Compatability for 1st time builder.

[Orcus332]

Hey guys, hopefully I've come to the right place. I need someone to look over the components I'm thinking about ordering in the next few months to make sure that everything will work together. I don't want a top notch system because I'm working on an $800 budget, but I would like something powerful and capable of running some fairly new games (on a level with quake 4). So here I go:

PSU/Case
Antec Sonata Designer 500 Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Designer%2b500
I plan on adding 2 92mm fans to the front either with auto temp/rpm detection, or regular ones that can be controlled via a 3.5" drive controller.

Mobo:
BIOSTAR A770 A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...70%2bATX%2bAMD

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103773

Memory:
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231122

Video Card:
EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...8800GT%2b512MB

HDD:
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136073

Optical drive:
SAMSUNG Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151154


I'm going to use my 19" LCD, keyboard, mouse, speakers, 250 external HDD (USB), and possible my old optical drive (CD-RW) if it is compatable, wireles card. I plan on installing my copy of windows XP 32 bit for the OS.

I still don't understand how many GB of memory 32 bit will allow...Are the 4GB i've chosen too much? I'm also concerned if my PSU is powerful enough (can i get a cheaper setup buying the PSU separate from the case and still be good quality)?

Thanks to whoever sits down and looks this over. Give me any other suggestions you may have please!

[liambl]

Get another motherboard. This: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128327 would be a better choice. The PSU with the case will work fine. You won't need to use the CD-RW drive, that DVD drive will do everything.

[Katreat]

I will leave AMD to others but I agree with Liambi on brand, go Asus or Gigibyte, Biostar is a budget board.

32 bit OS will see up to 4 GB, but that includes any other memory so you wuould subtract your GPU memory etc. So on average it sees about 3.2 GB or so. So with ram being so cheap it is fine to go for 4 GB which sets you up for an eventual upgrade to a 64 bit OS sometime in the future.

For HD check out the new 32 mb cache like the Seagate 7200.11 series. Little bit faster seek times for just a few $ more. I think WD has them also.

Alot of posters have been having issues with Samsung opticals so most on this forum would recomend trading that out for a Lite-on. Get it SATA and retail and you get free burning software.

Kat