1st Time Build. Please critique/offer advice

[delvinJ]

Howdo all...
I am looking to do my first system build and this is what I have as to components. Please critque. My goal is to keep cost below $3,000.00 which I am slightly over budget. I do not want to waste cashola so please chime in if you see an area to save a few, etc... I am also interested in OCing and Xfire (though I may put off the second card until a later date to save 500 bucks (perhaps cost will come down ;-)

Any advice, suggestions, etc or just "what, are ya freggin nutz" comments would be most welcomed .

thx,
j


Just editing as I get good advice ...

Thx Max... was a rum-n-coke snaffu on the OS :?
I will review the SC more... I actually use my system for music playback and have a nice 5x1 Boston Acoustic speaker set.

Thx Bil on the power supply info... After re-reviewing... it does't have enoough amps on the rails. I opted for the Enermax at almost double the cost but seems to be worth it...

As for the Xfire, I have read many mixed reviews. I am seriously considering dropping the second card until cost drops a bit but is Xfire/SLi in general worth it?

All prices from Newegg...

CPU: AMD Opteron 170 Dual Core - $396.00

MB: ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe Socket 939 ATI CrossFire Radeon XPRESS 3200 - $190.00

VC: Radeon X1900XTX 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card (x2 @ $509.00) - $1,018.00

Mem: CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Twinx2048-3200c2pt - $197.00

HD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (x2 @ $96.00 for RAID0) - $192.00

PSU: ENERMAX Liberty ELT620AWT ATX12V 620W Power Supply - $165.00

SC: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card - $116.00

Case: MGE QUANTUM CA-QUANTUM Black 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $128.00

Misc: (Drives, KB/Mouse, etc...) - $133.00

OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2 - OEM - $140.00

Monitor: SAMSUNG 204B-Black Black 20.1" 5ms LCD - $510.00

Total System cost: $3,185.00

 

[maxxum]

Personally, I think the sound card is overkill. Really, who buys 1,000+ speaker setups that go past 95dB much less 100+ you’ll be hard pressed to find any difference in quality between that card and an Audigy 4 for 40-50 less.

The other thing, you know you are not going to get 100% of 32-bit programs to work on that version of windows, right? Even so, some may run slower or buggy. 64 is still new and drivers are just barely coming out – by the time Vista arrives everyone is going to forget 64 all together. I would personally go with Pro now and wait for Vista to mature for around 3-6 months.

 

[ToxicCow]

My advice: Dont go cross fire.

The 100% extra cost will give you -10%to+30% extra performance, give or take some.

 

[bilbo3660]

For a highend SLI/Crossfire system that you are planning to OC, you need a better psu. Besides that Rosewill only has one PCI-E connector. Take a look at Antec, Enermax and Seasonic. The Antec NeoHE 550 has three +12v rails with 18a on each and is modular.

 

[delvinJ]

Aight... Did a little more reviewing and found that the Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe is a better MoBo for Dual graphics as it supports full 16x accoss both PCIx16s as where the DFI only supports 8x in a dual card config.

However, I am a little skeptical about dual video cards... what opins do all have on Dual graphics?

thx again all for your input!!

 

[bilbo3660]

Man, you've designed one kick-ass system! Anyway...
I wonder about dual video cards too. Half of all dual systems just have one card. With two X1900XTX's you'll have one of the best gaming systems around. With one you still will. LOL.

I took a quick look at your case. It's very attractive but...with five smaller fans and a mesh side window it could be noisy. Noise is subjective and the fan controls might do the trick for you but with an oc'd system and 1 or 2 video cards it's going to be hot inside that case. Take a look at the Gigabyte 3D Aurora. You have choice of mesh or window on the left panel and it has bling with three 120mm LED fans. It's also ready for water cooling if you want to go that route in the future. Many excellent reviews ie. Bjorn3D, HotHardware, Xbitlabs.

 

[ToxicCow]

I concur, that case could be a bit noisy, and the gigabyte 3D aurora is an awesome case. Getting it myself - should be arriving sometime soon.