Building my own PC: Here are the specs, please comment!

[SodiumChloride]

Haven't upgraded my PC since May 02, and I am a games lover, so it is time to upgrade! I want to build my own PC instead of ordering from a company like Dell to save money and to feel proud of myself

BUDGET: $3300 from local casino's texas hold'em bad beat jackpot. $2000 or so after taxes, have a couple grand more in savings. Not gonna touch savings.

My rig:

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego (2.4GHz) 1GHz FSB, 1MB L2 cache Socket 939. Named after where i live, so i had to plus the next level up (+0.2GHz) costs almost double. $368

Mobo: ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe: Supposed to be good for AMD, and any processor upgrades i might make over next 2 yrs or so. Only problem is a fan i might have to replace cheaply. $164

Case: (http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-119-082-01.JPG) With 380W power supply. $80

Video Card: GeForce 7800GTX 256MB eVGA. The ONE item that I am splurging on. Can I be talked out of it? $579!!

Sound: SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZSGamer. $121-$50 rebate

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200 250GB. $111

DVD/CD drive, memory, floppy drive, Dell 1701FP monitor, speakers&woofer: Cannibalizing from old PC, the drive is only a few weeks old. Free?

Total price: $1500 at Newegg. The Dell equivalent is $2300 and the Alienware equivalent is $4800!

I'm going to upgrade my 5+ year old 1701FP someday. It only gets up to 1280x1024 and has no dead pixels. 2001FP might be good.

Is this a good setup? I'm going to order the sound card before tuesday, when the $50 mail in rebate expires.

[Samurai]

Don't buy a case with a "free PSU". 9 times out of 10 they'll suck hard, and you'll be lucky if you don't have a problem with it. Do NOT get a 360W either, if you're serious about gaming. Grab something around 450W or higher. They're not that much more expensive and 600W PSU's are on offer in many online stores.

Video card is good, but if you took a reduction to one lower down will you make a big saving or not? If it's something like $20 then sure, go get the one you want, but weigh up the differences. If it is $200 difference between your one and the one below, get the one below.

Sound. Why Audigy 2? Have you seen the Audigy 4 is 10x better? With the money you saved on a video card, you could end up with great graphics and great sound too. The X-Fi is supposed to be good too so take a look.

Good choice on HDD.

Only things that I'd personally get (if I had the funds) would be a higher PSU (as high as I could afford (but not silly money), Audigy 4 or X-Fi, again depending on price and finally a decent speaker system. Having 2 speakers with a decent card is too painful to think about.

Hope this helps... Oh and you forgot about memory. So add another $100 for 1GB. Anything less and you'll struggle on latest games.

[SodiumChloride]

Thanks! I also got a tip for a lower price on that graphics card, about $150 less but same performance. I'm getting a 500 watt, 24 pin power supply.

[lynx]

Unless you've got really good speakers, the sound card is a waste of money. The onboard sound on the mobo would probably be just as good.

You'll need new memory. You need DDR400 memory for decent performance, and since that wasn't around 5 years ago I'm fairly confident your current system won't have it. Get a matched pair so you system can run in dual-channel mode.

[ApacNTS]

wow im just envious, that's a dream system. hope you post pics when you get it all setup, just so i can drool in wonderment.

[clocker]

Why get a SLI motherboard when it is highly unlikely you will ever use it?
Switching to the NF4 non-SLI DFI motherboard (like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136163) ) gives you more performance for way less cash.
Lynx was absolutely correct on both counts...you will need new RAM and forget the add-on sound card- you prolly won't need it and it can be added later anyway.

How do you plan on cooling this beast?
Your case choice is notoriously bad for aircooling and you are paying for a PSU that you won't even be using.

[zapjb]

Tell us the brand of the PSU. All but a few will not protect (that's right) your investment.

[clocker]

Tell us the brand of the PSU. All but a few will not protect (that's right) your investment.
Why not simplify this and just tell him which Antec you recommend?

[SodiumChloride]

I asked this same question on the Simtropolis (Sim City 4) forums and they recommended Antec as well. For $70 on newegg there's a 500W psu.

And for processor I've decided to go with the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor with the money I saved from giving the sound card the axe.

[SodiumChloride]

System update!

