Building an Athlon 64 PC ASAP

Enigma007x

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May 28, 2004
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Heya. I am looking to build a new system asap. My current system just died, and I need something up and running.

I have decided on the AMD Athlon64 3200+ processor. I do not plan on OCing initially, but I may down the line. From here on I have a few questions.

1.) Should I get the retail version w/ stock fan/heatsink or should I get an OEM and put a better fan/heatsink on?

2.) I have read a lot about the nForce3 250Gb, but they do not seem to be available yet. Since I need a board now, what is the best that could be purchased now?

3.) Any ram recommendations?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. THanks!
 
Check pricewatch for nforce boards. Just type "nforce3 250" in the motherboards category. Last time I checked, there was a chaintech and gigabyte model, both receiving mixed reviews at newegg. Another possibility is an sis 755 board, the k8s8x from asrock, which received great reviews and is only $85 at newegg. I would go with the retail boxed version of the athlon 64 and get a 3 year warranty. I just used mine for a p4, and Intel got me a new cpu in about 6 days. For memory, I would check the manufacturer's recommendations, or just go with crucial pc3200 (regular, not registered), which you can buy directly at their website.