Which rig to build?

[SpazTech]

I've been trying to decide now for awhile. It's my first build. I'm not planning on any serious OCing. I've got the monitor and a thermaltake case the speakers, mouse and keyboard are ordered but now I've got to start getting the guts. So which system is best(most stable)? And what parts should I get OEM instead of retail?

AMD

ASUS "A8V Deluxe
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
MSI nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT Video Card
Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, (Twin Pack) 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 – Retail
Fortron Blue Storm 500W ATX12V V2.0 Power Supply with 120mm Fan, P4 and AMD ready, Model "AX500-A"
Seagate 160GB Barracuda 7200.7 7200RPM SATA with NCQ Hard Drive
Lite-On 16X, DVD Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive, Model SOHW-1673S
Lite-On Black 52X32X52X16 Combo Drive, Model SOHC-5235K
ZALMAN CPU Cooler for Socket 478/A/754/939/940 With FAN Speed Controller, Model "CNPS7000B-Cu LED

INTEL

ASUS "P5GDC-V Deluxe" 915G Chipset Motherboard For Intel LGA 775
Intel LGA 775 Pentium 4 540 3.2 GHz, 800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache w/ Hyper Threading Technology -
CORSAIR VALUESELECT Kit 240-Pin 1GB(2 x 512MB) DDR2 PC2-4200, Model VS1GBKIT533D2
Seagate 160GB Barracuda 7200.7 7200RPM SATA with NCQ Hard Drive, Model ST3160827AS-RK
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS PCI Sound Card, Model "SB0350"
Leadtek nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT Video Card, 128MB GDDR3, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, PCI-Express, With Doom 3 Model "PX6600GT-128MB"
Lite-On 16X, DVD Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive, Model SOHW-1673S Black
Lite-On Black 52X32X52X16 Combo Drive, Model SOHC-5235K BLACK
Logitech X-530 speaker sys.
MS intellimouse
Logitech elite keyboard
Benq fp731 17”lcd

Thanks for any input.

 

[Mdogs444]

Id go AMD.....with the DFI Ultra D board, OCZ 420 or 520, and an xp-90 instead. Just my two cents.

 

[andyl33t]

with the OEM stuff, u dont get the fancy packaging as with the retail stuff. I would get the OEM cos I just throw the packaging away anyway.

 

[Mdogs444]

also PDP Patriot XBL instead of corsair.

 

[SpazTech]

But don't you also get cables and manuels, software etc.?

.

 

[Terminat.]

But don't you also get cables and manuels, software etc.?

Yes - but it's nothing worth having. You might get a single-sheet manual, a pathetic little cable and maybe a software CD: it all depends on what you're getting.

For the processor - certainly go OEM. The only thing you get with retail is a crappy stock heatsink and some packaging.

In the case of optical drives, however, you often get cables and burning software included. However, only go retail if it is marginally more.


As for AMD vs. Intel - what are you using your pc for? If you're going to be doing mostly ripping/video and music encoding as well as gaming, go Intel, but if you're just going to be gaming and not doing any heavy media stuff, go AMD

 

[SpazTech]

Okay I think it'll be intel. How about hard dives OEM or retail?

 

[Terminat.]

How about hard dives OEM or retail?

Always OEM for hard drives.

A retail hard drive costs considerably more than OEM, and it comes with three extra things:

1. Flashy packaging
2. A single IDE ribbon cable (costs $1/50p bought separately)
3. A software CD

Now, obviously the flashy packaging is pretty useless - you dispose of it afterwards. The ribbon cable is useful, but better ones can be bought for less than a single $1

As for the software CD - it's worthless. All it contains is a piece of software that can be downloaded FREE off the company's website. Like Maxtor package a MaxBlast 3 CD with their Retail drives, except MaxBlast 3 can be downloaded straight off their website.

So you end up paying quite a bit more for, essentially, an IDE cable.

Okay I think it'll be intel.

Does this mean you use your pc for encoding and other complex media applications as well as games? If so, Intel's a great choice