First time PC builder just a few questions

[mycatsdied]

Hello ,
I have been intersted in building my own PC for a while and finally have the money. I came up with a sytem that I think works for me. I am a semi serious gamer and am looking for a system that will have above average performance. Also I want good upgradability and good reliability. Here is list I came up with. Want to know if the parts are compatable and if it will give me what Im looking for.

Motherboard
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe Motherboard or DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra-D
This is really the only thing I am still up in the air about. I have been on another forum and a lot of support seems to be for the DFI. I personally really like the Asus. Apparently the DFI is is better for overclocking and has the PCI express4x slot. I still havent figured out this slot would be used for. ALso I think I would need a better power supply with a 24 pin connector. Any further explantion would be very appreciated.

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Winchester Processor

Memory
1024 Crucial PC3200 DDR DIMM Memory

HD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 200GB Hard Drive

Graphics card
eVGA GeForce PCX 6800GT Video Card
Still open to suggestions on this.

Power
Antec True Power 430W Power Supply Gold Plated Connectors
Wondering if 430 is enough or if I should go a little higher. This is the part I feel the least comfrotable. I have read several articles saying 400 is more than enough. I just want to be sure there wont be any power issues.

Case
Antec Super LANBoy Aluminum ATX Mid Tower
I like the appearance and it has more than enough drive bays for what I will need. Read about some possible cooling issues(weak fans). Would be open to any suggestions for a good case for not more than $100.

I also have cooling questions. I am planning on using air cooling(nervous about water and dont have a ton of extra cash). Should I be looking and some more powerful fans than ones that come with processer and case. Or would water be the best choice?

Thanks again

 

[aspire]

antec neopwer 450w power supply
amd 3500+ socket 939
abit an8 mobo
evga 6800gt
lian li's are nice cases
get some smaller hard drives like dual 80gig sata in raid faster
zalman 7000cu w/120mm fan kick butt heatsink for cpu
look at ultra high cfm 120mm fans anything that pushes more than 60cfm is very good 20dba cant be geard 25dba can be barely heard 30 is a bit loud, 35 is like a hairdryer

thats about it

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

if your not going to overclock and you have the right fan set up it will work fine, i have 2, 80MM fans in front, 1, 80mm side fan, and 3 80mm fans in the back counting my PSU fan and they keep my system very cool... but my room is also around 64F

 

[mycatsdied]

Thanks for the input guys. Here is my final decision. I think I have everything balenced out pretty well. Cant see any bottlenecks to performance (If you disagree let me know). Any major flaws that anyone can see? My main concern is if the power supply will work with the mobo?

DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra-D
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Winchester
eVGA GeForce PCX 6800GT
1024 Crucial PC3200 DDR DIMM
2x Seagate Barracuda ST380817AS 80GB Hard Drive
Antec True Power 550W Power Supply
Antec Super LANBoy Aluminum ATX Mid Tower

Sticking with stock cooling unless there is a problem or plan to oc.

 

[aspire]

dont get the dfi board with crucial ram dfi board will only take high quality ram i.e. corsair ocz, mushkin or anything priced over 80 bucks per 512m stick otherwise get the abit an8 motherboard this will take any ram

 

[SirRial]

the Antec True Power 550 Rocks! Prob the best investment I ever made for my computer. Just make sure you get the True Power and not the True Control (True Control usually a little more expensive and the only difference is it gives you a bay control panel to manually adjust certain things) ...a friend of mine got the True Control after I got my True Power ....can't say it was worth it...

 

[gaara]

dont get the dfi board with crucial ram dfi board will only take high quality ram i.e. corsair ocz, mushkin or anything priced over 80 bucks per 512m stick otherwise get the abit an8 motherboard this will take any ram

I'm gonna have to disagree with this statement, the DFI Lanparty nForce4 will take any DDR RAM, not just low timing, low latency stuff.

 

[mycatsdied]

memory

Anyone else have any idea about the memory I should put in. From what I checked out crucial seem to decently high quality.
By the way I have changed back to A8n sli deluxe mobo. I do have a question about power supply though. Is a 2.0 compliant power something i should be definayly looking at regardless of the board I choose or does the ASUS A8n not even support it. IN other words with a pci-e motherbaord should I be looking at a special power supply?

 

[aspire]

gaara have you not seen the multitudes of threads about dfi's rejecting cheap ram. It is incredibly picky and just doesnt like cheap stuff sorta like intel cpu's and cheap thermal paste
shouldnt need any special psu that power supply is incredibly good btw how much is the price of it? im too lazy to look it up

 

[Sport1031]

The PSU should work fine. Also make sure you are getting SATA drives and that you are going to RAID them.