Check my Build

[Gammorian]

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to this site but everyone seems very helpful so I figured I would throw my current plans for my new comp up and hopefully get some advice. I'm not a a very strict budget but I dont want to stray too far from my current total of 581 for the items listed below. Planning to upgrade to Vista home premium and a dx10 GPU in the next couple years.

Mobo: · GIGABYTE GA-M57SLI-S4 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Memory Standard: DDR2 800
$119

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2.2GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA4200CUBOX - Retail
$169

RAM: · G.SKILL 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Standard System Memory Model F2-6400CL5S-1GBNQ - Retail
$94

Video Card: XFX PVT71PUDP3 GeForce 7900GS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 EXTREME Video Card - Retail
144

Case: PSI Achilles/Deluxe Version Middle Tower Computer Case 988-SL-WF(II), w/ 500W Power Supply with 120mm Fan & 20 & 24 Pins Power Connector, 80mm Color LED Case Fans
$55

1. No HDD selected yet but thinking about a 160-250g. Any recommendations?
2. On my my Mobo is says memory standard DDR2 800. Does this mean I must get DDr2 800 RAM?
3. Other than a monitor, keyboard, mouse, HDD, disk drive, and OS what do I still need to start building?
4. Need recommendations for a CD drive. Want some sort of combo drive but confused with all the R-+ stuff.

[Disgrace]

For a CD Drive i've had a bad experience with Samsung... might be one to avoid. Not sure about other brands, however.

[Alaron]

Welcome Gammorian. I'll answer your questions.

1. We recommend Seagate 7200.10 hard drives. The 250GB is the sweet spot for GB/$.
2. For the AM2 Athlons, you need to use DDR2-800.
3. Those are all the parts you need.
4. We recommend LiteOn Retail drives because they come with Nero burning software. Pick up a DVD Burner, they read and write both DVDs and CDs.

All that being said, are you completely married to the AMD platform? We have been recommending Intel Core 2 Duo based machines because they outperform anything from AMD right now. And if you are worried about budget, you can use a cheaper processor until you can afford a C2D chip. Our basic list for these builds is the Asus P5B, E6300 chip and DDR2-667.

[glc]

1. Seagate 7200.10 SATA.
2. For full performance on AM2, yes - and you need a dual channel pair, not just a single module.
3. A better power supply, that case does not come with a quality unit, much less one that's SLI-certified.
4. Lite-On retail boxed DVD burner.

[andper10]

Like Alaron said, the Core 2 Duo's are currently beating AMD's similarly priced CPU's. Here is an Intel build just for comparison. By the way, your list is lacking an Operating System, and a good PSU.

$106.00 - Intel Pentium D 915 Presler 2.8GHz 2 x 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116253 - I am recommending this CPU b/c you said that you wanted to stay near $600 (which is pretty hard to do). The Core 2 Duo E6300 is $187 and it currently offers about the best preformance per dollar, but considering your budget, there is no way that you can get one.

$75.99 - ASUS P5L-MX LGA 775 Intel 945G Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131041 - This is a Micro ATX board with limited space and connectors, but again, it is all that your budget will allow. It will allow you to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo later on if you feel inclined. If you can afford it, the Asus P5B is currently the most recommended motherboard around here for Core 2 Duo builds ($125).

$31.99 - LITE-ON Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD Burner - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106043 - This will burn and play CD's and DVD's, and it comes with some good software that other brands lack.

$79.99 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148144 - This Hard Drive is currently one of the best around. It has a large 16MB buffer, SATA 3.0 (aka SATAII), and Perpendicular Recording Technology, which makes it very fast.

As far as the video card goes, the 7900GS is really $160 before rebate. One thing that newegg doesn't really tell you is that if you send in a mail in rebate for an item, you void newegg's 1 year return policy and you will have to deal with the manufacturer if it breaks. Keep that in mind. I would personally stay away from the rebates unless they are like hundreds of dollars.
The ASUS X1950PRO (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121031 ) is a slight step up for $10, but considering the size of the card and the limited slots on that motherboard, I would actually recommend getting the 7900GS. Another reason for getting the 7900GS is the reduced power requirements.
$159.99 - EVGA 256-P2-N624-AR GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 KO Video Card - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130056

$69.99 - CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146580 - I would get a single stick of ram for now so that you can get another GB in the future and throw it in for dual channel mode. I currently have a single 1GB stick in mine, and it runs just fine.

$37.99 - XClio 450BL ATX 450W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CUL, TUV, CB - Retail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817189003 - This is a great PSU for the money. It should run your 7900GS just fine.

As far as the case goes, all of my favorite Rosewill budget cases are out of stock. A few cases that I would be comfortable with are: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811148029 , although the important thing with cases is to get one that you like.

$89.99 - Microsoft Windows XP Home Sp2b 1pk w/Upgrade Coupon for Vista - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116169 - The OS has a way of killing budgets.

That all comes out to $651.93 before shipping and before a case. You could probably drop that video card down to a 7600GS ($95 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130075 ), depending on what games you play, and what settings you want to be able to play at. That would bring the total down to $586.93 before shipping and before a case. Enjoy your build!

[Gammorian]

What do you think about these? Do I still need a hard drive power cable or does one come with the mobo? I'm pretty set on going with AMD. From looking at the Intel build that andper10 posted I can get a much better mobo + higher end CPU for the money.

1. Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3250824AS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
$75

2. OKGEAR SATA II cable with metal latch,Silver Model GC36ATASM - Retail
$2.49

3. Still a little confused on the disk drive. Is the cache size important? ShouldI get a 1.5 or 2MB cache. The speeds for actual software (games) I want to be fast but I dont need an advanced burning capabilities.

[Gammorian]

Andper I think you were confused about my budget. The $600 only included the mobo, CPU, video card, PSU, case, and RAM. The disk drive or OS was not included in the $600 budget.

[glc]

1. The .10 drive is a better drive and only $5 more.
2. Not needed - the motherboard comes with SATA cables.
3. Not important.

[Khalil]

never mind

[Alaron]

Perhaps I was not clear. What I meant to say was that if the Core 2 Duo chips are too expensive, you could use a cheaper chip for now, such as the 915 that andper suggested, and upgrade to C2D later.