Building a New System - Need Feedback

[Boomshine]

OK, so I'm planning on building a new computer over summer, and I need some feedback on the parts I've picked, and proper replacements if you disagree with a part. I need help on choosing between the video cards I picked as well, or a different one if you don't like them. Price is somewhat of a factor, so I'd like to keep it within the $800 range. And the lower the noise emissions, the better.

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2000MHz HT 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103735 - $297.00 ($170 after 7-24)

Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-M55plus-S3G Socket AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 ATX AMD Motherboard – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128010 - $84.99

Hard Drive
Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive – OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136010 - $81.99

RAM
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145526 - $77.99

CD/DVD
NEC Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE DVD Burner - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152055 - $36.99

Case
POWMAX 702 MATRIX CP702-2 Black/ Silver All Metal Construction (SGCC) ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply with LED Fan Power Supply – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=11-145-049&depa=1 - $32.90

Video Card
eVGA 256-P2-N553-AX Geforce 7600GT CO 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130283 - $139.99 (after $30 rebate)

GIGABYTE GV-NX76T256D-RH Geforce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Silent Pipe II, Lead Free Video Card – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125025 - $154.99 (after $20 rebate)

Monitor
SAMSUNG 740N-Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 600:1 0.264mm Pixel Pitch – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001072 - $174.99 (after $5 savings)

Grand Total:
$799.84 with eVGA card
$814.84 with Gigabyte card

 

[blewandowski_69]

Hey man, it looks great as far as im concerned, my advice do some research on that case w/ power supply, You dont want a crappy power supply to ruin your fun. I'd go with eVGA on video card. Ethier one will do just fine, there about equal. Samsung is trustworthy as far as monitors go, good deal there id say with that 8ms response time (good for gaming). And the cd/dvd drive is good as well as the harddrive. Make sure you get a SATA 2 cable for it, it should come with your mobo usually or you can buy it seperatley.

The only concern I have is this, if your going to be gaming shave off the dual core cpu and go with soemthing like a Amd Athlon 3500+ or something similar, and use the extra money like a hundred dallors or so and get a better gpu. If gaming is your thing you want a good gpu over a better cpu. Though both matter alot in gaming. Id buy a x1800xt there cheap right now and those dual core cpu's although very nice to have when it comes to multitasking and all that jazz a single core cpu at a decent price will do the trick. Besides video games don't even take advantage of the dual core processing power there for its a waste of money to buy one if you think youll get a better performance increase (more fps).

But thats my advice, its your money, choose wisely.

If im wrong someone please correct me, i don't want to give any false information.

 

[Pepsiboy700]

Ok dont get that case. For something like that if you need to go that cheap get a thermaltake soprano with the psu. Both are great and fits my small p4 1gb ram and x800gto fine. Nice temps as well. Idles are sub 20's and loads are 40 max (Celcius).

Get the evga video card for sure. (I would say get better but with the next gen of video cards coming, I think he would be better off with something like that and saving his moola for a r600 or a g80 when the time comes)

NEC is a good company but I thought I might have seen a Sony burner that was better on newegg for about same price.

I would get a 19" lcd but thats just me. One with 8ms wouldnt be that much more expensive.

The only thing to worry about is price drops on cpu. You never know. The Conroe quick release on newegg was something like 40% more expensive than it was suppose to be.

I would also watch ram. I would go for some DDR2 800 with decent latencies. Can this budget go up to $1000?

Ok found some stuff for you to look at and consider:

Case/Psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133156
CD\DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827131033
(Out of stock, but it seems like your not going to be ordering for a little bit anyway)
Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824179018
Ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227029

Your stuff looks great otherwise. With DFI not making any AM2 Mobos yet; any other company like Gigabyte ,Abit , Asus, and Msi is fine.

 

[Boomshine]

The only concern I have is this, if your going to be gaming shave off the dual core cpu and go with soemthing like a Amd Athlon 3500+ or something similar, and use the extra money like a hundred dallors or so and get a better gpu.

To be honest, that wasn't my first pick for CPU. My friend turned me on to them considering the huge price drop. Here's the CPU I had in mind before the X2:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Orleans 2000MHz HT 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103637 - $105.00

Originally posted by Pepsiboy700
I would also watch ram. I would go for some DDR2 800 with decent latencies. Can this budget go up to $1000?

I'd really like to stay down in the price range I'm at. I dunno if Pop will spring for $1000, but I'll take a look at what you're suggesting, and give it some deep mental thought on whether it'll be worth trying to push it on him or not. (He's just a bit stingy with money is all. $800 was "too much", but I'm working him over, 'cause I really need this. )

 

[Xiahou]

I would stick with the CPU..

for 170$ after conroe releases... you cant go wrong =\

 

[AnthraX]

To be honest, that wasn't my first pick for CPU. My friend turned me on to them considering the huge price drop. Here's the CPU I had in mind before the X2:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Orleans 2000MHz HT 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103637 - $105.00

I stand by turning you to the X2. IF the price drops to sub-$170 like rumored, then I don't see any reason not too... unless of course you dad refuses that small increase in price. I know how much you and your family likes to extend the life a computer as far as it can, so the X2 will be an excellent investment for you.