Hey there folks,

Looking for some feedback on this new PC. Had a budget of approx. $2000 - $2500 and wanted the best gaming performance I could get out of every dollar. Interested in stock performance on air cooling. How did I do. Any suggestions???

Thanks.

The Build:

Case
COOLER MASTER Wave Master TAC-T01-E1C Silver http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119023 $130

Power Supply
Tagan TG480-U22 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817101516 $91

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103529 $334

Motherboard
ASUS A8N5X http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131569 $92

Memory
(2x1GB) OCZ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227210 $256

Video Card
eVGA Geforce 7800GTX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130237 $559

Optical Drive 1
Plextor PX-716SA http://www.plextor.com/english/products/716SA.htm $143

Optical Drive 2
ASUS Black 16X DVD-ROM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135136 $24

Hard Drive
Seagate 7200.9 160GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148105 $92

Modem
U.S. Robotics USR5610B 56Kbps PCI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6825104131 $65

Floppy
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6821103116 $10

Sound Card
Creative X-Fi http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102188 $118

Speakers
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 Speaker http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6836119101 $150

Software
Windows XP Pro SP2 Retail http://www.buycheapsoftware.com/de [...] D~1791.asp $209

the only two things i dont personally like are the Xfi sound card. Unless it has a feature you have to have save some money, i like the turtle beach CATALINA

Also get the Z5500's you can get them for $220 and they are better then those 2.1 pro media. they are as good as the 5.1's form Klipsch that are 400bucks.

Other thent that....perfect

Thanks for the input. Those speakers sure sound good - and for the money, I've got to give them a try!

Will this system be cool enough? I love the look of that ZalmanCNPS9500 and the reviews on it are great. However, believe in being a "minimalist' to keep the airflow through the case at the max. The Wavemaster is only a mid-tower afterall.

unless you are going to OC your cpu....you dont need a cooler on it. the stock coolers for AMD are very good.

I would say 1 120mm in the front and 1 120mm in the rear would be good enough....
try these CLICKY

It is a beast fan...it will do 100+ cfm, but it comes with a fan controller so you can turn it down. You can set it at a low setting and i fyou notice your system warming up durring gameplay to higher levels then you want....just give the fans some boost from 25%-50%. The sound should remain decent till you get to around 80% speed.

Thanks for the "fine-tunage" suggestions! Got one of those fans, an 80mm to 120mm conversion bracket and a matching side panel window for the old Wavemaster. Placing my NewEgg order Friday!

CIAO!!!

Take a look at the Enermax 535W Whisper II model EG565P. Costs less and is a great PSU for that price.

I'd get a case with 120MM fan brackets rather than putting in a conversion bracket. The case itself will restrict the airflow and cause more noise in the long run.

Not a huge fan of that mobo...why not a Epox Ep-9NPA+ Ultra or Abit AN8 Ultra?

You're on dialup internet?! Any online gaming? If yes to both, then I'm sorry and I'd go broadband before computer upgrade...