Another noobie first build - AMD X2

[Corporal Carrot]

I see all the help this site gives to inexperienced builders. It's been great to read along the last few weeks while I have tried to put together my first build. Here goes. Any comments are appreciated.

Usage: Family machine. Moderate gaming. Several simultaneous logged-users in an XP OS. Maintain some options for upgrading later.

Price goal: $1500-1700 As shown below: $1528

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA3800BVBOX - Retail $322

- Future upgrade to X2 4800+

MoBo: ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD - Retail $110

- Perhaps the A8N-SLI Premium may be worth the extra $53 to keep upgrade options open?

Video card: eVGA 256-P2-N420-AX Geforce 6600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 - Retail $175

- Future upgrade to a pair of 7800GTXs?

PSU: SeaSonic S12-500 ATX12V 500W - Retail $129

- Maybe I should spend $30 to bump up to the 600W version? They are both SLI rated.

Memory: 2 of the CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2x512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM PC 3200 Unbuffered Dual Channel VS1GBKIT400C3 - Retail 2 x $86

- What's the difference between this and the VS1GBKIT400? Latency? This will fill out my slots so I will have to replace if I want 4GB but I am guessing the unit will be scrap before that makes sense.

HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s - OEM $150

- Future upgrade by adding a second unit in RAID 0 configuration...but this one sounds mighty fast already. I will reuse a Maxtor 1-touch 250GB external for backups.

Optical: LITE-ON Black ATAPI / E-IDE DVD Burner Model SHM-160P6S - Retail $43

- Haven't really had a need for two separate drives so far. This one comes with Nero express and PowerDVD

Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower - Retail $50

OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home With SP2 - OEM $94

- Do I really want Pro? I saw something about better use of multiprocessing...but I suspect it's not relevant here. I have no real need for Pro's ability to manage networks and multiple PCs. Future upgrade to 64 bit OS.

Productivity Software: Microsoft Office Standard 2003 Student and Teacher - Retail $133

UPS: APC BR900 900 VA 540 Watts UPS - Retail $150

Thanks for your help.
CC

[Corporal Carrot]

I plan to reuse the monitor, keyboard and mouse.

The motherboard has a pretty decent 8 channel sound built in. I may upgrade to an Audigy sometime, but not right now.

I also plan to use the heat sink and fan that comes with the CPU (at least I think it does)...future upgrade to a quieter, more efficient option. I have no plans to overclock for the foreseeable future.

Thanks again,
CC

[Amazin Caucasian]

when do you plan on upgrading to the 4800?? if its as soon as you have the money, save your money and wait until you have it to build this computer. It will be A LOT easier to just build a high end system now than build a lower end system and in a couple of months upgrade it...

[blue60007]

I don't the performance between the 3800+ and the 4800+ justifiying the cost of a future upgrade.

I'd just get the non-SLI board and save the money for a future upgrade to a 7800GTX (there's a big difference between it and the 6600GT).

The 500W should be fine. Get the VS1GBKIT400 memory, it's got snappier performance (lower latecy; not a huge difference, but...).

[Corporal Carrot]

Thanks for the feedback.

I'll stick with the non-SLI motherbooard and the 500W PSU. I'll shift over to the VS1GBKIT400 memory.

I think you both had a great point on the CPU upgrade. The cost to move up to the 4800 is an incremental $465, so in order for the upgrade to make any sense, the 4800 chip would have to drop to a cost noticeably less than that. That would probably take quite a while...to the point where upgrading no longer makes sense. I guess I should stretch as far as I can right now...probably a 4200.

[Corporal Carrot]

Added a Floppy too. Nearly forgot that one.