My New Gaming System (please help)

hey everyone, i am going to get a brand new gaming system some time between september and december. i was wondering what components should i aim for? i can spend mayb $800-1200. should i aim for mayb a amd 64 3500? that will drop alot in the following months correct? (under 200) i also need to know these things:

case: Chieftec matrix?
ram: 1gb of ?
mobo: ?
psu: fortron 530w?
video card: 9800pro?
heatsink: ?
os: windows xp home
hard drive: hitachi 160gb?

any suggestions? thx for any help

Let's have this discussion a week or 2 before you buy. Tons of stuff is coming out this year and prices fluctuate daily. Personally, I'd get a 3.0 P4 and dump my money in a $400 x800 or 6800 video card, but let's wait and see. Keep saving up your money.

yea definatly bring this thread back to life when you're ready to buy, as there are a bunch of changes coming real soon...

im in about the same boat, cept my budgets about $400 or so, and all i need is cpu, ram, and mobo. so heres what i was thinking:

case: a matrix will work, but i like the compucase lx-6a19, nice big 120mm fans and $40.

ram: start with a 512mb stick of low latency stuff, i hear the corsair xms 3200LL is good, and you can always buy another stick later when you have more scratch.

CPU and mobo: athlon64 3000+, and probably the epox board. me, ive heard some stories and experiences about the nforce chips and bad ide drivers, so i lean more toward the kt800pro (via has never given me a headache before), but as theres only one s754 board that uses it, i may swing to nf3 as well.

psu: fortron makes good psu's, the 120mm 400w may be all you need, but extra power is always nice.

Video: the 9800pro is probably the best bang-for-buck right now, still more than fast enough for doom3, and relatively cheap now.

hsf: slk948u maybe? another thing where you can use the stocker and upgrade when you have more scratch.

HD: unless you have a huge "collection", 160gb may be way more than you need, though that extra space is nice. i never tried a hitachi before, an ive had a couple flaky maxtors before, but i loved my old seagate and my new WD.

anyway, thats my a64-noob opinion. hope it helps a bit.

My I ask what is the reason for double posting the same thread>?

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=316533

Chuckman,

Think about 1 gig of ram now. Also, think about another board other than the epox. I've read that epox has a high doa rate. I'm all for the compcase, I have one branded by Antec and love it. Also think about a 500 watt psu if you can squeeze it in. But otherwise, we look forward to hearing from you guys in 60 days.

you can get a 3500+ system for around 1200...

hdd: wd
ram: 1g 2x512 socket939 supports dual channel
hs: thermalright slk-948u i believe it is
vid card: if you want to pinch some pennies, powercolor 9800se, softmod to 9800pro. if not, just get the pro...

i built a 3500+ in socket 939 system for a buddy today that we got off newegg for just a hair over 1200 (1252 i think but i let him buy it from a parts list). Very nice system. We cranked up some battlefield Vietnam while i was there to see how it ran. Nice system.