Building a comp!! Rate me please!! :)

[Mahdii]

Hey guys, I'm new here.. I need some help.

I am building a budget gaming comp. I came up with a build while getting help from a friend, and I would like a second opinion before I buy it.

I need help on compatibility and hardware choice. I can not exceed 1500 dollars.

Heres what I have so far, thanks guys

*Asus A8N-E MB,(Athlon64 X2 3800+,939pin) CPU,FAN $474.30 (pack comes with sli mb and proccessor)
*Asus A8N-E Motherboard -
*AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ Socket 939pin Processor OEM - (2.0 ghz x2 = 4.0 dual core ghz)
*CoolerMaster CM754/939 (DK8-8ID2A-OL) AMD Athlon64/Opteron AMD Approved Heatsink and Fan -
*Thermal Paste for Processor Core - 1 Packet -
*PreTest - Standard Pretest -
*COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Computer Case $44.99
*GeForce 6800 PCI Express 256MB SLI x2 189.00x2 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate (512megs 256-bit vid ram)
*NEC Beige IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3550A - OEM 2MB Buffer $40.99
*LITE-ON Beige IDE CD-ROM Drive Model LTN-527T - Retail $11.99
*SONY Beige 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM $9.00
*CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory $190
*Maxtor DiamondMax 10 200GB 3.5" IDE Ultra ATA133 Hard Drive - OEM (200GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA133) x2
*MGE WIN-600PS ATX 600W Power Supply - Retail $52.50

Grand Total: 1433.97




Also if anyone could give me info on turning my 400 gigs of maxtor hard drive space into RAID for faster xfer rates.. I would really appreciate it

Thanks guys.

 

[turtile]

Get a single 7800GT, its cheaper and faster. ($320)

A DVD RW can read CDs.(no need for CD-ROM)

RAID

Plug the SATA plugs into the ports which say sata raid. Build the Raid in the BIOS (a message will come up).
If a different computer, get the Asus CD and create a raid disc driver for windows using the make disc program (need floppy) - (to get to the make disc, right click on the cd and press explore)
Start the windows setup. Press F6 when it tells you to. Insert the floppy disc. When asked, choose your floppy disc with its drivers. Then the setup will format the drives.

 

[003]

Definatly get a SATA hard drive, here is a really good one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144701
Don't get Maxtor, they are known to be unreliable. Get either western digital or seagate.

 

[Mahdii]

Sick thanks, I'll go to western digital instead of maxtor. And thanks a ton for the RAID info



"Get a single 7800GT, its cheaper and faster. ($320)"

just 1 question, why would a 256 card be better than 512? I dont know much about video so of course I figured bigger is better.

 

[003]

If you have 2 6800GT's in SLI, and they both have 256mb of RAM, the computer does not read that as 512mb of RAM, it reads it as two cards with 256mb each. And since most games are not even optimized for SLI, they will not even take advantage of the second card, AND the games that ARE optimized for SLI only show a 45 to 50 percent speed boost. You're paying 100% more for a 50% boost, on a select few games that are even optimized.

 

[Mahdii]

great thanks, I'll go with the 7800GT and if I feel the need I'll buy a 2nd one since its SLI ready

Of course I have yet another question..
with a 3800 x2 cut it for high end gaming? I'm so sick of choppy games.. I want GOOD fps and I'll pay for it even if I have to cut something else out (like downgrade a HD or take out a gig of ram).. my current setup is p3 1ghz (OC'd from a 733) and a 16 meg TNT2 hehe.. never want to play another game at 10 fps.. would like to play HL2 @ 80+ fps

 

[003]

I don't recommend the 3800+ I recomend the Dual core opteron 170, it is faster than the 3800+, and it has 2x1mb of l2 cache instead of 2x512k. You can get it here for $395:
http://newsite.pagecomputers.com/st...ategory_name=24g24c151s1444&product_id=866074
If you're gonna get it however, hurry, because there is only a limited stock. It should also overclock at least 400mhz, which would be equal the the 4800+ X2 for a fraction of the price.

 

[Mahdii]

Your my new idol, thanks.. never even heard of that chip but it looks great, will cost me a tad bit extra but if its as good as you say it shouldnt be a problem.

only thing I saw was, in the newegg reviews someone said it had compatibility issues with 184 pin ddr ram (pc 3200).. if this is true I cant get it because thats what my mb supports.. or maybe a new mb is in order? current one is SLI and costs 110, but pretty standard.. if I could find a cheaper one without SLI thats still ASUS (have to use ASUS.. always have never let me down.. never..even after 2 fried CPUs, a fried vid card and 2 blows PSUs it works like a dream)

if you had a suggestion on a different mb or you could reassure me that it will be fine with my ram choice (going to switch to OCZ high performance 184-pin 4x512 pc 3200 2-2-2-5) then I will for sure switch this to my new CPU

Thanks again.. making this purchase more and more worth-while
glad I found you guys too.. it was suprisingly hard to find a good tech website that wont flame me for not being a proffessional

 

[003]

It will work just fine with your memory. The person probably assumed that it was just like the socket 940 opterons, and had to use ECC RAM, but with the new socket 939 opterons, you can use non-ecc unbuffered ram, I am living proof

 

[Mahdii]

Awsome!

I'm officially set.. gonna buy the CPU tomorrow, another chunk next week. Thanks man.. you guys are all badass.