First Time Builder (Few questions)

[MyGuinness]

Primary use: Gaming. (CS, Serious Sam, COD, AA, Aces High.)
Edited for price, budget and clarity.

Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Price: $30

MoBo: ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Price $189

CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA4800IAA6CS - OEM
Price: $289

CPU Cooler: ASUS Silent Square Sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail
Price: $60

GPU: BFG Tech BFGR79256GSOCE GeForce 7900GS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Price: $144

PSU:APEVIA (ASPIRE) ATX-CW500WP4 ATX 500W Power Supply - Retail
Price: $25

RAM:CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail
Price: $240

HDD:Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Price: $139

Rom: ASUS Black 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 2M Cache E-IDE/ATAPI Combo Drive - OEM
Price: $25

Monitor: BenQ FP202W Black 20.1" 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Price: $239 (receiving as a gift so no cost to me... YAY!)

Budget: MAX $1300.

Some of this is from my own research, some from suggestions of friends, all purchases coming from Newegg.

A) Is this compatible and effective (limited bottlenecking, suffiecient power, etc.)

B) For the OEM parts (CPU, HDD, Rom) what additional parts/accessories will i need.

C) OS : XPpro or XPhome and is an OEM MS product a good idea?

D) Thank you!

 

[AMDThunder]

Except for it being AMD. C2D 6400 from Intel will smoke it. Especially if you OC it.

Others on here will tell you that the PSU you chose is crap. I have no experience with it tho.

 

[MyGuinness]

Okay, since the Intel is cheaper and faster, can you reccomend a good mother board to go with it (prefereably less than $150)?

Which Intel Mobo has a chip set that matches the speed of 6400 processor?

Is the cooler that comes with the Intel CPU sufficient.

FYI - I probably won't be overclocking since I have no idea how and don't have the funds to replace equipment I ruin.

 

[AMDThunder]

Try this mobo from Gigabyte here.
The stock HS and fan will be plenty sufficient especially if you won't OC.

Do you mind editing your original post with prices and your budget? Might be able to help you out there. Just recently ordered my parts and did a TON of research on finding the cheapest prices. Unless you're not in the US, then I'm out on that. :roll:

 

[MyGuinness]

Edited.

I am in the US.

I have the MoBo already but I am willing to send it back (which will cost me about $40 in re-stocking and shipping.)

The intel 6400 is $77 cheaper than the AMD 4800 and dropping the Cooler adds another $60 to me savings.

thanks for the input.

 

[AMDThunder]

You already have which mobo? If it's the orginal one you posted, you'll have to send it back or stick with the AMD cpu. Even costing you $40 for restocking, you'd still come out a little bit ahead with the mobo I listed. Not to mention the saving on the 6400.

That's a good price on that 7900GS. Good choice there.

Dont' think you can ever go wrong with Corsair memory. I opted fo rthe G.Skill because it was cheaper, but as long as you're in budget, go for it.

That's a nice case from what I've heard, but we need to work on your PSU. From what I've read here, and reviews I've seen, stay away from Apevia/Aspire. Some will recommend a major brand name, but here's what I went with.
ePOWER ZU-500W ATX12V Ver. 2.01 PCIe 500W
The reviews were good on it, and it has more than enough power. It's actually a little cheaper through mwave.com. Also, if you've not signed up there before, they give you a $10 discount on your 1st purchase.

Do you have another hard drive to go along with the Raptor? That's not a ton of room. Raptors are nice and fast, but check this one out.
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
Half the price of the Raptor. Has perpindicular recording for faster access times. Still not as fast as the raptor, but not sure you'd notice much of a difference in reality

Sorry if it seems I picked apart your build. Wasn't my intention. Just my opinions. Should save you money over all and still be a very nice system.

 

[MyGuinness]

Pick Away!

That's why I posted it!

I have an additional 180gb HD that I will also be using.

I did buy the M2N32 and it is going back. The conroe set up you reccomended is much cheaper and just a fast if not faster.

The PSU I have has a ton of good reviews on Newegg and it cheap, that's why I chose it. If I have a problem with it - RMA!

 

[skyguy]

Drop the cooler, go with a C2D 6300 CPU, a Gigabyte S3 mobo and then OC the snot out of it with that RAM and you'll hit 3.0 ghz on stock air no problem. This setup will destroy the AMD (I'm no fanboy, I've owned both these setups) at a similar price.

And get a new PSU OCZ GameXstream 600w should do the trick nicely.