Almost ready

[Fox9]

I picked most of the components. This system seems to have a cost of around $1500 with tax and shipping. I may need to downgrade my processor and video card. If there are any ideas for savings that you could give me, please share.

Athlon X2 3800+ $295.00
ASUS A8N-E Ultra $95.00
OCZ 2GB PC3200 $200.00
eVGA GeForce 7800GS 256-A8-N507 $299.00
Possible Cheap Sound Card $30.00
Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB $125.00
Antec TruePower PTII 430W $65.00
CoolerMaster Centurion RC-532-SKN1 $65.00
Zalman CNPS9500 $65.00
Chipset Cooling $30.00
Other Fans $20.00
SONY Floppy $10.00
Sony Combo DVD/CD read/write $40.00
Total $1,339.00
Tax plus shipping (estimate) $1,505.00

What do you think?
I intend to overclock by about 200MHz. I don't want to OC the memory or increase voltage by much. This setup has to last about 5 years. 😛

Questions:
Is the CPU fan good enough or maybe too much. Suggestions?
I want to get a quite chipset cooler (maybe a heatsink), because the ASUS fan is rumored to suck. Suggestions?
I need a second 120mm fan that can take advantage of the ASUS speed control and I may want to replace the first (non variable) fan with a quieter one. Suggestion?

I want to reuse my old ATA66 hard drive as an auxillary, will it slow down my system, even if it is not in use?
I also intend to reuse my old CD-ROM (of unknown manufacture) as a second drive, will that hurt my system.
Did any of you use this case, or have similarities with this setup; can you give me any advice, please? 😀

 

[MadModMike]

Uh dude, 7800GS = AGP, that board is PCI-EXPRESS, you need a different video card. Get the 7600GT, it's just as good if not better and $100 cheaper.

2) Reduce the HDD to 250GB, it saves $25-$50 depending on the model.

3) Get 1GB RAM, 2 512MB Crucial Ballistix PC3200, it's $100 cheaper and just as good

~~Mad Mod Mike, pimpin' the world 1 rig at a time

 

[49ers540]

What's your main purpose/multi purpose for this build?

 

[Fox9]

How embarrassing. 😳

eVGA GeForce 79GT 256-P2N563 $319

eVGA GeForce 6800GS 256-P2-N389 $169

EVGA GeForce 7600GT 256-P2-N553 $189

How do these compare? Which one of the last two is better and why?

 

[MadModMike]

How embarrassing. 😳

eVGA GeForce 79GT 256-P2N563 $319

eVGA GeForce 6800GS 256-P2-N389 $169

EVGA GeForce 7600GT 256-P2-N553 $189

How do these compare? Which one of the last two is better and why?

The top is the best (too much though, get one of the latter 2). The 68GS is TECHNICALLY better (68GS has 256-bit Interface vs. 76GT's 128-bit) but the 76GT has higher clocks. According to people, the 76GT destroys the 68GS in benchmarks, but the benches I've seen put the 76GT either on par, or below the 68GS. I would say get either the 68GS or 76GT and whichever is cheaper.

~~Mad Mod Mike, pimpin' the world 1 rig at a time

 

[gOJDO]

you are going to spend 245 for case, power supply and fans.
buy cheaper case with cheaper power supply
for $70 there are nice cases with 450W supply with no popular label, but with almost same quallity.
don't need that cooler, buy any cooper for about $30
don't need the chipset cooler also, and maybe you will need +1 case fan that costs around $5.
more fans are making big noise also

 

[endyen]

Forget the cheap sound card, onboard is better. For a 200mhz OC, the stock fan is better.

 

[fainis]

why do you want to buy 7800gs?...as mike said ..that is agp4x/8x