1600$ machine

[t_shamen]

Hello, im going to build an AMD gaming machine. I have 1600 to spend and im looking for a machine that will be able to serve my needs for the next 3 years, so I prefer losing some preformance for upgradeablity.

Here is what I had in mind

Mother board - I was thinking A8n32-SLI (I want the 32 lanes in case they will be used in the next years) - $230

Proccesor -AMD Athlon 64 3200- 170$

HD- NM Any Sata 120GB HD will do - around $80

DVD Burner - NM Something that costs around $40


Here are the stuff I have no idea about them

With the stuff above i have $1080 left.

Ram- I'm not sure wheter to use 2X1GB or use 4X512MB and what models.

Video card- I prefer having something that will work for now (run F.E.A.R at a decent quality) and throw in another card in a year or two when ill need.

CASE- Dont care about looks, just need to be able to stand the heat support future upgrades .

Power Supplier- Dunno how much i should get, im going to use this pc for a long time and i need it to stand future upgrades (2 7800gtx for instance)


Ill appreciate any feedback on what Ive picked and suggestions about the rest of stuff. Thanks

 

[shata]

Video Card :7800gt 300-350 (i think)
Powersupply :OCZ ModStream 520W 150$
Ram:OCZ 2x512 2-2-2-5 timings 150$ (id get thoughs twice maybe so you have 2gb) so another 150$

Thats 800$ total and leaves you with a nice 200$ case or maybe Raptor harddrive? dunno your choice.

 

[SlyFie]

Definantly get a Raptor or two of them in RAID. 7800GT is the video card youll need. Upgrade your CPU to a 3700+.

 

[RamaX]

Im building 3 systems myself, got almost everything figured out for now. One thing i wanted to mention to you.
You talk about upgradability, and seems to me that your sort of basing that on your mobo. One thing to consider as ive learned, when new CPUs come out with new pin counts, it can often be the mobo and CPU in combination that youll consider upgrading. Not to mention the constant upgrades in mobo chipsets. Dont get me wrong, i didnt know much about the mobo your considering, im tryin to get read up on it now, but one thing is for sure, you are shelling out alot of cabbage for it (do you have or plan on having alot of external drives? it seems geared for that). I would think for close to same money you could get like a $73 or $93 biostar or some prefer the Chaintech (which ive gotten away from) and get the AMD 4000 San Diego, with much better performance. Seems the Asus board does have a boatload of bells and whistles, but if your thinking about u/ging id at least consider that its possible itll be the mobo as well as cpu youll want to u/g in future. Think on this, what do you think youll want to UG in future?
Just a thought

 

[pickxx]

Mobo....you are making the wrong choice but whatever. If two 7800GTX 512mb cards TOGETHER can't use 16lanes what makes you think that in the next 2-3years the 16x slot will be a bottleneck? It would be like buying apples today for WW3's food shortage. Yes eventually you will need more then you have for food/PCIe lanes....but buying them now makes no sense.

CPU....excellent choice.

HDD....for $100 you can get a Segate SATA 250GB HD. so $20 more for more then 100% more space....your call but i would pick it up.

Burner....try lite-on and NEC both are good and cheaper.


Ram, you dont need 2GB, it would be better to upgrade your CPU with 1GB then 2GB with a slower cpu. $150 can boost your 3200+ to a 3700+ san diego....VERY NICE upgrade and much more performacne then 2GB of ram.

Video card....7800GT, i like BFG. Best brand for Nvisdia cards. I also like XFX and eVGA. Btw you wont want anoher cards....just play out the senerio in your head.

Right now 6800GT's are the same price as 7800GT's. A LOT of people buoght a single 6800GT and hoped to upgrade when the new cards pushed down prices....a year later and 6months of a new 7800 line....prices are still not lower.

By the time you want to upgrade a 7800GT will be about $270 and a card that is 200%-300% maybe 400% faster will be out for $300. SLI'ing doesn;t make snese unless you are buying two top end cards at once, up front, and have lots of money to play with.....in my opinion.


Case....good call, find a cheaper $35-$40 case that can hold atleast 1 120mm fan front, and 1 120mm fan in the back. They can push more air quieter...so thats nice.

Power supply....i would get a 450W FSP for 49.99....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954 This is a great brand and super solid for what you want and this PSU could handle dual GTX's and a top end cpu all at once. Its got 36A on the 12V rails...thats VERY good.

 

[Rugger]

IF you go 2GB, then go 2x1GB with AMD - otherwise you will take a performance hit. Your Command rate will drop from 1T to 2T.

 

[Rugger]

You don't have to spend $150 to get a great PSU, either....This Enermax 535W Whisper II model EG565P is great and is less than $90.

 

[pickxx]

You don't have to spend $150 to get a great PSU, either....This Enermax 535W Whisper II model EG565P is great and is less than $90.

You dont like my FSP linked above for 49.99?

*walks, head down in chame, to corner and crys*

 

[Rugger]

*pats Pick on the back*
Buckup lil camper...That's a great option, too. Just less likely to get him to actually save the money. He has it in has head that he needs to spend uber $ to get a good PSU, therefor he will....whether he needs to or not.

 

[pickxx]

So its because of HIM you threw that out....not because of ME and my option?

 

[Rugger]

That would be a true story...

 

[pickxx]

btw i have told you this before..... YES IT IS!!!!!

 

[Rugger]

LMAO!! :lol: