[dErailed]

Hey, I just wanted some advice for building a new pc from the ground up. Some of the parts I might be buying:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 1GHz FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard

CREATIVE Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit 30SB041000000 8 (7.1) Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - OEM

Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

SUNBEAM TRIO IC-TRIO-BK Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply

I have $1300 to burn on a computer.

[JaY_III]

Buying an SLI motherboard is a waste of money IMHO if you are not going to be using SLI in the NEAR future.
and the "What if i buy X Video card now and want to add another X Video card a year down the road?" agument is a bad one i think.
Because a single Y card will be faster than 2 X cards in a years time.
Not to mention if you want SLI you need a Supper high end PSU.

My advise, dont get the SLI option, and put the money towards a better video card/ more RAM

[The Coolest]

This is what I'd change in your hardware selection:

mobo: DFI nF4 Ultra-D
CPU: Athlon64 Venice 3200+
Sound: I'm not an audiophile, so even an onboard sound would be enough for me, but its your choice.
HD: Nice one.
Case: I don't know what case it is, but whatever case you get, if you want to overclock you'll need a good PSU: Fortron 530W BlueStorm or the OCZ PowerStream series of 500w or higher.
What about RAM? What about cooling? What about video card?
I'm no RAM expert so I can't help you in that department, but for cooling I'd get a ThermalRight XP-120 with a 120mm fan of your choice.
Depending on how much money you have left after building the machine, here are the vid card choices, that are the most bang for the buck cards:
6800GT most expensive
X800XL/X850XL mid range
6600GT relatively cheap but still has a nice performance level.
But if you can afford it, GF7800GTX would be the fastest card you can currently buy.

[Golflad]

I would agree with both of the replys with the exception on the cooling if you have 1300 spend 120 to 200 to invest in a nice diy wc kit you will not be disappointed. For the ram OCZ or corsair or even kingston hyper X seem to be the current favorites among overclockers at the moment. I would go for the fastest gig I could find between these manufacturers made up of two sticks and run the mem in dual channel.

[darksparkz]

What are you mainly going to do with this computer? Ocing or gaming, or a combination of both?

OCing
DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D Motherboard $121.00
Lian-Li Aluminum PC60U ATX Mid Tower $95.00
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ $182.49
OCZ Technology PowerStream 520W $109.99
OCZ Technology 1GB PC3200 Platinum Revision 2 Enhanced $166.25
Maxtor MaxLine III 250GB w/ 16mb buffer $125.00
eVGA GeForce 6800GT $324.00
Thermaltake SonicTower $39.99

Total: $1258, that leaves enough for extra fans and AS5, even enough to buy a aftermarket heatsink/cooler for your video card.

Gaming
Asus A8N-E $103.99
Lian-Li Aluminum PC60U ATX Mid Tower $95.00
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ $278.00
Forton AX500 500W $91.00
Corsair Value 1GB $87.60
Western Digital Raptor WD740GD $175.00
BFG Technologies GeForce 7800GTX OC $525.00
Total: $1254, enough to buy fans or led fans if needed. You can choose to upgrade the motherboard I picked if you want too. You can add a sound card here if you absoulutely need it.

I'm not sure if you need CD/DVD drives, so include that if you have to

[dErailed]

thanks alot for the replies, I just wanted a pure gaming pc and didnt want for overclocking. As for the video card and ram, I have a radeon 9800 pro and 2 512 sticks.

[The Coolest]

A Radeon 9800 would require you to get an AGP motherboard, and that's not the latest and greatest tech.
If I were you, with that much money, I'd sell the radeon in a heartbeat and would get a new PCI-e video card, even the 6600GT is faster than 9800Pro by a large margin.

[JaY_III]

x800GT might be worth looking at for a cheap PCI-E card that is ok
If you can find out (should start shwinf up any time now), it should be on par with a 6600GT but only cheaper

[Hey_Its_Cole]

Originally Posted by JaY_III

x800GT might be worth looking at for a cheap PCI-E card that is ok
If you can find out (should start shwinf up any time now), it should be on par with a 6600GT but only cheaper

Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update Lian Li PC-7 B Plus Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: PC-7 B Plus

In Stock
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$99.00 $99.00

Update EPoX EP-9NPA+ SLi Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: EP-9NPA+ SLi

In Stock
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$138.00 $138.00

Update Leadtek PX6800GT TDH Geforce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: PX6800-GTTDH

In Stock
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$319.00 $319.00

Update FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX500-A ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: AX500-A

In Stock
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$91.00 $91.00

Update AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3200BPBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA3200BPBOX

**This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only. what's this?
In Stock
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$190.00 $190.00

Update CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model TWINX1024-3200C2PT - Retail
Model #: TWINX1024-3200C2PT

In Stock
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$128.20 $128.20

Update Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA NCQ ST3120827AS 120GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: ST3120827AS

In Stock
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$83.00 $83.00

Update CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS GAMER Limited Edition 70SB035000013 8 (7.1) Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
Model #: 70SB035000013

In Stock
Mail-in Rebate
Remove Remove Add item to Cart Add item to Cart
$114.00 -$8.00 Instant $106.00
Subtotal: $1,154.20

A lot better system and it could be had for cheaper by ordering from other places.

[dvs``]

Personally I'd advise against the Raptor. It's too expensive for the limited storage it offers. I'd go with a 16mb cache Maxtor instead if you really want the "speed".

[hi_its_ryan]

get the 7800gtx for $495 over at zzf. or wait a week or 2 to see what kind of prices you can get for the 7800gt...

[Hey_Its_Cole]

Originally Posted by dvs``

Personally I'd advise against the Raptor. It's too expensive for the limited storage it offers. I'd go with a 16mb cache Maxtor instead if you really want the "speed".

Raptors are a waste of money IMHO. I would go with a seagate sata drive and call it enough.

[trueplaya4ever8]

Your budget would help us alot better in recommending here.

[Who]

Originally Posted by The Coolest

mobo: DFI nF4 Ultra-D
CPU: Athlon64 Venice 3200+

I agree with that.
6600, 6800 or 7800 Vid card depending on how much money you have left and more RAM if it's possible.

[Hey_Its_Cole]

Originally Posted by trueplaya4ever8

Your budget would help us alot better in recommending here.

He said 1300 at the top. Thats why i tried to build what i would on that budget.