Soho PC components, Your comments needed

[BUGNUT]

Its 5 years since my last complete PC build. The parts I used are in my signature.

I have started a business to be run from home. I need a dedicated business computer, meaning no gaming. I need to keep the cost reasonable. I have chosen what I believe to be budget components from brand name manufacturers. I will be using my old keyboard, mouse, moniter and speakers. The OS will be Win XP Pro.

Proposed components have been narrowed to:

Ram - OCZ OCZ2P8004GQ EL DDR2 PC2-6400 / 800 MHz / Enhanced Latency / Platinum Edition / Quad Kit (4x1GB) (OCZ2P8004GQ)
or
Kingston ValueRAM - Memory - 4 GB ( 2 x 2 GB ) - DIMM 240-pin - DDR II - 667 MHz - CL5 - 1.8 V - unbuffered - non-ECC (KVR667D2N5K2/4G)

Mobo: ASUS M2A-VM/HDMI SKT.AM2 AMD690G/ATI SB600 2PCI/PCI-E X16/PCI-E X1/SATAII 4D.DDR2 LAN AUDIO HDMI M.ATX (M2A-VM/HDMI)
or
GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H SKT.AM2 AMD 690G MATX 2PCI/PCI-E X4/PCI-EX16/4D.DDR2 SATA, GB LAN, AUDIO, HDMI (GA-MA69GM-S2H)

HDD - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500 GB 7200 rpm 16 MB (ST3500630AS)

Processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ / 3.2 GHz - Socket AM2 - L2 2 MB ( 2 x 1 MB ) - BOX without fan (ADX6400CZWOF)

CPU Cooler - Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro for AMD Socket 754/939/AM2

Case - Antec New Solution NSK1380 - Desktop - micro ATX - power supply 350 Watt ( ATX12V 2.01 ) - USB/Audio (NSK1380)
or
Apevia X-Qpack Black Micro ATX Tower with Clear Sides, Front USB, FireWire & Audio Ports and 420-Watt Power Supply.

I welcome your opinions and suggestions to help me make a final decision. If you have other component recommendations do so with your reasoning.
Is not having PCI-e x4 an issue?
The mobo's on board video will support up to 1024mb ram. Is this overkill? Will that much video ram enhance performance?

Thanks,

Jim

[Alaron]

Looks like an ok list to me. You may want to price your parts at www.ncix.com and www.memoryexpress.com as well. TigerDirect in the US is not the best place to buy; I don't know if the Canadian store is better.

Stick with DDR2-800 for an AMD system.
I'd use Asus over Gigabyte anyday.
Go with that Antec case. Apevia power supplies are junk.
You won't ever need PCI-E x4.
Your onboard video is not really an issue for desktop use. Allocate a small amount like 64MB and you'll be fine.

[BUGNUT]

Hi Alaron,

Thanks for a fast reply. Asus is my prefered mobo brand. It looks like TigerDirects reputation is the same on both side of the border. They are the king of rebates. A couple of the big box electronic stores up here have dropped rebates all together. HEY TIGERDIRECT TAKE NOTE!!! In "Canadian english" TigerDirect means "OUT OF STOCK" There is a TigerDirect 5 minutes from my home and on the rare occasion I want something from their flier, you guessed it, out of stock.

I've purchased components on line but prefer to buy from the small local independant computer stores. They usually have what I want and their pensils are very sharp. They are always there when I need product support or other help. Try that with an online store.

Jim