Got $700 to spend on a new sys, looking for suggestions

[Able72]

Ok, I have $700 to spend building a new system. I'm only looking to buy from Newegg. What can I say, I trust them. I already have all the periphials I need, keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers.

I'm going to be passing my old tower on to my wife so I can't harvest much out of the system for reuse, although I'm snagging my Audigy 2 sound card out so thats one component I don't need to get.

This means that I need Case, Power Supply, the works - sound card.

This computer is mainly used as a gaming machine for things like WoW and some of the next generation MMORPG's. I will be running Window's XP for my os.

I've pretty much decided to go with an AMD platform since it outperforms the Intel by a long shot for the money. Based on what I've read I'm thinking I should be getting a s939 board and chip, although thats open for discussion.

I want a DVD burner, SATA would be sweet (SATAII in a Raid configuration??). Let me know what you think.

Here's my sample build

It's also listed as a wish list on www.newegg.com as Able's AMD Christmas System. I'll update with a link as soon as it posts.

RAIDMAX Astro ATX-268WSP Silver 0.7mm Japanese SECC Gaming Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: ATX-268WSP $30.00

10" Floppy UV Cable, 2-Connector Model UV-FLP10-SL - Retail
Model #: UV-FLP10-SL $2.29

Link Depot 18" ATA133 UV Cable 3-Connector Model UV-ATA18-SL-3 - Retail
Model #: UV-ATA18-SL-3 $3.49

ABIT KN8 Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: KN8 Ultra $105.00

Rosewill R6600-256SLI Geforce 6600 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Express x16 SLI Video Card - Retail
Model #: R6600-256SLI $102.99

Thermaltake TR2 W0070 ATX 430W Power Supply - Retail Model #:W0070
$39.99

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3200BPBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA3200BPBOX $174.00

(2) Rosewill 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model RW400/512 - Retail
Model #: RW400/512 $32.99 ea. $65.98

ALPS Beige 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive - OEM Model #: DF354H068F $6.99

(2) HITACHI Deskstar 7K80 HDS728080PLA380 -0A30356 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: HDS728080PLA380 $54.51 ea. $109.02

LITE-ON Beige IDE DVD Burner Model SOHW-1693S Beige OEM - OEM
Model #: SOHW-1693S Beige OEM $38.99

LITE-ON Beige ATAPI / E-IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SOHD-167T BG - Retail
Model #: SOHD-167T BG $19.99

Subtotal: $698.73

Suggestions?

 

[Able72]

I need some help with motherboard selection please. Cheaper is better, I can change some other things if need be. But please, some kind of help

 

[fishmahn]

I assume the case has a window, and that's why the UV cables?

Only thing I could suggest is to fall back a notch on the mobo to the $80-ish one and use the extra to get a 6600GT or X800. Maybe the Chaintech VNF4 or the Epox 9npaj (depending on features of course - both are good boards). Not that the plain 6600 is bad, and it'll run WoW and MMORPGs fine but the GT or X800 is more powerful and will give you that much more power for not much more $. From where you are ($100) almost every $30 you can scrape together from somewhere to give to the video card will pay off for the next $120 or so. After that the jumps are more expensive.

One more thought - that $16 for the dvd-reader. The burner can read too, although I used to feel had to have a burner and a reader I figure there's not much need for both unless you do a lot of duplicating - just keep 5-10gig of disk space for a swap and you can still copy - just not quite as fast. Apply it to the video card fund if you want.

All in all you've done pretty well with $700.

Mike.

 

[Able72]

nah, those were just one of the cheapest round cables I found. I'm not interested in a window and dont even think the case has one.

Also, I am considering OC possibilities if I can get a significant "i.e. noticable" performance increase stabily. If this makes a difference.

Any particular reason why I should switch from a SATA II to SATA 1? Or will I not really notice a difference between the two?

