Never been one to start small. Any comments on my planned first build would be welcome.
COOLER MASTER Stacker RC-832-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
ABS Tagan ITZ Series ITZ1300 ATX12V / EPS12V 1300W Power Supply
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADX6000CZBOX
ASUS M2R32-MVP AM2 AMD 580X CrossFire ATX AMD Motherboard
Dual....MSI RX2600XT Diamond Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 OC Edition HDMI HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
Dual....Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PDC22G6400LLK .....total of 4 GB
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06

I'm ready to hit the enter button and confirm my order. gettin excited.

thanks for noticing me.

You will NOT need 1300W of power to run that...

You would be better off with one 2900XT

How do you get a total of 4Gb from 2x1gb?

Other than that looks ok... IMO i would go for an Intel

Thanks for your insight chookman. The psu is part of a promotion with the case and i figure it will be good for future things. The 4 GB of memory was a total....4 sticks of 1 Gb.

If you're not overclocking, hit the button.

Instead of 4x1gb... do 2x2gb. Better for OCing, better for power, stability, future upgrades, just plain better.

To further sell Intel, I agree with Chookman on the Intel processor / motherboard.

COOLER MASTER Stacker RC-832-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Expensive for what it is: a very nice case- but prob not worth the money if you need to scrimp elsewhere.
ABS Tagan ITZ Series ITZ1300 ATX12V / EPS12V 1300W Power Supply
Urrrm, completely overspeccd powersupply.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADX6000CZBOX
OK, this is madness. By Intel or suffer. Your choice.
ASUS M2R32-MVP AM2 AMD 580X CrossFire ATX AMD Motherboard
Again, dont go down the amd route
Dual....MSI RX2600XT Diamond Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 OC Edition HDMI HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
[/i]My eyes are starting to bleed
Dual....Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
[i]Dual for what? RAID 1 for backup? RAID 0 for performance? Or just more space?
Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PDC22G6400LLK .....total of 4 GB
So your getting 2 (2 x 1gb then) for your 4gb? Well, if your going with 32 bit OS- with your gpu choice above you'll be using about 2.5gb max- the rest wont be addressed and windows wont recognise it
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06
This is okay

I'm ready to hit the enter button and confirm my order. gettin excited.



Listen, its your money- its upto you. But, for the record:

Stick with Intel. Get a good Core 2 Duo or a Quad if you can stretch. Stick to either a 960, 680i or a P35 chipset depending on how much money you want to spend, how much you want to overclock and whether you want the latest technology.

If your going with 32bit Windows, cap your memory at 2gb (3gb at a push).

The 8800 GT is the bast gpu you can get right now. SLI > Crossfire. But, you don't need wither unless you running at a very high res (like 2500 or someink).

Use a psu wattage calc to see what youll need rather than just buying the highest you can find.

ACtually, 2nd thoughts, I dont like the DVD burner either. Its a LightScribe and theyre a waste of money, imo.

wow....You guys are great!!! I've always wanted to build my own system and my wife said "it's your birthday, go for it!". I'm having almost as much fun tryin to spec a machine than i imagine i'll have puttin it together. I'll re-think the whole thing and look seriously at intel.