Building my first system and this is what I'm going with

[alazeer]

Suggestions, questions, warnings etc... greatly appreciated.

Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe Motherboard
AMD 4800+ Athlon X2 X 2
Corsair Xms-3500LL Pro ready High Density LL2-1 Low latency 2GB Ram
ATI Radeon X1800XT 512 MB 256bit Video Card
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS platinum Pro
Coolmax CW-650t 650W power Supply
Klipsch Promedia 2.1 Speakers (no space for the 5.1's)
Thermaltake Tai Chi VB 5001SNA Black/Silver Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case W/Liquid Cooling System
Promise Fastrak 4300 Raid Card
Western Digital Caviar WD 3200 320GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive X 2
MS Windows XP Pro
Plextor Black IDE Slot Load DVD Burner Drive Model PX-716GAL/SW
OR
Plextor 4X PX-716UFDual Layer DVD+-RW FirewWire USB 2.0 Drive
Sony Black IDE DVD-CD ROM Drive Model DDU 1615/B2s
Ideazon Zboard Gaming keyboard
Logitech Trackman Wheel Mouse
Logitech 980372-0403 Headset
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Not 100% sold on the DVD Burner, or the CD-Rom. I don't even know what to buiy for a new/another monitor? Right now I have a micron 19" and a sony 22" both are crt's. Do I also have to buy an ide or ata controller card to put into the system along with the raid card? Like I said this is my first attempt at a home built and I want to insure that I get everything I need before I start building it. I've looked around and it looks like I'm going to get my best prices at Newegg and PC Connection, anyone have any other places to go to to get any better prices on parts?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rugger]

Since you never stated usage I will assume this is for gaming based on the components you listed. If there is other usage, then let us know - it may affect recommendations. It seems to me that you didn't do a lot of research - just went and picked all of the most expensive parts. More money doesn't necessarily mean better system for your usage. Here is some info and suggestions...
1. That mobo has 2 RAID controllers on it. You don't have to buy a separate RAID controller.
2. No need for an SLI motherboard if you are using an ATi video card.
3. No need for (2) X2 4800+ - there is only one CPU socket on that mobo.
4. Unless you are doing some heavy OCing you can get some more affordable Corsair Valueselect or Patriot Signature Series RAM. Even if you ARE OCing, you can save serious $$ by running your RAM async and you won't even take a big performance loss. If you didn't understand the last sentence then you don't need to burn a lot of money on uber-RAM.
5. Enermax 535W Whisper II model EG565P<--Great PSU and more than sufficient for your needs.
6. No need for the Audigy 2ZS Plat Pro - that's a professional level card with features you more than likely will never use. Drop the Plat pro and go for an X-Fi or just a plain old 2ZS Gamer. Or save the money and use onboard sound.
7. Good CRTs are hard to beat - especially by an LCD. If you want to save space then you can look at getting an LCD. Viewsonic VX924 and VX930 are good - Also the Dell 2005FPW. For the extravagant budget, the Dell 2405FPW.
8. Unless you're OCing, go with a non-watercooled case and stock HSF.
9. Lots of money for EITHER of those Plextor drives. Doing a LOT of burning?

Overall an extremely expensive system - you could get 99% of the performance for 1/2 of the cost.

 

[superduperdude]

You've selected a lot of high-end parts there. You need to ask yourself if you will really need to have those items, and if they will work well with the system your are building yourself. Example, no point in getting a super fast CPU if it will be limited by the mainboard chipset.

The SLI mainboard for example. You pay more for that feature. But is it really worth it to you. Remeber that you will need to get 2 identical GPU's for it to work, and even then it's not really doubling the power (close, but not quite). Also, SLI doesn't effectively work with all games.

Here's your major problem. An SLI mainboard and an ATi video card? SLI is an nVidia feature. ATi's solution is the CrossFire, which is a different board altogether. Paying for SLI and then not even using it isn't very smart.

The X2 is a great CPU. I've seen a million sites show that the 3800+ is a better deal because of the cost vs. overclocking ability of the CPU. Going with a 4800+ will cause a serious dent in your wallet, and honestly the difference with a properly overclocked 3800+ to a standard clocked 4800+ compared to the pricing is something to look over. $315 vs. $780, come on, think about that.

All in all, you have too much money. Properly research the components and fit them to your needs. Are you a heavy gamer? If yes, what kind of gaming do you do? Will you use the computer for other things like video editing? Each part of the computer can reflect the needs of the user, they just need to mated together properly. You're taking the right steps to get that done coming to the forums before purchasing.

Good luck with the build. If you need more help or opinions, please don't hesitate.

 

[alazeer]

You've selected a lot of high-end parts there. You need to ask yourself if you will really need to have those items, and if they will work well with the system your are building yourself. Example, no point in getting a super fast CPU if it will be limited by the mainboard chipset.

The SLI mainboard for example. You pay more for that feature. But is it really worth it to you. Remeber that you will need to get 2 identical GPU's for it to work, and even then it's not really doubling the power (close, but not quite). Also, SLI doesn't effectively work with all games.

Here's your major problem. An SLI mainboard and an ATi video card? SLI is an nVidia feature. ATi's solution is the CrossFire, which is a different board altogether. Paying for SLI and then not even using it isn't very smart.

