First Build

[travis77]

this is my first build and i need help

i was thinking i wanted a intel but now i think i want a amd.
i want this computer for gaming. so is amd better than intel in gaming.

i was looking and i found this:

ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131530
or
EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813123236
or
ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 Socket 939 ULi M1695 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157081
what one do you all like the most

on the cpu i was looking at the AMD Athlon 64 3700+ or 4000+
the 4000+ is about $100 more than the 3700+ so do you think it is worth the extra $100.

video card is the radeon x800pro
i know some about video cards but is this one good that i'm looking at. i'm trying to spend about $200. if you know of a better one please tell me

[myrgo_31]

do you have a budget so we can point out things and suggest parts?

if you have a lot of money and are gaming a lot, it wouldnt hurt to have 2 GB of RAM.

Get the ASUS A8N-SLI board. This is found at newegg, for 122 bucks or the deluxe version for 158 bucks. This gives you the option to go SLI.

the 3700+ San Diego would be the better value than the 4000+. The 200 mhz difference isnt going to be a factor, especially if your gaming. Gaming puts more stress on the video card than anything.

The best card for 200 bucks is the 6800GS. With that motherboard you can even get another one for SLI to improve gaming.

Antec, Thermaltake, Enermax, X-Clio are the best PSU's around. Get at least a 450 watt, and if you plan on SLI in the future get an SLI-approved PSU.

At least a 200 GB HD would be best. The WD 320 GB SATA II with 16 MB Cache is going for about 150 bucks at newegg.

[travis77]

my budget is about $1000.00 so i can go up on the video card and things. i do not want to sound like a noob but what is so great about SATA. i know ide is slower. but what is so great. i have not looked at the psu yet. but what is the difference between the 20 pin and the 24pin connector.
What is SLI i do not what you to think i know nothing about comptuers but what is SLI.

[1asimovfan]

hi like you i am planning a build and it will be an amd - they are much better than intel
mrygo has got some preety good ideas except from what i have seen on most of the reviews sli is overrated with currently available MoBos - your money will be better spent on something like the Asus A8N-E and upping your budget on your video card - from what i see a single 7800gt will run circles around most sli setups - in current sli boards if you run two cards they are choked down to 8x
make sure you get a good psu - antec is good and a case with good cooling

sata is good for gaming setups and i would recommend 1GB of ram - corsair works great with asus boards

[myrgo_31]

well 1 GB wont really be enough in a few months, and if your going to be gaming with like Battlefield 2, Quake 4, FEAR, other resource hogging games, 2 GB wouldnt hurt, but with only a 1k budget, 1 GB will have to be enough.

SATA is good because it has higher transfer rates, and is easier to set up. Unlike IDE, where you can hook up multiple devices to one controller, causing you to set jumpers (master/slave), with SATA you do not have to use jumpers anymore because only one device per SATA controller is used.

I agree, SLI isnt really necessary. The highest end video card (the 7800GTX 512) will be more than enough for even the latest games.

[travis77]

the video card 7800gt looks good. the 7800GTX 512 is way to much. so i will probably get the 7800gt. on the sata i have never try one like that, but i will give it a try. on the ram i was thinking on getting 1gb and upgrading it later on. psu i was thinking the ASPIRE ATX-AS520W BLACK ATX 520W Power Supply 115/230 V CB IEC 950/ TUV EN 60950/ UL 1950/ CSA 950
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817148008
what do you think