New AMD AM2 Mid-Range Gaming Build

[Leageth]

I have a few months before I need to build the computer, so things may change based on price and new technology. But heres what I'm looking at so far.

MSI K9N SLI Platinum ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813130048

Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 550W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817103931

ASUS Geforce 7900GTX EN7900GTX/2DHTV/512M Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814121002

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2.20GHz / 1MB Cache / 2000MHz FSB / Socket AM2 / Dual-Core (Windsor) / Processor with Fan
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2207247

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145575

Western Digital Caviar RE 160GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136009

NEC Display Solutions 90GX2-BK Black 19" 4ms LCD Monitor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16824002129

LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black ATAPI/E-IDE Model SHW160P6S04 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827106013




Any other stuff I can salvage from my current computer.

I also plan to do some overclocking so I'm curious about whether or not the RAM and the CPU core (a windsor) are good for overclocking.

Since this is an AM2 build I can use DDR2 RAM, but i've noticed that DDR2 usually doesn't come in PC3200. So what speeds should I be looking for here?

I'm also wondering if the HDD will need different SATA cables than the ones I currently have (for a SATA 150 drive.)

So how does it look?

[Alaron]

Your build looks fine, but if you're a few months from building, you will inevitably change something.

You cannot use regular DDR with the AM2 chips. The ram you listed will not physically fit into the slots. You need DDR2. The correct speed is DDR2-800: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146566

Your motherboard will come with extra SATA cables.

[Leageth]

Ya I know I can't use DDR with AM2, I just hadn't decided on a DDR2 RAM kit yet.

And could someone please explain why I need certain RAM speeds? If theres one thing I never understood, its the relationship between the FSB, and RAM, and all that good stuff.


EDIT: Ok heres the RAM I'm looking at. They are exactly the same except for the CAS latency. So is the difference worth the extra money?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145590
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145034

[Leageth]

Well....I guess just continue where this left off: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?p=1122684&posted=1#post1122684

And this build is slightly differennt thats why I made the new one....but use the link in this post for the build. The one in the original post has broken links and stuff I'm not going with anymore.

About the drives. I'm going with RAID thats why I wanted 2 smaller ones.

[blue60007]

Avoid RAID - unless you are going with redundancy (RAID 1). RAID 0, striping over 2 drives offers very little real performance boost, reduces reliability (if one drive kicks the bucket, there's goes ALL your data), and is a pain to set up...not to mention more expensive...you could be spending more on other parts rather than on 2 drives.

[Leageth]

Ok thanks. Guess I'll go with a 320gb then.

[processor88]

how does the Athlon 64 X2 rate, because i' am also going to a pc and need some pionters

[LeftyAce]

From what I understand you waste ur money on a dual core processor if ur main activity is games. GAmes are single thread applications, and do not benefit from having two cores.

[Staren]

From what I understand you waste ur money on a dual core processor if ur main activity is games. GAmes are single thread applications, and do not benefit from having two cores.

Not really trie anymore. Most new games are taking advantage of dual core, and having it is very much worthwhile.