Help with choosing parts

[catch22]

I'm putting together a new gaming system in a couple months and I wanted to advice on what to use. I've already pieced together a system, tell me what you think:

AMD Socket 939 Athlon 64 FX-53, 1MB L2 Cache, Windows Compatible 64-bit Processor

ASUS "A8V Deluxe Wi-Fi" K8T800 Pro Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 939 CPU

Antec 550W Power Supply, Model "TRUE550"

CORSAIR XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, (Twin Pack) 184 Pin 2GB(1GBx2) DDR PC-3200

ATI RADEON X800 XT

Western Digital Quiet Drive 250GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS GAMER Limited Edition PCI Sound Card

Plextor 12X DVD+/-RW Drive, Model PX-712A Black

Koolance PC2-650BK and water blocks for CPU, Mobo, HD and GPU

Anything you would change? Will there be anything this fall that will be worth waiting for? Remember, this is strictly for gaming, money isn't much of an issue.

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[songoku]

Here’s my two cents –

1.) If you’re waiting for few moths then the FX-55 will be out. If you want to wait a year, dual core FX-es will be out. I personally would wait for the 55, because I am pretty sure they will be based on the 90 nanometer process, which will mean better over clocking. And is generally faster then the 130 form. I could never wait a year with out upgrading.

2.) I would change to a different hard drive. Maxtor will be releasing their Maxline III at In August and they are comparable to the Raptors. Plus they have NCQ which will be a big benefit once controllers support it. Of course you could also go with the Hard drive king, the 74Gb raptor. It’s the fastest sata/ide hard drive you can buy.

3.) Drop plextor and go with liteon. I have use liteon for years with very little problems. High quality, better price, same benefits. Newegg has your plextor drive for 150, but has the same everything liteon drive for 91. Save some money and go with the liteon. You will not be disappointed and you loose nothing. On another note I am pretty sure liteon is the more popular and use Burner brand. Even sony uses them, but calls them something else. Plus there are tons of hacks, and tools that will allow you get the most out of your drive. I just bought his same burner and according to a group that makes the tools to mod liteon drives, they say that the drive should be able to burn (yes I said burn), dual layers. Buts its still in testing stage, but the results are something to be noticed.


Main System Specs
AMD Athlon64 3200
Asus K8V SE Deluxe
ATI Radeon 9800XT
Kingston Hyperx 1GB
SB Audigy
SATA150 TX2plus
WD740GD
Samsung 172X

 

[catch22]

Thanks for your reply.

I definitely don't want to wait a year for the new CPU, but if the FX-55 is worth it I can wait a couple of months.

As far as the hard drive, is the speed difference that noticeable? Because I would rather have size over speed, unless the speed is very noticeable.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Get MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum instead of ASUS A8V Deluxe and LiteOn DVD burner instead of Plextor

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[catch22]

Could you give me the reasons on why the MSI K8N Neo2 is better? Thanks.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

nForce3 250 Ultra is better chipset

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[Worf101]

Concerning MSI Boards. Go here...

http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=562879#562879

read this before buying as MSI Board

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

MSI forum is down now....

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<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig</A> & <A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/benchmark.html" target="_new">3DMark score</A>