CHEAP gaming system.. AM2 or 939??? ARE THESE SPECS GOOD??

[imagine6251]

SO HERES THE LIST: (AM2 IN PARENTHETIS...)

PU Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 2000MHz HT 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core $299 http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustR...&SortField=0&SummaryType=ALL&Pagesize=&Page=2
Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2000MHz HT 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor $399 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103747

MOBO ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard $134.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131517
(ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $146.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131013)

VDC eVGA Geforce 7600GT 256-P2-N553-AX Video Card $169 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130283
HD Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $89.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144701
MEM CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit $188 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145575
(mushkin eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Retail $289 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146108)
(CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Channel Kit $229 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145590)
PSU Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 550W Power Supply - Retail $89 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103931

DVD & Floppy $50 SAMSUNG 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Write and LightScribe Black ATA/ATAPI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827151118
Case $120
Heatsink & Fan



1. DO U GUYS LIKE THIS SETUP?
2. WHY GET SUCH AN $$$ VGA??
3. AM2 OR 939?? WHATS THE DIFF??
4. ARE THESE MACHINES EASY TO BUILD? ANY GOOD SITES?
5. ANY BETTER SPECS FOR BETTER PRICES, IF NOT A TAD HIGHER??



THANK YOU

 

[GageMW]

dude, first
turn off caps before i pimp slap you,
second, its a pretty good setup, depends what you'll use it for tho
3rd thats not an expensive video card, they run up to $600, and thats the bare minimum card you want for modern games,
4th theres a friggin guide to building at the top of this forum, and yes building a pc is easy.
5th i would think about getting the msi am2 motherboard, its about $135 on newegg, asus is good too though, get the corsair memory if you get am2,
and you dont have to get am2 or anything, but it will save you money on a future mobo, although its a brand new tech so there wont be as much stuff for it as 969, its really up to you which you get, but with your current setup choices the am2 machine is gonna have more power and be slightly more futureproof

 

[cwiz]

looks good, i'd go with the AMD 3800+ and use the extra $ to get a better graphix card, like a 7800GT or 7900GT (the ram, which you have plenty of, and GPU makes the biggest difference in gaming)
i dont think you get that much of a performance boost from the AM2 so i recommend the tried and true s939
maybe shell out the extra cash for a western digital Raptor (10,000rmp) HD

other than that you're probably money... build on

 

[harry18]

i say go for the am2, if your not gonna OC then i reacon get 1gb of value ram and a better graphics card

 

[ulater6000]

Yeah go wih AM2 if its only a little more $$$, but if it is a lot more $$$, than stick with 939 and get better RAM/GPU.

 

[imagine6251]

thanks for the quickness of the replies guys.. caps gone Gage!! sorry-- whats the difference between asus and msi products? I noticed that pcworld rates asus products as their top mobos. And when it comes to gpus they rate the evgas as the best value cards. So can u guys specify which am2 mobo and which am2 gpu (sli of course) is a better choice??

plus.. if i get am2 i need to get the athlon x2 4200 right???? is this a good cpu and can i overclock it without knowing much about oc'ing??? If i do so, what kind of heatsink and cooling devices will i need>???

Thanks again all!!

 

[Lord Lihp]

thanks for the quickness of the replies guys.. caps gone Gage!! sorry-- whats the difference between asus and msi products? I noticed that pcworld rates asus products as their top mobos. And when it comes to gpus they rate the evgas as the best value cards. So can u guys specify which am2 mobo and which am2 gpu (sli of course) is a better choice??

plus.. if i get am2 i need to get the athlon x2 4200 right???? is this a good cpu and can i overclock it without knowing much about oc'ing??? If i do so, what kind of heatsink and cooling devices will i need>???

Thanks again all!!

Asus are good yes, infact I've just ordered my new motherboard from them yesterday, the Asus M2N32-SLi-DLX nForce 590 SLi (Socket AM2), got it for £115 + VAT which is about what... $200?

and yes the 4200 X2 is a very nice cpu. My only problem with AM2 boards is that you only really gain with memory interface of DDR2 if you have a CPU clock of 2.4GHz or over, otherwise there isn't much difference over a skt939 running DDR400. But AM2 is the latest socket, and so it will keep your options open more in the future. (so yeah, you're going to need to get yourself some DDR2 if you go AM2.)

As for overclocking i'm not the guy to ask, i dont usually bother with it. Although I beleive its relatively simple. I presume you just bump up the fsb and let the multiplier do its job.

 

[imagine6251]

Guys I also need to know if with this system i can run 64bit.. what is the difference? has any one tried it? do i need to buy completely different parts to run 64 bit???

Also for the GPU.. if i dont get the 7900GT but the 7600GT, and later on get another 7600GT in SLI, would i be happy?

Thanks

For now I'm thinking to go with this setup:

300 CPU - Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.0 Gig Dual Core)
135 MOBO - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939
280 GPU - eVGA Geforce 7900GT
75 HD - Maxtor DiamondMax 10 250GB
190 MEM - CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Kit
90 PSU - Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 550W Power Supply
40 DVD - SAMSUNG 16X DVD±R DVD Burner
166 CASE - Lian Li PC-V1000 Aluminum Case

TOTAL COST: $1276 + SHIP

Comments?

 

[john3]

guys, i think someone failed to mentiont that there are AM2s for socket 939. yeesh.

 

[The General]

dude, first
turn off caps before i pimp slap you,

Edited to remove the oh-so-offensive comment.

Get the AM2, s939 is old news, and doesn't support DDR2.