New System for a Newbie in Computer Assembly

Thucydides

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Feb 4, 2006
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Hey guys/gals,

The wife and I are looking to put together a new computer and I've done quite a bit of homework and have selected the parts that I think would fit together to best suit our needs. The budget is ~$4000 but I've seem to have been able to get all the parts that we wanted for about ~$2300 on Newegg. This is going to primarily be a gaming computer to complement the system I already have so that we can both play Everquest II with lots if not all of the eye candy turned on. That being said, here is a list of the parts that we thought we would put into our new system:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Toledo 1GHz FSB 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103544

2x OCZ Gold Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820227211

SILVERSTONE ZEUS SST-ST65ZF ATX12V 650W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817163108

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16829102178

LITE-ON Beige 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM ATAPI / E-IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SOHD-167T BG - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827131416

eVGA 256-P2-N529-AX Geforce 7800GTX 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130237

ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131568

2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3808110AS 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822148107

SAMSUNG Beige 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Model SFD321B/LEB - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16821103202

LITE-ON Beige 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache ATAPI/E-IDE DVD Burner - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827106018

GIGABYTE 3D AURORA GZ-FSCA1-ANS Silver Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811233001

Well, that is what I'm considering using. I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions about the parts I'd like to use. Are they compatible? Also, a few of the parts are OEM and not retail, do you think I'd have any problems as far as missing cables or connectors with the OEM parts? Will I need to order something in addition to these items.

We're not interested in water cooling right now nor are we interested in overclocking as this is our first time building a system. We'd like to keep it simple without getting too complicated. That said, I'm hoping for a case that will give us newbies ample room to work and provide decent air flow. What do you think of the Gigabyte Aurora? Got a better suggestion?

The choice of the GTX video card is made because I am currently using that same card in my gaming system right now and when the new Nvidia cards come out I'm hoping to get the new series for myself and throw the two GTX's in SLI for the wife's computer. :twisted:

Thanks for reading... :)
 

Thucydides

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One other note: We'd like to put the two hard drive in Raid 0. Would that be difficult to do with the chosen motherboard?

Also, the copy of Windows XP that we are going to use is a new retail copy that is pre-SP2. Do you think I'll have any problems because of this?
 

Thucydides

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Should I be okay ordering from Newegg? I've not ordered from them before and I don't know how reliable they are with their merchandise. I also noticed that they offer net service replacement plans. Are they worth getting? It would only add an additional $100 to $200 to the total cost.
 

luminaris

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Newegg is one of the best and they will take care of you. As far as getting the plans, I would opt no simply because your more likely to experience problems at first start up. Newegg would certainly RMA any problematic parts for you at that point. Any machines I've ever had trouble with usually have their problems right from the start and once the bugs are worked out, they last. Your buying quality parts so you shouldn't have any trouble. If you want piece of mind and have the extra cash, get the plan. Me personally, I would bank it for maybe an upgrade down the road. Good luck with that build. Looks good.
 

chuckshissle

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I suppose it would be your valentines gift for your wifey. That's pretty cool man, top notch components and no doubt will be fast.

Bow Chika Pow Wow!!

Good Luck.
 

Jagger

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Looks sweet. However, if I understand your post, you are going to get four sticks of RAM (2GB total). On a lot of boards, if using four sticks, the memory speed (I BELIEVE - SOMEONE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG) will be only 333MHz rather than 400. Still get 2 GB, but get it in two sticks rather than four.

Newegg rocks.
 

Thucydides

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Is there a noticable loss of performance between the two operating frequencies?

Any comments about the case I'm thinking of using guys?
 
The 4800+ is a fine processor, although I think personally I'd save $280+ dollars and knock it down to a 4200+ or 4400+, and then choose the X1900XT card...framerates in many games will rival system equipped with a pair of GTX256 cards is SLI...

GTX256 cards are a bit overpriced for the performance increase over a 7800GT, and considering the 1900XT is about $100 more typically....

For 3d gaming, the gpu is everything!

In any event, good luck!
 

Dybowski

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yes go for a 4400+ with a x1900xt and a abit at8 mobo my new customer loved this setup and he plays rpgs ALOT. also you can get a single western digital 250gb sata 3.0gbs hd with 16 mb cache for 110 on newegg, if youre planing to raid0 there will be almost no performance in crease except that if one of your drives fry so does your other.

i see you want to sli your cards but if you get a 1900xt you can not have to buy your wife a new card for a moderate time as it has more pixel shaders which future games are going to be requiring.

also you siad your budget was 400$ you could still fit a nice 24 inch lcd in there so you can play your games a 1980x1200 :)
 

Thucydides

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We already have great monitors and some good 5.1 speakers. We figured the price difference was acceptable for a 4800+ processor since we weren't going to overclock.

We were looking at the ati 1900 series, though, I have to admit SLI on the two GTX would be a great excuse for me to get a new top of the line card when a new one gets me drooling again.

Which abit at8 motherboard are you speaking of in particular? It looks like the ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe is outta stock on Newegg right now. What would I be gaining by using it? The best ASUS board they have right now is the Premium.