New Build.. Another one...

I know you guys probally get this all the time. But would appricate your input.
Currently Decideing on what my next build is going to be.This is what i have came up with so far. I would like a nice machine. that has room to upgrade as needed.

Here is the List. with links to Newegg
ASPIRE X-Navigator ATXA8NW-BK/500 Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
ABIT AN8-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
MSI NX6600GT-TD128E Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
ZALMAN CNPS7000B-Cu LED 2 Ball Blue LED Light Cooling Fan - Retail
OCZ Peroformance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model OCZ4002048PFDC-K - Retail
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3500BPBOX - Retail

I plan to Upgrade to SLi using Another 6600GT. and adding a 250-300gig HD for storage after i get this up an going..

As is. with minimal overclocking. does this configuration seem like a good idea.

Limited to around 1000$ to start. will add on more a week or so after i order all this.

Thanks in advance.

!!!

Well the first thing you'll want to do is ditch the PSU. You are better off picking up a case that doesn't have a PSU included and save a few bucks more for a better one. Brands like Fortron, OCZ, Seasonic, and PC Power&Cooling<-Expensive are all great PSU's. The hard drive IMO is fine however there are people on the forums that are not too fond of WD's. It is usually better off getting a Seagate or a Hitachi. I am not too sure about the video card as I myself have an ATi card, but word is, SLI is not worth it unless you are going to try for benchmarking records as games dont take full advantage of this feature. Depending on whether or not you are going to overclock your machine you might want to look into a 3000+ or a 3200+ venice and save yourself some money because chances are...they are going to overclocking just about the same.

EDIT: Forgot to say that you are betting off saving your money for 1 good video card rather than investing in 2 6600's

The Psu was going to be the first thing i was going to upgrade. The case just caught my eye and something kept bringing me back to it. The cooling of the case seems to work great from what i have read. i was planing on just using the PSU for maybe a week, 2 at most ( and not do any OCing tell then) whould it work for a short time?

as far as replacement. What models do you recomend?

As far as the CPU goes. i picked the 3500+ cause i wanted something stable. with minimal OCing.. but if the 3000+ can reach 2.4 or so, reliable. and with what i have. then i will definatly go with the 3000+. will just need some info about how to do so . only OCing i have ever done is on my current PC that is running a 2500+ Barton that i took to just under 2ghz. yeah you can laugh . i just want something powerfull but also reliable. if the 3000+ can do that. then i will save the 80$ .

The 6600Gt reviews on Newegg (not sure if trustworthy) can fun BF2 on med-high settings. and i would like to play that sometime. mostly just play EverQuest. and i want a killer machine that i dont have to worry about lag during raiding. with high settings and particals on etc ( for those that even play eq =P) I may soon upgrade to the 6800Gt if i decide that i need to. and tose the 6600 into my second box

Other than that. everything seem decent?

I don't see any reason why the PSU that comes with that case shouldnt be able to handle to system without any OCing. Since you are looking for modest OCing then I would recommend this PSU. I would say you have a GREAT chance of getting a 3000+ to 2.4GHz and beyond with no problem so you might as well save some money. Regarding BF2 and a 6600GT I really don't know what kind of settings you will be able to achieve, I don't own either of the two.

Ok next Question.. heard mix and match storys about this board.. in your guys opinon. is it worth the extra 75$ for? the one reason that keeps me looking at this is the Guru Panel. the extra fan near the Processor. and the Fan on the northbrige. vs the quiet heatpipe on the regular A8N Sli board... which actully is a better board?
ABIT Fatal1ty AN8-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Just to answer if you will play bf2 at mid-high setting, you will cause I play it on my EVGA Geforce 6600 Gt Agp on medium on full 64 person multiplayer servers with only little lag from the server and my setup is half yours.

Yeah, I like the Abit with all it's accesories, it has the ram cooling, the little uGuru thing, onboard red led's, and many other things.

But the ASUS Preminum board has had great reviews, even on OCing, some say it can be on par with DFI ones, only disadvantage is that it's pretty expensive and it doesn't has as high of voltages as compared to the DFI

Between the ABIT and ASUS board, I think the ASUS one is the best choice for you. I still wouldn't recommend you to choose SLI though.

Yes, the AMD 3000+ can even get to 2.7ghz on air. You can choose between the 3000+ or the 3200+, the 3200+ has 10x multiplier, which makes it a bit easier to OC, but since your getting OCZ ram, I'll assume that the 3000+ would still reach your goal of 2.4ghz easily.

Do they sell the ASPIRE X-Navigator in verisons WITHOUT a PSU? That's an expensive case, even if it did come with a PSU. Try looking for a verison without the PSU, and if it fails, then its up to you if you want to stick with it. Take a look at the Thermaltake or Lian-li series of cases.

EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra $103
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ $182
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) Platinum $243 (after rebate)
eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800GT $299
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus10 250GB w/16mb buffer $109

Total: $$936

If you throw in the X-Navigator, it'll go over your $1000 limit by a few dollars.

And yes, the 500W psu inside the X-Navigator is plenty enough to last you without OCing or anything else extreme.

With the 2GB ram and the 6800GT, you can pretty much run BF2 at almost max settings, your gaming experience will increase by tenfolds.

If you have enough money though, I'd recommend getting the 7800GTX, with that you almost wouldn't even have to think about ever upgrading the video card for a while.

Only Reason i opted for an SLi Board is for the option to upgrade if need be. i may actully delay my order tell tues/wed of next week. which will give me another 500-600$ to spend. then i wont have to be so picky. which i think in the long run is better. if there is absoluty no use what so ever (i know you cant tell the future) For me to run SLi setup. then i will not get one. even though the Fatl1ty board looks nice !. hehe.

As far as the No PSU version of the case. i have not seen one. i know that there is a cheaper version of the X-Navigator. that does not come with the 5 fans. the better PSU and a cheaper version of the LCD screen. that runs just under 100$.

givin the fact of the extra 500ish $ what would you recomend? also. is the Zelman Cooler picked. able to take it to 2.7 like someone said? or should i pick something else?

So does this mean you will have 1600 to spend?

Thats good you can get a much better system with that.

Take a look at mine, well one I hope to be getting, it seems to be pretty good (judging by what people have said, and if you could always tweak that design then.

Case : COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis

Motherboard : DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra

Processor : AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939

Memory : crucial 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered (2x)

Hard Drive : Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST3120026A 120GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100

Power Supply : FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX500-A ATX12V 500W

Video Card : BFG Tech BFGR78256GTXOC Geforce 7800GTX 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16

Optical Drive : LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive

Optical Drive 2 : NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A

Heatsink : THERMALRIGHT XP-90

Northbridge Heatsink : ZALMAN ZM-NB32J Aluminum Northbridge Chipset Cooling Kit

120mm Fan : VANTEC SF12025L 120mm 2 Ball

80mm Fan : MASSCOOL FD08025S1M4 80mm

Cost : $1,508