Help with picking hardware

[iceshooter16]

Hey, I'm going to be buying and building my first pc within the next month so I have been trying to figure out what components to put into my system. I'm willing to spend $2000 max for everything. Can you guys tell me what products you would recomend me to buy? I want to be able play all of the newest games and also be able to do some video editing ect... Feel free to add any products.

Motherboard
(I want good overclocking possibilities and I dont necessarly care about SLI)
Asus P5AD2 Premium
Abit AA8XE
DFI nF4-DAGF
DFI LANParty NF4 LSI-DR

Processor
P4 3.4 or 3.6 GHz
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ or 4000+

Graphics Card
ATI Radeon x800 XT or X850 XT 256mb PCIE
Nvidia Gforce 6800 GT or Ultra 256mb PCIE

Memory
Atleast 1 GB. Not sure if I should go with pc3200 or better.

Also, any suggestions on a good LCD monitor for gaming?
Thanks for your help!

 

[woot7800GT]

That's exactly what I wanted to do with mine. Video and games. Check out my specs in the sig. Something similar to those would be good. I spent about $1900 on it. All your stuff looks good, but get the 6800gt instead of the ATI

 

[Wayniac]

A few things...

1. Go with AMD (better for gaming)
2. Get the 6800GT
3. Don't get value RAM

Also, I think the 3800+ should be good... not sure what core it has, but get the best one for the best overclocking potential.

Oh yeah... DFI lanparty.

 

[iceshooter16]

Thanks for all the help so far! As for the processor, i'm still not sure which to get. I was looking at the 3800+ on newegg but they have 2 different models, one with a Venice core and the other with a Newcastle core. Which of those 2 are better? Or is there a better 3800+ out there? Also, would it be worth it to spend the extra $100 to get a 4000+ with either a San Diego or ClawHammer/Hammer core?

 

[Wayniac]

Okay. Venice is fairly new, and is better than newcastle. Not sure, but does San Diego go in the 3800+ also? If it does, get that, but I think it is only 4000+. Hmmm... now that I think about it, you might want to get the 4000+ with the San Diego core.

Anyone else have any input on this?

 

[iceshooter16]

Wayniac: I see that you have a X Navigator case. I was thinking about buying one with a 500 watt power supply. Is the stock cooling in there (5 80mm fans I think?) sufficient enough for overclocking? I was thinking about watercooling but not sure if I needed it and also if the temp monitor on the X Navigator case would still work correctly with it being watercooled.

 

[Wayniac]

Haha, I crushed my temperature sensors on an accident (I put the heatsink on the CPU with it between it and didn't realize it) and when the one temp monitor didn't change from 25 c EVER, I got a sneaky suspician something was wrong. Sure enough, I crushed the sensor hard core, and now that one doesn't work. but the other sensor still works to monitor overall case temperature. I just use the BIOS and programs to monitor temperatures now (like speedfan).

As for the case fans, yes, they give you 5 80mm fans and 1 120mm fan (for the side). However, I must warn you, the side fan is set to exhaust when you first get it (mine way anyway) and it fights the processor fan for air. I switched mine around and made the two back ones exhaust, but then it was noisy as hell. I just got some rubber washers and longer screws though and moved it out about half an inch from the side panel, and now everything is fine. See in my specs how far my processor is overclocked (stock speed is 1.8 GHz) and it is usually idle at around 35 c.

The other two fans are on the top and the front, which are in place, and luckily set in the right direction. The front is intake, and the top is exhaust.

For the record, the case is pretty big, it isn't mid-tower, which I overlooked, but I am not disappointed by any means. Just letting you know that it'll take up some room. That's all.

Oh! One last plus to this case. The 120mm fan on the side. If you turn it around so it is intake, it blows right on your graphics card and supplies cool air to the CPU fan from outside the case. Makes for some good overclocking.

 

[iceshooter16]

Hmm i'm not to sure about the case anymore. Especially with the size of it from what your saying. Yeah it seems like it has great cooling (after some work that I dont think should be done considering the price) but the size of it I dont think will work in my college dorm room. I wanted to try and stick with just a mid-tower case, but if i can't find a decent case I could make this one work. I think i found the memory that I want to buy. CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 550 (PC 4400) Dual Channel Kit System Memory on newegg for 220. I'm figuring thats the best memory for the DFI lanparty board. Ok so far I have i think the motherboard (DFI LANParty NF4 LSI-DR), video card(nvidia 6800 GT eVGA), and memory picked out. The only major things I have to worry about picking out now is the processor, monitor, case, and any watercooling.

 

[Wayniac]

On my measurements the case is about 21 inches by 18.5 inches by 8.5 inches (give or take half inch). It isn't THAT big, but get a ruler or something and make some marks on a box or something so you can see the relative size before you buy it.

You probably don't NEED water cooling right away, because good air cooling will give you a cool system for overclocking. Unless you have the extra money and whatnot, air cooling is fine, but if you want to do heavy-duty overclocking, you'll need the water. I overclocked my 1.8 GHz to 2.3 GHz on air (and idle I'm at about 35 c). It is up to you though.

 

[iceshooter16]

Anyone else have any suggestions on a good LCD monitor and also on a processor?