Processor: AMD athlon 64 X2 4200+ dual core
RAM: GeIL SDRAM DDR400 (PC3200) 2x1GB
Power: Antec SmartPower ATX 12V 500W
Video: GeForce 7800GTX 256MB
Mobo: ABIT socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm 250GB

[clocker]

Nice system.

[Virtualbody1234]

System update!

Processor: AMD athlon 64 X2 4200+ dual core
RAM: GeIL SDRAM DDR400 (PC3200) 2x1GB
Power: Antec SmartPower ATX 12V 500W
Video: GeForce 7800GTX 256MB
Mobo: ABIT socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm 250GB
Which Abit board is that? There are a few that are socket 939 Nvidia nForce4.

[accat13]

I might be a little concerned about ABIT they seem to be going thru some restructuring,don't know how it will affect support. http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=26459 As if there ever is any support LOL

[SodiumChloride]

Which Abit board is that? There are a few that are socket 939 Nvidia nForce4.

One that supports Athlon 64 X2 processors, can hold DDR400 PC3200 RAM, and has a PCI slot that is powerful enough (15x or 16x, forgot which it is) for the graphics card.

[Virtualbody1234]

Which Abit board is that? There are a few that are socket 939 Nvidia nForce4.

One that supports Athlon 64 X2 processors, can hold DDR400 PC3200 RAM, and has a PCI slot that is powerful enough (15x or 16x, forgot which it is) for the graphics card.
Ok. I checked at Newegg.com and they have 6 different motherboards that meet your specs. All 6 are Abit.

Support Athlon 64 X2
Support DDR400 PC3200 RAM
Support PCI Express x16

Here they are: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Manufactory=1283&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=710%3A17168&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&description=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=22&Submit=Property

[SodiumChloride]

Thanks for the help Virtualbody 1234. The mobo that i ordered was in the 6 that were listed, what a relief because i already ordered a couple hours ago. They are already processing it :) I almost ordered the wrong one earlier on. Mobo selection is quite complicated!

The FINAL cost, after taxes and shipping, is US$1700. The dell equivalent is at least $1000 more than that. Sure pays to do it yourself!

[clocker]

The FINAL cost, after taxes and shipping, is US$1700. The dell equivalent is at least $1000 more than that. Sure pays to do it yourself!
We'll see what you say in a few weeks.

What OS are you installing?

[ApacNTS]

1700, man, youre gonna love that system. i would :D

[SodiumChloride]

Win XP home edition with SP2. Nothing fancy.

[SodiumChloride]

IT WORKS!!!!

Booted up on the first try. Everything works, no crashes so far, and driver installation went flawlessly. Still haven't installed any games yet, but when I do it will be even better :)

[Virtualbody1234]

Excellent!

[SodiumChloride]

Well, it did work untill i tried running GTA:SA, it won't even start! It installed just fine, but the game just won't get past the CD check!

[Virtualbody1234]

Well, it did work untill i tried running GTA:SA, it won't even start! It installed just fine, but the game just won't get past the CD check!
That doesn't sound like there's a problem with the computer. Is that an original CD or do you just need to 'patch' it?

[SodiumChloride]

Totally original DVD, store-bought. Pretty strange, I haven't even installed daemon tools yet, so it's not detecting anything sinister on my computer. All unnecessary programs on the task manager were turned off, too!

EDIT: Downloaded the no-cd crack and that doesn't work either :(

[Virtualbody1234]

What drivers have you installed?

[SodiumChloride]

I got it to work, but the solution was very odd. I downloaded new drivers for sound from realtek's website from "Mirror 2" and it didn't work, downloaded from "Mirror 3" and it did work. Very strange!

EDIT: Scratch that. It only works when my USB device is not plugged in. I can probably fix that somehow.

[silent h3ro]

Teach me ur Texas Hold'em strategies, lol. Btw, awesome computer, thats gonna last a looong time.

[Virtualbody1234]

I got it to work, but the solution was very odd. I downloaded new drivers for sound from realtek's website from "Mirror 2" and it didn't work, downloaded from "Mirror 3" and it did work. Very strange!

EDIT: Scratch that. It only works when my USB device is not plugged in. I can probably fix that somehow.
What is the USB device?

Try other USB drivers.

[SodiumChloride]

The USB device is an adapter that turns a playstation 2 controller into a joystick. Very handy!