First build.

[crimsonjax]

Only 2 things I want, good budget gaming rig and AM2, SLi compatibility for future upgradability(word??).

MOBO:either

ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard $150
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131013

or

ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard $190
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131011

Really could care less about the wireless stuff, but like the idea of running true x16 on gpu's (eventually).

CPU: either

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103735

or

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor $170
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819103747

I'm leaning towards the 3800+ and putting the extra $30 towards a nicer PSU or something. How much can the 3800+ be OCed with the ASUS boards?

PSU

COOLMAX "SLI" CXI-500B ATX v2.01 500W Power Supply 115/230 V $70
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817159054

other SLi compatible units??

GPU

eVGA 256-P2-N554-AX Geforce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card $140
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814130017

will get another one when budget allows again...

HDD

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $53
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822144415

budget minded HDD and I trust WD drives..

RAM

CORSAIR XMS2 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory $155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145588

OS

Microsoft Windows XP Home Sp2b 1pk w/Upgrade Coupon for Vista $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116169

I already have a new Rosewill case, optical drive, keyboard, mouse and a 19" LCD that I'm going to use.

Thoughts??

[glc]

Get a certified power supply. Rosewills are not certified and depending on actual manufacturer (they use several), they range from acceptable to awful.

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizon..._powersupplies

You need some ram.

[crimsonjax]

I filtered the Newegg options to just show SLi ready units. Thanks for the link. I'll look the list over!

RAM? who needs RAM?! dohh..

[glc]

SLI-ready doesn't mean it's certified. Anyone can hang the right power connectors on a junk unit and call it SLI-ready. Certified means that it's actually been tested by Nvidia's labs.

[Cricket]

CoolMax power supplies are rubbish. Get something better. I'd look at a Seasonic or equivalent power supply for what you're building.

Cricket

[glc]

I should have said just because it's certified that does not guarantee quality.......you have 2 things to look at - certification and a quality manufacturer. $70 is pretty cheap for a certified power supply, this is a clue.

With SLI, if you wanna play, you gotta pay. That's why I stick with good single card rigs. It's not that hard to find a single card that will outperform 2 7600GT's. You will spend a lot less than you would buying 2 cards - and also save on the power supply *and* motherboard. With the cheaper motherboard and power supply, I bet you could get a better single card now and spend the same.

(Can you say vanilla P5B and a E6300?)
(XClio 450 watt at 40 bucks?)
(7900GS?)

What are you going to do when you need DX10?

[crimsonjax]

Thanks for the coolmax tip! This build is getting pricey for my budget. I my have to revise my selections and rethink my AM2, SLi desires..

I started looking at the 6300 at newegg and the reviews are great. Many are mentioning easy OC up to 3ghz.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by crimsonjax Thanks for the coolmax tip! This build is getting pricey for my budget. I my have to revise my selections and rethink my AM2, SLi desires..

Yes, it's difficult to build a gaming rig on a tight budget...you really have to make major compromises or just hold off until you have the right amount of funds to do the gaming rig the right way. When I build gaming rigs (which isn't very often) I usually tell the new owner to figure on starting at $1500 and possibly ending up around $2000 or more (depending on what they want).

Cricket

[glc]

Yep - to get equivalent performance out of AMD, you will need to spend a lot more than $185 on a processor at this time. With DX10 on the horizon, the place to cut costs right now is actually the video card - just get a "placeholder" card to tide you over - even a 7600GS will handle games quite well. It's not that difficult to build a C2D entry level gaming rig for under $1000 that will be quite upgradeable later.

[glc]

Being that you have started a new thread, I'm closing this one.