First time builder looking for advice and feedback.

[Jayrock]

Hi everyone. I've never built a PC before but have decided to attempt it as it seems like i could easily get more bang for my buck by building rather than buying a premade at a higher price. I'm getting all parts from newegg.com as I hear they are a very reputable dealer. To begin with I'll list all the parts chosen:

XION II XON-101 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811208005

ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131013

HITACHI Deskstar P7K500 HDP725032GLA360 (0A35411) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822145213

(2) PNY VCG86GTSXPB GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133198

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Brisbane 2.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103243

Rosewill RP550V2-S-SL 550W SLI Ready-ATX12V V2.01 Power Supply 115/230 V CSA,UL,TUV,FCC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182030

A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211066


What I'm looking for is some honest feedback and/or advice. As I stated I'm a first timer, and am looking for a decent entry level gaming rig. I understand this is not the greatest set up by any means, but I'm on a very tight budget. The processer I know is by far not top of the line but I believe it will be sufficient until I can afford a better one. The mobo only runs sli at x8 x8, but my understanding is that there is not huge difference between x8 x8 vs. x16 x16. Too, the ram, while cheap has good reviews so I'm crossing my fingers. And finally, with the extra power supply, I don't think the 450 watt supply with the case will be enough, I wanted something known to support sli technology. I am going to be installing Vista 64bit in this system. So honestly, do I stand a chance with whats listed? Edit: forgor to mention optical drive. For that I'm using the drive from my old PC, its in fine working order, no known issues.

[Katreat]

I have not built AMD for quite awhile so will leave that to others but here are a few comments.

PSU - Roswell is not a good brand. Pick something from a good manufature. Take a look at this list.

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

MB - dont really know much about AMD boards but forget about SLI. Two 8600s in SLI will cost you more and have much less performance than one ATI 3870 or 8800 GT.

Video - As for your question about SLI you will be money ahead just putting your cash into a better video card. SLI can give you nice performance gains on very large monitors (like 28+). It can also speed things up if you are already using the best (ie: Two 8800 GT or higher). SLI for lower level cards just does not pay. The 8600 you have picked out is a good all around card. It will play older games well and most newer games if you turn down the settings. If you want better performance skip the SLI and just pay a bit more for either a ATI 3870 or an 8800 GT. Your performance will be much better than two 8600s in SLI.

HD - Been a lot of complaints about Hitachi HD. I would recommend going with WD or Seagate for reliablity. They earned the name "Deathstar".

RAM - generally I recomend Corsair. Very reliable and has a great record for not being DOA. I dont really know A-datas track record but ram is cheap right now and so you might want to go with a major brand.

Optical - Is your old optical IDE or SATA?

OS - Vista 64 actually runs a bit slower because it must translate all the 32 bit software to 64 bit. The only real reason to go that direction is if you need more than 3.2 GB of ram. That is rarely necessary, especially on a budget system so I would stick with either XP or Vista 32 for now.


Kat

[shadowpr]

I agree with Kat on everything, except for maybe the ram. I've heard a few good things about that brand. I think it was someone on this site that bought some and said it was working nicely. But if you don't want to take the chance, then follow the suggestion and go with a better known brand.

And like said, unless getting 4gb or more of ram, I would just get vista 32 bit.

[geowick07]

As was said above, Hitachi HDD's have a bad reputation. I personally have gone through two of them. I now am a Seagate or WD lifer. Never had a problem with either manufacturer.

Also, x3 on the Vista 32-bit instead of the 64-bit. #1 reason - resources. #2 reason - application support. I am right now in the process of researching my next system, and was considering Vista 64-bit. But, after taking a look around at 64-bit application support and availability, I have decided against 64-bit OS.

And, I agree entirely with Katreat about going for a 8800GT or the like, versus buying 2 GPU's and running SLI. A 512mb 8800GT will perform much better than 2 8600's, and they also allow future SLI-related upgrades. Later down the road, you could always buy another 8800GT, and SLI the two of them, resulting in some excellent performance.

Just my .02 - Good luck with the build!