help with new computer

[blitzthejacker]

Sup people. I'm building this $700 system and I need help with the parts. I've never built a computer by myself before but a friend of mine helped me pick out these parts. Let me know what you think of it and any suggestions / criticism / etc.

MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130484

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822144701

G.SKILL 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model F1-3200PHU1-1GBNS - Retail: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231046

Logitech MX518 931352-0403 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1x Wheel USB + PS/2 Optical Mouse - Retail: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826104178

Thermaltake TR2 W0070 ATX 430W Power Supply - Retail: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153023

SAPPHIRE 100130VIVOL Radeon X800GTO2 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102646


Thanks in advance.

[gary_hendricks]

Could I ask what you're using the PC for? If its more for gaming, I'd suggest beefing up the graphics horsepower - to something like an X1900XT.

[glc]

The graphics card is fine, but the ram and power supply is not. You should use a dual channel ram kit, and you need a ATX 2.0 power supply. 18 amps on a single +12v rail is not enough.

[blitzthejacker]

Wow, I can't believe I forgot to mention the CPU. It was 4 in the morning though so I was pretty out of it. oh yeah, and I already have an optical drive that I bought a few months ago. Forgot to mention that, sorry.

the CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 1GHz HT Socket 939 Processor - Retail: http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819103535

and I'm likely going to have to replace those 2 gigs of RAM with a single stick of something else. I'm looking at buying a single stick now and then upgrading in the future, but I have a question. If I buy a single stick of Corsair now, can I upgrade with the same stick later and have it run in dual-channel mode? From what I understand, as long as both have the same speed/capacity they should work fine, am I right? Also, I'm buying a ValueSelect stick now (with no heat spreader), would it matter if I got a more expensive XMS with heat spreader later? Would they still be compatible for dual-channel?

Can you recommend a power supply, glc? I'm clueless when it comes to the voltage required and all that stuff.

thanks for the help.

[glc]

Buy a 1 gig dual channel kit NOW, then another later when you want to up it to 2 gigs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104952

[blitzthejacker]

alright, cool.

the thing with the RAM is I eventually want to upgrade it to the point where it's at 4 gigs, so having two sticks for 1 gig isn't ideal in that regard. is a 1 gig stick by itself really that much worse than 512x2 ?

[blitzthejacker]

ok, check it out. this is what i'm likely going to go with:

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion...jakeisaniggard

any more suggestions? thanks in advance.

[blitzthejacker]

I'm stuck on which of these cards to get:

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814102646
or
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814130265

Now, I know the X800GTO2 is probably faster, but the 6800 GS supports SM 3.0, and I'm leaning toward the 6800 GS because of it. Am I making the right choice? Is SM 3.0 going to be important in the future? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[glc]

The 6800GS is an excellent card for the price. You will be happy with it. Look at the cheaper eVGA versions of the 6800GS - they are on sale with rebates too.

Problem is - with the ram - sure, you can use only 1 stick, but adding another stick later will not GUARANTEE that it will work in dual channel or be stable. I see you did put a 2x1 in the wishlist - save some money and get the value select instead of the XMS. The Athlon 64 memory architecture really doesn't benefit much at all with tighter ram timings.