New Computer

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no leaf clover

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Well, I must say, I found this site off of Wikipedia while doing some research, and I am impressed.

Anywho, I am going to build a new computer, and would like as much input as I can get, whether it is comments/complaints/suggestions/anything. I figured there were some experienced people here that could help point me in the right direction. (Please dont look at this as one of those 'I WANT THIS TELL ME WHAT TO GET WHILE I SIT AND GO PLAY GAMES' threads. I am still continuing to look around and do my own research, I simply would like some input and suggestions as to what I should look at and consider)

My current computer is nice, one I built a couple years ago, but I think it is time for me to start anew. It still has agp, and a socket 754 proc, and those are going out of style from what I hear. Ill keep it around tho, and use it as extra backup storage, or a proxy server, or somthing. Im setting a budget of roughly 1500 for myself, but Im flexible. After having my summer job and my current job and having some money, I figure its time to put it to use.

Heres what Im looking at so far:

Motherboard
-Definetly needs to have PCIe. I have been debating about SLI a bit. It definetly looks awesome, and if I were to hook up 2 cards to it, definte bragging rights, but I dont think I would rush right into filling up both slots (I wouldnt want more than 2) if I did go that way. One question I have: Is running one card on an SLI board any different preformance wise then running that same card on a non-SLI board?
-No onboard video (I think thats a bit of a given)
-Im fine with onboard audio, Im more of a headset kind of guy, and plan to use a DSP500 headset that comes with a soundcard in line. Ive used that headset before (currently have it but the mic is broken) and am exremly pleased (for those of you interested, there only about 55 bucks off of newegg).
Onboard LAN would be helpful, so I dont have to shell out 5 bucks for a pci slot.
-4 DIMM slots would be ideal
CPU
-Most definetly going with a 64bit AMD here, Have one in my current computer (2800+@1.8ghz) and am definetly happy with it. Ive been taking a gander at dual core. That definetly looks attractive, seeing as I always have plenty of background apps running (I usually play World of Warcraft and Day of Defeat, plan to get back into DAoC a bit on free servers)
RAM
-To start out, I want at least 2x512, although im not sure what kind I should get. Im not an extreme over-clocker or anything, usually Ill bump my videocard up a bit if it has automatic OC, and maybe the processor, but thats about it.
GPU
-Definetly PCIe. I looked at the 6800gs and that looks nice, although Im still up in the air. The 7800 is definetly attractive, and thats mainly why I asked about the 1 card in an SLI mobo. I wouldnt go out and buy two of either immediatly, but I like the idea of being able to if I ever decide to.
Sound
-As I said earlier, I prefer onboard as my headset will have sound inline.
Optics
-Two drives would be nice. On my computer I have a CD-RW and a DVD-RW, and would like to follow along with that. I like being able to copy cd's straight over.
Case
The one I have currnetly, I am sick of. Its a POWMAX that I believe has been discontinued. It has two grills on the bottom with color changing LED's and a biohazard symbol with a fan in the middle on the window. I want to get somthing a bit more simple then that. Black case, keep the window on the side, mid tower, less extreme. Ill probably end up throwind a light inside, I like the glow. I was thinking of acrylic for a bit, but the cases I looked at didnt seem to have much fan wise, and I dont think I could do a good enough job of making it look decent inside.
PSU
Somthing that gives me enough power, probably up towards ~500w incase I decide to throw in another vid card. None of that flashy light junk. Variable fan speed would be nice.

I think I hit on everything there. I have went and read some of the articles here (awesome job garra and static) and those have helped me alot.

ADDED:
Monitor
I will probably end up using the 17" advueu I have with my current computer, but any suggestions on a new monitor would be nice. I am going to end up asking for one for my birthday, so I have a complete extra machine.

Other
Mouse: Probably another MX500
KB: Ill end up getting another simple Lite on probably. They work
Case Lighting: Probably a blue light for the inside
Fans: I bought a bunch of 80mm that worked out to a buck a piece. There good quality. Plain black. (Speeze sleeve bearing) If you think I should invest in different ones for better heat control, please go for it.

HD
Im in the air here. Ive always looked at RAID and thought that looked awesome. Tho im not too sure what im gonna do. Im still thinking about whether to get 7.2k or 10k, ide or sata, what size, etc.
 
Case
I was thinking somthing along the lines of these. Not too crazy, but still looks good.
Sound
The headset that I plan on picking up again.
CPU
This AMD64 3700+ looks good to me

--Thought Updates--

CPU
Starting to shy away from the dual core idea. Cheapest is almost 300 bucks, and from what I hear not the greatest with games. Guess Ill go back to looking at single core.
Other
Bit bummed to see that theres no more MX500's or Advueu ADV175B's left on newegg.
 
For a good games machine, a 3200+ AMD 64 Athlon XP will be fine to run all games out at the moment.
RAM well I advise a single GIGABYTE stick, as this runs quicker than 2x 512MB
Graphics I advise if you can afford it a 7800 but if not a 6600GT will be fine. PCI not AGP
And a motherboard with a bus rate of 2000MHz or quicker. and of course PCI x16 at least
 
UPDATE:
Just read about RAID 0 on Wikipedia
That is, reliability (as measured by mean time to failure (MTTF) or mean time between failures (MTBF)) is roughly inversely proportional to the number of members—so a set of two disks is roughly half as reliable as a single disk.

So maybe I wont RAID, maybe Ill invest in a 10krpm. that would be 30 bucks more expensive then RAID0, but more reliable. Ill think about that.

I want to have a separate HD for my OS (WinXP), but am having trouble finding a smaller size HD with a high RPM. If anyone has any suggestions on where to look (Ive been keeping tabs on ebay with no luck, only scsi drives come up), or any alternate suggestions, I would be happy to know.
 
Get a 7800GT
DFI Lanparty Ultra-d
3700+ is good but look into a opteron 165 or 170 if you have the money
I have RAID0 and i love it, im just going to get another hdd for backup
2 gigs of RAM, ValueSELECT if your not OCing or some more expensive stuff like OCZ, G.skill if your OCing
Antec TP or OCZ powerstream psu
any case you like
any optical drive will really do
 
First off, thanks for the input.
(Update on budget, getting 400 out of my tax return, so Im a bit more flexible [thats like me walking along and tripping face first into a pile of money])
While the dual core is attractive, Im not sure if I want to spend 325 bucks on it.
eVGA 7800GT is a definite for its price.
I wish I understood RAM timings. If anyone could give a quick run through of what the timings mean, that would be awesome. The OCZ Titanium that my friend showed me has timings of 2-3-2-5 (The extent of my knowledge of timings is the lower the better)
As far as PSU goes, how can I calculate how much wattage I would need?
Im still on the line for RAID, the whole half reliability is a big turn off for me.
 
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