO Internal IDE (Black) - OEM

Monitor: LG L1740BQ 17" TFT 4ms 550:1 (1280x1024) 'Anti-Glare Flatron Technology' Monitor - Black & Silver (3 Years On-Site Warranty)

Thats all of it for now, i haven't incl. windows home edition or my speakers, mouse, keyboard. Also i think i need a Network Card, and maybe a new antec fan set. Any tips on how to configure any of it, or if any components won't work together would be greatly appreciated.

 

[NathanM]

Could you tell us your budget so we'll know if our recommendations will fit in it?

 

[Mok]

I want it to be under £850, but under £900 is also fine. Nice to c a reply so fast
I guess £850 is about $1500 - 1600 or something? it was a long time since i was in a economics class room, don't blame me

 

[newcement]

900 pounds comes to $1,593.4055 US Dollars

(Used yahoo finance)

 

[Kitire]

No it doesnt... it is 1530$ ...

Add a 6800gs and a amd x2 dual core.

 

[Brtnboarder495]

Switch out your current video card for the eVGA 7800GT (now available at sub $300 prices), and buy OCZ or XMS or some other type of memory that OCs (overclocks) better. I'd personally go with the DFI Ultra 4 motherboard, as it OCs well, and with the 3700+ as your CPU, you can easily reach the more expensive 4000+'s speeds, quite easily. You may regret only buying an 80gig HD, so spendinh the extra $10-20 and buying a 120gig one is probably the better idea. Also, buy a higher quality case (Thermaltake is nice), one without a PSU, and buy a seperate Antec or OCZ PSU.

 

[Vampire_Slayer]

I don't think an Asus board would be good for an AMD build, I would personally go DFI or Abit. Nice choice with the Antec SonataII case, but I would highly recommend getting a PSU. If your on the cheap side a TruepowerII 550w; but if you want to invest more into your psu then I would say get an OCZ powerstream 520w or a good Fortron 600w psu. With your budget I would say get an evga 7800gt, and maybe get some good OCZ memory.

 

[newcement]

I don't think an Asus board would be good for an AMD build, I would personally go DFI or Abit. Nice choice with the Antec SonataII case, but I would highly recommend getting a PSU. If your on the cheap side a TruepowerII 550w; but if you want to invest more into your psu then I would say get an OCZ powerstream 520w or a good Fortron 600w psu. With your budget I would say get an evga 7800gt, and maybe get some good OCZ memory.

What's wrong with the Antec SmartPower psu?

 

[Mok]

Switch out your current video card for the eVGA 7800GT (now available at sub $300 prices), and buy OCZ or XMS or some other type of memory that OCs (overclocks) better. I'd personally go with the DFI Ultra 4 motherboard, as it OCs well, and with the 3700+ as your CPU, you can easily reach the more expensive 4000+'s speeds, quite easily. You may regret only buying an 80gig HD, so spendinh the extra $10-20 and buying a 120gig one is probably the better idea. Also, buy a higher quality case (Thermaltake is nice), one without a PSU, and buy a seperate Antec or OCZ PSU.

Thanks for the reply, i checked it all out and replaced my motherboard, G card, Hard Drive (below). I will replace my memory with OCZ after looking into it, but i'm not sure if i should stick with 1GB and o/c it or spend double the money on a full 2GB? I Play FarCry, World of Warcraft, Dark and Light, and other FPS/RPG/Strategy games.

Motherboard: DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D SKT939 DDR400 PCI-E SLI ATX

Graphics Card: PNY GEFORCE 7800GT 256MB DDR3 PCI-E DUAL DVI/HDTV-out

Or

MSI Nvidia GeForce 7800GT 256mb PCI-Express Dual DVI + TV Out

??

Hard Drive: Maxtor 6L120M0 DiamondMax Plus 9 120GB 7200RPM SATA/150 8MB Cache - OEM

Memory: 1GB OCZ Premier Dual Channel Kit 2x512MB DDR400 PC3200 CL 2.5-3-3-7 (LIFETIME WARRANTY) (OCZ4001024PDC-K)

2GB OCZ Value Dual Channel Kit 2x1024MB DDR400 PC3200 CL 3-4-4-8 (LIFETIME WARRANTY) (OCZ4002048V3DC-K)

CL is better on 1GB, if CL means anything to start with -_-

Which Thermaltake is a good one? i want something thats well built, can help reduce noise overall as well of course.

 

[Tyler1989]

With that kind of budget don't get a AMD 64 go out and grab yourself a nice AMD X2 3800+ or higher.