Hello all, I've been reading the forums here for a couple weeks and have a pretty decent idea what I want to build. I'm sure I've screwed up at least a couple things though, so I would appreciate any and all constructive criticism.
Thank you for your time.
I'm upgrading for an Athlon 64 3400 with an AGP GeForce 6800 and a Lian Li case that is about 8 years old, so beyond some data hard drives I need to start from scratch. I'm looking for a fairly future-proofed machine, that will be good for gaming for a holiday season or two. I have no plans to overclock right away, as I've never done so and am hoping a brand spankin new machine shouldn't require it. I wouldn't mind the keeping the possibility open for the future, but it's not a major concern. A reasonable amount of quietness would be nice also, as long as it can be had without going crazy on the budget.
Processor
Core2 Duo 8400 Wolfdale 3.0Ghz - Seems to be a no-brainer for gaming from what I've read here. I was considering going with a q6600 to help with DiVX encoding, DVD Shrink and such, but would be using mostly freeware and have been told it wouldn't take advantage of the quad. I plan to get the retail box from Newegg and use the included fan, I've heard it's good if you're not overclocking
Video Card
E-VGA 8800GT 512MB - The 8800GT seems to be a great mid-level gaming card from all I've heard. Not a big fan of running 2 video card setups, as I think I would rather wait a bit for prices to come down in general and upgrade one card than drop the kind of money that would make it worthwhile. The 9600 seems underpowered to me and I don't really feel like waiting for a 9800 to become available and reasonably priced. I've had a couple E-VGA GeForce 2 cards in the past that I had no problems with, and while I haven't researched their step-up program people here seem to be all about it. My current and previous cards were BFG which I thought was great, but have heard some negatives about here.
Motherboard
The Gigabyte P35 seems to be the consensus. I'm not planning on running two video cards so this *seems* like a no-brainer from what I've read here.
OS
Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit OEM
I hear for gaming the 64 bit isn't worth it yet, and I hope this system to last a fair amount of time with the occasional upgrade so the transportability of a retail version doesn't seem worth doubling the price.
Memory
I was planning on getting a single 2GB stick for easier upgrading, but was told to get pairs. So I'm planning on 2x1GB, guessing Corsair brand from what I've read here. I've also heard DD3 isn' worth it so was planning on the 6400 DDR2. Timings and such are far above the level I'm on (Sorry for not doing more research), so I could really use advice here. Upgrading to 4GB in the future is a nice option to keep open, but I'm not thrilled with the diminishing returns from the 32 bit 4GB total limit.
Case
Antec 900 seems to be the one, but I do like the Lian Li's in general. Almost down to a coin flip here.
Power Supply
PCPC Silencer 710
Not sure how much quieter it is than average, but I'm definitely willing to pay a bit of a premium to not ruin everything else.
Sound card
Soundblaster X-Fi Gamer
This seemed to be the only realistic option, although I've run into some posts suggesting more gamer specific cards. Not a big fan of onboard anything in general, although I'm not planning on upgrading my Logitech 680 5.1 speakers any time soon so it almost seems like overkill to have 7.1 or 8.1 or whatever the standard is now, the X-Fi is supposed to boost performance.
System drive
Planning on getting one of the 7200.1 drives for bang/buck. I've heard you want a smaller drive as a system one to improve performance. This was also several years ago, so it may be outdated if it was ever actually correct. I'll be bringing over 3 SATA drives from my current build so wouldn't mind getting a bigger one as I'm running out of connections.
I think I've covered everything, thank you for your time and opinions, sorry to post the same thing you've probably seen a thousand times by now.
I have everything the same except different memory. The Gigabyte P35-DS3L, E8400, & EVGA 8800GT 512MB are excellent. Honestly, I don't know if you really need to buy that sound card. I have a set of Dell XPS 5.1 speakers setup to the onboard audio on this board and it sounds great.
Like I've recommended many times before: don't spend the money on the sound card initially. The 'performance boost' from an x-fi you're talking about is going to be a non-issued on the system you're putting together. Evaluate the onboard sound and, if dissatisfied with it, then and only then put down the money for that x-fi.
what myter says... otherwise, you've got your build locked down pretty tight... you COULD splash for a 8800GTS, but then consider if it's in your budget... alternatively, just use Step Up to achieve the same effect
. Get a x64 OS any way, since you WILL go for 4GB soon. esp. with such low DDR2 prices.
