Check out my build, what do you think? Will PSU support it?

if you know what model (smart power,neo etc ) the psu is ,you can find info at antec's site.also if you post where you are buying parts and cost, some of the guys may be able to steer you to better deals on them or upgraded parts at same or near same cost. i would think you would be ok with the antec psu for that build but im not 100 % on it without knowing the model and amps

for $1000 u can easily get a Core 2 duo setup, so i dont know why you wouldn't.

Also, why do you want to buy vista?

Why not go for a Core 2 Duo build? The Core 2 Duo will crush your AMD X2 4600+ like it was nothing.

Get a budget Motherboard like a GA-965P-S3/DS3. These boards are very good for the price and plus its a pretty good board for Overclocking.

For the CPU get a E6300, this CPU can crush your X2 4600+ like it was nothing. BIG PLUS on this CPU you can overclock it to 3 Ghz with the stock HSF. But if you want to go over that you gotta buy a better one of coarse.

For the PSU, get a FSP Group PSU this should be good enough to run everything you have on a budget.
FSP GROUP PSU

AGREED

You probably already know the Core 2 rant, so I won't go there :wink:

I have been playing with Vista Ultimate on my other HDD for a couple weeks now (erm...a friend gave it to me? yeah that's it), and I can't really recommend it for now. Yes it does look nice, and the search tools are kool, but there are many bugs to be worked out (come on M$, Media Center blue screening upon Alt+Tab? lame!), not to mention incompatibilities with some programs, and don't get me started on drivers!

Everything else looks ace, The WD RE2 is the Enterprise version of the drive, and it's a wise decision in my book (  no pun intended) because they last longer and have a 5 year warranty (I just picked up 2 of the 320 GB RE2 HDD's for raid 0 and they are screamin' fast!)

I also have the same Sapphire X1950 XT video card and, while I must admit I do LOVE it, I'd suggest getting an Nvidia 320MB 8800 GTS; it is $50 more but it's probably more bang for the buck. Either way they are both great video cards.

Why do you need 2 DVD? I do not think you need Ultimate, Home premium is best for most gamer's needs. Good luck on the build

Thanks for all the feedback. I am not planning on overclocking my system, I am too nervous to do it and I don't want to shorten the life of the CPU. With that said, w/o overclocking will the C2D still beat out the X2 4600+?

About the PSU, I went to Antec's site and couldn't find too much information on it. Here is the info that I could find: http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=96500. I also checked and it does actually have a 6-pin PCI-E connector but couldn't find any documentation for how many amps are supplied to it. I also found a Watt Calculator on the site that is VERY COOL! http://www.extreme.outervision.com/powercalc.jsp. You put in your system specs and it will tell you how many amps you need. Mine said 375 AMPs and that was with 100% utilization on the CPU and with ATI 1950 XTX (the XT wasn't an option  )

I didn't know that about the RE2 for the HD. I saw that it had better specs than the standard HD, so I went with it.

I'm cool with testing out Vista, I know that there are problems with it right now but I have to say that my curiosity is getting the better of me. I also plan on adding a TV tuner card in the future to make it a MCPC.

As for Vista, you might want this version, I got it for my DVR
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2b w/Upgrade Coupon for Vista

I'm having problems locating the specs for that MB on the US website...

the MB looks good, AMD SLI here:
ASuS M2R32-MVP

Thanks Big Al...

My concerns would be along the lines of not enough PATA ports... The OP has already 'burned' two with the dvd drives, and that's all he has. The OP was not too specific on his current build....

yes maybe a SATA dvd or two?
Lite on SATA dvd burner
The HD is SATA so maybe 1 port would work

YES

Tom's charts don't have the 6300 so i used the 6400 for comparison

Call of Duty

Photoshop

Why 2 dvd drives?
Maybe you like copying everything from a source disk onto your HD, burning it and then deleting your temp files. For $20, I would rather copy from disk to disk.

Croc said:


The DVD drives IDE connected, so they don't eat up any SATA ports. I'll just set one to master and the other to slave.

GherkinPekul said:


Exactly. I can copy a CD/DVD with on motion, go have lunch and come back with the final product, instead of loading and unloading who knows how many CDs!! 8)

I will see about pricing out a new MB with the E6300.

I tried pricing out a decent socket T MB with the E6300 C2D, but the pricing sent me up over $1,000. The MB and 4600+ are priced as follows:

Asus M2R32-MVP $135.47
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ $189.00

So if you can find me a good MB that supports XMS800 ram and has firewire headers with the E6300 C2D for $324.47 or less then I would defiantly consider going C2D. If not, I am still fine with AMD.

And AMD is definitely a fine processor.

Well, an msi platinum (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681...) paired with an e6300 will cost $319+s/h on newegg.

That was the best combination I could find in a quick search, the mobo has multiple onboad firewire heads, and when tomshardware tested the board they used corsair ram, so it should work with that. I couldnt find any better board for less than that that included firewire though... O well.