Wanting to build a computer; how's this setup?

Sk8erlink7

Sk8erlink7

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I have to admit that I don't know very much about computers. In fact, it would probably be easier for me to just get a computer from ibuypower.com or something, but I'd like to become familiar with the inside of my machine, and building a computer seems like the best way to do that. A friend of mine, who is pretty computer saavy and has built multiple systems, agreed to help me build a rig if I had all the necessary parts. I've been doing some research, and I've put together something. The only problem is, I have no idea if everything is compatable, if everything is up to quality standards, etc. So I thought I'd ask if this looked like a good setup:


Case: Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000BWA Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower

PSU: RAIDMAX AURORA RX-580F 580Watts Power Supply

Mobo: ASUS A8N-SLI Premium ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+

HDD: SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

RAM: OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Platinum System Memory

Pri Optical: SONY Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive

Sec Optical: ASUS 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 2X DVD-RAM Black

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card

Video Card: eVGA Geforce 7900GT 256

FDD: SONY Black Internal Floppy Drive

Keyboard: Saitek Black Wired Eclipse Keyboard

Mouse: Logitech MX518

Monitor: ViewSonic VA1912wb Black 19" 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor

Speakers: Logisys Computer SP6006CL 2.1

OS: Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005


I understand that all of that will end up costing me $2,000+, and even though I'd like something cheaper, I'd have no problem paying that much to get an awesome computer.

Just so you all know, I'd mainly use this computer for gaming. I play mostly RTS and FPS games, by the way.

Also, it might be good to mention that I don't have the money it would take to build this right now. I'm about 1/4 of the way there, and it might take me about 3 months to get where I need to be money-wise. I'd probably buy the parts in chunks, leaving things like the graphics card for last.

Any thoughts, suggestions, etc. would be highly appreciated. :D
 
I can't point out anything that's wrong, but I don't entirely see the aim of your computer. It must be a gaming computer with that much power, so why MCE? If you're already using XP, you can stick with that and save $100.

Since you're only getting one GPU, I don't see much need for a SLI board. Sure, it's possible to upgrade in the future, but from what I've seen it's just more economical to get a good card and upgrade it sooner with the money you saved by not paying for SLI.

If you're tight on cash, avoid some of the things you don't need to get gaming fast. Apparently you have a monitor, so you can wait on that. If you stick with that motherboard you can use its integrated sound for gaming. Get an X-Fi later. You can do without one of those optical drives. You can save $100 by using your current keyboard and mouse for a bit.

A $500 processor? Your wallet's funeral. I'd back down to 4200 and save a $100.

With those temporary downgrades, you can start using your $2,150.20 computer for as little as $1516 - $50 (Cheaper Mobo) - $100 (Cheaper Processor) = $1366.

After all that downgrading, I have to say I'd actually upgrade the speakers and go for some low-end Logitech 5.1s for $60.

Also, I like this HD. It has 16MB of cache, but it's mostly a personal thing.

As far as compatibility, Asus had a pretty short list of approved memory vendors when I got mine. I don't see the list anymore, and that's some high-end RAM, so I guess you'd be alright.

Just a scattershot of opinions there, most of which I guess you were already thinking of.
 
Link would make this much easier...;-)

That processor is overkill at the moment... you'd be better off with a 3800+ which will last you a long while and then get a better processor as they come out for a lot less (and they will keep coming out). But hey, it's your rig.

Since it looks like you want a top of the line PC, I'd recommend RAID 0 with a 10000RPM (or 15000 if you're rich enough) HDD and a 7200RPM HDD. Why? Use the 10K drive for running Windows/apps/games- around 36GB should do, you can delete the games after you're done with 'em, they'll start up much faster and use the 7.2K HDD for storage- this can be however big you want for your videos, music, pictures, etc. You'll be much happier with the performance.

Also, take note that GPU won't work with DX10 so you won't be able to take advantage of some of Vista's features. Just a heads up.
 
another little thing would be to go dual dvd burners, for a total cost of about 85$ you could get dual nec 3550a drives. they are about 38 each. i assume that the sony drive and the asus burner would cost about the same.
I too would stay away from the 4400. if you are gaming, you might as well get something like the 4000 and save some dough. dual core is just not being used in terms of gaming so why spend the extra 150 bucks?
 
Yeah, that's a good point. Dual cores are really meant to multitask... they won't improve gaming much, if at all.

Have you considered spending less on the internal hardware and getting a really nice, widescreen display? I saw a Dell one, 22" I think and it was amazing to view!:)

But honestly, I'd love to have that set-up you have... it'll last for a at least 4 years easily.
 
[quote name='CokeCola']I can't point out anything that's wrong, but I don't entirely see the aim of your computer. It must be a gaming computer with that much power, so why MCE? If you're already using XP, you can stick with that and save $100.

Since you're only getting one GPU, I don't see much need for a SLI board. Sure, it's possible to upgrade in the future, but from what I've seen it's just more economical to get a good card and upgrade it sooner with the money you saved by not paying for SLI.

If you're tight on cash, avoid some of the things you don't need to get gaming fast. Apparently you have a monitor, so you can wait on that. If you stick with that motherboard you can use its integrated sound for gaming. Get an X-Fi later. You can do without one of those optical drives. You can save $100 by using your current keyboard and mouse for a bit.

A $500 processor? Your wallet's funeral. I'd back down to 4200 and save a $100.

With those temporary downgrades, you can start using your $2,150.20 computer for as little as $1516 - $50 (Cheaper Mobo) - $100 (Cheaper Processor) = $1366.

After all that downgrading, I have to say I'd actually upgrade the speakers and go for some low-end Logitech 5.1s for $60.

Also, I like this HD. It has 16MB of cache, but it's mostly a personal thing.

As far as compatibility, Asus had a pretty short list of approved memory vendors when I got mine. I don't see the list anymore, and that's some high-end RAM, so I guess you'd be alright.

Just a scattershot of opinions there, most of which I guess you were already thinking of.[/quote] The computer I'm using right now is Windows 2000, so I think an upgrade is necessary. Unless, of course, it would be wiser to go with XP instead of MC.

I see what you're saying about the GPU, but I don't really know what would be a good choice in its stead. Any ideas on a good GPU that's cheaper yet is still efficient?

As far as waiting to a get a new monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc. goes, that's pretty much out of the picture. The computer I'm using right now is the dedicated living room computer, and I plan on building this gaming PC for my room.

Thanks to everyone for their input, by the way. :D
 
Don't you have to know computers fairly well to get around the problems with the X2 amd processors have with a lot of games? I remember reading it wasn't compatible with a lot of games without some tweaking.
 
[quote name='Sk8erlink7']I see what you're saying about the GPU, but I don't really know what would be a good choice in its stead. Any ideas on a good GPU that's cheaper yet is still efficient?[/QUOTE]
My comment on the GPU and SLI was really more of a critique of the motherboard. The one you chose supports SLI, which allows you to run two GPUs at the same time - a feature really only useful to rich performance freaks at the moment. So, I'd recommend a motherboard that doesn't include this expensive feature. Check out this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131530

It's almost identical with the exception of SLI, and it's $60 less.

As for the GPU itself, you chose a pretty good price-performance part. Don't worry about "SLI" on the logo - pretty much every video card from Nvidia supports SLI, especially the GTs. Check this out if you want to compare GPUs.
 
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