Quality System

[dozi]

I am looking to build a good system that will still be usable in 4 years. Since I want the computer to last, I don't plan on overclocking.

Asus A8N-E Motherboard

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory

ATI Radeon X1900 XTX

Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB

Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 300GB

Antec P180 Silver Mid Tower

Antec SmartPower 2.0 500 Watt

Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic

That stuff there costs about $2000 plus I will buy new speakers, monitor, keyboard, etc.
How does it look? Any suggestions?

 

[MadModMike]

Looks very nice. Consider an Opteron 164 or Opteron 170.

He didn't plan to OC, and the 4400+ X2 > Opteron 165/175 Non-Overclocking.

@Dozi

I would recommend the ASUS A8N-SLI series motherboard, any of the 4 would be sufficient.

The CPU is great

RAM is good for non-overclocking.

Video Card: XTX is a waste, get the XT as its barely slower and alot cheaper.

HDD is a waste, get 1 or 2 WD 250GB SATA from newegg for $90 each

Good Seagate

Good case and PSU

Music card is a waste, use onboard

~~Mad Mod Mike, pimpin' the world 1 rig at a time

 

[HumbleGod]

I'd be happy with that build! A couple of notes:

1. The Antec SmartPower PSUs tend to be less well-regarded than the TPII PSUs. The 550W TPII is a favorite here, and it's worked well in my system.

2. Opterons are server-grade (better constructed for stability, etc). If you're not overclocking, an Opteron 170 or 175 would be good, though the latter is more expensive than a 4400+. Really, though, an Opteron 165 is great, much more inexpensive, and will certainly be usable in four years' time.

Judging from the emphasis on sound and video quality, I'm assuming this is primarily a gaming system?

 

[dozi]

I would recommend the ASUS A8N-SLI series motherboard, any of the 4 would be sufficient.

Why do you recommend one of those motherboards? I was thinking of getting Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe, but people says it's a waste if I don't plan on using SLI.

1. The Antec SmartPower PSUs tend to be less well-regarded than the TPII PSUs. The 550W TPII is a favorite here, and it's worked well in my system.

Newegg has a $15.00 rebate on TPII 550W, so I will go with that.

Judging from the emphasis on sound and video quality, I'm assuming this is primarily a gaming system?

I rarely play games, but I would like to have good graphics when I want to play a game. I would also like a good enough card that will still play new games in 3 or 4 years.

 

[MadModMike]

I would recommend the ASUS A8N-SLI series motherboard, any of the 4 would be sufficient.

Why do you recommend one of those motherboards? I was thinking of getting Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe, but people says it's a waste if I don't plan on using SLI.

1. The Antec SmartPower PSUs tend to be less well-regarded than the TPII PSUs. The 550W TPII is a favorite here, and it's worked well in my system.

Newegg has a $15.00 rebate on TPII 550W, so I will go with that.

Judging from the emphasis on sound and video quality, I'm assuming this is primarily a gaming system?

I rarely play games, but I would like to have good graphics when I want to play a game. I would also like a good enough card that will still play new games in 3 or 4 years.

People complain alot about the A8N-E, which is why I recommend the A8N-SLI series.

~~Mad Mod Mike, pimpin' the world 1 rig at a time

 

[Bluefinger]

Nice system... I recommend though going for a 4200+... You won't really need all that extra cache (unless you are doing very processor intensive work on it) and you might as well save the money. Also, word of warning... make sure you update the BIOS for the A8N-E as soon as possible... only then will it become nice and stable, and then you can start adding everything else in. I'm not so sure about the nvidia RAID drivers, but i have yet to use them so i wouldn't know. Again, go for an X1900XT, cheaper, gets the job done easily, and can be OCed to XTX speeds if you want that extra performance which in my eyes is not necessary yet. Apart from that, excellent choice in components .

 

[mdd1963]

"I rarely play games, but I would like to have good graphics when I want to play a game. I would also like a good enough card that will still play new games in 3 or 4 years."

If you rarely play them *NOW*, I'd recommend a simple 6800GS in PCI-e instead for about $160; save the other $340 for when you will start playing them... (A 6800GS will play any game out, albeit some of the newest titles are best run without AA/AF)

A 1900XTX installed without gaming is almost.... sacriledge!