Advice highly apreciated - ~$1200 gaming/internet build

[Pierdobek]

This is my 7th or so build in last 15 years. It will be AMD for the first time. I have abadoned an idea of SLI for the dual core CPU.

My friend asked me to build a system for him that he will generally use for internet and some gaming. 5-6 days a week it would be used by his wife, for internet, maybe some internet TV, DIVX watching, general surfing, some bookkeeping. 1-2 days a week (he drives a truck) he will spend his time playing games (I would guess FPS mainly).

What he needs is:

1. Having plasma TV, he would like to be able to play games and watch DIVX on it. Unluckily, it seems that he is limited to sVideo as his Pioneer PDP-4350SX supposidly doesn't have DVI or D-Sub.

2. He wants to be able to watch TV on his computer.

3. He would like to have a fancy case (side panel, some flashy LEDs).

4. Safe, silent and decent PSU and cooling.

5. He wants to run P2P software all the time.

6. He will probably want to be able to transfer stuff between his notebook (17" widescreen Toshiba) and PC. Notebook has IEEE but mobos for PC that support IEEE seem to be pricey. I guess he could stick to USB.

7. He and his wife might want to be able to use internet at the same time, which leads to wireless modem. They have Comcast cable.

8. It has to last at least few years. It's hard to say how long exactly and hard to predict too

9. Here is the build and remaining question - will it work together?
Or could it be built better for same $$?

All advice is welcome!

$56 - XION XION _ Solaris XON-406 Black with Blue LED Light Computer Case With Side Panel Window - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16811208013

$83 - ENERMAX Noisetaker EG495P-VE SFMA 485W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817103457

$82 - ASUS A8N5X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131569

$148 - pqi TURBO 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM System Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820141227

$296 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819103562

$32 - Thermaltake RX Series CL-P0296 92mm CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16835106073

$232 - Rosewill R912E Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16824021019

$175 - XFX Geforce 6800GS PVT42GUAD7 Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814150118

$88 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA NCQ 3Gb/s 160GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822148105

$40 - ASUS Black E-IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Write Model DRW1608P2SBLACK - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827135063

$28 - ASUS Black ATAPI DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616AG - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827135137

$15 - SONY Black Internal Floppy Drive Model MPF920 Black - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16821103116

$24 - Logitech Internet Pro Desktop Black Wired Keyboard - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16823126152

$22 - Zonet ZVC7300 WebCam - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16826508002

$46 - Leadtek TV2000XP/EXPERT TV/FM Tuner Card, REMOTE - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814122180

[glc]

Looks good. You can transfer files over a wireless network, no need to mess with Firewire or USB.

[Pierdobek]

Originally Posted by glc Looks good. You can transfer files over a wireless network, no need to mess with Firewire or USB.

1. Do You think he could skip on OEM heatsink and use only stock stuff?

2. For P2P running all the time, should he go with 1 bigger HDD (the one on the list is in the lower range) partitioned out or 2 smaller HDDs?

3. There are some mobos with Sata-2 feature. What is it about?

4. Is SLI a technology that is likely to survive and should we consider building this PC prepared for SLI?

5. I would appreciate advice on wireless network. It would include 1 PC, 1 notebook and comcast cable modem.

[glc]

1. The heatsink that comes with the retail boxed processor is fine.
2. No comment, I don't do P2P and don't approve of it.
3. A higher theoretical burst transfer rate. Not a factor.
4. Yes, but not worth the extra expense of the motherboard and a certified power supply.
5. You need a wireless router such as a Linksys WRT54G and a wireless adapter in the notebook if it doesn't already have an internal wireless.

[Pierdobek]

Originally Posted by glc 2. No comment, I don't do P2P and don't approve of it.

No worries here. He has some Czech roots and his wife Polish. He isn't dealing with anything illegal. All they download right now are older movies in their native languages that they are not able to rent or buy on DVDs. It's the only way they can get them and considering age of the movies, it's 99% legal.

I just wondered about 2 HDD idea and is it worth it for the extra $$...

[Staren]

If there is going to be a lot of video downloading, I would go with one large hard drive to begin with, then use an external fireware hard drive for long term storage. I think that's the cleanest way to go.

[MakeYourslf2012]

I agree, It would be wise to get something like a 120GB HD for the system and something around 250-300GB external HD for storing the P2P files. Then he can even hook up the External to his Laptop if he wants to watch the movies on there.

This is similar to what I do, it works great.

[Staren]

One other thing. There is a cheaper and better way to do an external hard drive then buying a pre-made one in the store. You can get external exclosures for between $20 - $35, and then you can put any internal hard drive in that. It's cheaper, and you get the best hardware and not the cheap drives that get put in pre-made external drives because they didn't sell the first time around.

[Pierdobek]

Thanks for answers.

I think that considering the cost of 160GB drive that is in this setup, we will go just with that. Once he knows exactly how many movies he is going to keep/share or just burn, he might go for another internal/external drive.

I got some ideas from other places that instead using 6800GS + Leadtek TV tuner, he should consider 7600GT (+ same TV card) or ATI All in Wonder card.

Is it worth extra $$ (in both cases, I guess), especially knowing that 7600GT has little reviews and ATI AIW reviews are not that great?

[daveyp225]

Originally Posted by Pierdobek Thanks for answers. I think that considering the cost of 160GB drive that is in this setup, we will go just with that. Once he knows exactly how many movies he is going to keep/share or just burn, he might go for another internal/external drive. I got some ideas from other places that instead using 6800GS + Leadtek TV tuner, he should consider 7600GT (+ same TV card) or ATI All in Wonder card. Is it worth extra $$ (in both cases, I guess), especially knowing that 7600GT has little reviews and ATI AIW reviews are not that great?

I have the 9800pro AIW and can really appreciate its usefulness. It has never had any problems and recording (as well as gaming) is great. I can't comment on the newer 'higher-tech' ones, but I assume they can only be better...

[phatpho]

Coming from the PVR perspective, the majority of users at a do-it-yourself website for PVR, www.byopvr.com, prefer the hauppauge hardware encoding cards. They can be had for $90 with a remote and IR blaster. I use the PVR-150 and have great results.

A plug for nvidia over ATI video cards for PVR is that the nvidia video decoder is highly regarded and gets the most out of nvidia cards.

If you are concerned about PC noise something to consider about your video card is passive cooling. i think there are some 6800 cards that do have a heatsink only but the high end cards tend not to have passive cooling due to high heat production.

I dont know if enermax is on the list of approved PSUs in this forum, but seasonic is a very well regarded maker of virtually silent PSUs.

PP

[glc]

Nothing wrong with Enermax. We just don't recommend them all the time due to cost.

[gary_hendricks]

Check this one out:

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=154763