Ok gents (and lassies if any r out there..) Comments on this build for the 'most bang for the buck' needed.
I need suggestions on case and power supply.
Also - I opted for a bit better memory, and as you will see with the rebates it works out almost the same price as a valueram but better performance.

ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $92.99

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 2000MHz HT 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 E4 Processor - Retail $203.00

OCZ Platinum Series 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory - Retail $99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

XFX PV-T73G-UDD3 Geforce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $199 w/ 30 rebate and freebee game.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3808110AS 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $51

New LightScribe with Ram 16x Burner $53

So far comes to $706 with $40 bucks rebate...

Can I expect a longer life from this system than if I switched back down to valueram for about 15 bucks less, a 3000+ processor for about 100 less, and an elcheapo mobo? Just wondering if it is worth the extra total 200 for this over an el cheapo build.


OK GUYS - let me have it!

S

The only thing I would really change is the RAM. While it's nice to have fast RAM with low timings for benchmarks, it makes very little impact in the real world unless the CPU is being limited by the speed of the RAM. You will see very little difference between CAS3 and CAS2 RAM.

I recommend cheaper OCZ RAM..

Read this if you are interested in RAM latency.

been hearing alot about valueram not being the greatest value...many saying you get what you pay for...after the rebate, it's only like 10 bucks more. For 10 bucks, I really think it's worth it. The link you provided me with shows about a 3-4% increase. At that rate, a ROI (return on investment) would show that it is definetely worth it also.

As for cases and power supplies... is 400w enough or should I shoot for about 450w? Also can I have some suggestions please? Thanks.

S

[angryrant]
OK, ONCE AND FOR ALL, DO NOT POST LINKS WITHOUT DESCRIPTIONS. NO ONE WANTS THERE SCREEN TO BE COMPLETELY CLUTTERED WITH SCREENS OF NEWEGG. JUST TELL US WTF YOUR GETTING AND GIVE THE LINKS ALSO IF YOU WANT TO!!!!
[/angryrant]


This has been a public service anouncment from your local computer user.


DDay


Oh, sorry if I scared you off, but really, I don't want to click on all those links.

GIVE DESCRIPTIONS.

Oh, and also, learn how to use the URL tool.

Sorry, figured if you opened it, it has the descriptions/prices/ and most importantly, COOL STATS!

I fixed it for those who do not wish to open the links..

Is it possibly to get a GOOD power supply and case for this system for under 100 bucks?

S

Yeah, look at the Antec Sonta II case, i think it is $95 and comes with a 450W PSU.

Edit: its on sale for $89.00:
Antec Sonta II @ Newegg

Rosewill 2x1GB PC3200 ($137)

99% of the time value RAM works fine. They're just more prone to user's fault.

If gaming is a factor, I'd try hard to come up with another $100 for a 7900GT if possible (will last prob a year longer than 7600GT at newer titles), and jump to 2gb of ram...(2 ea. 1gb sticks); if necessary, start with a single 1gb stick....

I second that! I wouldn't invest in 'old' tech if I were you - anyway, if you're a gamer then you want to get the best (or one of the best) card, if you're not a gamer then you won't need the mid-range 7 series nVid cards anyway. You don't want to waste money on something you're not going to use and conversely you don't want to invest in a bottlneck for the sake of a few euros, dollars, pounds, rupees....

DDay###-- don't be a jerk, the links worked fine, and like sincraft said, it provided details better than he could have written down.

Sincraft: For the money, it's a good setup, can't fault anything. Have to agree that if you're into gaming, find another $100 and go with a 7900GT, waaaay better for todays games. Also, the Opterons have more L2 cache than the vanilla Athlon 64s, so for $7 more I would opt for the Opteron 146 or save a little more and go with the 144 (1.8GHz) and pump it up. I also agree with the 2x1GB sticks of RAM, for dual-channel purposes. OCZ is great, but I recommended G-Skill before and will do so again since price wise is very nice, and still get the performance. Also, think about DDR500, isn't any more expensive than DDR400 or it's very slight, and gives more overclock/ timings potential.

Finally, keep looking and you'll find good/ better deals, and keep asking... we'll keep giving feedback.

PDH-NicFury

If you're into gaming, save 100$ on the processor, get the 3000+, and invest that on the video card, to get a 7900GT. There, you just nearly doubled your average framerates

The Antec Sonata II is really the best deal for a case+PSU, you really don't need to buy a separate PSU if you're going with a non-SLI setup.

Also consider investing on n a better Hard Drive: try this Western Digital 250GB 16MB for 90$ - awesome deal! A little more space never hurts either...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220040

Some decent ram figured the rebate would save your life.
I just bought the 1gb (2x 512) Will be here tomorrow it only ended up costing 66 or so $$. GL with the build.

Czar - geesh, that is very very temping with that rebate. HATE totally counting on rebates but that relates to 30 bucks more in the end for a total of 2 gigs. GRRRRRRRR blast you! ehhe Thanks.

Dr Asik - Seriously. You think it is worth saving the 100 on the processor and putting it toward a better video card? Seems like the 7600gt rated pretty high.
What is everyones opinion on this? $100 toward processor or toward Video card? I guess I didn't think of that...hmmm
Yes also, that hard drive does seem sweet. It's about 40 bucks more than what I have allocated with more this and more that...hmmm

PDH-NicFury
You are throwing me for a spin here hehe. Does that processor have the ability to overclock as well as a Venice? Also should I opt for socket 939 or 940?!?!?! IM confUSED!
Also - I didnt even know I could opt for faster memory, I was basing things off of the motherboard specs. HMMMMMM

Thanks guys....

S

Ok now I'm interested in this Opteron 146. Do I need a server board for this or is my board (listed above) ok for this. Also - it has been suggested that I go with DDR500 memory.
Is this only if I go with the Opteron?

The reviews from users actually purchasing and using, show 100% / 100% reviews , suggesting it is equiv to fx-57!

However, the benchmarks I've seen compare it to 3200+ and it doesn't really test gaming that much (cept quake 3). All in all, a bit better than the 3200+ BUT the price is the same as the 3500+ (but the 3500+ comes with a freebee game I want to buy anyway). So I wonder what the 3500+ would have done vs it?!??!

Does anyone have more benchmarks for this and suggestions PLEASE!

In terms of performance it's pretty low compared to 7900GT. Like ~$85 more anyway. On a E4/E6 Venice 3000+ you can still squeeze some pretty good performance out of them.

No need for DDR500. Dividers is all he needs.
The pair of 2x1GB will do the job perfectly.

So is the concensus that the 100 bucks is better spent toward a 7900gt versus the 7600gt instead of the faster processor?

Also - What about the Opteron. Hearing more and more good stuff about it.

Comments, Suggestions?

I think this is my last day to take part in the rebates that are offered on most of these.

S

Look what everyone around this thread is saying... [/no brainer]

That depends if you can find a Opteron 144 for around(or maximum $20 higher) price of Venice 3200+. Anything higher than $20 it's not worth it.