The X2 is a great CPU. I've seen a million sites show that the 3800+ is a better deal because of the cost vs. overclocking ability of the CPU. Going with a 4800+ will cause a serious dent in your wallet, and honestly the difference with a properly overclocked 3800+ to a standard clocked 4800+ compared to the pricing is something to look over. $315 vs. $780, come on, think about that.

All in all, you have too much money. Properly research the components and fit them to your needs. Are you a heavy gamer? If yes, what kind of gaming do you do? Will you use the computer for other things like video editing? Each part of the computer can reflect the needs of the user, they just need to mated together properly. You're taking the right steps to get that done coming to the forums before purchasing.

Good luck with the build. If you need more help or opinions, please don't hesitate.

I mostly game online like WoW, Everquest II etc.. I really didn't know that the ATI card would not work well with that MOBO? What do you suggest I use for a high end video card the 7800?

I'm going to stay with the 4800+ just because I do have the $$ and because I want to stay at the upper limits when I build this thing now so I don't have to rebuild etc.. as soon. To me it finally seems that the hardware is finally catching up to what they are able to do and upgrading does not have to be done quite as often as it used to?

I'm sure there are a lot of you out there who don't believe me and will argue against this but I bought a very high end system last time from a gaming company and it's only now that it's finally running into games that it cannot play/having a hard time playing and I bought it about two years ago from Falcon Northwest and vowed to build my own the next time after giving out all that money . Please don't get me wrong, I'm completely happy with that system, I just didn't like giving out all that money for it when I knew I could build the same or better system for much less.

 

[Vascular]

(1)Here is a better motherboard for your ATI card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131584

(2)Promise FAstrak 4300 is not required since your either motherboard has RAID built in and supports the 0/1 that you are probably looking to use. Not to mention the fasttrak 4300 only supports sata 150. Unlike the motherboard witch supports sata II or 3Gb/s

(3)Here is a better CPU not much more but you get a really high end CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103582

(4)Since money doesnt seem to be an object in your build here is a better sound card. This one uses less system resources.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102190

(5)I like evermax power supplies. LIke the one Rugger suggested.

(6) everything else looks ok.

 

[CPUZ]

The items you are wanting to get are very expensive and rugger is right in that you could get them for 1/2 the price and get 99% of the performance.

Take note that any PC goes from the price you paid to just above zero value over 3 years so you might want to get a few less expensive items(So it doesn't burn such a big hole in your pocket) eg don't buy the top of the range sound card, get a 4400+ there are almost as good as the 4800+, change the case to something less expensive and with out water cooling built in, get an X1800XL unless you really want the XT. Changing the stock coolers on your CPU and GFX void the warrranties so stick with stock cooling unless you're OCing. If you run the 320 gb drives in raid, its risky because you are twice as likely to have then crash so maybe go with a 2x80gb in raid setup and get a 200gb or more for storing stuff..

 

[alazeer]

The items you are wanting to get are very expensive and rugger is right in that you could get them for 1/2 the price and get 99% of the performance.

Take note that any PC goes from the price you paid to just above zero value over 3 years so you might want to get a few less expensive items(So it doesn't burn such a big hole in your pocket) eg don't buy the top of the range sound card, get a 4400+ there are almost as good as the 4800+, change the case to something less expensive and with out water cooling built in, get an X1800XL unless you really want the XT. Changing the stock coolers on your CPU and GFX void the warrranties so stick with stock cooling unless you're OCing. If you run the 320 gb drives in raid, its risky because you are twice as likely to have then crash so maybe go with a 2x80gb in raid setup and get a 200gb or more for storing stuff..

I'm not overclocking but where I have my systems setup is warm and the current AMD 2800+ setup I have now runs a tad warm now and I'm sure that with the extra weight I'm going to be throwing at the 4800+ it's going to be warm to.

From what I saw on the AMD sight it reccomended watercooling for some of their processors, or at least I read about watercooling in some of the white papers there. Are you sure that it voids the warranty? All I'm asking is why would they discuss it on their site if it would void their warranty?

Oh and there is no problem that I see running Hard drives in a raid array, I've been running in a raid 0 array now on my Falcon northwest system for the better part of two years now with no problems and the drives are still going strong without and hint of problems, noise or anything else happening with them.

 

[Vascular]

I used an fasttrak 66 for 4 years before one of the hard drives failed. If you think about raid striping is still as reliable as any hard drive considering even if a single drive fails you still lose your info. Alot depends on how you treat your hard drives by using them normally or constantly erasing and installing things.

 

[linux_0]

I agree with superduperdude

Also as nice as the X1800 is I would use nVidia instead, especially if you are considering using SLI. If not grab a non-SLI motherboard.

Other than that great choices!

Good luck!

 

[CPUZ]

As far as I know it voids the warranty but things may have changed. Try contacting AMD and see what they say. You could also use the PC for a month-this would show up any faults with the CPU-and then get water cooling when you know its running fine and you don't have any faults with the CPU.

Good to hear your RAID setup is working very well cause a lots of guys said to me when I got mine(I'm new to the whole RAID thing) that its "Very risky and you shouldn't put any important stuff on the setup and you should get a seperate drive to store things...."

I'm just wondering what do you want to use the PC for? And why do you need to have the most expensive stuff when you could save a lot of $$$ and get something almost as good???