First Time Build - Your thoughts appreciated.

[BudgetGamer]

My current computer is 6 years old and I am in desperate need of a new rig. I have done some research on the web, but I have had many conflicting recomendations. I plan on trying to build my own system this time and wanted to get your thoughts on the parts I should buy. I'm trying to keep myself on a budget of around $500-$600. Any sugegstions would be apprecaited.

I do not plan to overclock my system (I'm new at the do-it-yourself and want to just focus on one thing at a time). My main focus is being able to easily upgrade my system as new tech comes out in the future.

MoBo: I'm stumped on this part. I have read the positive reviews on this forum for the AsRock 939 Duel SATA-2 board for $69.00. I do not plan to overclock so this board seems dependable and fairly cheap. I am open to other thoughts.

CPU: Athlon 64 3000+ socket 939 Venice core: $123.00 Would like a faster processor, but this is a good bang for your buck option. Any leftover cash can be spent opting for a better CPU

RAM: 1gig of Corsair Value DDR.

Hard Dive: I already own a 40gig Western Digital. I can up grade this at a later time and save money now.

Graphics Card: eVGA GeForce 6600 256mb $122.00 OR ATI-Radeon X800 Pro.

Sound Card: SoundBlaster Value 2 $52

Power Supply: Open to suggestions

Case: Open to suggestions.

No need for a monitor/mouse/keyboard at this time.

 

[the_guru]

Graphics Card: Pick a 6600GT 128MB instead it's much better than the 6600 256MB. The 6600 will not take advantage of the 256MB. It's only a way to fool the consumers, the 256MB is really slow DDR1 memory while the 128MB the 6600GTs use is really fast DDR3 memory.

 

[BudgetGamer]

Graphics Card: Pick a 6600GT 128MB instead it's much better than the 6600 256MB. The 6600 will not take advantage of the 256MB. It's only a way to fool the consumers, the 256MB is really slow DDR1 memory while the 128MB the 6600GTs use is really fast DDR3 memory.

Would you suggest the 6600 128 over the Raedon 800 then?

 

[the_guru]

Would you suggest the 6600 128 over the Raedon 800 then?

It's different price levels.
The X800Pro beats the 6600GT 128 (Don't forget the GT, it's a big difference )
This thread might be good for you:

THGC Graphics Card Buyers' Guide

Try to get a PCI Express card it will be better if you want a new motherboard in the future.

 

[BudgetGamer]

Would you suggest the 6600 128 over the Raedon 800 then?

It's different price levels.
The X800Pro beats the 6600GT 128 (Don't forget the GT, it's a big difference )
This thread might be good for you:

THGC Graphics Card Buyers' Guide

Try to get a PCI Express card it will be better if you want a new motherboard in the future.

Yeah the Graphics card has been the biggest challenge. Trying to make heads or tails of the different models with XT, PRO, GT, GTO, has been very difficult. Then I am left to wade through the plethora of manufacturers for these cards as well. I appreciate the help.

 

[CommodoreRed]

well I know for nvidia most people ive seen have eVGA or XFX, at least 7800GT and 6800GS. At least I can speak for eVGA as great manufactuer, not OC liked XFX or BFG but reliable and quality. And cheaper. Im still a novice though with manufactuer side of things for cards, didnt know how many where really till recently, eVGA and XFX are posted as retail but really like post guru sent are OEM. Eh. Now I get a headache =)

 

[WyndKnight]

Ok here is my suggestions

MoBO: Go with the MSI K8N Neo4 Plat SLI. Reason: with a small bios update you can ultimately have a Dual Core Proc

CPU: Get an Athalon 64 3500

Video: Get a Gforce 6600GT

Sound: this board has Soundblaster onboard already. Save your self some cash there.

Ram: I would say at least 2Gig of memory, but that is just my opinion

Powersupply: I would suggest at least a 500w

Case: that will be something that you will have to decide on for yourself. Keep in mind that if you buy a case with a powersupply that may be advantageous in the short term, but you should ultimately look at getting something that has some staying power to it.

This has been my sdmall attempt at trying to give you some advice on what to get for you new system

 

[the_guru]

Ok here is my suggestions

MoBO: Go with the MSI K8N Neo4 Plat SLI. Reason: with a small bios update you can ultimately have a Dual Core Proc

CPU: Get an Athalon 64 3500

Video: Get a Gforce 6600GT

Sound: this board has Soundblaster onboard already. Save your self some cash there.

Ram: I would say at least 2Gig of memory, but that is just my opinion

Powersupply: I would suggest at least a 500w

Case: that will be something that you will have to decide on for yourself. Keep in mind that if you buy a case with a powersupply that may be advantageous in the short term, but you should ultimately look at getting something that has some staying power to it.

This has been my sdmall attempt at trying to give you some advice on what to get for you new system

There is no reason to take a 3500+ instead of a 3000+ in a budget gaming system. What matters is the graphics card. Every extra buck should be spent on it, not on the CPU.

 

[CommodoreRed]

agree guru I learned this recently from this forum and my own research. 3000 or 3200 is perfect. And 2 gigs ram for just gaming budget overkill still, imo unless you want to run multiple apps at same time. Id wait till get some more chump change and then get more RAM if need be.