 

[fishmahn]

The 3200+ venice cores (2.0ghz) are reported to be able to hit 2.5ghz+ on stock cooling - that's 25% and if you really want a screamer get an Opteron 170 - its' a 2.2ghz dual core (blows your budget but read on and drool) that many are hitting 3.0ghz with on AIR (not stock but who cares!!!) I doubt the 3500+ or better can do that much better than the 3200, so if you're overclocking the 3200+ Venice or 3700+ San Diego is the 'bang for the buck' overclocker.

That means you want good OC potential. You can still get the same RAM because you run it on a divider and still get the huge overclock while your ram stays around stock speed. Abit, Epox, DFI (if you're willing to work to get it configured right) overclock better and easier (except DFI) than the Asus and cost less (Epox 80-120ish, Abit around the same), and the Chaintech VNF4 or VNF4/Ultra if the features fit your need is a darn good OCer at a great price.

Mike.

 

[Able72]

read some bad reviews of the chaintech board on Newegg.

I'm thinkin I will prolly go with the epox as it seems to be a 'friendlier' board and I'm still pretty new to OC'ing.

Thanks for the advice btw.

I'm still not convinced of the benefits of stepping up to a 6600 GT at 128 Mb ram as opposed to a 6600 with 256 Mb. I haven't been able to find any good reviews of both cards where I can compare benchmarks and find how much benefit I'd recieve for my extra $75

 

[endyen]

Stick with an Abit board. It has a chip and prog called u-guru. It will let you OC in windows, and the chip will enable it to boot to the OC settings.
I would suggest the AN8 ultra, or, if available the new Ati chipset board (A8T).

 

[pauldh]

How about a plain NF4 non ultra. Can save him some money. Same performance, just less features right?

 

[pauldh]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127176
This $107 X800 is a little better than the 6600GT even. I just bought one last week. But if you want an NV, the 6600GT can be found about this cheap too at times and performance is close depending on the game. Both are much better than a 6600 256MB.


http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/digest3d/index0510.html
This review has the plain X800, GT and GTO, the 6600GT, and the 256MB 6600. BUT, they say that 6600 256MB in that review is clocked much higher than the one you looked at. 800 MHz mem compared to 550 mem. So look at the 512MB and the 128MB ones which are clocked like your rosewill choice. Easy to see the 6600 vanilla (even the higher clocked one) getting blown away by the X800 (plain) and the 6600GT.

 

[Able72]

The particular Epox Board I am looking at is a NF4 non Ultra. Its about $74 for the board.

Right now I'm at the limit of my budget, if I change to a more expensive board, something else has to get cheaper to make room for it. Here is where I stand atm.

RAIDMAX Astro ATX-268WSP Silver 0.7mm Japanese SECC Gaming Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: ATX-268WSP $30.00

Link Depot 10" Floppy UV Cable, 2-Connector Model UV-FLP10-SL - Retail
Model #: UV-FLP10-SL $2.29

Link Depot 18" ATA133 UV Cable 3-Connector Model UV-ATA18-SL-3 - Retail Model #: UV-ATA18-SL-3 $3.49

EPoX EP-9NPAJ Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail Model #: EP-9NPAJ $79.00 -$5.00 Instant $74.00

Leadtek PX6600GT TDH Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail Model #: PX6600GT TDH $139.00

Thermaltake TR2 W0070 ATX 430W Power Supply - Retail Model #: W0070 $39.99

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3200BPBOX - Retail Model #: ADA3200BPBOX $174.00

(2) Rosewill 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model RW400/512 - Retail Model #: RW400/512
$32.99 ea. $65.98

ALPS Beige 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive - OEM Model #: DF354H068F $6.99

(2) HITACHI Deskstar 7K80 HDS728080PLA380 -0A30356 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM Model #: HDS728080PLA380 $54.51 $109.02

LITE-ON Beige IDE DVD Burner Model SOHW-1693S Beige OEM - OEM
Model #: SOHW-1693S Beige OEM $38.99

LITE-ON Beige ATAPI / E-IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SOHD-167T BG - Retail Model #: SOHD-167T BG $19.99

Subtotal: $703.74