Some questions about my build

[ttoadish]

so after some thought i've decided to build my own PC, or perhaps get my local indie pc store to put the bits together that i'll buy off the internet.


As it stands my build is

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ £182
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Socket_939_X2.html

Gigabyte GA-K8N £54
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=249105

Corsair 1GB DDR XMS3200C2PT £79
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Corsair_XMS_Memory.html

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 10 NCQ 250GB 6V250F0 SATA-II 16MB Cache £56
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Maxtor_SATA.html

BFG GeForce 7900 GT OC 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) £200
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/7900_Series.html

+ dvd r/w £25, case undecided £50

total £649 inc VAT

Just a few questions

Would it be better to get one stick of 1gb ddr or get 2x 512mb. I don't understand dual channel, and don't if it would benefit me (the 2x512mb kit is £10 less)

I also need some suggestions for the optical drive and the case, for around my estimates

As this is my first PC i don't really know about fans and things. Apart from what is above will i need any or will they all be included with the mobo and CPU?

What kind of FPS would i be looking at games like FAR CRY , FEAR, COD2 and Bf2 with this build?

What abouit upgradability, i will probably buy another gb of ram in the near future, apart from that is there anything that will need upgrading soon?

Also if anyone has some better suggestions for hardware please say.

sorry theres so many questions i thought it would be better to lump them into one post.

 

[baronvongogo]

Id change to AM2 socket, it will allow you to upgrade more in the future. Also will you be overclocking?

 

[ttoadish]

i dont plan on over clocking im not that tech savvy

 

[baronvongogo]

motherboard: MSI K9N Platinum nForce 570
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Socket_AM2_MSI.html

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Socket_AM2_X2.html

RAM:Corsair 2GB DDR2 Value Select PC5300 Dual Channel Kit
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Corsair_Value_DDR2_Memory.html

You might want to change your hard drive Iv had 2 maxtor drives and both seem to mess up on me. Might want to look into seagate.

 

[viper15]

You will also need a Operating System

 

[ttoadish]

Just realised how much the gpu is pushing up my price.

for £100 less i could buy one of these

Sapphire Radeon X1300 512MB DDRII, PCI-Express

i've never had much trouble with ATI and find them better, would this still be a pretty good card for my system, its mainly for gaming , but i'm not too bothered about everything being on full, could it run oblivion for example?

 

[ttoadish]

oh yeah OS, i think my friend has a version of XP pro kicking about. He'll probably give it up for the price of some beer.

 

[baronvongogo]

motherboard: MSI K9N Platinum nForce 570 £117
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acata...et_AM2_MSI.html

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ £213
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acata...ket_AM2_X2.html

RAM:Corsair 2GB DDR2 Value Select PC5300 Dual Channel Kit £132
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acata...DR2_Memory.html

Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 200GB £56
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Seagate_SATA.html#ahd_2d078_2dse

DVD drive:NEC ND3550 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter £23
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/DVDRW_Drives.html

case:Thermaltake VC2350BNSB Mambo SuperMidi Tower - Black £46
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Thermaltake_Cases.html

GPU: BFG 3DFuzion GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 £117
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/7600_Series.html

OR

XFX GeForce 6800 XT Extreme Edition 256MB GDDR3 £91
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/6600_6800_Series.html

TOTAL:£704 (not including shipping) or with the 2nd vid card £678

If you still want to save more money could get a 200 gig hard drive, slower ram or a 6600 graphics card.

EDIT: just to say dont get an x1300 its not great, the 6600 and 6800GT perform better for games. And about the same price or just a little more.

 

[ttoadish]

bump

 

[Mentali$T]

Dont get the X1300 its rubbish. Get the 6800 or above from Nvidia or the X850XT or above from ATi