Is this a good budget build?

[Belac]

(Just as a note, my updated list is 3 posts down)
Almost all of the components I will be buying from tigerdirect.ca and canadacomputers.com and all prices are in Canadian Dollars.

Video Card: eVGA GeForce 7600 GT / 256MB GDDR3: <<$226.99>>

CPU: I'm in the air on this one... I want duel core because I do like to multitask, but it's a considerable step up in price over a single core. I think the 3500+ would be better for gaming unless the Opty is OC'd
Single Core: AMD 3500+
Dual Core: Opteron 165

RAM: OCZ EL Platinum Dual Channel 2048MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz (2 x 1024MB) <<$229.99>>

Mainboard: DFI LP UT NF4 Ultra-D NVIDIA Socket 939 <<$165.99>>
I plan on eventually overclocking either proc I decide to get and I want to have 2 HDs in raid 0, DFI has cheaper boards but i'm not sure if getting them will hinder the OC'ing potential.

Hard Disks: 2 Seagate / 160GB / 7200 / 8MB / SATA-300 <<2*74.99>>

The optical drives, keyboard, and mouse i'll just cannibalize from my old system. I don't know what PSU I should get to power the system, i've had bad experiences with them dying on me. The case is another issue, I need one that will allow lots of ventilation but still be cheap. I noticed a few cases on tiger that came with PSUs ranging from 400-500watts, but I don't know if they're reliable or not. The ideal situation would be spending <$130 for both of them.

Right now the total cost is $772.95 without a CPU and Case/PSU.

I guess my questions are:
Are there any noticeable bottlenecks?
What is a reliable PSU?
What is a good case?

Thanks in advance.

 

[shadowduck]

Almost all of the components I will be buying from tigerdirect.ca and canadacomputers.com and all prices are in Canadian Dollars.

Video Card: eVGA GeForce 7600 GT / 256MB GDDR3: <<$226.99>>

CPU: I'm in the air on this one... I want duel core because I do like to multitask, but it's a considerable step up in price over a single core. I think the 3500+ would be better for gaming unless the Opty is OC'd
Single Core: AMD 3500+
Dual Core: Opteron 165

RAM: OCZ EL Platinum Dual Channel 2048MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz (2 x 1024MB) <<$229.99>>

Mainboard: DFI LP UT NF4 Ultra-D NVIDIA Socket 939 <<$165.99>>
I plan on eventually overclocking either proc I decide to get and I want to have 2 HDs in raid 0, DFI has cheaper boards but i'm not sure if getting them will hinder the OC'ing potential.

Hard Disks: 2 Seagate / 160GB / 7200 / 8MB / SATA-300 <<2*74.99>>

The optical drives, keyboard, and mouse i'll just cannibalize from my old system. I don't know what PSU I should get to power the system, i've had bad experiences with them dying on me. The case is another issue, I need one that will allow lots of ventilation but still be cheap. I noticed a few cases on tiger that came with PSUs ranging from 400-500watts, but I don't know if they're reliable or not. The ideal situation would be spending <$130 for both of them.

Right now the total cost is $772.95 without a CPU and Case/PSU.

I guess my questions are:
Are there any noticeable bottlenecks?
What is a reliable PSU?
What is a good case?

Thanks in advance.

DFI makes the BEST motherboards for O/Cing good guess . For PSU one of the best you can get is the Antec TruePower II 500W.

CPU: Opteron 165 the whole way. The Opteron overclocks VERY well, plus has 1MB of L2 cache per core. For a case, I think the Antec P180, but with the PSU that will break the bank. Let's see:

Video Card: eVGA GeForce 7600 GT / 256MB GDDR3: <<$226.99>>
CPU: Opteron 165 $393.00 (ncix.com- great store usually cheaper than TigerDirect)

RAM: OCZ EL Platinum Dual Channel 2048MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz (2 x 1024MB) <<$229.99>>

Mainboard: DFI LP UT NF4 Ultra-D NVIDIA Socket 939 <<$165.99>> ($153.26 at NCIX.com)

Hard Drive: Nice Deal- keep it.

Case/PSU: Antec Sonata II Black-
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=15422&vpn=SONATA II&manufacture=ANTEC
$122.00 from NCIX.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Bear_San]

I would suggest going with a slightly beefier card, a 7800GT. You'll be glad you did.

Also, I second the motion regarding the Antec P180 and Antec TPII. I used them both in my new build, and they are great!

 

[Belac]

Thanks for the quick replies.

The reason I went with the 7600 was because the 7800 is just too expensive here in Canada, i'de be looking at almost doubling the price of the 7600 just to get one.

The Opteron, as much as I want one, I don't think i'll be able to fit it into my budget. I decided to go with a AMD 3700+ because it should perform pretty nice well i'm learning to OC :?

Right now i'm thinking:
AMD 3700+: $257
2GB OCZ Plat: $230
7600GT: $227
DFI LP UT NF4: $154
Seagate 250gb: $120
Antec Sonata2: $125
Subtotal: $1113
Total: $1279.95

 

[eppenoire]

Hmm, I will third the P180, it is truly an awesome case. I have recently found myself in this upgrade mode as well. I am acutally happy with my system, but I wanted to play Oblivion and...well, its not going to happen with my 9600XT. The good thing is I won't have to upgrade my I/O because I have always bought the best when comes to drives and memory.

Anyways, I might recommend the X800GTO, because you live in Canada and unlocked its is as fast if not faster than the X850PE. If you are thinking of running those drives in a RAID 0 array, I would caution against it. The benefits will be marginal and you will lose any data on them should one fail. I am running a RAID 0 array my box, but that is because I have a file server that I back store everything on.

 

[Belac]

Thanks for the heads up on Raid 0, I guess i'll spend a little more time researching its benifits and drawbacks.

 

[uber_g]

- i still hate those Antec sonata 2 cases


uggghhhhhh