Building new PC, help with components?

[ocean23]

I'm ordering the parts through newegg.com, I want to use the AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 1GHz FSB 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor, and a geforce 6800 GS or XT, 1 GB of RAM should be fine and 120 GB HD is good. This will be the first PC I'm going to put together, and I'm confused on which motherboard to use, exact sticks of ram to get, and the power supply. any help you guys could give me would be awesome, thanks.

I'm also trying to keep the price to around $1000

 

[JimAMan]

Hey Ocean23 would be glad to help out. Some of your questions require you to tell me if you intend to OC your new system?

 

[ocean23]

Nah I don't plan on overclocking it, and from what I've read so far I'll go with the 6800 GS, I'm pretty sure I'll go with this mobo

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard

 

[hella-d]

Yes...Stay Away From The XT Series Cards, For RAm Id Reccomend The Same A Friend Of Mine Has (Same Company As My RAM But My RAM Is A Bit Faster (DDR466): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820221130

These Sticks Will Run At DDR466 Speeds @ 3-4-4-7 2.9v No Problem (Tested Them In My PC For A Week)

And Any Decent Companys Power Supplys Of 450Watts Or More Will Serve You Well

By The Way: Good Choice On The CPU (Hint, Hint, Look Below) :lol:

 

[Newf]

Prozac makes a good point that a premium SLI mobo is not necessary. You are trying to keep the cost <$1000. Consider the Abit he suggested or another brand of nForce4 Ultra chipset boards around $100.
The memory you buy should be matched to the mobo you choose. Visit the memory brand oem websites for a match, (although the Corsair value ram works in just about anything).
For power supplies I prefer Antec TruePowers to the SmartPowers. They are built better (but cost more). Another excellent option is FSP. Take a look at this:
This FSP 450w is very good. It's only $50. They also make 500w and a 600w (for SLI).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954

 

[ocean23]

Newegg has this deal going

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130238




Buy the Geforce 7800 GT and get that free eVGA 133-K8-NF41 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard as a combo, for $360, that almost the same as buying a 6600GS with a motherboard. Think its a good deal or stick with the 6600 GS and the motherboard you told me to get?

 

[Newf]

Ocean says he's not going to OC. Why spend $225 on 2.9v ram when $80/Gig stable 2.5v ram will work beautifully?

 

[ocean23]

If I was to go for the 7800 GT and the free MB, are my other components still up to par with it or will I need a faster CPU?

 

[AdamB5000]

I'd jump on that combo deal. Excellent for the price. You're other parts will do fine with that video card.

 

[Newf]

This will be the first PC I'm going to put together...

I don't think the EVGA board is the best for you. Try an nForce4 Ultra board from Asus, Abit, EpoX, or MSI. You may find that a 7800GT card is affordable if you work the costs on the other components.

 

[ocean23]

awesome thanks, should I go with 2GB of ram or is 1 GB doable still?

 

[Newf]

2 is better than 1 in every aspect except $. Get 2 sticks of 1Gig though, not 4 x 512.

 

[AdamB5000]

I do agree with Newf that other manuf. of mobos will be a better choice, but that is one heck of a deal.

On the other hand, for only ~$50 more, you could land an Asus A8N (nforce4) mobo that would probably be a better board overall. It's up to you. I know a guy who grabbed the eVGA mobo/vid card deal at Monarch Computer and he's happy with the results.

Yes, two gigs of memory will be better and more "future proof," but one will work. If you can afford to spend the extra cash, jump for two. Games will love you as will Microsoft Vista, when it's out. But if you just don't want to fork out the dough, don't.

Though you do always have the option of downgrading the video (to an X800XL or a flavor of Nvidia's 6800) and using the extra $100 toward another gig of memory.

 

[ocean23]

I'll go with the 2 GB are these good sticks?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220079

 

[Newf]

The Patriot memory you list is CL3 value ram with pretty heat spreaders on it to entice you to buy. It should work ok, but:

The memory you buy should be matched to the mobo you choose.
Visit the memory brand oem websites for a match.

You can get Corsair, Mushkin, Crucial or Kingston brand name value ram for the same $.

 

[ocean23]

I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what RAM will be compatible with the MB, I'm using the

eVGA 133-K8-NF41 ATX AMD Motherboard

 

[avatar3k]

Say no to that brand.

 

[ocean23]

say no to the MB?

 

[ocean23]

Can anyone tell me if this MB
eVGA 133-K8-NF41 ATX AMD Motherboard
is compatable with this memory?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146366

thanks