College/Gaming Rig Question. What do I need?

[Cuzoe]

Here are my plans for my new gaming computer, budget is $2000 and here is my current purchase list.

CPU: Athlon 64 3000+ (s754)............................199
Mobo: Asus K8V Se Deluxe "K8T800"..................113
Memory: 1gb OCZ 184 pin Dual Channel PC3200...241
Hard/Media Drives (2 Sata, 2 CD/DVD, 1 flop)......366
Video: Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro .....................211
Case: Antec "Plusview 1000AMG"........................66
Cooling: thermaltake venus 12, vga silencer..........45
mouse/keyboard: ............................................52
monitor: NEC/Mitsubishi v50LCD .......................310
PSU: Thermaltake 560w, "W0023"......................100
Printer: Canon I350..........................................51
Sound: SB Audigy2 ZS Gamer ...........................111
Speakers: Logitech Z-2200..............................115
Cables: 2 Sata, 1 Floppy, already have ide............15

Total: $1995

I'm set on everything except the motherboard, and memory. I want 1gb, which memory should I go with. Also dont know what to look for in a mobo, need suggestions. I dont overclock so that isnt an important feature of the mobo. The VGA Silencer is just in case my r9800 Pro has an R360 core because I may flash it to XT. Also, what other cables will I need?

Current Rig: Celeron 333, 64mb sdram, geforce2 mx(32mb, PCI), WD 12gb 5400rpm, philips 8x4x24 cdrw. Having said that, 38fps Q3, lowest settings, beat that, haha. Seriously.

 

[dhlucke]

That upgrade is gonna be massive. Holy crap!

</font color=red><i><font color=red>GOD</font color=red> <font color=blue>BLESS </font color=blue><font color=red>AMERICA

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Don't buy ASUS K8V SE Deluxe. Buy MSI K8N Neo Platinum. It has better chipset (nForce3 250)

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[Obtuse]

I agree, get the K8N Neo. It comes with 2 sata cables, 1 floppy cable, and 1 optical cable (w/2 connectors). So if your optical drives will be on the same channel, you don't need any extra cables. Otherwise, need 1 more IDE cable.

"It's too late now anyway. That song is stuck in my head and the only way to get rid of it is to blow it out. With a bullet!! - Carl

 

[Cuzoe]

Okay, sounds good. Obtuse thanks for the bit about the cables, i may do the opticals on different channels but I have IDE cables already so with this board I need no cables. Great, and yes, this upgrade will be massive, I just wanna see Q3 at full settings. Don't laugh, i've avoided people w/ better computers since my friend got his pentium2 400Mhz and shamed my current comp. Thanks yall.

Current Rig: Celeron 333, 64mb sdram, geforce2 mx(32mb, PCI), WD 12gb 5400rpm, philips 8x4x24 cdrw. Having said that, 38fps Q3, lowest settings, beat that, haha. Seriously.

 

[Obtuse]

Not to rain on your parade, but Q3 at full settings requires a card that DOESN'T EXIST. It will run at medium settings with that 9800. But, if you were shamed by a 400mhz processor, this upgrade will be like going straight from the stone age to the industrial age.

"It's too late now anyway. That song is stuck in my head and the only way to get rid of it is to blow it out. With a bullet!! - Carl

 

[Vandit]

obtuse- he said Quake3, not Doom 3

 

[endyen]

If you want an Asus mobo, the K8N-E delux is a good choice.

 

[Cuzoe]

Well, new update, goin with a Athlon 64 3000+ and a Geforce 6800 GT. Have a new question though, what would you all suggest for RAM? I would really like to spend less than $200 for 1gb. I dont plan to overclock anything so that isnt a necessary consideration, just some stable, reasonably fast memory. Thanks for all the help so far.

Edit: Look at my current computer, if I'm losing performance on the memory, I probalby won't notice it as it will still be soooooo much faster than what I have.

Current Rig: Celeron 333, 64mb sdram, geforce2 mx(32mb, PCI), WD 12gb 5400rpm, philips 8x4x24 cdrw. Having said that, 38fps Q3, lowest settings, beat that, haha. Seriously.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Cuzoe on 08/03/04 03:17 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[johnnyboy]

If you're going to lay down a bunch of money for a gaming computer, why not invest more in a gaming card? The 9800 is great but if you have 2000 why not go for the best!! Personally I don't think you need a RAID configuration, so spend less on the hard disk and more on the nVidia6800 or ATI x800.

 

[Guest]

Crucial Ballistix is good maybe a bit over your Target price otherwise you can go with Kingston/crucial/geil/ocz value ram all good choice.

Real good stuf OCZ PC3500 EB but that should be to expensive for you...

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8, Leadtek FX5900 w/ FX5950U bios@500/1000, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[Cuzoe]

Thanks labbbby, I think I'm gonna go with some value ram, but while I'm at it, what's more worth it do you think; 1.5gb value ram for a little over $200 or 1gb of slightly faster ram at about the same price. I ask because my parents have given me a new budget of no budger but I'd rather not just keep upping the price, dont wanna take too much advantage of them. In response to Johnnyboy, I have decided to go with the geforce 6800 gt, and there is no raid. I'm using the raptor for OS, games, and programs. The other hard drive for storage purposes Cheers.

Current Rig: Celeron 333, 64mb sdram, geforce2 mx(32mb, PCI), WD 12gb 5400rpm, philips 8x4x24 cdrw. Having said that, 38fps Q3, lowest settings, beat that, haha. Seriously.

 

[SoDNighthawk]

I agree this time go with the nForce3 chipset from MSI and he wants faster RAM then PC3200, he would want Twin 1024 Corsair XMS Pro Series RAM at PC4000 this way he gets DUAL channel memory support at 2 Gigs.

Barton 3200+ 400MHz
A7N8X Deluxe
Air Cooled 45C
2x512 Corsair DDR 400 PC3200
GeForce FX5900
Two Maxtor 40Gig 8MB cach 7200rpm
SONY RW 52x/24x/52x
SONY DVD 16x/40x

 

[endyen]

Rumour has it that the on die memory controler is happier with fewer sticks. Go with 2X 512. This will be lots for a while yet.