Final build specs...comments welcome!

[zasgard]

Case : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129152

PSU : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817194003

DVD Writer : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106013

DVD Rom : http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Shopping/ShoppingItem.asp?ItemList=N82E16827106028

HDD : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148144

RAM : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146580

MB : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131070

CPU : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003

Vid Card : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121554




See any compatability issues here? This falls into my $1400> budget and I don't know where I could cut corners. Any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks everyone!...wish me luck!

 

[yourmothersanastronaut]

There are actually plenty of places to cut corners...actually, one big one. The major one: you'll have trouble fitting an X1900XT into a $1400 budget. By buying a more expensive card like that, you'll have to cheap out on other parts, which is not good. And to be honest, it has a lot of power you probably won't need. And with DX10 right around the corner, not only are you going to want to save money for another one, but you'll want a more badass PSU.

Therefore, I propose "dumbing down" the Asus X1900XT to an eVGA 7950GT. It's got 512MB of video memory and a plenty powerful processor. Benchmarks show little practical difference between the two, and with eVGA's StepUp program you can within 90 days upgrade to a new video card from them, only paying what the old card doesn't cover.

Also, their warranty lets you change the stock cooler or overclock it, but you probably won't want to mess around with a new cooler. I had eVGA's cooler on my "old" 7900GT, and let me tell you moving to the X1900XT made my compy quite a bit louder, at least while gaming.

Now 2GB of RAM is doable. 2GB of G.Skill is nice, so we'll add that.

Antec cases are nice, very quiet, but I'll step you up to a Lian Li - very nice aluminum case, you can get a window panel for it later if you want.

Instead of that 500W Enermax unit, now you can get a Fortron Source 700W unit, certified for Quad-SLI and everything. That should last you a while.

That Asus board only as 1 PCIe slot and an older chipset. The MSI 975x Platinum has the newest Intel C2D chipset and two PCIe slots, so you can run either SLI or Crossfire.

We'll keep the same hard drive and DVD burner, but do you really need the reader? The DVD burner can read too, ya know

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.asp?ID=4510787

That puts you at $1322, saved some for shipping. You're gonna get better overall performance because of the doubled RAM, see better cooling because of the better case, and save money in the long run because you won't need a new PSU to run a next-gen card, which are coming out soon.

Comments?

 

[rwaritsdario]

I dont feel like clicking all those links, so post the parts names and numbers please.

 

[enforcerfx]

I agree. Theres a lot of ways to save cash. With help from YourmothersanAstronaut, changes can be made.

Powersupply: Jack it up to something in the 600w range or higher.
Ram: Big issue, valueselect does poorly on systems. G.Skill or Corsair can easily fix that.
Video card: 350 for a x1900xt? Ha, no. Really could put the money somewhere else. Maybe something along the lines of a x1950pro/7900GTO?

 

[WR2]

The type of RAM you picked doesnt match the quality of your CPU & Motherboard.
I'd recommend you take a less expensive video card such as XFX GeForce 7900GT 256MB $210 after rebate or SAPPHIRE Radeon X1950PRO 256MB $200
Then use the ~$140 you save to upgrade your RAM to A-DATA 2GB DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) $200 after rebate or pqi TURBO 2GB DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) $196 after rebate if you're not interested in overclocking or only intend to lightly overclock.
If you want the option for a higher overclocking system choose some RAM like CORSAIR XMS2 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $260 after rebate or any other DDR2 800 CAS 4-4-4-12 RAM.
The motherboard you picked is a great overclocking motherboard and with the right RAM should allow you to overclock to 3.2Ghz and above. It's 965 chipset is actually the newest C2D chipset. The MSI 975x Platinum mentioned above is suitable for moderate overclocking only, for example OC'ing the E6600 to ~3Ghz.