I'm building my first box! Started with an ASUS A7N8X MoBo added a W/D 100 GBHD with 8MB cache and a pair of Cosaiar CMX256A-3200C2P2 DDR400 PC3299 ram sticks. Also got an alluminum case exactly like the ANTEC solo server tower with window.three fans, two front USB and MIC\headphone+ 500 watt dual fan power suppply for $135, to much? Running out of$. I think I want the XP2800+ but I might want to settle for a 1700+ for now seeing as this MOBO semms OC friendly and wait for prices to go down a bit. My son wants the RADEON 9500 PRO boy will use older VOODOO 4 32MB does anyon know if the VOODOO4 is 1.5V because that's all the board will take. Is the 9500 worth the$. What do ya'll think?
nForce(1) and nForce(2) mobos doesn't work with 3.3V AGP 2X cards. So you need a new 1.5V card. There's another solution for you. nForce2 IGP boards are going to availavle very soon (within this month). They have integrated GeForce4 MX. If you want to save money, buy one of the MSI nForce IGP (with MCP-T) board and later upgrade the graphics card via AGP slot.
Radeon 9500 Pro worths the money by 100%. So no point of not getting it.
<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/community/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=26708#26708" target="_new"> Go to my CPU Vendor Poll </A>
Yea the Radeon is worth the money for future games and high benchmark scores. For less money though, consider a nVidia Geforce4 ti series card, which is very capable for current games.
As for the CPU, just wait for the prices to go down as you said. If you're eyeing a 1700+, good choice, those chips are going for $50 or so. Until recently I had a 1700+ based system; it was a very fast and stable system. It's easy to buy another CPU later and swap it out when the price is right.
Also, congrats on building your first system for choosing such great components.
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