In desperate help.

Ok, I am going to build a new computer by the end of the year, maybe very early 2005 and I have some questions.

I know what video card and processor I want, 6600gt-pcie and 939s 3200+ amd64 respectively, but I am lost on everything else.

Ram : What is the best ram to go with this setup for a reasonable price and overclock? There are so many options out there, deciding which is better is a real hassle. Also, would I benifit more from 512mb fast ram or 1gb ram that is a bit slower(I play mmorpgs and rts)?

HDD: Everyone is raving about Raptors, but I'm a patient guy, load times doesnt really bother me much as long as my game plays smoothly. So how much more performance does a raptor give over a good 7200rpm 8mb cache drive? And what about 2 of them in raid?

Case and Cooling : I am totally lost here, don't even know where to start.

Motherboard : I know there is no motherboard out for 939 amd pci-e, so I know I have to wait for one. However, I read that nf4 will not have intergrated sound(not a big sound guy), but I really want SLI. Will the nf4 have intergrated sound just not ss2? or will it have none? If none, about how much does a decent sound card sell for?

Marvelous said:

Ok, I am going to build a new computer by the end of the year, maybe very early 2005 and I have some questions.

I know what video card and processor I want, 6600gt-pcie and 939s 3200+ amd64 respectively, but I am lost on everything else.

Ram : What is the best ram to go with this setup for a reasonable price and overclock? There are so many options out there, deciding which is better is a real hassle. Also, would I benifit more from 512mb fast ram or 1gb ram that is a bit slower(I play mmorpgs and rts)?

HDD: Everyone is raving about Raptors, but I'm a patient guy, load times doesnt really bother me much as long as my game plays smoothly. So how much more performance does a raptor give over a good 7200rpm 8mb cache drive? And what about 2 of them in raid?

Case and Cooling : I am totally lost here, don't even know where to start.

Motherboard : I know there is no motherboard out for 939 amd pci-e, so I know I have to wait for one. However, I read that nf4 will not have intergrated sound(not a big sound guy), but I really want SLI. Will the nf4 have intergrated sound just not ss2? or will it have none? If none, about how much does a decent sound card sell for?

Click to expand...

RAM: If you are going A64, you're best bet is to look at ram using Samsung TCCD chips (assuming you have a nice budget). Look for the following: Crucial Ballistix, OCZ Gold Rev 3, OCZ EL Rev 2, G. Skill TCCD, PQI Turbo, Mushkin Black Level II v2. If you can afford it then I suggest you grab 2x512 over 2x256 as you will see a noticeable difference in some high-end apps.

HDDs: Raptors are a waste for the average user. They are quite fast, but the 2-3ms in speed does not justify its price premium. Instead, look more toward 2x SATA HDs from Hitachi, Seagate, or Maxtor. You can pick up roughly two good 80GB SATA HDs for the price of one 74GB Raptor.

Case: This is preference of course. However, you want something with good airflow. I won't tell you what to get here, but popular choices are Kingwin, Lian Li, Coolermaster, Aspire, and Chieftec/Chemming clones.

Cooling: Assuming you will be going with air cooling, you will want either the Thermalright XP-90 (for 92mm fans) or XP-120 (for 120 mm fans).

Motherboard: One cannot really advise as there are no s939 PCIe mobos as you said. However, let me state that NF4 motherboards will have onboard sound, but it will probably vary based on manufacturer as SS2 has been scrapped. You can find a high-end sound card such as an Audigy 2 Zs for about $75-90+ online. For more help with both sound and motherboards, head over to their respective forums.

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