(I'M A NOOB) Please help me with my first build!!!

[deusex]

Ok, I'll admit it: I'm a noob into the hardware industries of computers, and I need the tech gurus' out there help. seruously...

I'm looking to get a quality gaming computer. My budget is around 1.5 grand US. I won't do much OCing, (maybe a little on the CPU and GPU)
but mostly OBLIVION, (moderate gaming), FEAR, COD2, BF2, and Guild Wars, and a little VB programming and Java/Macromedia...

I've decided on the following system:

Case Cooler Master Cavalier 3 Silver
Hard Drive 160 GB SATA II NCQ 3gb/s Seagate HD
RAM Corsair XMS DDR1 2 GB Dual Channel RAM 3-3-3-8
Monitor Viewsonic VX924 gaming LCD 3 ms response time
MOBO Asus A8N-E nvidia nforce 4 ultra sock. 939
PSU Enermax 485 watt PSU (blue)
CPU AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego
speakers logitech X-530 70 Watts
GPU eVGA 7900 GT CO 256 MB (500/1500)mhz

Is there any better PSU out there around the same price and wattage?

and, if i wait for conroe/amd price cut, should i get a X2 3800 or a 4000+?

and...is the X1800 XT a better GPU choice?

Suggestions wide open for my new rig!!! (first time build )

 

[miket733]

the x1800xt 512mb beats the crap out of a 7900gt in oblivion, and you should definately go dual-core

 

[muffin]

your system looks to be fine to me. If you can wait for price cuts, do it...if you can't, then don't...lol. Your power supply should be fine for what you will be running. I don't know if the socket 939 opterons will come down in price, if you find one you could afford they are the creme de la creme of the production line and overclock very well...can one ever say no to free horsepower? Good luck on the build....sigh...I remember my first time...lol

 

[ryokinshin]

if ur an amd fan, go am2 3800 x2 when the price drops, go x1900xt if u hav the money if not x1800xt 512mb

 

[zarzar]

X1800XT for sure!! Pic. Quality is better than 7900.

If you have the money: X1900XT

 

[Dante_Jose_Cuervo]

Well I'm going to agree with ryokinshin here and say go for AM2 and go with a dual-core, and although I am somewhat of an NVidia fanboy I will highly recommend the X1800XT 512 simply because it does deliver superb video quality for the price. It's cool to see that you're an enthusiastic noob, good luck to you! Oh, also for your HDD, if it can fit in your budget try going for a WD raptor, they're fast and have the highest throughput of any HDD I've seen. The problem with SATA2 HDDs is that they don't even fill up a SATA1's bandwidth.