Building new Gaming Rig--need Suggestions/Comments

[HarryRockwell]

Hello everyone!

I am going to be building my first computer here in the next week or so. I am about to order all of the hardware tomorrow. Just want to run this by everyone here and see what you think and see if there are any things i can do to make my setup better.

I am looking to spend around 1500 Dollars for my setup. I will add another 7800 in the future when it gets cheaper.

Here are my questions and stuff that i am looking for:

1. I am wondering if this is the processor I should use or what other dual core processor i should go for. This seemed like the best choice but I could be wrong. I am a newbie after all!

2. Will all of this stuf work together? I have checked the compatibility on it and it looks good to me, but like I said I am a newbie.

3. Are any of the parts i am choosing poor quality or have known problems? I have been looking at these parts for about a week but hey-- mistakes happen!

4. Is there is something wrong with Asus Motherboards that i am missing, have been hearing that there are problems wth some of them lately but no specifics.

Here is what i am going to use as of now:

Case:
Thermaltake SViking VA4000BWS Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer $75.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811133142

Hard Drive:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA NCQ 3Gb/s ST3160812AS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822148105

Mobo:
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $166.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131540[

CD/DVD Drive:
NEC Black IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner Model ND-3550A - OEM $38.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827152058

Video Card:
eVGA 256-P2-N516 Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $299
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130256

Sound Card:
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value SB0400 8 (7.1) Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - OEM $45.50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16829102179

PSU:
Antec TruePower 2.0 TP2-550 EPS12V ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817103932

120 MM Fans (to replace the ones in the case):
ASPIRE CF12SL-UBL 120mm Blue LED Light Cooling Fan - Retail $6.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811998121

RAM:
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Platinum System Memory Model OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K - Retail $239.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820227210

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4200BVBOX - Retail $400.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103547

Total: $1,470.42


Any replies/help would be greatly appreciated.. or just a "hey that looks sweet" would also be nice as well.

Thanks,

Harry

 

[HarryRockwell]

I just don't want my sound being run off the onboard.


I kinda see what you mean on upgrading with another 7800 here in the future, i guess we will see how technology advances and what proves to work the best for the best money.

Thanks for the feedback.

Harry

 

[HarryRockwell]

I was under the impression that the motherboard will use its memory to run the sound if i use the onboard sound. If i hae a soundcard it will use the memory on the soundcard.

Is this not true? And if it is true wouldnt that affect the performance?

 

[Vascular]

Anybody who has used an actual sound card will tell you the sound is more clear than that of an integrated.
It also free's up system resources, maybee not much but every little bit counts.
I do recommend the audigy 2zs for 59.00 and is a good price if you dont mind waiting for the rebate.

If you need proof of the performance here it is.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/05/03/creative_audigy_4_pro/page9.html

 

[HarryRockwell]

It really isnt about the sound as much as freeing up resources for me personally.

 

[Vascular]

Im not saying integrated sound is bad.
Im just saying a sound card will sound better.

 

[hella-d]

Bottom Line... Go AMD, A 7800xx Seiries Card And Make Sure Ya Have 2GB Of RAM