Help me build a new desktop (1 Viewer)

[BrianShort]

I'm finally going to build a new desktop. Primary use will be for Half Life 2, and other games that come along, as well as Photoshop and other digital camera related stuff. My plan is to probably get something in January when I'm finished with my Firefighter I class (I'm getting paid to take the class, thank you FEMA ), and so my budget will be around $1500, though the lower, the better. This will be an entirely new system, all they way down to a new mouse and keyboard. My old system will probably be handed down to my mom, or perhaps sold.

Video: nVidia 6600GT or Athlon x700 Pro

CPU: Athlon 64 3200+

Monitor: LCD, probably 17"

Motherboard: nForce 4 based board, when one comes out in the $100 range

RAM: 1 gig Crucial

Sound: Probably an older SB Audigy, definitely something under $100. I do want 5.1 support and good sound quality, but don't need a whole lot of other bells and whisles

Case: Don't really need anything wild, no flashing LED's or neon or clear windows in the side of the case. Simple, clean, black, and quiet is what I'm looking for. I love the desigs of the Lian-Li cases, but they're expensive. The Antec Sonta looks pretty good, but still sort of pricey at $99.

Storage: HD, 80 gigs. Whats a good brand? Optical, combo drive with dual layer DVD burning capability. Though I can also burn CD's with my laptop, so I could just go with a plain DVD-ROM until the dual layer burners get faster and dual layer media is cheaper.

Brian

 

[Mark Shannon]

The Sonata was originally what I was going to get for my most recent computer, but decided against it because of the swinging door. If you want quiet though, it is one of the quietest on the market. I ended up going with the Antec P160 instead, even though it's more expensive and doesn't include a PSU.

If you want a good case, for cheap ($95CDN) you might want to check out the Enermax CS-800TA.


I actually just bought the yellow one today, for the next system I'll be building.

 

[SethH]

Well, IMO you should choose a CPU first. Next a motherboard . . . then worry about everything else. Why? Because your motherboard will determine things like videocard and RAM. Newer motherboards only have PCIe for video and do not have AGP (although a few have both). I got a Seagate SATA 80GB HD for my most recent build. If you want better performance, get 2 and stripe them for extremely quick performance. Are you going to OC your RAM? If not, then the brand is not TOO important (as long as it's actually a real brand). Crucial, Corsair, and Muskin are all good brands.

 

[Mike Fassler]

personally if it was a system for gaming id totally forget about intel procs, cause the A64's totally rip them for what you are gonna be doing, Id also go for an Nforce4 mobo, so you have the option of running SLI in the future. Yes buy name brand ram, High end ram is only needed if you wanna overclock. crucial will be fine. the 6600GT is a fine card, its in the same price range as the 9800 pro(which is easy to find/get) even at newegg, for a LCD monitor you cant beat the price/performance of the NEC models, and they have super awesome video quality. with all these new super duper toys in this system you will need a nice power supply preferably at least 400w for futureproofness and easy to add in anything you want. as far as HDD's are concerned just find a good deal on a seagate or maxtor or WD, its hard to get a bad drive but it does happen(its a mechanical piece of equipment they break). as for keyboard/mouse Logitech cordless mxduo is good(get the one with the mx700 or mx900) and not that much when bought you price out each component.
as for a case, go aluminum if you cna afford it, unless you never move yer pc anywhere then get a quality steel case, they can get extremely heavy thou, I think my antec case weights 30lbs empty.

 

[BrianShort]

Are there AMD boards that support PCIe yet?

Also, what is the maximum amount of response time suitable for 3d gaming with no ghosting?

Brian

 

[Mike Fassler]

yes, Nforce4 anything under 20 should be fine. the NEC lcd's are by far the best gaming flat screens ive ever seen.

 

[BrianShort]

I tried to edit my previous post earlier to mention I had found the nForce 4 was the only Athlon 64 board to support PCIe, but the site wasn't working well or something. Any idea when we'll see these for sale? It doesn't look like the boards in the $100 range will support SLI, but I don't really think I'll have any need for that feature.

Mark bk: That Enermax case looks nice. So does the Antec case you just bought too. I agree about the swinging door. I had an old Micron system with one, and I just took it off. Without the door, the Sonata looks pretty ugly.

Brian