Need advice on first time build

[Sam109]

Case - CoolerMaster RC534 +430W $93

HDD - PATA Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 160GB 2MB $66

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4 PCI-E $101

CPU - AMD AM2 Athlon64 x2 3800+ 2.0GHz $163

DVD/RW - Liteon 18x DVDRW +- Dual Layer 18A1P186C Retail Kit $43

RAM - Generic DDR2 667 PC5300 512MB $54

VGA - Gigabyte 512Mb GeForce 7600GS PCI-E $147


I'm thinking about building this computer, and I just wanted some advice on whether the power supply can support all this, if the case is big enough, if each component is compatible with eachother and if they are good prices and good parts for running games and editing software at above average quality.

Thanks for all the help

Sam109

 

[alcattle]

Three things jump out at me.
You would be happier with 1 gig RAM, aiming for 2 gig soon.
If you can find one for same price, get the 7200.10 (I hear they fixed some issues with .9)
You can beat the price on the 7600GS and 512 is waste as any game the card will run, works fine with 256 CompUSA AD price ends 2/3 so you shouls be able to meet or beat that.

Edit: linked to an AGP version

 

[Sam109]

Thanks for the reply

So a 256mb video card will work fine with games? Or do you stilll suggest a 512 for the newer ones coming out later?

1 GB RAM makes sense

I can't find many 7200.9 with 180GBs only 320GB about double the price

Thanks again

 

[scorch]

The 7600GS video card isn't bad at all. A friend of mine who is really into gaming is playing this graphics crazy game and it worked flawlessly (at least to me). No lockups or slow downs during game play.

 

[alcattle]

The games that card will run will only use 256 mb, newer games use more G-RAM but they also use more shaders and pipelines then the 7600 Has.

 

[zenmaster]

And not to mention that the 7600GT can be had for under $100 after rebate. That would leave $147 for the GS as a stickup.

 

[Sam109]

Where can you get the 7600GT for under $100?

 

[alcattle]

And not to mention that the 7600GT can be had for under $100 after rebate. That would leave $147 for the GS as a stickup.

That is a great price on the 7600 GT, I have seen them for $50 more than any GS.

 

[chiefgabbai]

Where can you get the 7600GT for under $100?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143049 . Only $93 - of course, it is AFTER a rebate.

Also look at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148144. This is a great 250Gb Seagate 7200.10 HDD for $80.

 

[zenmaster]

Or this one........

The rebate is much smaller so there is less concern with rebate issues.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130062

Both EVGA and BFG are two of the better card manufacturers so you will have no problems actually getting the rebates, but still the lower the % is rebate the better for me.

Also the HDD that Chief linked is real nice because it used Perpendicular recording. This help improve performance.