New system, please advise

[jtw6804]

Hello, my name is Jared and this is my first post here. I built an AMD system back in 2001 and retired that a few years later. I am currently using a Dell XPS m170 laptop and I am about ready to retire that system. I want to build my own machine again and boy have things changed in just a few years time. I have spent the better part of the day reading posts and trying to get a plan together.

I use my system for World of warcraft and internet surfing/downloading mostly. I have a 1TB external drive I just bought recently so the 320GB internal drive I selected should be plenty. Im looking to put together a decent machine for a modest price. Let me know what you guys think and thanks for taking the time to help me out!

Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299
Asus PQ5 - Pro
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache
$254.98 Newegg combo price.

RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
$49.99 (Free shipping)

Graphic Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770
SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit
$159.99 (-20 Mail-in rebate = 139.99 final price) (Free shipping)

Harddrive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
$59.99 (Free shipping)

Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042&Tpk=Antec%20300
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371011
Antec NeoPower 650 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready
$94.94 Newegg combo price (Free shipping)

Optical - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827140031
HP Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW....
$29.99

Total Newegg price $649.88 ($13.36 shipping to Michigan) = $663.24

Monitor - http://www.buy.com/prod/acer-x223wbd-widescreen-lcd-monitor-22-1680-x-1050-5ms-2500-1-black/q/loc/101/207899408.html
Acer X223Wbd Widescreen LCD Monitor
$166.99 (Free shipping)

Total Buy.com price $166.99

Grand total build price $830.23

 

[slomo4sho]

Looks like your research paid off. That is a solid build.

I would like to add this though: Buy at least two 120mm case fans for your Antec 300(three would be ideal, 3rd would mount right over your GPU)

or go with the Antec 900 with the same PSU for $149.98
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.136598

 

[jtw6804]

I was looking at the Antec 900 but I wanted to avoid a monster full tower if I could. I initially wanted a micro atx, but my options seemed too limited for a friendly prices mobo. I will definately pick up a couple case fans though. Thanks!

 

[jtw6804]

I was looking at the Antec 900 but I wanted to avoid a monster full tower if I could. I initially wanted a micro atx, but my options seemed too limited for a friendly prices mobo. I will definately pick up a couple case fans though. Thanks!

 

[jtw6804]

Oops! sorry for the double post. And I see the Antec 900 is also a midtower, maybe I was thinking of the 1200? When I built my first machine i skimped on the tower/PSU and thats something I wont do again. I'll look into the 900.

Also, I was wondering what you guys think about Vista? I am reluctant to quit using XP pro SP3, but if Vista will run fine with my current setup then maybe I'll get with the times and pick up the new OS.

 

[spidy]

Use 64-bit Vista. everything works fine with it, and it will actually recognize all 4GB of your ram.